VideoNuze Posts

I’m pleased to present the 512th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We hope all of our listeners are staying safe and doing well.

On this week’s podcast Colin and I look at what’s ahead for premium video on demand (PVOD), whereby movies are released direct to consumer, preempting the theatrical window. PVOD has been a contentious topic and with theaters currently closed due to the pandemic PVOD’s appeal has accelerated.

PVOD was in the news earlier this week as the Wall Street Journal wrote how Universal Pictures’ PVOD release of “Trolls World Tour” generated 5 million rentals at $20 apiece. That yielded a split to Universal that was on par with 5 months of theatrical release revenue for the first “Trolls’ movie, underscoring PVOD’s profit potential for studios.

The article triggered pushback from executives at leading theater chains who are justifiably nervous about PVOD eating into their  windows. Colin and I dig into the pros and cons of PVOD and what’s likely ahead as stay at home orders slowly lift.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 34 seconds)

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Video adtech provider Beachfront has launched in beta a pod bidding solution for connected TV ads. The solution allows publishers to programmatically sell an entire ad pod while pricing each ad differently and guaranteeing positions within the pod. Guaranteeing first position would be especially valuable for CTV publishers to be able to optimize for advertisers who are willing to pay a premium to be in the first slot of a pod.

Beachfront founder and president Frank Sinton told me in a briefing that this kind of preference has been available in a direct sale model for CTVs, but not in programmatic. Choosing first position has long been part of the traditional TV buying world, but Frank said that because a lot of the ad infrastructure used for CTV is based on desktop and mobile this capability has been missing. CTV advertising is growing strongly, with eMarketer forecasting over $10 billion in spending next year.

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Continuing our series of short interviews with industry thought-leaders about trends they're seeing in response to the pandemic, following are insights from Inscape's SVP of Sales and Marketing, Jodie McAfee. Inscape maintains a panel of 14+ million active, opted-in smart TVs; the interview below is based on data from March 15 to April 9. For further details, Inscape and VIZIO Ads recently released a special report with data from each company.

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A new survey from FreeWheel has found that 80% of Americans say they’re spending more time watching TV and streaming video during the pandemic. The results are the latest to find that screen time is up as viewers shelter-at-home. In the survey, 49% of respondents cited News as what they’re watching more of, followed closely by Comedies (48%) and Dramas (41%). Sports was last with 7%, not surprising given the absence of live sports.

FreeWheel also probed viewers’ attitudes toward advertising during the pandemic and found an overwhelming 9 out of 10 said advertising is still appropriate. However, half of these respondents said only certain types of ads are appropriate. Almost 60% said advertisers should incorporate specific virus messaging into their ads, but the caveat is that it must be done tastefully.

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Next up in our series of interviews with industry thought-leaders sharing their thoughts and key data points on the impact of the coronavirus is Roku's VP of Ad Sales and Strategy Alison Levin. Roku has benefitted from the stay-at-home guidelines which have driven a surge of streaming viewing. In the interview Alison discusses the performance of AVOD vs. SVOD on Roku, why "OTT is the movie theater for most households," the role of free premium content promotions, how advertisers like Chipotle are shifting their media plans and why the pandemic is an inflection point for connected TVs, plus lots more. Read on for the full interview.

VideoNuze: Roku recently announced estimated streaming hours in Q1 ’20 were up to 13.2 billion. How do streaming hour growth rates compare for AVOD vs. SVOD and pay-TV services among Roku’s active users?

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I’m pleased to present the 511th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We wish all of our listeners good health and hope everyone is staying safe.

Earlier this week, Netflix reported an unexpectedly large gain in global subscribers for Q1 ’20, which management attributed to the shelter-at-home situation. On today’s podcast Colin and I discuss how Netflix has uniquely benefited from shifting viewership and also how it will continue to do so in Q2 and likely during the second half of the year.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (23 minutes, 13 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Due to the COVID-19 virus, VideoNuze's Connected TV Advertising Summit will be held on a new date, Tuesday, September 22, 2020. The venue continues to be the Westin NY at Times Square. There is a lot of uncertainty about how the stay-at-home and social distancing guidelines will be updated in the coming months. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that better days are ahead soon and we'll return to some normalcy by September.

I'm extremely grateful to the CTV Ad Summit's 8 partners who have been incredibly supportive. Our Presenting partner is Deloitte; Gold partners are Extreme Reach and SpringServe; Silver partners include Beachfront, SpotX, Roku and Xandr and Branding Partner Verizon Media. Please contact me if you’d like to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.

Discounted early bird tickets are available through August 28th (If you’ve already bought tickets, I’ll be in touch with you directly). I'll have more updates in the coming months. In the meantime please stay safe and well.

Side note: As we’re all aware, during this stay-at-home period, the amount of streaming entertainment and news video has surged, including on Connected TVs. If you’re interested in the latest usage and industry data being shared by industry leaders, check out our free Coronavirus Video Industry Research Hub.

Netflix demonstrated what a huge beneficiary of shelter-in-place the company has become, reporting 15.8 million net subscriber additions globally for Q1 ’20. The number was over twice as large as the 7 million that Netflix had forecast for its Q1 gain back in January. Netflix was well ahead of forecast in all 4 of its geographic regions and now has 183 million global subscribers, cementing its position as the largest SVOD service by far.

The region that is most intriguing to me is the U.S. plus Canada region (“UCAN”), where, back in January, I thought there was a 50-50 chance Netflix could actually lose subscribers in Q1, for the first time. That was based on Netflix’s global forecast and looking at recent growth trends in the other 3 regions. Instead, Netflix added 2.31 million subscribers in Q1 ’20, up from 1.88 million in Q1 ’19.

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