VideoNuze Posts

Digitalsmiths has released its quarterly survey on consumer behavior around pay-TV and VOD, finding that consumers are continuing to “cord cheat,” with 48% supplementing their pay-TV subscriptions with OTT services, up from 35% reported in Q2 '13. Most popular for these consumers was Netflix (42%), while for individual movie rentals Redbox kiosks took the lead at 17%.

Digitalsmiths believes cord cheating is a big threat to pay-TV providers and said they must adapt and better support consumer expectations. According to the survey, the top reasons consumers are choosing OTT services like Netflix, Hulu or iTunes are because they are more convenient (53%), cheaper (48%) and allow full season TV viewing (31%).

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Yesterday's VideoSchmooze drew 230+ attendees for a full morning of deep dives into the hottest topics in the industry. One of the sessions focused on mobile video and featured executives from ESPN, PBSKids and VEVO, which are already achieving huge mobile viewership, plus technology provider Beachfront Media, which is powering many popular mobile video apps. While I was moderating, my partner Colin Dixon took notes and he shares his observations below.

Mobile Video Experts Share Insights at VideoSchmooze
by Colin Dixon

At the VideoSchmooze event in NYC Tuesday I sat in on a panel moderated by my podcast partner, Will Richmond, entitled Mobile Video Rising. And according to the panel participants, it is rising indeed. We were treated to a host of eye-popping data showing just how far video to tablets and smartphones has come.

Damon Phillips, VP of Watch ESPN and ESPN3, said that two thirds of smartphone viewing occurred outside of the home. This is very different from other data I heard in June of this year that said that 64% of smartphone viewing and 82% of tablet viewing occurred in the home. Mr. Phillips went on to say that he was very surprised at the length of time people watched. On a smartphone, 15 minute viewing periods are common, while tablet viewing can go the whole length of a game. With respect to the smartphone, this led Mr. Phillips to comment that ESPN targeted shorter subject matter at the devices. The long viewing times on tablets, however, suggest it is being used as a TV replacement.

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New Q3 '13 data from FreeWheel, which was unveiled today at VideoSchmooze, indicates TV Everywhere usage has grown rapidly over the past year.  According to the company's Q3 '13 Video Monetization Report, 14.2% of total ad views in long-form content were delivered via pay-TV operators' authenticated video players, nearly triple their 5% share in Q4 '12.

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Beachfront Media announced the 2.0 version of its Beachfront Builder mobile video app platform at VideoSchmooze today, including new social, commerce, analytics and video management features. Beachfront's CEO Frank Sinton shared a demo with me last week and provided further details today.

Frank explained that Beachfront's customers have been looking to augment their video apps with more social and community-building capabilities. So with the Beachfront Builder 2.0, content providers can add social feeds from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr, enabling users to engage within the apps themselves. Users can also login to create cross-platform watch later lists, comment and share videos more easily.

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It's last call to get tickets for VideoSchmooze: Online Video Leadership Forum, which will be tomorrow morning, Dec. 3rd, in NYC. If you've been on the fence waiting to see how your schedule will shake out, now's the time to make the call. Over 250 industry colleagues are already signed up to attend a stellar morning of learning and networking. Individual tickets are $135 or organize a few colleagues and save more with a 5-pack for $575 or a 10-pack for $1,000.

It's been an amazing year of change in the video industry, with lots more coming in 2014. This VideoSchmooze will kick off with a session including 2 of the top video industry analysts sharing data and insights on what's really happening in video, pay-TV and broadband. The session will be followed by deep dives into TV Everywhere, online video advertising and mobile video. As a bonus, FreeWheel and Videology will also be premiering data from their respective new reports.

The lead sponsors for this 10th VideoSchmooze are FreeWheel, Synacor, thePlatform and Undertone, with branding sponsors Clearleap, Unicorn Media and VideoHub.

I look forward to seeing you at VideoSchmooze tomorrow morning!

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Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, the biggest food holiday of the year. But for many people, food is a year-round personal obsession, which can now be amplified through mobile, social and video technologies. Operating at the intersection of these powerful trends is a startup called Tastemade, which is building a foodie community of digital natives through an innovative prosumer and user-generated video programming model. When I was in LA recently, I visited with Stephen Kydd, one of the 3 co-founders of Tastemade, who all worked together previously at Demand Media.

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Poor quality online video experiences cost brands in numerous ways, according to a new Brightcove survey. 62% of respondents are likely to blame the brand, rather than their ISP or video hosting provider such as YouTube, when encountering poor quality video. In addition, 60% of respondents experiencing poor video quality said it would dissuade them from social engagement with the brand, 57% said they'd be less likely to share a low quality video and 23% said low quality would make them hesitant to purchase from the brand.

The Brightcove survey highlights quality issues with YouTube specifically, which brands have aggressively embraced for its massive reach. But while YouTube offers huge audience potential, 75% of survey respondents reported experiencing buffering and freezing on the site, with 33% saying these problems affect half of the videos they watch. This leads to about 1/3 of viewers experiencing problems abandoning the video rather than waiting for the buffering to stop.

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VideoSchmooze is coming up just one week from today, Tuesday morning, Dec. 3rd in NYC. There's still time to buy tickets and join 250 industry colleagues in what promises to be an outstanding morning of learning and networking. Individual tickets are $135, 5-packs are $575 and 10-packs are $1,000.

I'm super excited about this VideoSchmooze because we will be digging into so many of the hottest topics in the video industry right now. We'll hear from incredibly knowledgeable analysts and executives who will be sharing their insights and perspectives. Beyond the on-stage sessions, there will be great networking with attendees from lots of industry leaders like Aereo, AOL, DirecTV, Google, LG, MLB, ESPN, NBCU, Nielsen, Roku, Showtime, Telemundo and others.

Importantly, research and data will play a big role in this VideoSchmooze, keeping discussions grounded and hype-free. A special bonus is that FreeWheel will debut data from their Q3 '13 Video Monetization Report and Videology will provide a sneak peak at findings from a new media buying study conducted with Forrester Research.

The lead sponsors for this 10th VideoSchmooze are FreeWheel, Synacor, thePlatform and Undertone, with branding sponsors Clearleap, Unicorn Media and VideoHub.

I know it's an early morning start, but I promise plenty of coffee and a delicious continental breakfast. I look forward to seeing you at VideoSchmooze on Dec. 3rd!

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER NOW!