-
Verizon Wireless: Buy a Droid Incredible, Get Any Smartphone Free
Raising the bar on Android smartphone promotions further, Verizon Wireless just started a campaign where if you buy an HTC Droid Incredible for $200, you get any other smartphone or phone of equal or lesser value for free (caveat, it must also have a 2-year $30/mo data plan). The offer means that you can get a new top-of-the-line Samsung Galaxy S Fascinate for free. I noticed a full-page ad for the promotion in the Boston Globe, and Verizon Wireless is also running TV ads (below).
One of the big reasons why Android smartphones are proliferating so fast is wireless carriers' promotional support. The result is that millions of users are now carrying video-capable smartphones, in turn fueling mobile video consumption. Samsung in particular has positioned the Galaxy S line heavily around video, and you've likely seen an ad(s) with the spectacular "Super AMOLED" screen on full display. The iPhone has also emphasized video, but the Android push is significant because once version 2.2 is fully available, Flash 10.1 will run, opening up a huge swatch of Flash-formatted video that isn't accessible on the iPhone (or iPad).
The expanding base of video-capable smartphones, coupled with upcoming 4G rollouts, has huge potential for transforming the video landscape. Especially for young people, the notion of video being locked to a big-screen TV will be as out of date as black-and-white TV was for a prior generation. Add in all the activity around tablet computers and things only get more interesting.
Update: No sooner did I post this than Nielsen released new data that of people acquiring smartpohones in the last 6 months, Android led with a 32% share, followed by iPhone and Blackberry at 25-26%.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Advertising, Mobile Video
-
Netflix, HBO, Others Coming to Google TV
Google released further details on Google TV this morning, unveiling a slew of content services and apps that will be available at launch. Chief among them are Netflix and HBO Go (both for subscribers), Amazon VOD and Pandora, plus new apps from NBA ("NBA Game Time"), NBCU ("CNBC Real-Time"), and "optimized" content from Turner Broadcasting, NY Times, USA Today, VEVO, Napster, Twitter and blip.TV. Google didn't specify what optimized means, but I suspect it means appropriate metadata so that programs can be exposed in Google TV searches. Of course, "Leanback," YouTube's 10-foot interface, will also be featured.
Categories: Devices
Topics: Amazon, blip.TV, Google TV, HBO, Logitech, Napster, NBCU, Netflix, NY Times, Pandora, Turner, Twitter, USA Today, VEVO
-
Another $150M Raised by Video Companies in Q3 '10, Plus Lots of Deals
Q3 '10 saw strong continued investment interest in the online video industry, with at least 14 private companies raising at least $149.4 million, according to sources I track. The largest amount however, $50 million, went to Chinese video portal Tudou. If that amount were backed out, then the approximately $100 million remaining would actually be the lowest quarterly total since Q2 '09. Total financings over the last 4 quarters are approximately $756.1 million.
The big news of the quarter though, was in industry deals. At least 11 acquisitions were announced or completed in Q3, which are listed after the investments below. In other industry news, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy, capping its long demise, and rumors of Hulu's plans to go public surfaced.
Following are the financings and acquisitions that I tracked during the quarter, the date disclosed and new investors identified if applicable. Links are provided to the companies' press releases, or to relevant media coverage if none could be found (note that I haven't verified media coverage with companies themselves). If I've missed anything or you find an inaccuracy, please post a comment.
Categories: Deals & Financings
Topics: Deals
-
HealthiNation Adds Doug McFarland as Chief Digital Officer
HealthiNation, an independent provider of health-related online videos, is announcing this morning that online industry veteran Doug McFarland has joined as Chief Digital Officer to oversee digital strategy and operations.
McFarland was previously co-CEO of Dimestore Media (acquired by Knowledge Networks), CEO of online video ad network ScanScout, EVP/GM of Eyeblaster and EVP/GM of Advertising.com. He's also been on HealthiNation's board for the last two years.
Categories: Indie Video, People
Topics: HealthiNation
-
Nielsen: iPad Already In 3.6% of U.S. Homes in Q2. How's That Compare?
I was checking out Nielsen's Q2 '10 Home Technology Report findings and one stat jumped out at me: 3.6% of U.S. homes now own an iPad. The percentage would actually be a little higher than Apple's own data given that it reported 3.27 million iPads sold in the quarter ending June 26th (assuming there are approximately 110-115 million U.S. households).
Either way, when you think of iPad sales in household penetration terms, the question that comes to mind is how long after their introductions did digital products and services like DVR, HDTV, broadband Internet, VOD and others reach 3.6%? I don't know the answer, but I suspect it was far longer than a single quarter.
With Apple's next quarter performance due on Oct. 18th, we'll see how many more millions of iPads were sold in the 3rd calendar quarter of 2010. And of course with Q4, the holiday quarter, now underway, the biggest wave of purchases is just ahead. At some point it will be fascinating to overlay the iPad's early years' quarterly household penetration curve on other digital products and services. No doubt it will tell a remarkable story of success.
What do you think? Post a comment now (no sign-in required).
Categories: Devices
-
5 Items of Interest for the Week of Sept. 27th
It's Friday and that means that once again VideoNuze is featuring 5-6 interesting online/mobile video industry stories that we weren't able to cover this week. Have a look at them now, or take them with you for weekend reading!
Nielsen Unveils New Online Advertising Measurement
comScore Introduces Digital GRP `Overnights` in AdEffx Campaign Essential
Dueling initiatives from Nielsen and comScore were announced on Monday, aimed at translating online usage into comparable TV ratings information, including reach, frequency and Gross Ratings Points (GRPs). While online video ad buying is ramping up, the tools to measure viewership in a comprehensive way have been lacking. This is one of the main issues holding back content providers from participating in TV Everywhere.
Analyst: Cord-cutting fears overblown
New research shared this week by BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield concludes that less than 8% of the market is actually interested in cord-cutting. The big impediment: losing access to sports and cable programming, which is unlikely to migrate to free over-the-top alternatives. Greenfield's conclusion is that cord-cutting isn't a major threat to pay-TV operators over the next 3-5 years. Notwithstanding the research, another factor I'd point to that could tip cord-cutting the other way is consumers' belt-tightening. Much as nobody wants to lose access to programming, if the price is perceived as too high, they'll make compromises.
Why YouTube Viewers Have ADD and How to Stop It
Abandonment rates for online video have always been a concern, and using new research, Visible Measures CMO Matt Cutler now quantifies the behavior. Expect 20% of the audience to drop out within 10 seconds of hitting play, 33% by the 30 second mark and 44% by 60 seconds in. Pretty sobering data but incredibly important in thinking about content creation and monetization.
Networks Have Sharing Issues With Hulu
Hulu's New Hoop
On the one hand, Hulu's network partners, ABC, NBC and Fox are reportedly pulling back ad inventory that Hulu is allowed to sell, yet on the other, Hulu is reportedly out aggressively selling ads in Hulu Plus, its subscription service. Meanwhile this week Hulu also announced that Hulu Plus will be accessible on both Roku devices and TiVo Premiere, as it continues chasing Netflix in the subscription game.
The New Apple TV Reviewed: It`s All About the Video
Apple TV devices started shipping this week, and reviews began popping up all over the web. This mostly positive review indicates that the user experience is solid, but that content selection is still skimpy. That's no surprise given how few deals Apple has struck to date. Yet to be seen is how Apple TV performs when it can access other iOS apps.Categories: Advertising, Aggregators, Analytics, Broadcasters, Devices
Topics: ABC, Apple TV, comScore, FOX, Hulu, NBC, Nielsen, Visible Measures, YouTube
-
Break Media Lands in comScore's Top 10 Video Sites for August
Who says independent online video can't compete with the established media? Yesterday comScore released its August Video Metrix rankings and while Facebook moving into the #2 position (ahead of Yahoo) was noteworthy,
even more eye-catching was male-focused 18-34 Break Media coming in at #6, ahead of big players like Microsoft, NBCU, Viacom and Turner Digital. It's only the second time Break has cracked comScore's top 10 video sites (June '10 was the other). Also worth noting is that Break's ad network achieved August reach of 65.7 million unique visitors, second only to Google/YouTube's 146.6 million.
Compared to June, Break recorded strong growth: 42.4 million total unique viewers (up 58% vs. 26.9 million in June) and 167 million viewing sessions (up 78% vs. 93.6 million in June). The only disappointment was that minutes per viewer slipped from 31.8 in June to 25.9 in August. Still, the results are pretty remarkable, and I caught up briefly with Andy Tu, Break's VP of Marketing to find out what's behind the growth.
Categories: Indie Video
Topics: Break Media, comScore
-
Technology Innovation is the Key to Online Video's Rise
While in LA this week, I moderated a short panel at Always On's "OnHollywood" conference with Kaltura's Ron Yekutiel, Akamai's Kevin Freund, Microsoft's David Sayed and Fox Digital Media's Gregg Colvin. The conversation focused on the key technology building blocks for online video.
Clearly there has been a ton of innovation in online video technology, and the panel concluded that online distribution has now come into its own, with key strides in publishing/delivery, devices, user experience and monetization. In particular, panelists pointed to adaptive bit rate streaming, live streaming, HD and video opening up to new applications as important steps forward. On the flip side, the challenges identified as remaining included better measurement, improved capacity in broadband ISPs' "last mile" and reduction in work flow complexity to distribute to multiple devices.
Categories: Technology
Topics: Netflix
VideoNuze Posts
Connect with VideoNuze
Exclusive News Roundup
- Kickstarter-funded films are coming to Tubi The Verge
- Amazon Doubles Prime Video Ads to 6 Minutes Per Hour Adweek
- Amazon is about to be flooded with AI-generated video ads The Verge
- Tim Cook Reveals Apple’s Vision for Movies and TV Variety
- Disney, NBCU sue Midjourney over copyright infringement Axios
- Bob Iger Says Disney Unlikely to Follow Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery In Exiting the TV Channel Business The Hollywood Reporter
