VideoNuze Posts

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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Early bird discounted registration ends this Friday for the 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC. All early bird registrants save $100 and are entered to win a 55-inch TCL 4K Roku TV.

Our amazing program includes keynote guests Charlie Chappell, Head of Global Integrated Media, The Hershey Company and  Marc Debevoise, EVP/GM, CBS Digital Media, CBS Interactive, plus 35+ executives from A+E Networks, American Express, Bloomberg Media, Conde Nast, IAB, Initiative, IPG Mediabrands, Mindshare, NBCU, Newsy, Turner, 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 on board so far as sponsors, 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!

When Amazon Video Direct (AVD) was announced last week, lots of industry observers saw it as a new YouTube competitor. At some point that may be true, but for now, there is little for YouTube, the undisputed 800-pound gorilla of the online video industry, to be worried about.

While video content providers will welcome another deep-pocketed third-party distributor into the market, the most important challenge AVD faces is proving that it can make incremental money for these providers, beyond what they can already earn on YouTube, their own direct channels/apps and elsewhere.

Amazon revealed 4 different ways that content providers can monetize their videos, but each has challenges.

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I'm pleased to present the 322nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week’s announcement by Amazon of “Amazon Video Direct” - seemingly a YouTube competitor and not an obvious extension for the company - prompted Colin and me to reflect on how many recent video industry initiatives have struck us as incongruous. There’s no doubt we’re living through an unprecedented period of instability in the video and TV industries, and a persistent question is how to parse smart experimentation/expansion from wild pitches?

In today’s podcast we discuss 7 different industry moves we’ve recently observed that seem to us like long shots that are disconnected from their companies’ core competencies vs. those that seem like natural extensions of their companies’ brand perceptions and capabilities. (Our biggest head-scratcher is Dish Network’s decision to expand into in-home iPhone repairs. Huh?).

Still, Colin and I readily acknowledge this is not hard science. To that end, we also identify a few examples that at one time may have seemed like odd pursuits, but have turned into big successes  (Snapchat’s move into professional video, with its Discover feature, is a prime example). It’s all great food for thought as we continue to assess the dynamic video landscape each day.

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (21 minutes, 39 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today! (note the link has been updated)

New research from video ad tech provider Unruly highlights the opportunities and challenges advertisers have in reaching 18-34 year-old audiences with video ads.

The good news for advertisers is that millennials are 112% more likely than the average viewer to share the ads they like. Getting them to do so hinges on the ad capturing the zeitgeist. Fortunately, millennials are 25% more likely than the average viewer to feel inspired by video ads and 27% more likely to feel happy. They are also 23% more likely to enjoy relevant ads.

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Microsoft and Akamai have announced general availability of Azure CDN from Akamai, which provides Azure cloud customers integrated access and support for Akamai’s global content delivery network. The partnership was initially announced last September and the companies have been working closely on integration and on-boarding charter customers since.

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Video ad tech provider Cedato has launched CedatoX, a private video ad marketplace, connecting supply and demand on the Cedato platform at the server level. In a briefing, Cedato’s CMO Dvir Doron told me that the key benefits are simple setup and transactions along with proven revenue lift for participating publishers.

Dvir highlighted that CedatoX addresses the pain point of video transactions being complicated for both sides to configure and maintain. With CedatoX, private transaction terms are set and managed on the platform. The result is more effective yield and fill rates.

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