VideoNuze Posts

I'm pleased to present the 232nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

The World Cup is in full swing and as many predicted beforehand, live-streaming is a crucial part of how fans are following the action. Colin notes that Akamai (which is responsible for a lot of the live-streaming globally), said that back in the 2010 World Cup, the peak bandwidth used was 1.4 terabits/second. Akamai was expecting that level to quadruple this year.

Sure enough, in current group play, the Brazil-Mexico game already almost reached that target, registering 4.59 Tbps. That level will surely be exceeded as play moves on to the knockout stage (in which Colin's beloved England is unlikely to be participating).

A key part of the World Cup's streaming success is due to the proliferation of mobile viewing devices, and we next discuss data Ooyala released this week revealing that mobile's share of online views increased from 3.4% in Q1 '12 to 21.5% in Q1 '14. Live-streaming in particular was a big-driver, and that's mainly sports. We dig into the details.

Listen in to learn more!

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The full program for the June 25th VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit in NYC is now complete, with 45 industry leaders set to appear on 14 different sessions that will cover all of the hottest online video ad industry topics (see full program here). If your business relies in any way on online video advertising's success, the Video Ad Summit is a highly-focused, must-attend day of learning.

With over 350 executives already registered to attend, the Video Ad Summit is also an excellent day of networking and business development. Registrants hail from throughout the ecosystem - ad agencies, brands, content providers, technologists, venture capitalists, journalists and others. With luck the weather will cooperate and we'll have lunch and end-of-day cocktails on the beautiful terrace, with spectacular views of the Empire State Building.

A few additional bonuses:

- All attendees will receive complimentary, exclusive access to eMarketer's new mobile video advertising report.

- All attendees will be able to drop their business card at ILoveVideo.tv's table-top to win an iPad Mini.

- All attendees are also registered for CEWeek's free exhibits and conferences.

- And all early bird registrants (you know who you are!) are eligible to win a 50-inch Samsung LED Smart TV and Roku Streaming Stick, provided by Innovid.

The Ad Summit is generously supported by 17 industry companies including Title Partners Tremor Video and ILoveVideo.tv/Castaclip; Premier Partner AOL, Headline Partners ActiveVideo, Brightcove, Eyeview, FreeWheel, LiveRail, Sizmek, TubeMogul, Turn and Videology plus Branding Partners Beachfront Media, Innovid, Mixpo, Optimatic and SpotXchange.

Learn more and register now!

More evidence this morning about mobile video's surging adoption: in its Q1 2014 Global Video Index, Ooyala found that 21.5% of all online video views occurred on mobile phones and tablets, up from just 3.4% in Q1 2012. In addition, in Ooyala's prior Q4 2013 report, it predicted that by end of 2015, 37% of all video viewing will be on mobile devices, and by the end of 2016 it would be up to half.

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Qplay, an app which organizes short online videos into longer-form personalized experiences (dubbed "Qs"), announced today that it now supports Chromecast and that it has introduced two new features, Party Qs and hashtags. Qplay was founded in August, 2012 by Mike Ramsay and Jim Barton, founders of TiVo.

With Chromecast, Qplay now gives users who want to watch Qs on their TVs the ability to do so without having to buy the $49 Qplay TV Adapter. Leveraging Chromecast's broad popularity is a smart move by Qplay to reduce the barrier to users accessing the service on their TVs. This is a key company objective as it seeks to transform online video into more of a living room type experience.

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It wasn't that long ago when the term "TV" had a clear, universally understood meaning - a type of programming (e.g. entertainment, sports, news, weather, etc.) that was viewed on a screen typically located in a living room/bedroom/den/kitchen/etc.

Flash forward to today and things are much more complicated. TV programming is, of course, still a form of video, but how about all the different original online video that is now being produced - should some, all or none of it be considered "TV?" What criteria should be used to decide how to classify it and who decides? Does the definition differ by age group? And perhaps most important - does it even matter - is the concept of something being considered "TV" still relevant?

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I'm pleased to present the 231st edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week we explore the concept of the "appification of TV," which means accessing TV programming and experiences via apps on a set-top box or connected TV device vs. through a typical linear or even on-demand/DVR model. Of course apps are already hugely popular on tablets and smartphones, but not nearly so on TV, as they require either a connected TV device or a set-top box that can run apps.

In the latter category is Comcast's new X1, which the company is aggressively rolling out and which currently has a limited assortment of apps available (back in February I shared a video demo of how the NBC Olympics "Live Extra" app works on X1). This week Colin saw a demo of another example - CNNx - a recently announced app from CNN, which we use as a jumping off point for our discussion.

As we discuss, the appification of TV raises a slew of questions, including whether it's a net positive for the broadcast/cable network, the pay-TV operator and the viewer. Colin believes that competitive pressure from online providers will spur the appification process forward, though I think caution will be the watchword particularly given uncertainties around monetizing apps on TV. We raise more questions than we have answers around this provocative topic, but it's all great food for thought.

Listen in to learn more!




Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

In an interview with Recode on Tuesday, Sony Computer Entertainment America President and CEO Shawn Layden said the company is still planning to launch a "revolutionary" OTT pay-TV service by the end of 2014.

However, as Intel learned with its own misguided OnCue foray, the big cable network owners aren't enabling any revolutions to occur in the pay-TV industry. To the contrary, they're working hard to extend the status quo. This, plus other factors, means the odds of success for Sony's nascent OTT pay-TV service are extremely low.

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Recently released data from online video ad platforms Videology and LiveRail reveal in-depth dynamics of the fast-moving online video ad industry.

First, in an analysis of 2.4 billion video impressions Videology delivered in Q1 '14, it found that 91% of advertisers bought video ads based on a guaranteed CPM (cost per impression), similar to how traditional TV advertising is bought. This was an increase of 6% vs. Q4 '13.

The desktop still dominates for online video ad campaigns, as 78% were for desktop-only, followed by 10% for desktop plus mobile, 6% for desktop/mobile/connected TV, 5% for mobile only and 1% for other connected TV. Videology found that 35% of campaign used some type of 3rd-party verification, including Nielsen's OCR or comScore's vCE.

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