VideoNuze Posts

The program for the 2nd annual NABShow Online Video Conference on April 18th and 19th in Las Vegas, which VideoNuze is producing, is now complete and features 50 speakers participating on 14 different sessions.

Our day 1 keynote speaker is Neal Mohan, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer and SVP, Google, who will discuss the company’s future in virtual reality, mobile and putting content in context. Our day 2 keynote is Michael Paull, VP, Digital Video at Amazon, who I will interview about the company’s video strategy, OTT industry trends and its recently launched Streaming Partners Program.

In addition to these 2 sessions, we’ll have new research presented by Brett Sappington of Parks Associates on OTT adoption and churn and Howard Horowitz of Horowitz Research on the role of broadcast content in today’s multi-platform environment.

And we have dozens of other speakers from companies including Adobe, Akamai, AOL, BBC Digital, Brightcove, CBS Interactive, Comcast, Conde Nast, DataXu, Ellation, Facebook, Google, Gracenote, MLBAM, Operative, Roku, Synacor, Videology, Verizon, Vimeo, Whistle Sports and more.

It promises to be an action-packed program covering many of the hottest industry topics. You can save $100 on registration now by using this link. Don’t miss out, register now!

Online video advertising is booming but the vast majority of what we all see are still repurposed TV ads. That has created a huge new problem of monitoring and complying with the ads’ commercial usage rights. Non-compliance can result in significant fines from unions such as SAG-AFTRA, ACTRA and others that represent talent who appear in ads.

To address this growing problem, video ad tech provider Extreme Reach launched TRUST Tags (Talent and Rights Usage Safety Tracking) last August. Extreme Reach’s CEO John Roland told me in a recent briefing that over 180 agencies and advertisers are now using the TRUST tag, which is free, and that the company has just launched its first ad campaign to raise awareness for TRUST.

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The never-ending tussle between pay-TV operators and sports TV networks over escalating carriage fees is back in focus due to the standoff between Comcast and the YES Network, which has the rights to broadcast New York Yankees games, among others. Comcast dropped YES last November, leaving approximately 900K of its New York area subscribers without access to YES. With the Yankees’ opening day one week from today, the standoff is going to gain much more attention.

As with other sports TV carriage disputes, this one boils down to money and audience. Comcast is arguing that YES’s demand for a reported $6 per month per subscriber isn’t justified given its ratings. Last November Comcast said that over 90% of its subscribers didn’t watch the equivalent of even one quarter of the 130 games YES broadcast in 2015. Nielsen said that YES averaged 250K viewers in 2015, a decrease of 44% vs. its peak of 450K in 2007.

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I'm pleased to present the 315th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we turn our attention to the ever-evolving Smart TV space, which saw new developments in this week. First, Colin explains the new line of TCL 4K Roku TVs, which he’s impressed with. Like other manufacturers, TCL has opted to partner with Roku to bring its software, user experience and thousands of apps to its smart TVs, rather than try to replicate all of this itself.

In contrast, Vizio has chosen a completely different path with its new P-Series launched this week, partnering with Google to embed Google Cast in the TVs, essentially moving the “smarts” to mobile devices which “cast” content to the TV (even the use of the term “TV” is loose with the P-Series considering they don’t have tuners). As I explained yesterday and then further on the podcast, the Google Cast approach has numerous benefits for both developers and consumers.

Colin and I are encouraged by what may be a consolidation of smart TV platforms, likely to include Roku, Google, Apple and Amazon, in the end. Smart TVs have been a confusing space for all for far too long, creating messy, incomplete consumer experiences and leaving these devices untethered from mainstream ecosystems.

Listen now to learn more!

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Back in July, 2013, when Google introduced Chromecast, I speculated in “Just When TVs Were Getting Smart, Chromecast Will Make Them Dumb Again,” that the little $35 device could overturn years of TV manufacturers’ investments in making TVs “smart.” Flash forward to this week’s formal unveiling of “Google Cast” and the Vizio P-Series with SmartCast, and the vision of TVs heading back to dumb-dumb land could be underway.

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Early bird discounted registration is now open for the 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 14th in NYC. This year’s Ad Summit moves to a new location, the beautiful Westin New York at Times Square.

The unifying theme of this year’s Ad Summit is the ongoing convergence between online video and TV advertising. We’ll be exploring this and other critical industry topics through a mix of keynotes, fireside chats, panel discussions and research presentations. Detailed program info will be posted soon.

Over the past 5 years the Ad Summit has become a premier day of learning and networking with industry leaders from content providers, advertisers, agencies, technology companies and others in the ecosystem. Last year's Ad Summit was our biggest yet, with over 450 attendees and 55 executive speakers. Given everything going on in the industry, I’m confident this year’s Ad Summit will once again be a must-attend event.

I'm thrilled to have 8 fantastic companies on board as initial sponsors, including Title Partner Videology, Premier Partners Altitude Digital, DashBid, Extreme Reach and Verizon Digital Media Services, Headline Partners FreeWheel and JW Player, and Branding Partner VertaMedia. I’m honored they've decided to be a part of the Ad Summit. I’ll have other sponsors to share soon.

If you'd like to learn more about speaking and sponsorship opportunities, please contact me.

Learn more and register now!