Podcasts

Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 48th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for February 5, 2010.

This week we get started with me reviewing yesterday's post about FreeWheel now serving close to 2 billion video ads per month and signing up MLB Advanced Media as their newest customer. FreeWheel's Doug Knopper told me that it is benefitting from both its new customers and also from year-over-year increases in ads served for existing customers. FreeWheel is also in the middle of the "syndicated video economy" that I've written before, having integrated with big third parties such as YouTube, AOL, MSN, Fancast and others.

Then Daisy describes her interview from last week's NATPE show with Chloe Sladden, director of media partnership for Twitter. The company is planning to launch its Media Developer's Platform later this year, along with new measurement tools. Daisy shares what she learned.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 47th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for January 29, 2010.

With the old adage that "everything's been said, but not everyone's said it" in mind, in this week's podcast Daisy and I talk about what else but the new Apple iPad. Daisy actually attended the iPad unveiling at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Wednesday and offers her first hand observations.

Generally we're in agreement that the iPad is not going to rock the video universe any time soon, with Daisy's write-up here, and my write-up here. We do however disagree about the role of the e-book reader functionality of the iPad. Daisy thinks that, at least for now, Apple should position the iPad as a better e-book reader to the Kindle and other products, while I think that would be pigeonholing it and, because at 2x the price of the Kindle, the iPad's enhanced features would be unlikely to peel off many Kindle buyers anyway. Regardless, given Steve Jobs's aspirations for the iPad, it is almost certainly out of the question that he would narrow the iPad's positioning so drastically; I'm guessing he'd rather see it wither on store shelves first.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 46th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for January 22, 2010.

Daisy gets us started today, discussing recent smartphone research from eMarketer. According to the research, in Q4 '09, the percentage of people saying they're interested in purchasing an Android phone jumped from 6% to 21%, while the iPhone's dropped from 32% to 28%, creating a narrow 7% gap. In addition, research on how the phones are actually used revealed extremely similar behavior, with usage skewed toward reading news on the Internet, using apps, social networking and IM.

Daisy's takeaway is that this could be early signals that the smartphone market may be getting commoditized. I add that with the proliferation of Android phones, and the disproportionate amount of retail shelf space they'll soon take up, Apple could well find itself in the familiar spot of competing against a large and growing ecosystem of well-aligned competitors (i.e. similar to competing against the Windows ecosystem). Time will tell.

We then switch gears and I add some more detail to Boxee's plan to offer a payment platform, which it unveiled this week. Boxee's move is yet another effort to shift the online video model from advertising, which has of course accounted for the dominant share of the online video industry's revenue to date. In addition to Boxee, this week we've also seen additional paid model initiatives: YouTube dipped its toe into rentals, rumors resurfaced of Hulu's subscription plans, and, outside the video space, the NYTimes.com's announced plans to erect a pay wall early next year. And that's all on top of TV Everywhere's rollout.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the first VideoNuze Report podcast of 2010 (and the 45th edition overall!).

In today's podcast we first discuss my post from yesterday, "Why Netflix's Long-Term Focus in New Warner Bros. Deal is a Win for Everyone," in which I assert that the new 28 day "DVD window" that the deal creates helps Netflix, Hollywood studios and ultimately consumers. There is a lot of consternation in the blogosphere and Twittersphere about whether Netflix is hosing its subscribers with this new policy, but I believe there's actually little risk of that, and the payoff for Netflix is better content for its streaming catalog as well as lower costs for its DVD purchases. While WB surely doesn't expect to sell more DVDs due to the deal, it can only help make the DVD model's demise a little less disruptive.

Switching gears, Daisy then reviews some of eMarketer's predictions for ad spending in 2010, with particular focus on online video advertising, which eMarketer expects to grow from about $1 billion in '09 to $1.4 billion in '10. Listen in to find out more.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 44th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for December 18, 2009. This will be the last podcast for 2009, and we'd both like to say a huge thanks to everyone who's been listening in this year.

This week I start things off by providing further detail on my experience so far with Comcast's TV Everywhere initiative, Fancast Xfinity TV (or "FXTV" as I call it for short), which was released in beta to 14 million subscribers this week at no additional charge. On the whole I think it's a respectable effort, and in the big picture, is exactly what the company should be doing with online distribution. The main challenge for improving it is getting lots more content from ad-supported and premium cable networks, so that users are more likely to find what they're looking for. For all kinds of reasons, this won't be easy, but if any company can make it happen, it's surely Comcast.

Then Daisy reviews her '09 predictions and shares her "New Media Minute Awards for Excellence." She recognizes Kaltura, 5Min, boxee, Quantcast, and  number 1 pick, MyDamnChannel. All have excelled this year, attracting new venture financing, signing new deals and growing their business. Daisy is particularly proud of MyDamnChannel because it also achieved profitability this year. Listen in to find out more.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 42nd edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for December 4, 2009.

Today's sole topic is of course the big news of the week, Comcast's acquisition of NBCU. Daisy and I chat about the winners/losers/unknowns that I detailed in my post yesterday. There are a lot of aspects to the Comcast-NBCU deal and the new entity will have wide-ranging implications for the media industry. Listen in to learn more.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 41st edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for November 20, 2009.

This week Daisy leads off with thoughts on what the NFL is doing with both online and mobile video, based on her recent interview with Laura Goldberg, GM of NFL.com.

I then dig deeper into my post from yesterday, "YouTube Direct is Yet Another Smart Move" in which I explained why YouTube Direct, a new initiative which was unveiled earlier this week, makes a lot of sense for both YouTube and its content partners. I've been impressed with how YouTube continues to evolve away from its wild-west UGC roots, finding ways to add value for both its users and also for its partners. Listen in to learn more.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 40th edition (whoo-hoo!) of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for November 13, 2009.

This week Daisy first shares observations on her recent interview with Gary Vaynerchuk, who is best known as the host of Wine Library TV/The Thunder Show. Gary has a new book out called "Crush It!" part of a 10-book deal he did with HarperStudio. The book focuses on how you can build your personal brand using all of the Internet's various communications tools. Vaynerchuk has a lot of credibility as he's built up a huge following for Wine Library TV. Now with the books, he's showing how online popularity can be leveraged into the print world. For a good example of the show, check out this episode featuring Wayne Gretzky.

We then shift to my post from earlier this week, "Sony Gets It Wrong with 'Meatballs' Promotion." I took Sony Electronics to task for a new promotion they're starting which provides a free 24 hour rental of the movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" to buyers of connected Sony Bravia TVs and Blu-ray disc players. It's also available as a $24.95 rental for current owners of these devices. I explain more about why I think this promotion falls way short and does little to advance the agenda of delivering movies via broadband.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 39th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for November 6, 2009.

This week Daisy and I first dig into the research I shared about Netflix's Watch Instantly users that I wrote about earlier this week. The research, by One Touch Intelligence and The Praxi Group, indicated that 62% of respondents have used the Watch Instantly streaming feature, with 54% saying they use it to watch at least 1 movie or TV show per month. Daisy and I discuss the significance of these and other data from the research. As a reminder the research is available as a complimentary download from VideoNuze.

Daisy is in NY this week attending Ad:Tech, and she then shares observations from a couple of sessions she's attended. In particular she passes on the advice that Sir Martin Sorrell, head of large agency holding company WPP, about where the advertising business is heading and how he's preparing WPP for the future.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 38th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for October 30th, 2009.

This week Daisy first shares her observations from the recent iMedia Summit, where Julie Roehm, the former CMO of Wal-Mart shared insights about the factors driving brands to shift their ad spending to digital media. Daisy also highlights reasons Roehm gave for why the shift isn't necessarily happening as quickly as it should.

Then I dig into 2 of my posts from earlier this week, "Seeking Cable's Formula for Success in Broadband Video," part 1 and part 2, which were based on panels I moderated at the CTAM Summit (an annual conference of cable industry marketers) in Denver. On the one hand my sense is that the cable industry is trying to get its arms around consumers' shift to broadband video usage, but on the other, I think it is focusing too much on its existing TV platform and not enough on embracing broadband video as a new medium. Listen in to learn more.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 37th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for October 23rd, 2009.

This week Daisy and I discuss my post from yesterday, "In the Digital Era, Disney is Walking to the Beat of its Own Drummer," which picks up on a WSJ article from Wednesday about the company's new DRM initiative dubbed "Keychest." Disney appears to be taking a lone-wolf approach since other Hollywood studios and technology companies have rallied around DECE, the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem. When combined with its ongoing resistance to TV Everywhere (while other cable networks jump on board), I argue in the post that Disney appears to be adopting a much more individualistic approach to how it envisions pricing and delivering its content in the digital era.

On the TV Everywhere topic, Daisy shares observations from a recent Beet.tv executive roundtable she covered, in which participants debated the concept's benefits to consumers. Daisy cites how the NYTimes.com isn't currently offering embeddable video as an example of how rights remain a key challenge for online video distribution. Online rights will be one of the factors determining how much content is made available in TV Everywhere at launch.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 36th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for October 16, 2009.

This week Daisy and I first discuss my post from yesterday, "Can Advertising Alone Support Premium Long-Form Online Video?" which picks up on the in-depth discussion panelists had at this week's VideoSchmooze event in NYC. As I said in the post, this is a crucial issue, particularly for broadcast TV networks who have aggressively pursued online distribution of their primetime programs, but have yet to demonstrate they can generate the same revenue per program per viewer online as they do on-air. In the podcast, Daisy explains why she thinks that something has to break, and that a "survival of the fittest," dynamic looms for broadcast networks.

Moving on, Daisy then discusses her New Media Minute episode this week, in which she describes the success that Univision, the Spanish-language network, is having with online-only shows. Univision is so bullish on the format that Kevin Conroy, a company executive, recently told Daisy that he is actively soliciting pitches. Details on the growth in Internet usage among the Hispanic audience underscore why Univision is hitting its stride online.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 34th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for October 2, 2009.

This week Daisy and I first discuss my post "Break Media Gains Momentum with Branded Content in 2009" in which I describe how Break, a male-focused entertainment community, has used branded content to differentiate itself and increase revenues. Branded content is a relatively new media form where sponsors fund the production process and have significant creative input or outright control.

Break has been able to offer branded content projects as a value ad to sponsors' media buys on its sites by allocating a percentage of the client's media spend to the projects. I describe how Break does this, along with how branded content has helped it separate itself from competitors and grow revenue by a projected 18% this year.

Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 33rd edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for September 25, 2009.

This week Daisy and I first discuss Daisy's New Media Minute topic of how technology firms should balance free/revenue-sharing business models with paid/licensed approaches. Daisy reports on two companies that have successfully migrated to licensing. The so-called "Freemium" business model has been in the news a lot recently, especially with Chris Anderson's new book, "Free," so the discussion is timely.

Then I touch on my post earlier this week, "Why the FCC's Net Neutrality Plan Should Go Nowhere," which has generated plenty of reader reaction, and has been circulated widely. I'm very dismayed by new FCC chairman Genachowski's decision to intervene in the well-functioning Internet market, and only hope that as the FCC goes through its planned data collection process, it will rethink things and conclude that no new regulatory action is needed at this time.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 32nd edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for September 18, 2009.

This week Daisy and I first discuss my post from earlier this week, "How TV Everywhere Could Turn Cable Operators and Telcos Into Over-the-Top's Biggest Players," which has become one of the most popular posts I've written in the past 2 years.

In the post I asserted that if certain cable operators and telcos were to unbundle their TV Everywhere ("TVE") offering from their video subscription requirement, they could offer a "TVE 2.0" service outside their current geographic areas. In effect they'd be going over the top of their industry counterparts, invading new service territories.

It would be a bold move, but one that I suggested might be irresistible. Between slowing growth in their existing markets and new competitors rolling out OTT services nationwide, big cable operators and telcos could face the prospect of being turned into marginalized, geographically-bound players. I've heard from lots of folks this week about the TVE 2.0 concept - some who think it's inevitable; some who think it's inconceivable. I explain more in the post and on the podcast. You decide.

Meanwhile, Daisy provides an update from this week's iMedia Brand Summit, where marketers and agencies spent a lot of time discussing the effectiveness of traditional TV advertising vs. online video advertising. Daisy shares some very interesting statistics she gathered at the conference concerning how some industries are overspending in TV and getting underperformance. As Daisy explains, the key to advertising is no longer reach, but targeting. Listen in to learn more.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 31st edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for September 11, 2009.

This week Daisy and I first discuss my post from yesterday, "StudioNow Begins March Into Video Platform Space with AMS Launch." For those not familiar with StudioNow, it has been operating a network that links geographically-dispersed video professionals with its clients' projects using a backend work flow/project management platform.

Yesterday the company launched its Video Asset Management & Syndication Platform ("AMS"), which its clients can use to manage, transcode and syndicate their videos. It's a clever move by StudioNow, and I believe paves the way for the company to compete more directly in the video management and publishing platform space. StudioNow will benefit by leveraging its position as a trusted partner to content providers and directories which it serves on the video creation/production side.

We then discuss the new Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) which was just announced yesterday. CIMM brings together 14 different broadcast and cable TV networks, media agencies and advertisers to create new audience measurement for TV and cross-platform media. CIMM intends to run pilot studies focusing on TV measurement through set-top box data and cross-platform media measurement. It's hard not to see CIMM as a "Nielsen-killer" though CIMM has asserted that it should not viewed as such.

With so many companies involved, Daisy is skeptical of the venture's likelihood of success and favors a more market-driven solution. I think it actually can succeed, but only if the partners are truly committed and invest accordingly. I haven't followed measurement that closely, but in my view the partners' commitment level will likely be correlated to the level of dissatisfaction they each have with Nielsen, and this will determine CIMM's eventual success. More detail in the podcast.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 30th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for September 4, 2009.

This week Daisy shares more detail from her most recent New Media Minute, concerning what broadcast networks are doing this Fall with online video extensions of their shows. For example, CW is launching an original series in conjunction with "Melrose Place." ABC is doing a 3rd season of an "Ugly Betty" web series and a tie-in for "Lost." CBS is launching its first web series, via TV.com, with Julie Alexandria, focused on recapping highlights from various shows. Daisy notes that these efforts are focused mainly on marquee shows and when advertisers are already on board.

In the 2nd part of the podcast we discuss my post from yesterday, "2009 is a Big Year for Sports and Broadband/Mobile Video." In that post I observed that many big-time sports, and the TV networks that have the rights to televise them have realized this year that broadband and mobile distribution are friend, not foe. As a result they've rolled out many different initiatives. We also touch on the various lessons other content providers can take away from what's happening with sports and broadband/mobile distribution.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 29th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for August 28, 2009.

In this week's podcast we discuss comScore's rankings of video ad networks' potential reach for July, 2009. I offered a first look at these rankings in Wednesday's post. As I pointed out, these rankings represent the aggregate reach of each ad network's publisher list. This is different from a ranking of actual reach, which comScore is working on, and plans to begin releasing at some point in the near future. Daisy and I remind listeners that potential reach is an imperfect measure, but it is still an important filter for media buyers trying to gain insight into who the major video networks are.

Unrelated, I touch base on last week's podcast in which Daisy and I discussed the Southeastern Conference's shortsighted ban on fan-generated video in stadiums. I raise the topic because earlier this week I had the pleasure of taking my 9 year-old daughter to Fenway Park to see a Red Sox-White Sox game. All around us were people taking pictures and video. And go to YouTube and you'll find plenty of fan video of key Red Sox moments.

Somehow fan video doesn't seem to bother MLB as it does the SEC. I don't claim to understand the difference in thinking, but Daisy notes that MLB has been among the most forward-looking sports leagues around. Daisy is so peeved at the SEC that she's protesting by vowing never to attend an SEC game (a relatively insignificant threat since she's in fact never attended an SEC game and lives on the other side of the country!)

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 28th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for August 21, 2009.

In this week's podcast, Daisy and I first tackle the subject of the Southeastern Conference's new media policy fumble that I wrote about on Wednesday this week. For the upcoming football season, the SEC first banned all social media in the stadiums by game attendees, and later revised it to just exclude fan-generated video of game action.

I took the SEC to task, suggesting that the policy was wrongheaded because it limits the role that fan video could play in expanding the game experience and incorrectly assumes that fan video might actually compete with live game feeds from partners ESPN and CBS. Further, the policy is completely impractical to enforce, requiring security officers to frisk entering students and examine cell phones for video capability.

Daisy raises the example of when YouTube posted the infamous SNL "Lazy Sunday" clip, and NBC ordered it to take the clip down, foregoing tons of free promotion. That incident occurred almost 4 years ago, and since then major media companies have come a long way in adopting the role of user-generated video and video sharing as a promotional tool (see this week's Time Warner-YouTube clip deal as further evidence). On the other hand, the SEC still appears to be living in the stone ages. Somebody there needs to get their game on.

Shifting gears, Daisy explores the idea of how technology is helping video producers collaborate far more extensively than ever before. Producers and creators are now able to share images and raw footage to an unprecedented degree, which is making the creative process far more efficient. That in turn leads to more extensive creative output. Daisy identifies a slew of technology providers who are active in this emerging space.

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Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 27th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for August 14, 2009.

In this week's podcast, Daisy and I discuss "The Future of Internet Video," a new research report released this week by eMarketer. Coincidentally, we had each read the press release about the report and found ourselves disagreeing with its conclusions.

As Daisy explains, the report essentially asserts that for online video advertising to continue to grow, the viewing experience between the computer and TV must converge. The logic is that TV's "lean-back" viewing mode is a preferred context for advertisers, and therefore for advertising against online video to grow, the video must be accessible on TVs.

Daisy takes issue with this, arguing that while convergence is great, there are indeed times when watching on a computer is preferred by consumers. A "new norm" has emerged with the computer as a parallel viewing platform. Rather than looking at this as an obstacle, advertisers should embrace consumers' behavior, and capitalize on it.

My main disagreement is that eMarketer believes that a "lean-back" TV viewing mode is preferred by advertisers over the "lean-forward" computer viewing mode. While eMarketer argues the computer mode creates viewer distraction and incents clicking away from ads, I see it the other way around: when watching video on computers, ads cannot be skipped, calls to action can be easily implemented (e.g. "click here to receive....) and everything of course can be measured. Contrast this with the rampant ad-skipping that now occurs in DVR-enabled homes.

Listen in and draw your own conclusions.

Separately, I can't resist touching on the topic of "authenticity" of broadband video I wrote about earlier this week in "How I Got Punked by the Megawoosh Waterslide Video." I received lots of feedback on this post, with plenty of people 'fessing up that they got punked too, while others called me the "poster child for gullibility!" Either way, authenticity of broadband video is a fascinating topic.

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