VideoNuze Posts

Just before the Thanksgiving break IAB UK published an excellent guide to connected TVs (CTVs) and advertising in the UK market, called “Changing the Channel.” Though the guide is specifically targeted to the UK, many of its findings and recommendations are generalizable to other global markets.

Highlighting how omnipresent CTVs have become, the guide cites data from OfCom that 47% of UK homes now have a CTV, with the vast majority having access to broadcast VOD or SVOD services. No surprise 16-34 year olds have the highest likelihood of access and usage of these VOD services. The guide also notes research IAB UK conducted with Differentology to better understand CTV usage and attitudes, plus how advertisers can best capitalize on new opportunities.

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Late last week, video ad management platform Beachfront and XITE announced a collaboration in which Beachfront is powering XITE’s VOD ad inventory on IP-enabled set-top boxes. XITE is a Netherlands-founded music video service that reaches 100 million households in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Ben Abbatiello, Beachfront’s VP of Advanced TV explained in an interview that a critical role that the company is playing is empowering XITE with more granular, IPv6-based audience targeting on set-top boxes, an improvement vs. the single home IP address format of IPv4. Beachfront has been investing in cross-screen addressability that bridges STB and connected TV inventory. IPv6 will become more essential for enhanced targeting as consumers add multiple viewing devices in their homes.

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I’m pleased to present the 492nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week Colin and I discuss my post from earlier this week, “Will Spinning Video Subscriptions Become a Thing?” which highlighted Hulu’s explicit offer to subscribers to switch (or spin) between its Live TV and ad-supported SVOD service. Hulu made the offer to mitigate a $10 per month rate increase it announced on its Live TV service.

Colin and I examine the pros and cons of SVOD services explicitly pitching spinning as a value proposition and whether it will take hold. Related, Colin also raises the interesting point that with the SVOD landscape getting more crowded, it might be beneficial for SVOD providers to offer smaller bite-sized on-ramps to start customer relationships (e.g. weekend passes, pre-paid credits, etc.) as we’ve seen in other industries.

SVOD is entering a significant period of transition, and from our perspectives, all ideas are going to be on the table to attract and retain subscribers.
 
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Three key video ad metrics showed ongoing stability in Q3 ’19 according to Extreme Reach’s latest Video Benchmarks Report. Specifically, premium publishers (direct sellers of ad inventory) maintained 80% share of video ad impressions (compared to 82% and 83% in the prior 2 quarters), while media aggregators’ share was 20% (compared to 18% and 17% in the prior 2 quarters).

Given this, it’s no surprise that 30-second spots, TV’s traditional workhorse unit, accounted for 66% of video ad volume in Q3 (comparable to 64% and 69% in prior 2 quarters). 15-second spots accounted for 32% of video ad volume (in line with 33% and 28% from prior 2 quarters).

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We all know about the proliferation of subscription streaming services (Disney+, Apple TV+, soon Peacock, HBO Max, all in addition to Netflix, etc.). Each service is investing heavily and wants to become a core part of our video behavior, entrenching itself as an unquestioned line item on our credit card statements.

Achieving that status is nirvana because inertia is a powerful force; once achieved, a subscriber needs to not only have an ah-ah recognition moment, but then follow it up with action to drop the service (figuring out how to do alone could be too much for many - find a cancellation link, an 800 number to call, etc.). For example, ever wonder how many people don’t check their statements closely and still pay for unused AOL dial-up service years since they’ve used it? I’m guessing it would be shocking.

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I’m pleased to present the 491st edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

Disney+ launched this week, nearly 2 1/2 years after Disney announced a massive pivot to focus on direct-to-consumer distribution. Colin and I have both spent time using Disney+ in the past few days and on today’s podcast we share our perspectives.

There’s a lot to like about Disney+, but of course there’s no such thing as completely clear sailing. Potential issues we explore include whether Disney+ can/will create enough new content to keep pace with Netflix (and even whether it should try), how significant churn will be among the first 10 million activations (all of which are on some type of free trial), whether Disney+ can truly scale to 90 million subscribers while maintaining a family focus, what role bundling will play, and more.

Disney+ marks a major step forward in the evolution of the TV/video industries. It will be lots of fun to see how it unfolds.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (25 minutes, 16 seconds)

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

Disney+ launched yesterday and I spent some time with it on my iPad and 60-inch Roku TV. My main takeaway: Disney+ is a winner. Period. End of story. It will have millions of subscribers by the end of this holiday season, and a multiple of that a year from now. As international markets roll out, the millions will multiply again, many times. Anyone’s growth estimates are just that, because how big and quickly Disney+ grows are mainly functions of how much marketing firepower Disney puts behind Disney+. Based on everything we’ve seen so far, Disney is pulling out all the stops.

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