In a move that is a bit ironic and very symbolic for the television industry, Nielsen Wednesday said it has effectively turned off the TV channel. As part of the release of an annual report on America's television audiences, Nielsen said it had dropped one of its most popular features - data showing how many channels the average TV household receives - because in a digital, time-shifted multichannel universe, there no longer is a "consistent" meaning for the term "channel." "In an analog world, one channel generally represented a single viewing source," Nielsen explained in the release of its annual Television Audience Report. "With the growth and evolution of digital television technology this is no longer the case." The move is ironic, because Nielsen originally got into the TV business in the 1950s by measuring which channels TV households were tuning to. It is symbolic, because Nielsen, and others in the media industry, are pushing to redefine television as something else: one of many platforms in a rapidly expanding "video" marketplace chockfull of potential new clients and reports to sell. The move comes as Nielsen has taken a number of steps to redefine the underlying meaning of television, as well as the methods it uses to define it. Over the past couple of months, it has moved aggressively to integrate television audience measurement into a broader "screens" universe in which other video screen players - online, mobile and even out-of-home - all are vying for a piece of the $80 billion U.S. TV advertising pie. Earlier this year, Nielsen said it was integrating online viewing of television content into its entire television measurement sample. A few weeks ago, it introduced a "Third Screen Report," that effectively compares the audience delivery to a disparate array of place-based and digital out-of-home video networks - ranging from movie theater screens to elevators - to television's. Nielsen also has designs for integrating online and mobile video into common standards that could be used by advertisers and agencies to plan and buy all sources of video the way they historically have with television's so-called GRP, or gross rating point. Nielsen, meanwhile, has been redefining the meaning of traditional television rating points. Several weeks ago, it announced that it would begin including "duplicate" viewing of television programming - the kind that can happen when viewers watch the same show - often including the same ads - again via time-shifted sources such as DVRs, VCRs and video-on-demand. Nielsen executives have said that the affect would be negligible in terms of diluting the value of TV rating points for advertisers and agencies, but the move fundamentally changes what a rating point means to the ad industry. Some of these shifts are methodological, as Nielsen changes the way it measures the medium, which is growing increasingly complex as it spreads across an array of platforms and distribution sources. Some of them are business decisions, such as Nielsen's decision this year to do away with so-called "live" only audience ratings in its local TV audience measurements, and to only report ratings that include time-shifted viewing in them. That move rankled ad executives, because Nielsen currently has no means for telling them if and when those viewers are skipping their TV commercials when they watch them in time-shifted modes. But Nielsen said it has to do away with the "live" local TV ratings, because it could only report a few "data streams" and there wasn't enough demand for the "live" ones. As for the demise of the TV channel, a Nielsen spokesman said it was actually a long-time coming, because most people know longer watch TV that way, even though the medium still has the connotation of "channel surfing." The reality is that many TV viewers now navigate their TV program and network options via sophisticated menu screens, or by selecting pre-recorded content on their DVR's hard drive, or a cable or satellite company's head-end. He said Nielsen also effectively stopped measuring "channels" and began measuring "programs" several years ago, when it introduced its so-called A/P (active/passive) meters. "Since the introduction of A/P meters, we no longer measure channels," he said. "We measure individual programs. With so many different channels and tiers of channels available, it is no longer possible to put together a meaningful estimate of what the average household gets." But some Nielsen clients say the demise of the TV channel reception and tuning data is a significant loss for the industry, because those reports provided an important snapshot of how Americans are, and have been, watching television. In fact, one of the reasons why the feature in its annual Television Audience Report was so popular, is because it allowed people to look at how the expansion of a multichannel TV universe is impacting the way the average household chooses what to watch. In 2008, the last year for which Nielsen reported the data, the average U.S. household had 130.1 TV channels available to it, but on average, "tuned" only 17.8 of them, according to Nielsen's definition of channel tuning. That means that the average TV households was only watching about 14% of the channels they had available to them. The percentage of channels the average TV household tunes to had been declining over the years that Nielsen has been reporting that data. But effective with the 2009 data included in the just-released report, the average TV household now watches no channels, according to Nielsen.
What if you could flip the mass media power of the TV industry funnel, making your viewers your producers, and then using communities to source, distribute and promote professionally curated content? Well, then you might have something that looked a little bit like user-generated video portal YouTube combined with a traditional television network. That appears to be what Current Media plans to introduce soon, Chairman Al Gore hinted at during the closing keynote Tuesday at MEDIA magazine's Outfront Conference in New York. "Soon we will unveil a new, related concept that we call Crowdsourced TV," Gore disclosed during a speech that focused largely on the concept of a "sustainable advertising" marketplace, and what advertisers, agencies and the media could to do to help make it a reality. The industry needs to, Gore asserted, because, "the consumer is way ahead of us on this." Gore was alluding to the fact that consumers have already embraced social media platforms and new, inexpensive, professional quality technologies that have made them as much a part of the conversation as any marketer or media conglomerate, and that the best option for the media industry is to embrace it. "I want to keep the anticipation, but we're very excited about it," Gore said about Crowdsourced TV. While he declined to elaborate, he implied that it would be a new iteration of what Current Media already does with its online community and its cable and satellite delivered television network, Current TV, which reaches 60 million U.S. households, and also operates in a number of major markets around the world. In fact, Gore said he was leaving the Outfront conference to travel to Johannesburg, where he was going to open a Current TV network in South Africa today. Gore, a former Vice President of the United States, said he and his partner Joel Hyatt originally launched Current to "democratize" the business of media, giving consumers more of a say, and direct involvement, in the creation and distribution of content. And in some ways, Current was ahead of its time, paving the way for a user-generated revolution that was ultimately seized by YouTube, and fueled by legions of social network platforms that promote and distribute it. Gore, who is a senior advisor to YouTube owner Google, did not imply whether it might play a role in Crowdsourced TV, and he did not give a specific time frame for unveiling details of the plans. But Mark Rosenthal, the savvy, long-time MTV Networks president who was brought in last year as CEO of Current Media, has quietly been retooling the network and its Web site to leverage the best of both its fervent user/creator base, as well as his personal ties to Hollywood and professional TV and film producers. During his speech, Gore implied that the next iteration of Current TV would expand on its users' ability to create information and entertainment content, as well as advertising on behalf of marketers and brands. Current was one of the first networks to utilize consumer-generated advertising campaigns on behalf of marketers, and showed campaigns that were recently developed by its users to help introduce a new, biodegradable package design for Frito-Lay's Sun Chips. "What if we let them create content and the advertising," Gore told a roomful of top advertisers, agency and TV industry executives attending the Outfront conference. "We're pretty excited about this."
Nielsen plans a test to determine whether set-top-boxes (STBs) can help upgrade ratings in local markets. No timetable is set, but the trial will take place in three undetermined markets. Those three will be of varying sizes, and will represent a cross-section of the methods Nielsen uses to generate its local numbers. One will be a top-25 market served by local people meters. A second will be a top-60 market with set meters, while the third will be served by diaries. Nielsen is looking to deploy a "hybrid" model, where data gleaned from the STBs will be combined with information from its traditional panels. That amalgam could provide ratings at the second-by-second level for particular demographic segments. STB data tracks DVR-enabled viewing and holds the promise of allowing Nielsen to offer commercial ratings for local markets, something media buyers hunger for. Word of the coming test was revealed by Dave Thomas, Nielsen's president of global media client services, at MediaPost's Outfront event on Tuesday. Thomas said melding STB data with information from Nielsen's standard panels can "take into consideration some of the vexing things that have caused people to pause when assessing (STB) data as a panacea." Among them is whether a set-top-box remains on, but a person is no longer watching. "Are people actually viewing as opposed to tuning?" Thomas said. Also, panels can help make projections for viewing across a full market, not just what takes place in homes that have STBs. Thomas said Nielsen is "very bullish" on using the boxes to provide "better fidelity around the estimates for the benefit of both buyers and sellers." Both Rentrak and TiVo have STB-based services in local markets, but only provide ratings at the household level, with no demographic details. Rentrak's fledgling service is being used by multiple local stations, including four in the Columbus, Ohio area. TiVo launched its service last summer in the San Francisco, Orlando and Tucson markets, although it is unclear whether any stations (or others) have purchased it. The data is gathered anonymously from just TiVo subscribers, using samples of 75,000 in San Francisco, 10,000 in Orlando and 5,000 in Tucson. Nielsen has been facing criticism for dropping a "live-only" stream for program ratings in local markets. The remaining data takes into account time-shifted ratings and has some buyers complaining they have to pay for skipped commercials.
Sony is taking a subtle marketing approach for the launch of its WiFi-enabled portable Internet viewer, the Dash. While announcing the device's availability on Thursday, Sony downplayed marketing plans, saying the device would be highlighted on shows such as "The Dr. Oz Show" and "The Martha Stewart Show" and on CNBC programming and make appearances in music videos from Sony Music artists. But the low-key approach indicates Sony doesn't have particularly high hopes for the Dash in the marketplace that is becoming increasingly crowded with Internet-enabled, touchscreen devices. "Sony hasn't had a strong marketing plan for years," John Biggs, editor in chief of the gadget blog CrunchGear.com, tells Marketing Daily. "They make amazing stuff and just push it out the door. ... Sony has an amazing but massive product line, and it's clear this isn't a priority." Priced at $199 and available through the company's Web site, Sony Style retail stores and other authorized dealers, the Dash is a flat-panel device that uses a wireless connection to display information from the Internet, from streaming movies to traffic reports to social networking updates. Unlike a computer, the Dash is always on and continuously updated. The product is launching more than 1,000 free apps available to allow consumers to customize the content they want. A video on the company's Web site, www.sony.com/dash, introduces the Dash as a device that helps people "make the Internet uniquely yours." The site then goes on to show how the Dash can be used in the kitchen (for recipes and real-time traffic and weather updates), the living room (as an Internet video viewer) and the bedroom (as an alarm clock that can notify you of e-mails and social networking updates that came in overnight). Both CNBC and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia will offer apps for the device (providing financial and business reports and recipes of the day, respectively), as will Dr. Oz, who has created a series of video health tips for Dash users. But don't call it an iPad competitor, Biggs says. "This is more a picture frame/alarm clock," he says. "Everyone needs/wants one but are they going to pick an expensive one or a cheap one?" Sony did not return multiple calls and e-mails seeking comment.
Video ad network Tremor Media reported Wednesday securing $40 million in venture capital funding led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund, with participation from DFJ and Triangle Peak Partners. Canaan Partners, Meritech Capital Partners, and SAP Ventures also participated in this financing. Today's round brings the total to $82 million in VC investments during the past few years. The company became profitable at the end of last year, doubling the size of its video advertising network from 2009 to 2010. The investment could put Tremor Media on a new path to success and support for a variety of media, such as set-top boxes. The capital puts the company on a road to accelerate product development for a variety of platforms that also includes mobile, according to Jason Glickman, the company's chief executive officer. "We will aggressively build new products and features into our technology platforms, Acudeo, which powers it all," he says. The features being built into the platform for publishers will help monetize their inventory and content. Advertisers will see features that allow them to take advantage of online video beyond standard pre-roll and untargeted campaigns. Part of the push aims to move online some of the dollars historically invested in television. Tremor Media's network, made up of 1,700 publishers, will expand to support set-top boxes, Glickman says. Part of the road map involves working with set-top box or Wi-Fi connected television makers to support online video advertising through Internet protocol (IP) addresses. There are several ways that consumers will interact with these televisions, and Glickman believes the ad inventory will port nicely from one medium to another. Tremor Media also plans to build in support for HTML 5, the next major revision of the HyperText Markup Language for the Web. It looks similar to Apple's iPad format, Glickman says. "As we see users move that way, we'll release innovation there as well," he says.
For video consumers, it's not only a case of more new digital screens from new video devices, but more traditional TV screens in the home. Nielsen says the number of TV sets in 2009 had its largest-ever year-over-year increase since 2006 -- now just under three TVs per home, 2.93 TV sets per household. In 2009, the number of TV sets averaged 2.86; 2008 was at 2.83; 2007 tallied a 2.79 average; and 2006 was at 2.73. According to Nielsen's Television Audience Report, the number of U.S. homes with three or more TV sets is now at 55% -- an all-time high -- up from 54% of a year ago. This seems to come at the expense of those homes with one and two sets, which have moved up. Those with two sets are now at 28%, the same versus a year ago, but declining in recent years. Those with only one TV set -- now 17% of TV homes -- have also dropped. In 2005, for example, 21% of TV homes had only one TV set. Nielsen also notes the unusual situation that exists between people and TV sets: There are more TV sets than people in the average TV home. The number of people per TV home is at a 2.5 average. Other results: According to Nielsenwire, which first published the TV set results, total advertising broadcast network spending was down 10% in 2009 versus the previous year, while national cable advertising grew 16%. The report also says 34% of TV homes have a DVR, 46% are able to receive an HD signal, and less than 10% of homes receive TV programming via over-the-air signals.
What's your favorite television show? Who's your favorite character? "The Office" is my favorite show. My 17-year-old nephew Jake loves it as well. When prompted, he can recall verbatim the best line from any episode. I often text him to describe which episode I am watching -- and sure enough, he nails it every time. Our favorite character is Creed. I was in the reception room at Time Inc. here in New York a few weeks ago and standing next to me was Creed. So I approached him and explained how much my nephew loves him and asked if I could take his picture. Creed, which is his real name, responded, "I will be bummed when people stop asking." So I handed my iPhone to his agent, put my arm around my new friend and then sat back down on the couch to text the photo to Jake. Creed looked over at me typing away, so I explained what I was doing. Then he said, "Why don't we just call your nephew?" Stunned and smiling from ear to ear, I dialed Jake's number and handed him the phone. The call went into voice mail, so Creed left a hysterical message Jake later shared with all his friends. What's your favorite show online? What character from an online show would you love to meet in real life? Beyond repurposed television content and a talking orange no one will be talking about a year from now, there are no "characters" that viewers care about online. So much of the online video content out there is so easily forgettable. So in swoop the "video networks" to hype online video's value when there is very little to speak of. Case in point: BrightRoll, which announced through its own research study everything is coming up roses in the online video world (which is like McDonald's announcing Big Mac's are healthy). BrightRoll's clients, according to this self-conducted research report, all plan to increase spending across BrightRoll's video network. The reasons given for this increase included audience reach, superior targeting capabilities, efficient pricing and the pre-roll ads they can run prior to the consumer engaging any content. There was no mention buyers were purchasing this inventory based on the quality of the content. When you lack quality, you talk about scale, targeting and efficiently priced ad executions -- and BrightRoll is not alone in steering this type of conversation. Tremor is another big player in this space, boasting 1,500 sites in its network. Can anyone name a hit video show under the Tremor umbrella? The number of total aggregated video plays does not equal quality. So why are these and other companies in the online video space enjoying success despite the lack of quality content? One word, albeit a hyphenated one: pre-roll. Online video holds users hostage, forcing them to view an ad before they can view any content. This induces advertisers to overlook the importance of quality, because their ads are seen regardless if the user engages with the content. Consumer resentment for these ads isn't reported, and abandonment rates are swept under the rug. So the pre-roll ad is celebrated when it should be recognized as another telltale sign of the lack of quality in online video. You don't tune into NBC to watch the start of "The Office" and get met with a commercial. Consumers are greeted with a window into the characters they care about, and only after engagement occurs does a commercial appear. This order of content engagement prior to the first commercial ensures the focus is on the production of quality content. Online video led by these ad networks reversed this order, ensuring networks make money first while quality takes a back seat. Online video should enjoy its day in the sun. A few more companies will get acquired, while leaving behind nothing of value. Not even the scent of Lysol -- whose parent company committed $40 million dollars in online video pre-roll ads priced at a $2 CPM with no restrictions on where their ads appear -- can cover up this smell forever.
The video search engine blinkx introduced behavioral targeting services Tuesday supported by AdHoc, the company's contextual video advertising platform. The updated version of AdHoc targets the ads to the person watching the video. Ads serve up based on information collected in browser cookies and ad tags embedded in Web pages on the site and in the videos. Speech recognition and visual analysis technology pull out information from the videos prior to the piece being added to the pool of content. AdHoc tracks individual browsers and the consumption of video content on the blinkx site. As long as the site visitor doesn't delete the cookie, the targeting information remains available for up to two months. Information to create a customer profile comes from activity on the blinkx site. The technology tracks consumption patterns, building awareness of a consumer's interests, which in turn enable advertisers to match ads with an online video audience based on behavior. "We don't buy data from anyone else," says Suranga Chandratillake, CEO of blinkx. "And we're not following browsers from Web site to Web site." During the past three years, blinkx's speech recognition and visual analysis technology has supported 800 campaigns for more than 585 brands, such as Coca-Cola, Shell and Microsoft. Chandratillake says some companies have run trials measuring click-through rates, but the CTRs on videos typically have more to do with attractive creative than anything else. The company also measures success through surveys, boasting 300% better engagement rates. Blinkx, which charges per impression, has one customer, Scion, testing the service. The next challenge for blinkx is transitioning the technology from the PC to the TV. Chandratillake says between 1% and 2% access blinkx content through a video game console or TV. Although it's a minute amount today, those numbers didn't even appear two years ago, so it's time to thinking about what the site and user interface should look like, and how to track the information. The format is so different, Chandratillake says, that it has become a concern that needs to be addressed. Until recently set-top boxes couldn't support Flash. And what can you do with a remote control verses mouse and keyword, he asks.
Hot on the heels of the NAB Show and the much-anticipated April 3rd arrival of the iPad, Netflix and broadcast networks ABC and CBS recently announced moves to offer video applications for the iPad. While CBS is relying on the HTML5-served video that will allow fans to access shows like "Survivor" and others using the iPad's built-in Safari Web browser, ABC appears to have taken a different approach, relying on a standalone app with HTTP-streaming inside Apple's QuickTime library. ABC's move to launch its own iPad application rather than relying upon a browser-based experience is really a game-changer in the video streaming industry. This gives ABC much more control over the presentation, resulting in an overall better consumer experience. It will enable viewers to browse and stream episodes from shows including "Dancing with the Stars," "20/20," "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" in its own iPad application. Why is this such a big deal? Consider for a moment how the Pandora app changed the lives of avid fans when it launched mobile applications for the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. Without having to access the Pandora Web site through a Web browser and risk the hiccups of disrupted or down service, Pandora subscribers are able to stream stations using either their mobile device provider's network or WiFi with uninterrupted steaming -- similar to what ABC viewers will be able to experience through its iPad video app. ABC's move to launch an iPad video app is a sign that content owners are willing to reach out and test different approaches in monetization. Since no ideal system yet exists, vendors like ABC are conforming to Apple's preferred formats, and in some cases using competitive formats to be differentiated in the market so that their content is available on all connected devices. While the iPad does not currently support Adobe Flash, most content providers work with online video platforms that run on Flash. While I am a fan of my recently purchased iPad, what would make it the ideal video streaming device for me, and thousands of others, would be if the iPad supported a wider range of video formats. While ABC's move to create an iPad video application sets the pace for other vendors in the industry, all are now grappling with the balance of creating and storing copious amounts of video in different file formats to suit each kind of connected device, and the politics around a yet-to-be created universal intelligent server that would prevent the forced convergence around certain platforms -- like those that the iPad, for now, only supports. It may be that an intelligent server could be an Apache server or possibly an Adobe FMS server. Either way, there seems to be a need for a unified video delivery platform. This theoretical system would configure the stream with metadata passed in by the connected device. The platform could then instruct the connected device -- such as a TV or cell phone -- how to present the video, and what type of video to expect. All eyes will be watching for the next big studio to launch its iPad application with HTTP streaming. Until then, I am eagerly awaiting the next killer app for video, while I spend some time getting to know my iPad, and reacquaint myself with Web sites only viewable on Flash.