A top Comcast executive wrote Thursday that it is "gratified" by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's recommended proposal to clear its joint venture with NBC Universal. A full vote of all five FCC commissioners should come in January. The Genachowski plan for how the new company would operate is said to have some conditions. Those would be in areas such as online video, and negotiations with cable/satellite/telco TV operators for NBCU programming. But Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen wrote in a blog post that even with those provisos, Comcast will be able to operate in an "appropriate way," signaling its endorsement. The other four FCC commissioners will review Genachowski's proposal and could still offer further limitations for the merged company. Cohen wrote that Comcast will work with them to protect its interests and the public's. Conditions will "not undermine our business combination and will ensure that consumers will benefit and that competitors are treated fairly." The Department of Justice is also reviewing the proposed merger. While many interest groups and others support the merger, some vehemently oppose the union, charging that Comcast will gain unjust advantages over competitors. The FCC commission includes three Democrats, including the chairman and two Republicans. A new Comcast would control pay-TV and broadband service in millions of homes, the NBC network and a slew of leading cable channels.
Nielsen Wednesday began offering clients a sneak preview of its so-called "extended screen" ratings, which will add online audience estimates to the ratings of TV shows that are also distributed over the Internet. Nielsen said the previews would begin the week of Jan. 3, 2011, and said the data would "broadly demonstrate the impact of online viewing" on TV programming. The impact most likely will be a net positive one for TV programmers, adding incremental viewing from a new source of distribution, though it is not clear how the new multiplatform ratings will affect the underlying cost and value of TV to advertisers. Toward that end, Nielsen reiterated plans to find a way of factoring in TV programs viewed online with different ads than the ones that were originally televised online. Nielsen indicated that it has not yet figured out how to do that, and that the initial phase of the new ratings would only include the audiences of TV programs served online with the "identical" commercials and promotions as the ones that aired on TV. "We are investigating ways to provide the option to remove or insert digital ads over national promotions in a future release," said, adding, " We are also working on a separate solution for programmers that insert different commercials into the programs they make available online." Nielsen said details about those alternate advertising and promotion estimate options would be disclosed at an undetermined date in 2011.
Income levels often click with technology adoption. So it's no surprise that homes with DVRs have an upscale profile. Nielsen research shows that adults in homes with incomes of $75,000+ account for nearly 50% of all DVR owners. Data collected in May found that adults -- those 18 and up -- living in homes with annual $75,000+ incomes account for 48.5% of all DVR owners. Adults in homes with incomes of $100,000+ account for 29%, more than any other income segment. In line with those findings, adults with incomes of $75,000+ account for 50% of the "prime-time DVR playback audience." In homes with the $100,000+ amount, the corresponding level is 30%. The majority of DVR users are 45 and under, but a notable 38% are older than 45 as of May. As of September, 38% of all homes have a DVR. About one-quarter of homes with a DVR have two of the devices, with 5% having three or more. In ethnic findings, the breakdown is: 30% of Hispanic homes own a DVR, about the same for African-Americans. Whites are at 40% and Asian Americans at 35%.
Information travels fast in the Facebook age, and even faster when mobile phones are connected to a 4G network -- at least according to T-Mobile. Leveraging its position as an official sponsor of the National Basketball Association, T-Mobile enlists commentator and former player Charles Barkley and the Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade for a series of commercials showcasing the video capabilities of T-Mobile's 4G network. "So much has changed about the fan experience in the 21st century and, everything being instantaneous, we really wanted to use that as being fuel for the campaign," says Steve Williams, a creative director at Publicis Seattle, the agency behind the campaign. "We wanted to give it to a place that T-mobile could own." In the first of the commercials (directed by Spike Lee), Wade locks himself in a hotel room suite. When he posts a video screaming, "Get me outta here!" to his Facebook account, a modern-day equivalent of telephone erupts, with fans assuming Wade means he wants out of Miami. Various fans and celebrities (including Barkley, consummate Knicks fan Lee and the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash) try to woo Wade, who is finally released from captivity by a hotel housekeeper, who notes he's on the news. A second spot depicts commentary by Barkley remixed into a hip-hop song to become a viral sensation after passing through a series of hands that includes players and fans. The spot ends with Barkley groaning as he watches a group of nightclubbers dance to his commentary. The television commercials will debut during NBA programming on Christmas Day. The company has been an NBA Partner since 2005. Having introduced its advanced 4G network November, the NBA partnership was an ideal way to showcase the ways the network enhances a user's experience, says Melinda McCrocklin, manager of advertising and brand integration for T-Mobile. "The [NBA effort] demonstrates the power of what 4G can deliver to the handset and to the consumer," says Peter DeLuca, vice president of advertising for T-Mobile. "One of the key insights of NBA fans is they're highly social and they're looking for more than just scores."
On the backs of shows such as "Jersey Shore" and "Teen Mom," MTV said it will end 2010 with 16% higher ratings in its target 12-to-34 demo, marking its largest year-over-year jump since 1999. For the fourth quarter this year, ratings were up 24%, the network said. Not including sports programming such as "Monday Night Football," MTV said it had all 20 of the top cable broadcasts this year in the 18-to-34 demo. Its "2010 Video Music Awards" with a 10 rating and more than 11 million total viewers was No. 1. MTV General Manager Stephen Friedman stated: "We continue to rally the organization around a new brand filter that is clearly gaining traction with the millennial audience." "Jersey Shore," MTV's most-watched series ever, will be back in 2011 and two scripted series, "Skins" and '"Teen Wolf," will also debut. "Jersey Shore" saw a 119% increase in ratings from season one to season two among adults 18 to 34, from a 2.6 to a 5.7. The second season of "Teen Mom" saw a 57% jump. MTV's impressive growth continued in the digital space. According to comScore Media Metrix, the MTV Music Group sang to more than 57 million unique visitors numbers (November 2010). That's a walloping 200% in year-over-year growth.
The National Hockey League and NBC Sports Thursday unveiled a campaign that integrates Facebook, Twitter and national television on the New Year's Day broadcast of the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. This year's NHL Winter Classic features two of the game's biggest stars as Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field. NHL and NBC are running very similar "watch and win" campaigns on both Facebook and Twitter, but they run in parallel, not integrated. NBC only supports the Facebook campaign. Michael DiLorenzo, senior director of social media marketing and strategy at the NHL, calls the campaign a "watch and win" promotion that gives viewers a chance to win either a Honda CR-Z automobile, or trips for four to both Universal Orlando Studios and the 2011 NHL All-Star Game. "We're running the social and broadcast integration to test the effectiveness and examine the data," DiLorenzo says. "It should grow our Facebook Fan base, because people must 'like' the page to play. It also will build a window into the event for those who may not be in front of the television." Excluding Google, Bing and Yahoo, Facebook is the No. 1 site driving traffic to NHL.com. Those referred visitors watch more videos and read more articles. They spend three times more time on the site. Social media agency Rocket XL designed the campaign for the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. The idea is to get fans to tune in and engaged. On Dec. 31, the NHL will run its first promoted tweet on Twitter to promote the campaign. For example, if Sidney Crosby during the game gets a five-minute penalty the NHL may ask via Twitter: "retweet this message #winterclassic who just got a 5-minute penalty?" The first one to reply with the correct answer wins. The live portion of the campaign gets underway once the first goal is scored during the day of the game and the question gets tweeted on Twitter, Rocket XL will run the names from the tweets to determine the winner. Beginning Thursday, fans also can register to play by going to Facebook signing up and clicking on the "Watch And Win" tab. Fans come to Facebook to enter and upload a photo that could air on NBC the day of the game if they win. NBC will run on-air television mentions throughout the day such as during the Rose Bowl. NHL introduces the drive to Facebook in some of the 15-second Winter Classic TV spots airing now until game day. At various times during the game, a Facebook message will appear on screen selecting a lucky winner. The NHL will call the winner to answer questions related to the broadcast. If the winner answers correctly, he or she wins one of the prizes. The winning names and faces appear on NBC during the game. "Aside from looking at how people interact in social communities, this campaign will determine how to leverage fans to influence connections from offline to television to Facebook or Twitter," says Eric Vieira, associate director at Rocket XL.
Sony Pictures Television debuted its online platform for Latin America, which enables advertisers to integrate their products into video content offered by SPT's cable sites: www.canalsony.com, www.canalaxn.com, and www.animaxtv.com. Participating SPT digital clients include Ford, Telcel and Sony Electronics. The new online division is led by Juan Carlos Sanchez, SPT ad sales business development director for Latin America, based in Miami. According to a recent Nielsen study, 70% of the world's consumers spent time watching online videos during March 2010. To capitalize on that trend, SPT is focusing on two initial Web shows: "Urban Wolf" and "Private." The third effort is the Video Game Awards. SPT's online miniseries allow advertisers to promote their products through video pre-rolls and post-rolls between 5 and 30 seconds in length. "We've noticed an increasing trend by Latin American consumers, even more than in Europe and the U.S., in repeatedly going to the Internet in search of high-quality entertainment videos," stated Irving Plonskier, SVP/GM, Sony Pictures Television Ad Sales Latin America. "Urban Wolf" will offer 15 four-minute Webisodes targeting males between 18 and 34. The miniseries was launched at Comic-Con and was praised as best drama at the American Film Institute's 2009 Digifest. Filmed on location in Paris, "Urban Wolf" stars Vincent Sze as a former MIT student who travels to Paris for a job interview. Walking the streets of the city, he sees surveillance cameras follow his every movement, upping his paranoia and testing his survival instincts. "Private," the second miniseries, was created by the producers of "Gossip Girl." It has 20 Webisodes, lasting between four and six minutes each, and targets women 18-24. "Private" takes place at a prestigious boarding school where fashion and money collide with envy and murder. "Clients have realized that online video advertising facilitates the dialogue with their customers, increases brand awareness, attracts potential buyers, and strengthens brand loyalty," said Plonskier.
A solid majority of U.S. homes now have an HD set, which is up from just 12% five years ago. The Leichtman Research Group reports that 61% of homes have at least one HD set, and about one-quarter have more than one. HD costs are coming down, with 60% of set owners saying they spent less than $1,000, up from 34% in 2008. Some 61% with annual household incomes over $75,000 have HDTV -- compared to 44% with annual household incomes of $30,000-$75,000, and 29% with annual household incomes under $30,000. Moreover, 38% of HDTV owners have more than one HDTV set. On the next frontier, 3D TV, Leichtman reports fewer than 1% of homes have one of the fledgling sets. But 80% of adults have heard they are out there, and 8% are "very interested" in buying one. Consumers who have seen a 3D TV show give it varying approval ratings, with 24% assigning it a rating between 8 and 10 (10 is excellent), but 32% only allotting between 1 and 3. The research comes from a survey of 1,308 U.S. homes by Leichtman tabbed "HDTV and 3D TV 2010." The firm has conducted an HDTV study for eight years running. Leichtman reports that 21% of U.S. homes bought a TV in the last year and 18% plan to buy one in the next year. Bruce Leichtman, president of the company, credits lower prices with expanding the number of HDTV sets. The mean purchase price among those who bought an HDTV set in the past year was about 22% lower than 2009.
Newspapers surpassed broadcasters for the first time in the third quarter in total video minutes streamed and the number of video titles uploaded, according to the latest data from analytics firm TubeMogul and video-hosting service Brightcove. Newspaper sites had a total of 313 million minutes of video streamed compared to 290 million for broadcast sites. Meanwhile, the number of videos downloaded on newspaper sites surged 51% quarter-to-quarter (and 110% from a year ago) to 482,000, more than any other type of media company. "This is an interesting development, and suggests that newspapers are rapidly adopting and producing video content for what was once a print business," notes the TubeMogul/Brightcove report. It also noted that in contrast with longer-format content on broadcast sites, newspapers are producing many more, but fewer, titles on a rolling basis. That approach likely has more appeal for advertisers, allowing them to run more pre-roll spots more often. "Newspapers have a lot of battle scars from the digital crusades of the last decade, so they've become pretty tenacious when it comes to the Internet," observed Gordon Borrell, president of local media research firm Borrell Associates. A major part of that effort has been seizing on video in innovative ways to draw in online audiences. Because of concerns about cannibalizing TV viewership and ad revenue, broadcast companies have been more reluctant to embrace online video. Thanks in part to the influx of video ad dollars, newspapers for the first time in five years have actually gained share of local online advertising dollars, according to Borrell. "Not much, but enough for us to say that they appear to be turning the corner and evolving from 'newspaper' companies to 'media' companies," he said. Outfits like The New York Times and McClatchy Corp. will get about 25% of their revenue this quarter from digital compared to 5% to 7% for most broadcast companies. The TubeMogul/Brightcove study also showed Facebook's growing influence in online video viewing, surpassing Yahoo in referring traffic to online video content. Facebook now accounts for nearly 10% of all referred video streams, second only to Google, which accounts for more than half. But Google as a referrals source accounted for much higher engagement for newspapers at one minute, 57 seconds per session, compared to the category average of 1:27. "This suggests that viewers look to the search engine as a source for the most relevant breaking and timely content," stated the report. "Facebook was the most engaging referral source for entertainment categories, including broadcasters (1:57 ) and magazines (1:34). For brands, video referrals from Twitter provided the highest rate of engagement at 1:47. Twitter also accounted for the highest average engagement rate across all media categories, and specifically for broadcasters (1:57) and online media properties (1:40) as well as brands. Completion rates for video from brand marketers continued to climb in the third quarter, reaching 47%. That's up from 35% in the first quarter. Completion rates also rose for broadcasters (44%) and online-only media properties (45.9%). When it comes to devices, game consoles (such as the Wii and PlayStation) lead in average viewing time, at 2:45 per session, compared to 2:27 for online video and smartphones at about 2 minutes. This is not surprising, "considering that gaming consoles are currently the most common playback device connected to TVs and most closely replicate a comfortable lean-back experience," according to the study. Brightcove said it expects the disparity to grow as media companies make more content available to viewers through connected TV apps and game consoles.
To expand its entertainment services, digital entertainment company Rovi Corporation plans to acquire Sonic Solutions. The proposed acquisition of Sonic has an enterprise value of about $720 million, Rovi said on Thursday. A provider of parental controls and interactive video systems like programming, Rovi plans to use technologies available to its TotalGuide customers to power Sonic's RoxioNow services, a move that will "result in accelerated uptake of premium content," according to the company. "Rovi and Sonic share a vision for the future of digital entertainment and how to deliver the best consumer experience possible," said Rovi president and CEO Fred Amoroso. "We believe Sonic has built an exciting portfolio that complements Rovi's TotalGuide as well as our broad portfolio of solutions." Sonic investors may opt to sell their shares to Rovi at $14 apiece, or receive 0.2489 Rovi share for each of Sonic that they hold. Sonic Solutions powers digital video streaming services, including Blockbuster movie streaming service, Best Buy's CinemaNow service, and its own RoxioNow service. The combined company will continue to offer digital content services, along with new content discovery and engagement features designed to create a more interactive experience. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. In September, Rovi reached a multi-year agreement with Apple for access to Rovi's intellectual property, per a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "The specific terms of the license agreement are confidential," read the filing. The deal is likely related to Apple's Apple TV efforts, which will let users rent TV shows and movies and play back content purchased through iTunes.
A new survey measuring consumer behaviors and attitudes toward Video on Demand (VOD) by Avail-TVN, conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, finds that nearly two-thirds of consumers say that availability of television program episodes on-demand make them more likely to watch those television shows on a regular basis. The data shows that availability of free television programs on demand:
Here's a disclaimer I've had to make far too many times during my 30-year career covering media, especially television: I am not a researcher. I am a journalist who, from time to time, writes about research, including research about television. I do not know how to compute a "statistical deviation," and I cannot tell you what the "regression from the mean" really means. I simply report on research findings and, when relevant, on the methods researchers use to come up with those findings. That's it. It's not a cop-out. It's just the truth. I understand that journalists are responsible for explaining the context of research they report on as best they can. Early in my career as a trade journalist, at the invitation of former McCann-Erickson Media Director Gordon Link, I enrolled in the agency's media training program so that I could understand how to better cover things like media research. I am not perfect, and over the years when I have made some mistakes, I've always tried to correct them and set the record straight. But let me tell you, when it comes to the topic of research, it isn't that easy. And here's the really ugly truth: There is no perfect research. There are just different methods that yield different results. Occasionally, our industry comes to a consensus around some of those methods and results, making them de facto standards and even "currencies" for the purposes of planning, buying and evaluating the performance of media buys. That's certainly the case with Nielsen's TV ratings. People in the industry --journalists, researchers, media planners and buyers -- may talk about them like they are the absolute truth, but they are just a consensus for estimating the size and composition of TV audiences. In fact, Nielsen never refers to its ratings as actual audience numbers. It calls them "estimates." So why am I reminding you about this now - today, when I should be wishing you good tidings of comfort and joy, or waxing on about some other important year-end TV issues. Well, it's because I need to set the record straight, because MediaPost recently erred in reporting on some new industry research. It was a story about a report by Forrester Research - a survey in February and March of 42,784 North American adults - which found, based on the methods Forrester used, that the amount of time those adults spend online is now equal to the amount of time they spend watching television. Our mistake was using language in the headline ( "Internet And TV, Equal Time For U.S. Households") and in the article, that treated the results as fact, and not doing a proper job of explaining that the results were a function of the method -- a self-reported survey -- that Forrester used. The lead paragraph of our article asserted that Forrester's research "confirms" those media behaviors, when in truth, it only confirms the behavior of the people responding to the survey -- that they now spend the same amount of time online that they do watching television. People can argue with the relevance or representativeness of Forrester's findings, but I for one think they were worth reporting on, if only as an example of how people perceive the amount of time they spend with each medium. Others, however, treated our coverage as some form of heresy. To them, the industry consensus data -- Nielsen's estimates -- are sacrosanct, and no other research should ever be cited. "One of the greatest frustrations among media researchers, is when we see headlines touting obviously bogus research studies," Steve Sternberg, a former Madison Avenue media researcher, wrote on his blog, "The Sternberg Report." Sternberg went on to chastise trade journalists for covering the Forrester study, asserting, "Any reporter who presented this gibberish, and any editor that allowed it to be printed should be embarrassed. Anyone who writes about this business for a living should know the reputation of the company involved, and at the very least should have quoted several industry researchers - all of whom would have disagreed with the findings. They also should have pointed out that the findings went against virtually every objective research study on the same topic." I may not be allowed to call myself a researcher, but apparently some researchers think they are better judges of objective news coverage than journalists. Ironically, Sternberg cites both Nielsen data and the Council For Research Excellence's "Video Consumer Mapping Study" as presumably more objective sources of the truth, but fails to disclose his part in the CRE committee that fielded the study and that it was paid for by Nielsen. That's no reflection of the validity of the study, which was conducted by Ball State University using its highly regarded "observational" methods in which people actually observe how other people use media. Sternberg also failed to disclose that he makes his living primarily off of Nielsen data. He even pitches readers of his blog to buy "My Exclusive Primetime TV Insights Reports." The reports, published by Baseline Intelligence, sell for $395, and are based primarily on analysis of Nielsen's TV audience estimates. Now, few who know Sternberg would argue that he isn't a solid and credible researcher, but he is not a journalist and he is not necessarily the best arbiter of journalistic objectivity. And just because the industry trades billions of dollars worth of TV advertising time, and makes billions of dollars worth of TV programming decisions, based on Nielsen's estimates, doesn't mean those estimates are the truth or should be cited to the exclusion of anyone else's estimates. The truth is that there have been times when Madison Avenue utilized two concurrent sources for TV ratings estimates: Nielsen's and Arbitron's. And if you go back to the early days of TV in the '50s and '60s, there were a half a dozen ratings services measuring television in different ways and with different results. That was also a period when a Congressional probe about the TV ratings business led to the creation of an industry self-regulatory watchdog, the Media Rating Council, to watch over and accredit the integrity of various research estimates and methods. Interestingly, the national TV ratings that are currently used for those billions of dollars worth of TV advertising decisions, are not technically accredited by the MRC. Parts of Nielsen's convoluted systems are, but not a key component: the commercial monitoring data that Nielsen uses to estimate its so-called C3 ratings. For that matter, the MRC recently pulled its accreditation for all of Nielsen's diary-only local TV ratings estimates, because Nielsen failed to meet its standards. The diary reports are based on a sample of TV viewers who self-report their viewing behavior by writing it down in printed reports and mailing them back to Nielsen. The truth is that MRC accreditation does not determine whether Nielsen's ratings are currency or not. Industry consensus does, and advertisers, agencies and local TV stations continue to trade billions of dollars worth of advertising time on the basis of those diaries, even though many may believe they are not the most objective method for measuring actual viewing behavior in the current multichannel, time-shifted TV programming environment. So the best we can hope for as an industry is for people on all sides of the business -- advertisers, agencies, researchers, research suppliers, consultants, bloggers, and yes, even trade journalists -- to be as complete as they possibly can about disclosing methods and biases, including their own self-interests about the research they cite as gospel. That's why, a while back, I asked another well-regarded industry researcher, Gabe Samuels (Advertising Research Foundation, J. Walter Thompson, etc.) to help MediaPost craft a disclaimer for our Research Brief newsletters. It reads, "We use the term research in the broadest possible sense. We do not perform an audit, nor do we analyze the data for accuracy or reliability. Our intention is to inform you of the existence of research materials and so we present reports as they are presented to us. The only requirements we impose are that they are potentially useful and relevant to our readers and that they pass the rudimentary test of relying on acceptable industry standards. We explicitly do not take responsibility for the findings. Please be aware of this and check the source for yourself if you intend to rely on any of the data we present." Good words to live by. Happy holidays.
Best Buy has indicated that sales of 3D TVs aren't exactly moving at warp speed. Will Toshiba change things with its new model that could make viewing a 3D channel as simple as viewing any other network? While cost and consumer confusion appear to have hindered 3D TV sales so far, another factor seems to be those space-age glasses required to check out an ESPN 3D or other programming. Toshiba thinks it can eliminate that issue. This week, it is starting to sell 3D TVs in Japan that don't require the glasses; those sets could be at Best Buy sometime next year. This technology appears to be way ahead of schedule, as the Sonys and Samsungs are just getting their feet wet, spending a fortune marketing the sets with the special specs required. But for the Toshiba models -- various screen sizes are coming -- the chance of success looks promising. If the price is right and it's time to buy a new TV, why not do it? Meanwhile, as the manufacturers battle to win over customers making that first 3D TV purchase, some distributors of 3D programming are better positioned than others to capitalize over the long term. At least two -- AT&T U-verse and Time Warner Cable -- are smartly charging customers to get channels like ESPN 3D. These companies have apparently learned from the Internet. Start by giving something away for free, and it's hard to place the genie back in the bottle. But kick off with a toll booth, and it's a lot easier to go in the other direction and allow people to pass through gratis. Comcast and DirecTV (which also has its own 24/7 3D network) are offering 3D for free. This would seem to leave them with little wiggle room. Perhaps they're banking on free 3D to attract customers. But the 3D consumer base is likely to be passionate and probably upscale -- not likely to make a decision based on an extra $120 a year or so. Verizon FiOS will launch ESPN 3D next year, but has made no announcement on whether it will be free or have a cost attached. On the programming front, also coming next year is a 3D channel from Discovery, IMAX and Sony. Operators will probably use the same free or pay strategies for it they have respectively used for ESPN 3D. (Distributors offer 3D films for a price on demand.) Also intriguing to watch is how widespread 3D advertising gets. Philips is running a spot that creatively plugs a Norelco 3D razor, which also appears in traditional broadcasts, presumably helping the company save money on production costs, which is a major hurdle. But movie studios figure to be the most interested in advertising in this format. They can produce a spot in 3D that can run in a theater before a 3D flick -- and then repurpose that spot on a 3D channel. But all the talk focusing on 3D TV sets, programming and advertising, seems a bit inside baseball -- heavy among industry types, but light with the general public. Where's the buzz? Toshiba, by getting rid of the silly glasses hurdle, might unleash some.