VideoNuze Posts

7Park Data has released an analysis of OTT viewership, finding among other things, that “Orange is the New Black” was Netflix’s most popular show in June in 15 of the 16 countries analyzed (in Ecuador OITNB was fourth, with “Full House” in the top spot). OITNB had its season 4 premier on June 16th, driving a 544% viewership increase from May to June.

Although Netflix released 12 of its originals’ season premieres in June, OITNB was the only one among the top 20 most-viewed. Following OITNB globally was “How I Met Your Mother,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “Supernatural” and “Family Guy.” In the U.S., specifically, OITNB was followed by “Family Guy,” “The Office,” “American Dad!” and “Friends.”

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TiVo has announced its latest DVR, the 4K BOLT+, which includes 6 tuners and 3 GB of   storage, comparable to the existing Roamio Pro. The BOLT+ follows the introduction of the original 4K BOLT one year ago, which included 4 tuners and two sizes, 500 GB and 1 TB. Importantly the original BOLT only came in white, while the new BOLT+ comes in black, which will make it fit more elegantly into existing entertainment centers. The BOLT+ retains the BOLT’s sleek, unconventional curved design.

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Outstream video ad leader Teads has acquired Brainient, whose dynamic creative optimization (DCO) technology enables personalized, interactive video ads. Terms were not disclosed. Brainient aims to deliver customized ads tied to a user’s profile including their geo-location, device, time of day and other contextual information.

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I'm pleased to present the 338th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Today we first dig into an idea Colin outlined earlier this week, that pay-TV could become a “dumb authentication service” as the trend of subscribers migrating their TV viewing away from set-top boxes and toward authenticated TV apps on connected TV devices gains momentum. This is an important shift that is already happening for many people (listen to our podcast 2 weeks ago for more).

In this model pay-TV operators still continue to authenticate viewers and manage billing, but do little else. In fact, the FCC’s current plans to “unlock the box” mean the scenario has even more credibility. We agree that’s a precarious place for operators to be and opens up opportunities for disruptors, like Amazon.

Speaking of Amazon, just this week it made 2 important updates to its Fire TV devices which reinforce the growing role the company is playing in the SVOD and TV ecosystems and why it so well-positioned. Building on this, just today Bloomberg reported Amazon is now eyeing live sports deals, which would push it even further into pay-TV’s turf.

Listen now to learn more!

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Music services are omnipresent, but pay-TV operators haven’t had much of a role. Seeking to change that, data provider Gracenote, a subsidiary of Tribune Media Company, has announced a suite of music data and services to enable pay-TV operators to launch their own music video channels and services, identify music on TV and search for artists’ on linear and on-demand programming.

Noting that 72% of YouTube viewership is music videos (according to Statista), Gracenote believes pay-TV operators have an opportunity to launch various services that bring music videos to HDTVs and home media environments.

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Yesterday Amazon unveiled new search and recommendation features for its Fire TV and Fire TV Stick devices, aimed squarely at improving users’ experience with third-party SVOD services. The device updates are automatically downloaded and will enable universal voice search to over 75 video apps, including Netflix, HBO GO and soon HBO Now, as well as personalized recommendations across apps to be visible in custom rows on the Fire TV home page.

Both updates continue the evolution of Fire TV’s role as a hub for SVOD and free video services. That’s not a novel approach, as other devices like Roku, Chromecast and Apple TV are also aiming to be central hubs for online video. And arguably, Comcast is starting to take its first steps for X1 to also become a hub, by announcing plans to incorporate Netflix later this year.

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If you’re like me, then you’re watching more and more video on your smartphone and you’re also starting to see more video ads. That’s because brands are waking up to the opportunity mobile video represents. To help illustrate some of the payoffs from mobile video ads, Videology has published a new white paper and case studies with 3 different advertisers who have recently had success.

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