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Glee is Ready for Summer with New "Superfan" Player
With Glee's finale behind it, Fox is launching a new "Superfan" player today, aiming to keep up fans' interest during summer re-reruns. Superfan marks yet another evolution in the online video player experience, cleverly merging social media with the viewing experience.
The first thing you notice about Superfan is the radically different look vs. the prior, standard player for Glee and other Fox programs.
Superfan:
Old player:
Bill Bradford, Fox's SVP of Content Strategy at Fox explained to me that with Superfan, Fox is trying to make it easier to drill down into additional non-linear content while watching the full episodes. Superfan prominently promotes links to Twitter, Digg, Facebook and other social media. When you click to open one of these, the video window minimizes to the lower right-hand corner (1 click brings it back to center screen) so you can easily multi-task; it's a pretty cool experience. There are also links to behind the scenes footage, iTunes to buy the show's music, actor bios and a "photo booth" feature.
One basic thing that's missing for now is a conventional slider bar that displays progress and allows specific scene selection. Bill said they're going to explore that in future releases. Bill also explained that context sensitive links can dynamically appear when a relevant scene triggers them, which is a pretty exciting feature, especially for e-commerce apps, though I didn't see these enabled yet.
For Glee, a show that skews to a younger, more engaged audience, Superfan makes a lot of sense. I expect we'll see more efforts like Superfan as more programs try to bring the online "water cooler" interactions of social media closer to the programs themselves. Superfan is powered by Coincident TV, a relatively new software provider focused on immersive "hypervideo" experiences blending online video and social media. Thinking more broadly, I also see Superfan as a precursor to the types of on-screen, interactive experiences that are going to be common with Google TV and other convergence devices.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Broadcasters
Topics: Coincident TV, FOX, Glee
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Reconciling iPhone 4's Video Push With AT&T's New Data Plans
To nobody's surprise, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone 4, a powerful machine with a focus on performance. It carries the specs of an iPad including an A4 processor and 800:1 contrast IPS display, along with a new 960x640, 326 pixels per inch "retina display," a pixel density that is indistinguishable to the human eye.
The new iPhone also squarely emphasizes video use - video chat, video shooting and editing and a new Netflix app that Jobs was obviously so excited about that he brought Netflix CEO Reed Hastings up on stage to do his own short demo.
Surprisingly though, the new iPhone's push to more video comes just days after AT&T published its new data plans that seem to disincent video-hungry power users. The new plans, which are slightly cheaper, cap users at 2GB for $25 a month with additional 1GB increments available for $10. While AT&T says that less than 2% of its users exceed the 2GB/mo threshold currently, surely new iPhone (not to mention iPad) users, tempted by all the tasty new video offerings, will start blowing through these limits, knowingly or unknowingly. In fact, it won't take much to exceed the limit; Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone estimated that just 1 HD episode of Mad Men will take up 1.51 GB, or more than 3/4 of the monthly allocation - before you've done anything else.
Categories: Mobile Video
Topics: Apple, AT&T, Flash, iPhone
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Why Apple Still Doesn't Have a TV Strategy
With the race to bring online video viewing to the TV now in full swing, I've continued to wonder why it is that Apple still doesn't have a TV strategy (or if they have one, why they haven't articulated it). More than 3 years since introducing Apple TV, its only TV-related product, Steve Jobs still routinely calls it a "hobby" and there has been virtually no innovation around it. Unsurprisingly, its sales have languished.
Asked at the D8 conference last week when Apple is going to do something in the TV arena, Jobs replied that the "problem with innovation in the TV industry is the go-to-market strategy. There's a subsidized business model that gives everybody a set-top box for free or for $10/month - and that pretty much squashes any opportunity for innovation because nobody's willing to buy a set-top box." As a result he said, "all you can do is add a box on" and that this brings "a table full of remotes, cluster of boxes and bunch of different UIs." Jobs asserted that the only way things will change is to "go back to square one and tear up the set-top box and redesign it from scratch."
Of course, there is virtually no chance that cable/satellite/telco-provided set-top boxes are going away any time soon, which, given Jobs's definition of the problem, will leave Apple on the outside looking in as consumers hunger to view online video on their TVs. From my perspective there are at least 3 reasons Apple appears stymied.
Categories: Devices
Topics: Apple, Apple TV, Google
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Early Bird Discount Ends Today for June 15th VideoSchmooze LA Breakfast
If you've been sitting on the fence about whether to attend the VideoSchmooze breakfast/panel discussion in LA on Tues, June 15th, the early bird discount ends today, so save by registering now! The event will be at the
luxurious SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. The topic of our panel discussion, which I'll moderate, is "How Hollywood Succeeds in the Digital Distribution Era."
Click here to learn more and save with the early bird discount
Our expert panel will dig into all of the relevant issues:- Albert Cheng - EVP, Digital Media, Disney/ABC Television Group
- Gannon Hall - Chief Operating Officer, Kyte (co-lead sponsor of the breakfast)
- Justin Herz - SVP, Direct-to-Consumer, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution
- Ted Sarandos - Chief Content Officer - Netflix
- Ben Weinberger - CEO and Co-Founder, Digitalsmiths (co-lead sponsor of the breakfast)
It's inevitable that more and more of Hollywood's future revenues will come from digital, but exactly how the transition happens from traditional models to new ones is very much in flux. With a blistering array of new devices, technologies and delivery platforms, key decision-makers face a confusing set of choices.
Our panelists will help us cut through the noise and explain what drives their decision-making, how they assess their options and what are their key challenges. Based on my conversations with the panelists this week, it promises to be an illuminating discussion, with plenty of time for audience Q&A. If you're in or around the Hollywood ecosystem and/or are a technology provider trying to understand your industry opportunities, the breakfast and panel are a must attend!
Thanks to the event's co-lead sponsors Digitalsmiths and Kyte, and supporting sponsors Akamai, Horn Group, Irdeto, ScanScout and Signiant.
Click here to learn more and save with the early bird discountCategories: Events
Topics: VideoSchmooze
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MeFeedia Unveils HTML5 Analytics for All Player
Search engine MeFeedia is announcing this morning a new real-time analytics suite for HTML5 video viewed using the company's All Player.
Content providers using All Player will be able to track a variety of data for video consumed across all devices supporting HTML5 - iPads, iPhones, Android phones and the web. They can view data by summary, recent, popular, devices, videos and channels to monitor an individual or group of videos' performance. Data can also be exported for offline analysis and viewing. The type of data tracked includes view-through rates, time watched, impressions and the viewing device.
As with the All Player itself, the analytics package is free.
The analytics release follows MeFeedia announcing support for HTML5 advertising just before the iPad's recent launch. MeFeedia CEO Frank Sinton explained to me yesterday that though it's still early for HTML5, the company is committed to building out further HTML5 features for the All Player.
For those not familiar with All Player, which MeFeedia launched last June, it's targeted primarily to small and mid-sized content providers who want to improve their ad monetization. All Player's value prop is that it has integrated with key video ad networks, so that once an All Player content provider is approved, it can add or improve monetization immediately. Content providers can use All Player stand alone or in conjunction with their OVP.
All Player has moved MeFeedia from being solely a video search engine to also being a monetization partner. Frank explained that numerous providers now partner with MeFeedia, in some cases simply syndicating a feed of their content, which MeFeedia offers and monetizes through All Player, in turn sending a revenue share back to the content provider. Frank says MeFeedia is fully ad supported and is now profitable. As HTML5 emerges, adding complexity in the short-term to content providers' work flow, tools like All Player look even more important.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).Categories: Advertising, Analytics
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Cisco: Video will be 91% of All IP Traffic by 2014
Cisco released its annual Visual Networking Index forecast today, a model based on a combination of analyst projections and data collected from Cisco customers. Cisco is forecasting that global IP traffic will increase 4.3 times though 2014 and that video will be the primary driver, accounting for 91% of traffic by 2014.
Video's dominance is based on "Hyperconnectivity" which Cisco says is driven by the growing penetration of broadband, the increasing screen space and resolution on consumer devices, the proliferation of network-enabled devices and the increase in power and speed of computing devices. Mobile devices were also included in this list, but specific traffic was denoted separately and, in line with last year's forecast is set to increase 39 times, with video accounting for 66% in the year 2014.
Categories:
Topics: Cisco
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Mobile Video Ad Network Transpera Raises $9 Million
Mobile video ad network Transpera is announcing this morning that it has raised a Series C round of $9 million, led by BlackBerry Partners Fund, with participation from existing investors Flybridge Capital Partners, First Round Capital, Intel Capital and Labrador Ventures. Transpera CEO Frank Barbieri told me yesterday that total company funding to date is $18 million.
In addition to the financing, the company is also now promoting its network
as "The Audience Network," reflecting what Frank said are significantly higher engagement metrics Transpera campaigns are achieving vs. comparable online video ones. Transpera has worked with brand research firm Insight Express to study performance of 5 recent video ad campaigns that ran on Transpera's network. Compared to norms that Insight Express keeps for similar online video campaigns, for the Transpera campaigns it found 9 times higher increase in purchase intent, 19 times higher increase in aided awareness, 4 times higher increase in unaided awareness and 2 times higher increase in ad awareness.
Categories: Advertising, Deals & Financings, Mobile Video
Topics: BlackBerry Partners Fund, Rhythm New Media, Transpera
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Total Video Viewership Down Slightly in April; YouTube Share Jumps
comScore has released its new online video rankings for April '10 which show total videos viewed of 30.3 billion, down almost 3% from the prior month's 31.2 billion. As a result, YouTube, which was roughly flat in April at 13.1
billion videos, saw its market share increase to 43.5%, its highest level since July '08. It was also YouTube's second highest share since I started tracking the comScore numbers in Jan '07 (when YouTube had a relatively paltry 16.2% market).
The 3% decrease in total videos from March '10 to April '10, compares with a 5% decrease from March '08 to April '08 and a 16% increase from March '09 to April '10. While it's hard to discern any trends around these 3 year numbers, one thing worth noting is that over the last 6 months, with the exception of blips up in Dec '09 and Jan '10, total video views have stayed relatively stable right around 30 billion. I'm not sure exactly what to conclude from that, but I'll certainly be watching the coming months to see if viewership is flat-lining or just taking a breather.
Categories: Aggregators
Topics: comScore, Hulu, VEVO, YouTube
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