VideoNuze Posts

Reminder that early bird discounted registration for the 4th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on June 25th is open. Not only do you save $100 by registering early, but you're also entered to win a $1,000 50-inch Samsung LED Smart TV and a Roku Streaming Stick, generously provided by Innovid.

I have posted much of the program now, and as you'll see there are a range of exciting sessions with speakers from Allstate, Comcast, Conde Nast, Digitas, eMarketer, Forrester, News Corp., Nielsen, Starcom MediaVest, Quiznos, Weather Company, Xaxis participating, with many others coming soon.

Last year's Ad Summit drew over 350 attendees, featuring 40+ speakers and I expect the same this year. I'm excited that 13 awesome industry companies are supporting the event so far, including Title Partners Tremor Video and ILoveVideo.tv/Castaclip; Headline Partners Active Video, AOL, Brightcove, Eyeview, FreeWheel, LiveRail, TubeMogul and Videology plus Branding Partners Innovid, Mixpo and Optimatic.

Be sure to join us for this must-attend day of learning and networking - learn more and register now!

Google Fiber has captured an eye-opening 75% of homes it passes in certain medium-to-high income Kansas City neighborhoods, according to an extensive new analysis from Bernstein Research. The firm employed a market research company to conduct a door-to-door survey in 5 KC neighborhoods in which Google Fiber has rolled out. This is the first research I'm aware of revealing how Google Fiber may be performing (Google itself has never shared any detailed data on Google Fiber).

In Wornall Homestead, the highest household median income neighborhood ($116K) Bernstein surveyed, it found that 83.1% of respondents were taking Google Fiber service - 15.3% for the $120/mo pay-TV+ broadband bundle, 52.5% for the $70/mo 1 Gbps broadband-only service, and 15.3% for the free 5 Mbps broadband service. This contrasted with Community College, the lowes household median income neighborhood ($24K) surveyed, in which 27.2% of respondents were taking Google Fiber service - 7% for the $120/mo pay-TV+ broadband bundle, 19.2% for the $70/mo 1 Gbps broadband-only service, and 7.3% for the free 5 Mbps broadband service.

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One of the key takeaways so far from this year's NewFronts is that traditional print publishers are doubling down on online video. Last week, four big print publishers - the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Inc and Conde Nast each shared ambitious plans (here, here, here and here) to expand upon existing video initiatives.

While the specific plans vary from company to company, the common underlying thread is that online video is a once-in-a-generation game-changer, that could ultimately redefine every aspect of these businesses, including how they will engage their audiences, what their competitive advantages will be and how they will make their money.

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I'm pleased to present the 225th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. This week the NewFronts got underway in NYC while the Cable Show was happening in LA. We discuss some of the highlights from both.

Starting with the NewFronts, per new IAB research, we were both impressed with the rising esteem of online video advertising in the eyes of ad buyers. These are the people being courted at the NewFronts, and they now see TV and video as being essentially at parity importance for major product/service campaigns.

Moreover, 2/3 of respondents see their online video spending increasing in the next 12 months, with 67% citing TV budgets as the top source of funding for online video. All of this is certainly good news for the content providers unveiling new programs at the NewFronts this week.

Colin then discusses his observations from the Cable Show where executives cited concerns about creators being drawn to the YouTube ecosystem instead of traditional TV. Meanwhile these classic distinctions are getting blurrier, as evidenced by last week's integration of Netflix with 3 cable operators. It's not just Netflix though - clearly Hulu has aspirations to be integrated as well, and surely YouTube and others are right behind.



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Online video platform provider Kaltura has acquired Tvinci, whose technology powers pay TV and content provider linear and OTT services. Terms were not disclosed. Ron Yekutiel, Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Kaltura told me yesterday that the Tvinci technology gives Kaltura the ability to support customers' paid live/linear video services in addition to ad-supported VOD.

This is critical because in Ron's view, longer-term, the ability to support the full breadth of services and business models from the cloud will be the defining advantage. Ron sees this most particularly in the media business, which has been Tvinci's focus, but also in education and enterprise, other verticals that Kaltura serves.

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According to new data from Vindico's Adtricity rankings, just 34% of online video ad impressions received a grade of "A or B," equating to TV quality. The definition of "A-B" is a high-quality video ad environment, imitating a TV-like experience, with ads front and center, in a large player and frequently user-initiated.

Another 22% of video ad impressions received a "C," which is typically an in-banner placement that is viewable on the page. Finally, 44% received a "D-F" which includes video ads that are below the fold, are near inappropriate content and/or suffer from fraudulent practices. The data is part of Vindico's newly-released 2013 annual report.

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The latest evidence supporting the craze around binge-viewing was released by consultancy Miner & Co., finding that 70% of U.S. TV viewers now consider themselves binge-viewers. Miner defined binge-viewing as watching 3 or more episodes in a single session. For most, binge-viewing is still a monthly activity (90%), followed by weekly (63%) and daily (17%).

The survey found that 55% of binge-viewers and 61% of frequent binge-viewers were millennials. It also defined three categories of binge-viewers: "Streamers" (35%) who use services like Netflix/Hulu Plus/Amazon; "Marathoners" (18%) who watch TV marathons and "DVRers" (16%) who mostly binge-view using their DVR.

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AOL introduced 16 original programs at its NewFronts presentation bash last night at a blustery Brooklyn Navy Yard  I attended along with what seemed like thousands of others. Twelve new programs, from talent including James Franco, Steve Buscemi, Zoe Saldana, Kevin Nealon and others are on the docket, joining 4 originals from last year that were renewed, "Candidly Nicole" with Nicole Richie, "City.Ballet" from Sarah Jessica Parker, "The Future Starts Here" from Tiffany Shlain and "Hardwired 2.0" with iJustine.

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