VideoNuze Posts

Vubiquity has announced AnyVU Cloud, a new cloud-based, multi-device video services platform providing both linear and on-demand content. In addition, the company has announced Akamai as its first partner, dubbing the combined solution "content-as-a-service." It is directed to existing pay-TV operators, content owners and OTT providers for a range of monetization models.

AnyVU Cloud is a milestone for Vubiquity in evolving from the traditional business of managing and delivering video primarily to set-top boxes for incumbent providers to operating in a far more complex landscape in which video is delivered over IP networks to multiple devices by multiple providers with widely varying business rules and monetization.

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AOL is the latest online video provider to jump into long-form series programming, announcing this morning that it is adapting the Israeli series "Connected" for the U.S. market. Connected will follow the lives of 5 New Yorkers in parallel stories as they unfold and eventually come together. Connected already plays in a dozen countries around the world. It will debut at AOL's NewFronts on April 29th and start its run on AOL in January, 2105.

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Ooyala released its Q4 2013 Global Video Index, finding an increase of 719% in video viewing on mobile devices and tablets since Q4 2011 and 160% since Q4 2012. In December, 2013, mobile and tablet viewing accounted for 26% of time played, up from 18% in October. Based on current growth rates, Ooyala forecasts that by the end of 2015, 37% of all video viewing will be on mobile devices and tablets, and by the end of 2016, it will amount to fully half of all viewing.

Ooyala said that the proliferation of video-capable mobile devices and tablets, WiFi hotspots and new multi-screen services have led to rapid increases in mobile video usage. Somewhat surprisingly, more than half (53%) of mobile viewers’ time was spent watching video longer than 30 minutes in Q4, compared to 35% for tablet users. Additionally mobile video share of plays increased by 21% from Q3 to Q4 2013.

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Conviva has released its 2014 Viewer Experience Report, finding that of the 45 billion video views in 2013 that it analyzed, 26.9% were impacted by buffering, an improvement from 39.3% in 2012, while those impacted by low resolution delivery also improved, to 43.3% from 63% in 2012. Offsetting these was a rise in video start failures from 4% in 2012 to 4.8% in 2013.

As consumers shift their viewing to online from traditional TV, they bring along expectations of the  seamless experience, so the Conviva data is critical to understand how well these expectations are being met. In fact, Conviva found that online viewers expectations are actually rising as they shift to online.

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I'm pleased to present the 220th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. First up, we discuss the WSJ report from earlier this week that Apple and Comcast may be collaborating in some way to deliver video through a "managed service" from Comcast. Neither Colin nor I can understand why Comcast would enable anything in its territory that would be remotely competitive with its own video services, but since the WSJ was thin on details, we don't know enough yet to fully judge.

We're also dubious about the fit for Apple given the company's emphasis on global scale for its products and also its premium positioning. And we're both struck by the regulatory red flags a "managed service" would raise for Comcast, at the very time they're trying to gain approval for the TWC deal. More of my thoughts are here.

We then turn quickly to Aereo's Supreme Court filing this week. As expected, it paints the case as being about cloud services in general, not just copyright specifically. We agree it's a clever strategy that positions Aereo as pro-innovation and pro-consumer, making it harder for the Supreme Court to rule against Aereo this summer.



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It's becoming harder and harder to remember the days when YouTube was principally known for its quirky  user-generated videos featuring cats on skateboards and the like. The evidence of YouTube's transformation into a legitimate video distribution powerhouse seems to pop up on an almost daily basis. Here are a few of the disparate items that have hit my radar:

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People want to skip ads, right? The conventional wisdom is yes, but it turns out the answer isn't quite so simple. In fact, viewers are seeking out, watching and sharing certain types of advertisers' messages in record numbers. According to Visible Measures 2013 Branded Video report, branded videos (video campaigns advertisers posted online, as opposed to video ads that run in-stream, etc.), generated 8.3 billion views, up 44% vs. 2012.

There's huge momentum in branded videos: of the 8.3 billion views, 6.5 billion, or 78%, were for campaigns newly launched in 2013. This compares with 3.8 billion views for new campaigns launched in 2012 and 1.7 billion views for campaigns launched in 2011.

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