VideoNuze Posts

One of the highlights of the upcoming 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC will be my morning keynote interview with Marc Debevoise, EVP/GM of CBS Digital Media at CBS Interactive.

Marc oversees all of CBS Interactive’s major digital properties in Entertainment, Sports and News. These include CBS.com, CBS apps, SVOD service CBS All Access, CBSSports.com, CBSNews.com and the 24/7 digital news network CBSN, among others. Marc also manages all digital content distribution on all platforms, TV Everywhere and original digital productions.

All of this gives Marc an excellent perspective on what’s happening at the intersection of online video and TV. I’ve known Marc for years and have always been impressed by how he balances strategic priorities and practical realities.

In our discussion, Marc will discuss what he sees as the most important industry trends and how they’re informing CBS’s digital strategies. We’ll dive into topics such as how convergence is shaping CBS’s monetization approaches, the value of platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Amazon to video providers, CBS’s goals in providing marquee TV programming for its CBS All Access SVOD service, how the company is leveraging viewer data and much more. Marc will also share thoughts on where the industry is heading in the near term.

Overall the session will offer valuable insights for anyone with a stake in the video/TV business going forward. Marc will also take audience questions at the end of the session.

Aside from Marc’s keynote interview, there are a dozen other sessions throughout the day focused on all of the hottest topics in the industry and featuring 40+ senior executives. The Video Ad Summit promises to be a must-attend day of learning and networking for anyone who wants to really understand what’s happening with the convergence of video and TV.

Learn more and register now!

For those interested in a deep-dive look inside how dramatically the business of making TV shows has changed over the past several years, last week’s Vulture cover story, “The Business of Too Much TV,” is essential reading. At 10,000+ words, you’ll need to set aside a chunk of time to get through it, but it’s well worth it for a peek behind the curtain of how SVOD has influenced every aspect of TV production.

The biggest driver of change has been the massive increase in the number of scripted TV shows being made - from 36 in 2005 to over 400 in 2015. Cable TV networks were the initial cause of this explosion, but in the past several years it’s been the major SVOD services, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, which have each turned to originals as a source of differentiation as competition has intensified.

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With video and TV viewing fragmenting across numerous devices, services and apps, advertisers are more challenged than ever to efficiently build holistic, measurable TV ad campaigns. That has created a big opening for major platforms like Google/YouTube, Facebook and others to differentiate themselves with single source, in-depth user data that can be mined for targeted campaigns across their massive audiences.

Concerned by these dynamics and the precedent of how platforms seized ad dollars from print publishers, NAB Show is seeking to play a leadership role, forming a new digital committee including executives from TV networks, pay-TV operators and TV station owners. The committee, headed by Lorne Brown, Founder and CEO of Operative, a leading video ad tech provider, held its first invite-only meeting a few weeks ago at the NAB Show.

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Today is the LAST day to save $100 on registration to the 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC. Reminder that as a bonus, all early bird registrants will be entered to win a 55-inch TCL 4K Roku TV.

We have an amazing program planned, including C-level executive speakers from agencies, content providers and technology companies. Over 35 executives from A+E Networks, American Express, Bloomberg Media, CBS, Conde Nast, Facebook, Fox, Hershey’s, IAB, Initiative, IPG Mediabrands, Mindshare, NBCU, Newsy, Turner, USA TODAY Network, Viacom, The Washington Post, The Weather Company, Whistle Sports, Xaxis, Zenith and many others who are participating in the Ad Summit.

The Ad Summit is generously supported by 16 industry-leading companies, including Title Partner Videology, Premier Partners Altitude Digital, DashBid, Extreme Reach, Verizon Digital Media Services and VertaMedia, Headline Partners Alphonso, Beachfront Media, Cedato, FreeWheel, Genesis Media, JW Player, Operative and Placemedia and Branding Partners Brightcove and Roku.

Don't delay - register now and save!

I'm pleased to present the 323rd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Colin and I were both very impressed by the demo that Comcast CEO Brian Roberts did at INTX earlier this week of how the X1 set-top box will blend linear TV and online video streams from this summer’s Rio Olympics into one experience.

We both believe this will be a truly breakthrough viewer experience, showcasing X1’s broadband capabilities and the value of the two-way interactive network. We envision Comcast launching a massive marketing campaign in the months leading up to the Olympics highlighting how experiencing the Olympics will be “best on X1,” in turn driving new subscriber acquisitions and upgrades.

More broadly, we discuss how valuable X1 and Comcast’s back-end infrastructure are as a platform for launching new features and services. We touch on how Amazon too is leveraging its platform for its Streaming Partners Program, underscoring the anticipated competition between big video platform owners. The role of a robust platform in determining the ultimate video winners is becoming increasingly clear.

Listen now to learn more!

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After a long and arduous regulatory review, earlier this week Charter Communications closed on its $55 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and its $10.4 billion acquisition of Bright House Networks. Following the closings, Charter plans to phase out the Time Warner Cable and Bright House brands, re-branding its entire new footprint Charter, with service name Spectrum.

Many TWC subscribers will gladly bid adieu to a brand that has had one of the worst rankings, as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, in an industry that itself endures rock bottom scores. Of course, simply changing a company’s name isn’t sufficient to effect real change; rather, it’s the underlying service that must tangibly improve, a point that Charter CEO Tom Rutledge clearly stated in this interview with Bloomberg.

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of moderating a super session at INTX 2016, the cable TV industry’s annual trade show. The title was “Is Content Really King? Understanding the Value of Platforms in a Crowded Video Space.” The session included Steve Shannon (GM, Content and Services, Roku), Evan Shapiro (EVP, Digital Enterprises, NBCU) and Matt Strauss (EVP/GM, Video Services, Comcast Cable).

It’s no secret that there’s more great video to watch now than ever. That’s created challenges for viewers to find what they want and for content providers to fully monetize their ever-growing production investments. That’s why the role of platforms is increasing in importance.

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