Posts for 'Roku'

Add Amazon to the growing list of companies that are gunning for their share of TV ad dollars. According to a report in The Information, Amazon is planning to launch a free, ad-supported video service for its Fire TV users that may be called Free Dive. As described, Free Dive looks to be very similar to Roku’s The Roku Channel, which is available to Roku users and as of a few weeks ago also on the web.

For Amazon, the move makes perfect sense in a number of different ways. First, it’s a great complement to the growing array of paid video options Amazon offers (TV programs/movies in Prime, SVOD services in Amazon Channels, transactional, etc.). Free, ad-supported video gives Amazon its own inventory to promote all of these paid services in various ways.

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As more TV viewing moves to streaming, connected TV is emerging as the most important new source of premium ad-supported inventory. At our recent VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit, we dug into this unfolding opportunity on a session Rich Calacci (Chief Revenue Officer, Pluto TV), Jim Keller (VP, Sales, Hulu), Frank Sinton (Founder, Beachfront Media), Seth Walters (VP, Demand Partnerships, Roku), with Colin Dixon (Principal Analyst, nScreenMedia), moderating.

The panel explored the key advantages of connected TV ads, including enhanced targetability (at the user level), measurability, in-flight optimization and real-time feedback loops. The panelists also noted that with more cord-cutting happening, CTV is a critical way to reach certain households and build cross-screen campaigns. Still, the panelists noted that it’s relatively early days for CTVs, as virtually all TV will be streamed within 5 years.

Watch the session video now!

I’m pleased to present the 424th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

At this past Tuesday’s VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit, Colin moderated a session, “Connected TVs’ Ad-Supported Future,” with Rich Calacci (Pluto TV), Jim Keller (Hulu), Frank Sinton (Beachfront Media) and Seth Walters (Roku) participating. In the first segment of this week’s podcast, we discuss the reasons panelists cited for why ads on connected TVs are so appealing to advertisers, among other topics.

We then transition to some of the highlights of the keynote interview with David Lawenda (EVP, Digital Sales and Strategy, CBS), with particular focus on his comments about advertisers’ reluctance to pay more just because ad loads are lighter. A range of TV networks are lightening their ad loads to provide a better experience compared to ad-free SVOD, but the benefits are uncertain according to David.

Finally, we touch on interesting data that Group Nine Media’s SVP of Ad Solutions and Innovation Hayden Lynch made in my interview with him around the difficulties of monetizing video distributed on platforms. Group Nine’s properties generate around 6 billion views/month, but only 10-20% of them are being monetized, which is pretty eye-opening.

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Connected TVs like Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV and others were originally used mainly for watching ad-free SVOD services on the big screen. But as the sheer number of ad-supported premium video apps available on CTVs has exploded, consumption has broadened considerably. All of that viewing is creating a growing volume of highly-desirable CTV ad inventory. Monetization of this inventory is starting to show up in public company financials and is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

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I’m pleased to present the 419th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We’re grateful to this week’s podcast sponsor, Ad-ID, which is the standard for identifying advertising assets. This week, Ad-ID, Extreme Reach, Adstream, and the IAB Tech Lab, released a paper about ad clouds and a universal asset identifier.

(Apologies that our audio quality is a little choppy this week)

First up, Colin discusses highlights from his new report, The Secret Life of Streamers, Part II, which details the rise of connected TV usage, especially in primetime. Colin shares some of the key data points, including how PC viewing has been eclipsed in the past year and how viewership patterns vary by country.

Speaking of CTV usage, Roku reported a very strong Q1 ’18 earlier this week, with Platform revenues (which includes advertising and licensing), edging ahead of device sales for the first time. With Platform’s higher margins, Roku’s overall financial performance improved as well. We dig into the details.

Finally, we touch on this week’s Bloomberg report that Apple may enable video subscriptions in its TV app. It seems like a smart move to both of us, though very late, given Amazon has been in market with its Channels program since 2015.

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Some good news this morning for advertisers and content providers trying to navigate the shift from linear TV to on-demand viewing on connected TV devices. Roku has released data from research it did with MAGNA, IPG Media Lab and 4 advertisers (Applebee’s, H&M, McCormick and Truvia), finding that video ads run on Roku were 67% more effective per exposure in driving purchase intent than those on traditional broadcast and cable TV.

The study also found that to drive comparable brand lift, only 7 exposures were needed on Roku, vs. 10 on linear TV. Also interesting is that advertising on Roku appears to have a halo effect, with consumers considering brands that ran video ads on Roku to be twice as innovative as those just on linear TV.

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I’m pleased to present the 408th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Roku reported a strong Q4 ’17 holiday quarter this week as it continues to transition to an ad-based business model driven off its 19 million+ active users. Roku is in the middle of all of the industry key trends and Colin and I discuss the company’s results and how we see the business going forward.

We then turn to how HBO and Showtime have been revitalized by OTT delivery. 2017 results show how both traditional networks are using direct-to-consumer and new online distribution models to make their programming more easily accessible to viewers and achieve record subscribership. Their success is a textbook example of how OTT is shaking up longstanding industry norms.

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Roku reported a very strong holiday Q4 ’17 yesterday, with revenue increasing 28% to $188.3 million from $147.3 million in Q4 ’16. Roku turned in its most profitable quarter ever, with net income of $9.5 million, up from $3.4 million a year ago. Active accounts increased 44% to 19.3 million, with streaming hours up 55% to 4.3 billion hours in Q4.

Digging deeper, it’s clear that Roku is continuing its transition to an OTT ad business, built on its installed base of Roku players and Roku TVs. The company’s “Platform revenue” which includes both content distribution and advertising, accounted for $85.4 million, or 45% of total Q4 ’17 revenue, as compared with Q4 ’16 when it was $37.3 million, or 25.3% of revenue. Within Platform revenue, advertising generated 75% of the total, compared to less than two thirds a year ago.

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Seeking to move beyond connected and smart TVs, Roku has announced its Whole Home Entertainment Licensing Program aimed at expanding into audio products. The program is meant to allow third-party manufacturers to build smart soundbars and smart speakers to connect to Roku TVs via Roku Connect software that runs in the home. Roku said that TCL is its lead OEM partner and will unveil its first device at CES (TCL is one of the original Roku TV OEMs as well).

In addition, Roku also intends to introduce the Roku Entertainment Assistant, which will be a free update to the Roku operating system. Both the assistant and the Roku Connect software will be launched this fall. The assistant will allow users to navigate Roku devices with voice commands and play audio even if the Roku TV isn’t even on. The assistant looks like it will be positioned as an alternative to Amazon’s Alexa, which has become an early leader in voice navigation.

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I'm pleased to present the 400th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

In this week’s podcast Colin and I discuss our top 10 online video stories of 2017. It’s been another incredibly busy year with tons of industry innovation and progress. As always, it has been a lot of fun to analyze all of this and report on it. Let us know what you think of our choices, whether you agree or disagree!

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Unless there’s some big news, this will be my last post for 2017.

Happy Holidays to all!

At our recent SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit, we had a great session focused on how devices and distribution are contributing to advertising paying off in new ways. Topics included how to improve audience targeting, creating value in a multi-touch world, how to unify analytics across all distribution points, why more premium content is flowing through connected TV devices, the role of ad ops and yield management, plus lots more.

Panelists included Youssef Ben-Youssef (Head of Ad Platform, Roku), Stephen Bach (SVP, Partnerships and Business Development, Vemba), Keith Grossman, Global Chief Revenue Officer, Bloomberg Media Group), Anthony Laurenzo (SVP, Non-Linear Video Strategy & Investment, Amplifi), with Tim Hanlon (Founder and CEO, The Vertere Group) moderating.

(Apologies, there was a problem with the primary audio source, so there's a little background noise)

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I’m pleased to present the 396th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. Many thanks to Brightcove, this week’s podcast sponsor. Brightcove will be presenting insights on server-side ad insertion at our SHIFT Programmatic conference on Nov. 29th.

First up, we explore the potential of Philo, the entertainment-oriented skinny bundle that launched earlier this week. For $16 per month, it’s relatively inexpensive, but neither Colin nor I see it as a game-changer for its backers. Key issues are lack of marquee entertainment networks, completion from other skinny bundles and a glut of high-quality entertainment programming from big SVOD providers.

We then dig into Roku, which reported its first quarterly results as a public company last week. We’re both impressed with how Roku is transitioning from a pure OEM device maker to a licensing and media company focused on online video advertising. By growing its installed base of Roku owners, which in turn supports its ad business, Roku is in the early stages of building a nice flywheel. We discuss both the potential of its model and possible risks.

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A reminder that all paid registrants for our 3rd annual SHIFT // Programmatic Video & TV Ad Summit on Wednesday, November 29th in NYC will be entered to win 1 of 3 Roku Ultra 4K streaming players, generously provided by Roku. The Ultra is Roku’s top-of-the-line player featuring support for 4K, HD and HDR. I’ve been using one for a while and it’s amazing.

The SHIFT program is coming together really nicely and once again it promises to be the highest-impact conference for anyone in the industry who is focused on programmatic video and TV. Programmatic approaches, which rely on data and automation, already account for billions of dollars of annual TV and video ad spend and are poised for further rapid growth.

Still, there are many issues swirling around programmatic, including viewability, fraud, labor intensity and supply chain complexity. At SHIFT we’ll be digging into all of these along with the big opportunities programmatic creates.

Our two keynoters, Mike Rosen, EVP, Portfolio Sales and Strategy, NBCUniversal and Jon Stimmel, Chief Investment Officer, Universal McCann will provide invaluable insights into how their companies are approaching programmatic. There are dozens of executive speakers set to participate across panel discussions, research presentations, fireside chats and more, which I’ll be sharing shortly.

In the meantime, early bird registrants save $100, with all registrants eligible to win one of the 3 Roku Ultra 4K Streaming Players. Further discounts are available on 5-packs and 10-packs. Startups and students can register for a reduced $245 ticket (contact me for the code).

I hope you’ll join us for this must-attend day of learning and networking!

Learn more and register now!

I’m pleased to present the 387th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Earlier this week Apple introduced Apple TV 4K, but as Colin notes, it’s really a catch-up product, as Roku, for example has had this capability in its top of the line Ultra since last year. More important to Colin is that Apple’s decision to raise the price of the Apple TV 4K to $179 for the 32GB version means its $80 more than the Ultra and $120 more than the Roku Premiere, which also delivers 4K, but not HDR.

All of this has Colin wondering whether Apple’s strategy is really just to target its loyalists with the Apple TV 4K, rather than aggressively seeking market share, as Roku, Amazon and Google have all done with their devices. Widespread adoption has clear advantages as we discuss.

Staying with the connected TV theme, we then transition to other news this week that Comcast has added YouTube to its X1 set-top box as it continues its “aggregator of aggregators” strategy. I’ve given it a spin and share a quick review of how it adds value to the X1 experience.

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I’m pleased to present the 386th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

After taking a couple weeks off from the podcast, Colin and I are back, and today we discuss 4 different industry stories that have caught our attention. First up, just before Labor Day, Roku filed its S-1 IPO document, sharing financial details for the first time. Colin and I are both struck by the strength of Roku’s “platform revenues” and believe the company’s strategy of innovating with low-priced streaming devices to gain market share has opened up many revenue options (though Colin’s a bit worried about Roku losing its valuable neutrality position in the wake of launching the Roku Channel this week).

We then move on to T-Mobile’s plan to give away Netflix to its unlimited family plan subscribers. It’s the latest “video as bait” play by a wireless carrier, and we both see this trend accelerating. Another interesting bundle play this week was the $5/mo promotion from Hulu and Spotify. We discuss its potential to extend beyond the initial college student target.

Finally, Colin and I were both intrigued by a plan unveiled by Newsy, a popular millennial-focused news app, to create a linear TV channel by taking over Retirement Living TV’s pay-TV subscribers. It’s a relatively unusual move given most TV networks are launching OTT apps these days.

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There’s plenty of M&A and financing activity in the video adtech space, with the latest news coming this morning with RhythmOne acquiring YuMe for $185 million. The deal had been rumored for a while and unites YuMe’s demand-side capabilities with RhythmOne’s supply-side and programmatic platform. YuMe was one of the earliest video adtech players to go public, back in 2013, but has had a bumpy ride as the industry rapidly evolved.

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Roku’s share of the connected device market grew to 37% of U.S. broadband households in Q1 ’17, up from 30% in Q1 ’16, according to new research from Parks Associates. Roku has shown amazing staying power considering it has been up against some of the biggest tech/device companies in the world. Clearly looking to capitalize on its market momentum, Roku is reportedly planning to go public by the end of 2017.

Amazon’s Fire TV also expanded its market share, to 24% of U.S. broadband homes from 16% in Q1 ’16. Conversely, Chromecast fell from 22% to 18% during the period and Apple fell from 20% to 15%. Other devices accounted for the remainder in both quarters.

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I’m pleased to present the 379th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

On this week’s podcast Colin and I discuss recently released data from Nielsen, Parks Associates and Roku, which all underscore the growing momentum of connected TVs.

Colin’s analysis of Nielsen’s data shows that across all viewers, connected TV device viewing has increased from .4 hours per week in Q1 ’14 to 2 hours 30 minutes per week in Q1 ’17. Zeroing in specifically on users with connected TVs, the view time nearly quadruples.

The Parks data reinforces these trends, finding that 50% of U.S. broadband users are watching video on TV, using their connected TV devices (separate industry data has indicated over 70% of U.S. homes actually have at least one connected TV). The big 3 services (Netflix, Amazon and Hulu) continue to dominate, but Parks noted that certain niche SVOD services are gaining real traction.

Finally, Colin shares his analysis of Roku’s new data on times spent with the device. Roku’s numbers are noteworthy because they’re the only connected TV device that self-reports any usage data.

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Although more video is being produced than ever, for advertisers, premium video remains the most sought-after. At last week’s 7th annual VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit, our opening panel “Exploring Premium Video’s Winning Formula,” dug into why premium video is so valuable and how it can maintain its desirability.

The session included Maureen Bosetti (Chief Partnerships Officer, Initiative), Pooja Midha (SVP, Digital Ad Sales & Operations, Disney ABC Television Group) and Scott Rosenberg (SVP/GM, Advertising, Roku), with James Rooke (GM, Publisher Platform, FreeWheel) moderating.

(Note, I’ll be posting all of the VideoNuze Ad Summit videos over the next couple of weeks)

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Multi-screen video app platform provider You.i TV announced support for Roku’s SceneGraph 7.6 XML framework for building channels on its connected TV devices. FilmStruck, Turner Classic Movies’ SVOD service, which already used You.i TV, is the first content provider to take advantage of the new capability to power its Roku channel.

Last fall, You.i TV raised a $12 million Series B round led by Time Warner Investments, a sister entity to Turner.

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