VideoNuze Posts

I’m really excited to announce the program for the Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on November 16th and 17th. There are currently 11 sessions planned across the two afternoons, spanning every critical issue related to CTV advertising, brand suitability and safety, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (“DE&I"). There are 25 executives now confirmed as speakers, with many at the C-level and EVP/SVP-level. I’m extremely proud of the diversity represented by the speakers, and I’m confident that attendees will benefit from their wide range of perspectives. (There are still a few speaking slots remaining which will be filled shortly.)

A reminder, the CTV Brand Suitability Summit is the first and only connected TV advertising industry event that is 100% focused on all aspects of brand suitability and safety, including the integral role of DE&I. These are critical topics within the industry, and since CTV advertising is forecast to double to over $27 billion in the U.S. alone by 2025, it is poised to have an outsized impact.

I intend for the Summit to elevate our collective understanding of these topics and move the dialogue forward. The Summit has been really well-received by the industry and I’m gratified that GroupM, Horizon Media, Publicis, UM and Dentsu are all on board as “Agency Partners,” which means they’ll each have executives speaking and will widely promote the event to internal and external audiences (and provide complimentary passes to those interested in attending).

I am personally committing to advancing the industry by directing 10% of sponsorship revenue into a pool to be shared among the Agency Partners to support their DE&I initiatives.

Many thanks to the Summit’s Presenting Partner Pixability, Gold Partner Mediaocean and Silver Partners FreeWheel, Index Exchange and Roku (more coming shortly).

Also remember, all paid registrants will be entered to win a 50-inch Roku TV and Smart Soundbar, both generously provided by Roku.  

Learn more and register now!

Following is the program, which is also on the Summit web site.

See the program

Another quarter and yet another blowout performance by YouTube advertising. Alphabet reported Q3 2021 results yesterday, including YouTube advertising revenue of $7.2 billion, up 43% vs. Q3 2020. To say that YouTube has been on a roll over the past two years would likely qualify as a top 10 understatement by any reasonable person’s judgement.

Consider that the quarterly growth rate for YouTube advertising for each of the past 8 quarters has never been below 30%, except in the hardest Covid period, Q2 2020 when it grew 5.8% (keep in mind many other companies’ revenues shriveled in that quarter). The Q3 2021 growth rate of 43% follows Q2 2021 (up 84%), Q1 2021 (up 49%) and Q4 2020 (up 46%).

The growth streak is all the more noteworthy because YouTube advertising has been over $3.5 billion per quarter since Q4 2018 except Q1 2019 (reminder, Alphabet first began breaking out YouTube advertising in Q4 2019, and in that report it also revealed Q4 2018 revenue). To put YouTube advertising's dollar growth in perspective, in Q3 2019 it was $3.8 billion. In Q3 2021 just reported, it was $7.2 billion. That’s an additional $3.4 billion of revenue, or 89.5% higher. In other words, YouTube advertising is growing very fast off of a significant base.

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Connected TV audiences reflect the diversity and age profiles of the U.S. population, making it a better platform for advertisers to achieve their key performance objectives compared to traditional TV (TV consumed though set-top boxes or over the air), according to Magnite’s new “CTV is for Everyone: U.S. 2021” report.

The percentage of Black viewers (13%) and Hispanic/LatinX viewers (20%) watching CTV match their respective share of the U.S. population. Asian viewers watching CTV slightly over-indexes their share of the U.S. population (8% vs. 7%). White viewers watching CTV slightly under-indexes their share of the U.S. population 59% vs. 60%). Importantly, the research found that traditional TV over-indexes for white viewers (69% vs. 60%) while under-indexing across Black, Hispanic and Asian audiences.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

HBO / HBO Max lost 1.8 million subscribers in the U.S. in Q3 2021. On the surface that might seem like a bad thing, especially given how hot the streaming business is these days. But as Colin and I discuss, this week, it’s actually a good thing, as it reflects the rolloff of many millions of subscribers who were acquired via a prior distribution deal with Amazon Channels.

HBO Max has made an intentional decision to focus on a direct-to-consumer strategy, which we think is smart. Back in August, I explained the challenges SVOD services have with third-party distribution, including with Amazon, based on my personal experience subscribing to AMC+ through Amazon.

After talking to industry colleagues since, I’ve become more skeptical about the long-term value to SVOD services in these deals. So a DTV strategy, especially for a big player like HBO Max, seems like the right one. As we also discuss, it’s also a smart move given HBO Max, as part of WarnerMedia, will be merged into Discovery in 2022.

Elsewhere in the podcast we talk about the per subscriber value of the ad-supported vs. ad-free business model, and why I think that in the long-term, the former is far greater in a connected TV dominated world with “full funnel” marketing capabilities. We also dig into HBO Max’s decision to have content parity starting in January between its ad-supported and ad-free tiers. Lots to digest.

Listen to the podcast (33 minutes, 57 seconds)

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VAB has released a valuable new Stream On report, highlighting 23 case studies across 15 different product categories in which advertisers are using streaming video ad campaigns to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs) including incremental reach, brand favorability, ad recall, web site visits and sales.

The report is very well organized, by eight specific question topics such as “How do I use streaming to extend the reach of my video campaign beyond linear TV?” “How do I use streaming to increase my share of voice?” and “How can I use streaming to build brand love?” among others. Under each question topic there are 1-5 real world case studies.

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I’m really excited to announce the first 15 speakers for the Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on Nov. 16th and 17th. The speakers include:

• Yale Cohen - EVP, Global Digital Standards, Publicis Media
• Danielle DeLauro - Executive Vice President, VAB
• Karina Dobarro - EVP, Managing Partner, Horizon Media
• Rayna Elliott - SVP, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Horizon Media
• David George - CEO, Pixability
• Asaf Greiner - GM, Verification, Mediaocean
• Larry Harris - Founder and CEO, Alpha Precision Media
• Eric John - VP, Media Center, IAB
• Joshua Lowcock - U.S. Chief Digital & Global Brand Safety Officer, UM
• Pooja Midha - Chief Growth Officer, Comcast Advertising
• Jackie Swansburg Paulino – Chief Product Officer, Pixability
• Will Richmond - Editor and Publisher, VideoNuze
• Mike Richter - VP, Global CTV Revenue Operations, Trusted Media Brands
• Susan Schiekofer - Chief Digital Investment Officer, GroupM North America
• Karen Schuchardt - SVP, Digital Sales & Partnerships, NBCUniversal
• Plus many others to come

I’m honored that these executives are allocating time from their busy schedules to participate in the Summit. I anticipate adding more executives to the program in the coming weeks. The sessions are coming together nicely and I’ll be able to announce them shortly as well.

REGISTER NOW!

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

The new James Bond movie “No Time to Die” reportedly cost $250 million to produce and another $150 million to promote. So MGM, the movie’s studio, would need to make approximately $400 million to break even. Assuming a 50% take on box office sales, that would mean $800 million of overall ticket sales. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie has currently grossed approximately $331 million worldwide. While anything is possible, it is unlikely the movie will ultimately be profitable, at least based on the box office.

On today’s podcast Colin and I discuss the hard realities for Hollywood studios and theaters that even the ever-resourceful James Bond can’t solve. In short, if James Bond can’t turn a profit at the box office, the likelihood that others can - aside from super-hero, animation and sequels - is improbable.

All of that spells big-time trouble for Hollywood and theaters, as I wrote this past summer in “5 Reasons Going to the Movies is Facing an Irreversible Demise” and “Matt Damon Gives a ‘Hollywood 101’ Class on What Ails the Industry.” It also has significant consequences for movie fans and for how streaming is going to become even more central in our lives.

Listen to the podcast (29 minutes, 6 seconds)

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I’m really pleased to announce that all paid attendees of VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on the afternoons of November 16th and 17th will be entered to win a 50-inch Roku TV and Smart Soundbar, both generously provided by Roku. The drawing is always a fun part of VideoNuze’s events and with the holiday season fast approaching, a couple of attendees will get a jump start on their shopping lists. Thanks to Roku for their longstanding support of VideoNuze events.

A reminder, the CTV Brand Suitability Summit is the first and only connected TV advertising industry event that is 100% focused on all aspects of brand suitability and safety, including the integral role of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

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