VideoNuze Posts

There's no better illustration of the massive disruptive impact of OTT options like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime than the decimation of kids-oriented cable TV networks currently playing out. According to Todd Juenger, senior analyst at Bernstein, whose weekly TV Audience Tracker (which is based on Nielsen data), I closely follow, viewership of kids cable TV networks is down 23% quarter-to-date in 2015 vs. the same period of 2014.

The trends are even worse. For the most recent week (ending Feb. 1st), viewership was down 28%, following the prior week when it was down 29%. These declines compare to the relatively more modest-looking Q4 '14 decline of 16.8% vs. Q4 '13. For the Feb. 1st week, all kids cable networks were down, with Nickelodeon losing the most - a whopping 44% of its prior year viewership, and Cartoon Network losing the least - 3% vs. the prior year. Every kids cable network Bernstein follows is down so far this year, except Cartoon, which is up 6%.

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Once again demonstrating the rapidly blurring lines between online video and TV on-demand, ad tech provider BlackArrow has announced that it will be powering dynamic ad insertion (DAI) in on demand content viewed on connected and mobile devices by Time Warner Cable subscribers. BlackArrow has already supporting DAI for TWC in traditional set-top box VOD and linear streams over IP.

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Netflix made waves in its recent Q4 earnings report by announcing a massive acceleration of its international rollout, with its goal to now be in 200 countries by the end of 2016, up from 50 today (note there's some murkiness around counting to 200 countries as well). One of the keys to Netflix's successful international expansion is offering a robust content library, which in turn means owning the worldwide distribution rights to marquee programming.

But a new note from analysts MoffettNathanson observes that studios are increasingly resisting Netflix's proposed global license fee structure, which only allows for a 20-30% markup on the actual cost of producing the shows. Instead, studios are biased to retain international distribution rights because of the potential for far more lucrative distribution deals.

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Last September Brightcove released its updated Brightcove Player and today the company is sharing evidence of its broad acceptance across the online video ecosystem of advertising, analytics and quality of service companies.

Key differentiators for the Brightcove Player include fast loading time (up to 70% faster than other players, according to head-to-head comparisons referenced by the company), support for HLS across all major mobile and desktop platforms, and a plugin architecture that enables easy third-party integrations. Combined, the company believes its player is the most powerful solution for publisher and distributors.

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I'm pleased to present the 259th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

First up this week, we discuss mobile video's explosive growth. Cisco's new forecast puts mobile video's share of overall mobile traffic at 72% by 2019, up from 55% in 2014. Mobile video will account for 17.4 exabytes out of the 24.3 exabytes that cross global mobile networks in 2019. We dig into the contributing factors.

Next up, this week saw the long-expected announcement from FCC chairman Tom Wheeler of net neutrality rules for broadband ISPs. The proposed reclassification to Title II follows President Obama's strong recommendation. While I agree that broadband is now a lifeline service, to me this still feels like a solution in search of a genuine problem. Colin disagrees and thinks Title II is the right move. We also discuss the prospects for approval of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger in light of the new regulations.

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Reuters has taken the wraps off of Reuters TV, a new iPhone-exclusive app that the company is positioning as "a revolutionary mobile TV news service….aimed at a growing segment of the informed, mobile and engaged consumers in their 30's and 40's who value authentic video storytelling and are too busy to watch traditional TV news."

While Reuters TV is hardly the first provider to offer mobile video news (see, for example, Newsy and NowThis News), it is yet another sign of the growing influence mobile is having as a platform for all kinds of video-centric news apps. Just last week, Snapchat introduced its elegant, and video-rich "Discover" feature, also targeting younger users who have no affinity for traditional TV news. This is a demo that BuzzFeed, in particular, has successfully targeted with its video-rich mobile app.

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VEVO has announced that it delivered 10.3 billion video views globally in January, 2015, up 86% from 5.4 billion views in January, 2014. VEVO's January, 2015 views also show how global the site has become, with over 80%, or 8 billion of its views, coming from outside the U.S.

Compared to January, 2014, U.S. views rose by over 800 million in January, 2015, to 2 billion. Mexico, the second-largest of 14 territories VEVO operates in, accounted for over 1 billion views in January, less than a year after its 2014 launch.

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Mobile video viewing will soar 13-fold over the next 5 years, to account for 72% of global mobile traffic by 2019, up from 55% in 2014, according to Cisco's new Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2014-2019. Video will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 66% over the period, the second fastest of any mobile application. Cisco forecasts that 17.4 exabytes out of the 24.3 exabytes that cross global mobile networks in 2019 will be video.

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