VideoNuze Posts

Video ad technology provider Videology has released an excellent infographic (after the jump below), jam-packed with useful data about Q3 online video advertising spending and performance. The data is based on 1.3 billion video ad impressions served by Videology in the U.S. from July 1 to Sept. 30. I'm normally not a huge fan of infographics, but this one has highly relevant data, presented clearly and concisely.

A few of the data points that jumped out for me:

- Despite the buzz over mobile and connected devices, 90% of video ads were still served online.

- Almost two-thirds of video ad impressions were placed on sites classified as entertainment-oriented (the third quarter in a row this has been the case). A distant second, with 8.4% of video ad impressions were portal sites.

- Educational Services was the category of video ads with the highest click-through rate while Retail ads had the highest viewing completion rate.

- Just 10.1% of video ad impressions were targeted to the tech-savvy 18-24 demo; the majority (63.9%) were targeted to the 25-54 demos.

See the infographic

A reminder that VideoSchmooze: Online Video Leadership Forum is one week from today, Wed., Dec. 5th, in NYC. If you're still deliberating whether to come, register now to join approximately 250 executives from across the video and digital landscape who are signed up for this premier morning of learning and networking.

Some of the media and technology companies represented include: ABC, A&E Networks, BBC, BlackArrow, blinkx, Bloomberg, CNN, CBS, Cisco, Clearleap, Comcast, DirecTV, eMarketer, ESPN, FreeWheel, Hearst, IMG, LinkedIn, MLB Network, NBCU, NFL, Nielsen, Orange, Ooyala, Redbox, Roku, Scripps, Synacor, TiVo, TV Guide, and many others. Plus all of VideoSchmooze's sponsors - Adobe, Akamai, AOL, Collective, NeuLion, thePlatform and Undertone will have executives in attendance who can share information about their products and services.

We have a great diversity of expert speakers who will cover many of the main issues in online video. A highlight of the morning will be the opening session, featuring 3 of Wall Street's top broadband/cable/Internet/media analysts (Craig Moffett from Sanford Bernstein, Michael Nathanson from Nomura and Laura Martin from Needham & Co.) discussing the tectonic changes driving the video industry. This is the first time this group has been together and you can expect a data-rich, detailed discussion of the industry's dynamics and what's ahead in 2013.

After the analysts' panel, there will be 4 sessions digging deeper into the hottest industry topics including the OTT landscape, TV Everywhere, multi-platform distribution, monetization, innovation/technology enablers, changing consumer behaviors, devices, syndication, mobile video and more.

In addition, all VideoSchmooze attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the brand new 16-page "Ultimate Guide to TV Everywhere and Anywhere," a collaboration of VideoNuze and B&C/Multichannel News magazines, being published on Dec. 3rd.

I look forward to seeing you at VideoSchmooze!

Learn more and register now

New research from The Diffusion Group forecasts that the number of "pay-TV refugees" - U.S. homes subscribing to broadband, but not to pay-TV services - will increase 58%, from 10.9 million in 2012 to 17.2 million in 2017. Pay-TV refugees consist of both "cord-cutters" (homes that once subscribed to pay-TV, but no longer do) and "cord-nevers" (homes that have never subscribed to pay-TV). The percentage of broadband subscribers who are pay-TV refugees will increase from 12.5% in 2012 to 17.2% in 2017.

Although it forecasts the number of cord-cutters to increase over the next 5 years, TDG's founding partner and director of research Michael Greeson believes the pay-TV industry's main concern should be with cord-nevers which will more than double during that period. Of the 17.2 million pay-TV refugees in 2017, TDG forecasts 40% or 6.9 million of them to be cord-nevers, up from 29%, or 3.2 million, in 2012.

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Having binge viewed 8 episodes of the final season of "The Wire" on HBOGO over the long weekend, I am very intrigued by Netflix's strategy to release all 13 episodes of its first high-profile original series, "House of Cards" on Feb. 1st.  Based on the trailer (see below), the show looks very compelling. The question is whether Netflix's strategy strikes the correct balance between delighting its subscribers vs. best serving its own business interests.

Binge viewing, or watching numerous episodes of a TV series in a concentrated time period, has become a huge phenomenon, pioneered by Netflix's subscribers themselves. The opportunity to watch as much as you want of a series, on multiple devices, and at any time you prefer (and without any commercials!), is the ultimate in consumer control. As Netflix migrated to streaming, it erased the last obstacle to binge viewing, the need to mail back one DVD in order to get the next one with successive episodes.

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Disney's announcement that it was shutting down its Disney Movies Online service on Dec. 31 is another blow for transactional VOD and digital lockers for movies, two corners of the online video ecosystem that are struggling for traction.

Transactional VOD - renting or buying movies online - has become a tougher sell to consumers in the digital age. Not long ago Hollywood studios' home video divisions boomed as many consumers were keen to buy DVDs and create large collections of movies that they prominently displayed. But while DVD sales have gone off the cliff recently, digital rentals and purchases haven't picked up the slack.

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Veveo, a provider of search solutions for connected devices, has debuted a new voice and natural language-based, "conversational interface" technology for video search. Available for trial currently and for release in Q1 '13 in its Reveal 3.0 product, the new voice capability is targeted to pay-TV operators, connected device manufacturers and set-top box providers eager to give users more flexibility in how they navigate the ever-increasing array of video choices.

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A new study released by Jun Group, an opt-in video ad platform, has found that users are twice as likely to interact with a brand upon watching an incentivized video ad as they are after watching a pre-roll. The results are based on 7.7 million incentivized video ad views from Jun Group campaigns between May-August 2012 along with industry data on pre-rolls.

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comScore released its October Video Metrix rankings late last week and the good news for YouTube was that with a little over 13 billion videos delivered, its market share nudged up to 35% from September's 33.3%. As I wrote a few weeks ago, that was a record low share for the perennial online video leader, and was actually down from 53.1% just 2 months prior.

However, as the chart below shows, it's the third straight month of share below 40% and may well represent the "new normal" for YouTube's place in the industry. One interesting explanation for the drop in share is the comScore's numbers don't account for mobile (smartphone and tablet) viewing. If proportionately more of YouTube's viewing has shifted to mobile, then the declines in its online share would reflect that.

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