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YouTube's Content Head Kyncl at CES: The Niches Rule
Yesterday, Robert Kyncl, YouTube's VP of Global Content Partnerships, delivered a keynote address at CES with one overriding message: the future of video is all about the niches. Whether highlighting the success of Michelle Phan, a YouTube star that outdraws the Style Network on cable, the virtues of a forthcoming dedicated "Yoga Channel" for 17 million enthusiasts, or noting that the top 5 YouTube partners today all have audiences big enough to rank them among the top 20 TV networks, Kyncl made clear that YouTube is staking its future on the video industry fracturing into highly-specialized viewing segments.
Categories: Advertising, Aggregators, Indie Video
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #116 - Smart TVs Are All the Rage
I'm pleased to be joined once again by Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group, for the 116th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Jan. 13, 2012. Colin joins us from CES in Las Vegas (note, it's a little noisy). As anyone who's been following the news out of CES this week, connected or "Smart TVs" are all the rage.
In today's podcast Colin reports on what impressed him and what didn't. We dig into topics like universal search through voice and motion control, the role of second screens like the iPad to navigate Smart TVs, how pay-TV services are being integrated and how advertising is going to play a role plus much more. One thing is for sure, Smart TV's are going to be a big business in 2012. Colin says that TDG's research on purchase intent shows huge consumer interest in Smart TVs. Listen in to learn more!
Click here to listen to the podcast (18 minutes, 33 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!Topics: LG, Panasonic, Podcast, Samsung, Technicolor
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Even Microsoft Can't Afford to Break Into the Pay-TV Business
Here's just how expensive it has become to break into the pay-TV business: even mighty Microsoft can't afford it. Reuters reported late yesterday that Microsoft has put on hold its plan to create a pay-TV meets Netflix type
subscription service, after getting sticker shock over the cost of content distribution deals. When you have $52 billion of cash and equivalents on your balance sheet and still can't figure out how to make the numbers work, that's a pretty significant statement about how expensive licensing linear content has become.Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Satellite, Telcos
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TiVo Research: OTT and DVR Viewing Surges, Live Viewing Plummets
More research validating how on-demand viewership is ascendant and live
viewing is declining. TiVo released new data showing that 62% of viewing on connected TiVo devices is either of recorded programs or from over-the-top sources, while 38% of viewing is live. For TiVo users that watched Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus and other OTT options, live viewership declined to 27%.
The research is based on second-by-second analysis of users of 2 million TiVo devices. No trend data was released, so it's not clear how these numbers compare to prior periods.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: TiVo
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Hollywood's A-Listers Embrace Online Video, Upending the Status Quo
Tom Hanks. Louis C.K. Lisa Kudrow. Kevin Spacey. David Fincher. Bill Maher. Jennifer Lopez. Judy Greer. Steven Van Zandt. Anthony Zuiker. Morgan Spurlock. Ed Begley, Jr. Heidi Klum. What do these Hollywood A-Listers (or near A-Listers) and other stars all have in common? They're all involved in original online video projects which are helping upend the Hollywood ecosystem, legitimize the online medium and further fragment audiences. Each no doubt has his/her own reasons for getting involved, and taken together they're creating momentum that is going to draw in even more talent.
Of course, the big news this week was Tom Hanks partnering with Yahoo for the animated series "Electric City." Hanks, one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, said he was drawn by the opportunity to make "ambiguous attractive" which feels like another way of saying he's searching for greater creative freedom. While creativity may be motivating Hanks, in Louis C.K.'s case, it seems more about tweaking the System and proving that when presented with a compelling offer (in this case a $5 DRM-free download of his "Live at the Beacon Theater" special), people will behave properly (i.e. pay rather than steal).
Categories: Aggregators, Devices, Indie Video
Topics: AOL, Netflix, Tom Hanks, Yahoo, YouTube
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Comcast's New "AnyPlay Device" Provides Air Cover for iPad Streaming
Comcast has unveiled AnyPlay which allows subscribers to stream linear TV channels to their iPads and soon Motorola Xoom tablets. AnyPlay is initially
available in Denver and Nashville, with other markets to follow. AnyPlay follows similar initiatives from Cablevision and Time Warner Cable last year, which immediately landed those operators in hot water with a number of cable TV networks. At issue was whether the appropriate rights were in place to offer tablet streaming, even within the home.
Meanwhile Comcast laid low last year, only making on-demand programming available through its Xfinity TV iPad app. It was inevitable that Comcast would also launch linear viewing on the iPad, but I've wondered for a while how it would avoid similar rights challenges. Now it seems the workaround is the "AnyPlay device," a box which connects to the subscriber's wireless home network.
Categories: Cable Networks, Cable TV Operators, Devices
Topics: Comcast, iPad, Motorola, Xoom
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Advertising on Connected TVs Will Be the Next Battleground
With the launch of Samsung AdHub yesterday, the next big battleground for video advertising is shaping up to be on connected TVs. That makes a lot of
sense because as more video viewing occurs on connected TVs (or "Smart TVs as they're also called), audiences will further fragment from traditional linear TV. Connected TVs are projected to account for 155 million units by 2015, or 54% of all flat-panel TV shipped. By then over 500 million connected TVs will have been shipped. In 2011, approximately 27% of TVs shipped will be able to connect to a network. Advertisers have no choice but to figure out how to reach all of those eyeballs and TV manufacturers are now beginning to lay the groundwork.
Categories: Advertising, Devices
Topics: LG, Rovi, Samsung, Vizu, YuMe
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Blockbuster Adds Streaming Content, But Still Only Available to Dish Subscribers
Dish Network made a series of announcements today (enhanced HBO on demand access, whole-home DVR, bundled satellite broadband with ViaSat, expanded Univision distribution), but the one that caught my eye focused on increased video selection for its "Blockbuster@Home" online service, a new brand name which looks like it will replace the "Blockbuster Movie Pass" brand that Dish unveiled back in September. Specifically, Dish said it has added 3,000 titles targeted to kids ages 3-13 with partners Vivendi Entertainment, Cookie Jar, Lions Gate and Scholastic Media.
Categories: Aggregators, Satellite
Topics: Blockbuster, DISH
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