VideoNuze Posts

New research validates the key assumption that TV Everywhere adds critical value to the increasingly expensive pay-TV subscription. In a survey, HUB Research has found that 82% of heavy TVE users rate pay-TV a "good" or "excellent" value vs. 52% for light TVE users, and just 48% for non-TVE users.  

That's encouraging news for the pay-TV ecosystem, however, just 16% of subscribers are actually heavy users, using TVE several times per week or every day). Importantly though, 30% of millennials identify themselves as heavy users. Clearly a key industry challenge is to raise TVE awareness and usage.

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The initial program for the 5th annual VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit on Tuesday, June 16th in NYC is now set.  

I'm thrilled that Neeraj Khemlani, Co-President of Hearst Entertainment & Syndication and President, Hearst Digital Studios, will be our keynote guest. I will be interviewing Neeraj about critical industry trends, how established media companies are positioning themselves for the online video era and how viewers' behavior is impacting advertising. Plus, we'll discuss Hearst's investments in Vice, AwesomenessTV, BuzzFeed, Roku and others.

So far, 26 executive speakers are on board, from industry leaders like Bonnier, Conde Nast, Digitas, Heineken USA, MediaVest, Reuters TV, Roku, Starcom, Viacom, Zenith OptiMedia and many others.

The jam-packed program will feature 14 sessions on the convergence of TV and video advertising, programmatic from both the buyers' and publishers' sides, how video monetization is being modernized from both the buyers' and publishers' side, mobile video, connected TVs, the NewFronts/Upfronts, viewability and online video ad innovation.

The Ad Summit will once again be a must-attend day of learning and networking with industry leaders from brands, agencies, content providers, technology companies and others in the ecosystem. Last year's Ad Summit drew over 420 attendees and featured 40+ speakers.

Discounted, early bird registration is open, and a reminder that all early bird registrants will be entered to win a 55-inch TCL Roku TV, generously provided by Roku.

Learn more and register now!

The problem-plagued HBO Nordic service, launched in late 2012, has received a full revamp with help from U.S. technology provider Clearleap. Even though there's been a lot of recent focus on HBO Now's launch here in the U.S., the original standalone HBO streaming service was actually HBO Nordic, which is available in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Unfortunately for HBO Nordic, the service had issues from the start, including buggy apps, lack of support for key streaming devices, onerous terms and conditions, and an incomplete catalog, all resulting in disappointing reviews and frustrated subscribers.

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One of the great riddles of the past few years is whether Netflix is friend or foe to the U.S. television industry, including broadcast TV networks, cable TV networks and pay-TV operators. Over the years, Netflix has downplayed in many ways its disruptive potential to the TV industry (my personal favorite is when CEO Reed Hastings would say "We're more of a bicycle to their car" in comparing Netflix to pay-TV).

But with Netflix tacking on another 2.3 million subscribers in the U.S. in Q1 '15, bringing its total to 41.4 million, the question is taking on increasing urgency. How should the TV industry REALLY think of Netflix? Below I share what I think are the best "friend" and "foe" arguments, concluding with my own assessment of what Netflix really is now.

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Vessel announced a new financing this morning, which sources close to the company pegged at $57.5 million. The round was led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), which has also invested in Netflix, Twitter, Snapchat and other consumer-facing media companies. Prior investors Benchmark, Greylock Partners and Bezos Expeditions also participated. Total funding for Vessel now stands at approximately $134.5 million.

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I'm pleased to present the 269th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Colin and I were both at the NABShow this week. I was hosting the inaugural NAB's inaugural Online Video Conference, which featured over 40 industry executive speakers. In today's podcast we share 4 main takeaways from the NABShow, including the shift to cloud/IP, the rise of TV Everywhere, the personalization of video and why drone-based video is so compelling.

Listen in to learn more!

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Video supply side ad platform Altitude Digital has raised $30 million from FastPay, a provider of liquidity and financial workflow solutions to the media industry. The new funds will be used for growing Altitude's ARENA platform and data infrastructure, expanding mobile capabilities and growing internationally. The new financing brings total capital raised to date to $45 million.

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