The majority of video ads are being delivered within large player environments, according to new research from VideoHub. More remarkable -- across all player sizes -- is that the viewing quality has been "strong," the video ad platform finds. Nearly 88% of all ads streamed in the first quarter were fully visible to viewers -- much stronger than statistics have indicated for display ads, VideoHub reports. Of the 3.5 billion video streams analyzed, 7% were partially obstructed, while viewers never saw the remaining 5%. The report also shows that while dayparts heavily drive ratings for traditional TV audiences, digital experiences flatter viewing patterns. In the first quarter, no hour of day exceeded a 6% share of the total video streams. “We finally have insight into how TV and digital lines are blurring at increasing rates,” according to Kelly McEttrick, senior director of platform strategy for VideoHub. “The data we’re seeing supports recent claims that concurrent media usage continues to grow, and TV is experiencing a small decrease in time spent for the first time.” Bigger picture: the future of video doesn’t seem to be about putting TV against digital, but rather allowing the two to evolve simultaneously. “Clients are learning in real-time when and how their ratings are impacting consumers, shifting the way cross-screen video is approached,” according to VideoHub. However, the company’s research also shows that digital viewing patterns tend to shift when TV seasons are in their prime. In the fourth quarter -- when TV programs hit their season finales -- digital viewership saw a shift toward prime time with the highest streaming between 4 and 9 p.m. During the first quarter, when most TV series went on hiatus, digital viewership was highest between 12 and 4 p.m. But as the first quarter progressed and shows premiered, the share of viewers watching during prime time grew. March viewership, meanwhile, saw a shift toward later viewing hours compared to January. Although digital video sees less frequency swings in tune-in volumes, it does see strong swings in ad performance. In the first quarter, VideoHub found that daypart, content length, player size and geography heavily impact the performance of in-stream video advertising. Depending on the creative and the vertical, video advertising appears to be highly sensitive to surrounding variables. In fact, small players outperformed larger players in driving brand lift. VideoHub found that this result was not directly correlated to size, but that small players tend to be hosted within lean-forward video environments.,
Awesomeness TV, the YouTube channel for teens and tweens that launched last week, aims to cash in on what founder Brian Robbins describes as the short-attention-span generation. Robbins is a former child actor turned filmmaker and producer, who specializes in teen and tween entertainment. He got the idea for the online video network from watching his two sons, who don’t watch much TV and have to be coaxed into going to the movies, he says in an interview with the LA Times. Robbins believes that if other kids are like his sons, who have grown up watching short-form videos on YouTube, they crave brevity in their entertainment. "The short attention span is what I'm talking about,” he says. “That's why I'm really excited about this space…I like making stuff that's four and six minutes long. Who says something needs to be 22 minutes long or 48 minutes long? That's why YouTube really works for short-attention-span theater." Awesomeness TV, which is part of YouTube’s 100 original content channels initiative, has more than 15 shows currently in production covering such genres as game shows, talk shows, dramas, variety shows, sketch comedies and sports programs. “Our programming philosophy is we want to make stuff for our audience that isn't on anywhere else. Because everything's short-form, we can try a lot," Robbins said. "Nickelodeon and Disney, they do a certain thing and they do it really well. We're not trying to go in their lane." Former MTV producer Joe Davola, Robbins’ partner in the 15-person production company, believes history might be repeating itself with the launch of Awesomeness TV: “When Brian told me about this channel, it reminded me of the early days of MTV, because it was maverick -- it was brand new, it was something the young people were getting involved with," he said. "It felt like this was the beginning of the next generation of what's happening in media." That being said, Awesomeness TV has the challenge of launching on a limited budget with no advertising to spread awareness. As the LA Times story points out, an entire’s year’s worth of programming for the video network -- with 120 original episodes -- will cost less than the budget for the TV pilot for “Smallville,” one of Robbins’ TV ventures.
Mobile devices -- tablets in particular -- are gaining quick acceptance among consumers as the place to watch video content. According to J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study, nearly a fifth (18%) of pay-to-view customers (such as Netflix and Hulu Plus subscribers, as well as Blockbuster/Blockbuster Express, Redbox and Apple TV) use their tablets for viewing content, up from 11% in the previous year. Viewing on wireless phones also increased to 16% from 14%, while viewing on PC’s and Macs declined to 39% from 45%. “It started out as a novelty, but actually watching paid content on a mobile device was a new idea,” Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power, tells Marketing Daily. “But the iPad and Kindle Fire have changed the game in this area. … [The tablet] is much easier to hold and a better viewing experience.” Meanwhile, overall satisfaction with pay-to-view video services remained high with an average of 750 on a 1,000-point index scale. (The score from 2011 was 743.) A major factor in the increase of overall satisfaction came from Baby Boomers, whose average score was 748 (up 18 points from 2011). (Conversely, satisfaction for Generation Y decreased 18 points to 752, a drop Perazzini attributed to youth searching for the next big thing and balking at increasing costs and customer service. More members of Gen Y cited mobility as a major factor in selecting a service provider than Baby Boomers, as well.) Elsewhere in the study, gaming consoles continue to prove their central place in a home’s entertainment hub. While only about a quarter of customers viewed paid content through a gaming console, those who did watched more (6.3 hours) than those who did so on a PC/Mac (5.3 hours), phone (4.9 hours) or tablet (4.4 hours). At the same time, the study found significant overlap in consumers watching programming both through subscription services and through video providers such as cable companies, Perazzini says. Cord-cutting of those switching to an Internet-only play remains in the low-single-digit percentage rates, he says. “[Streaming video] is a great complementary service, and it ingrains them on the family for entertainment,” Perazzini says. “We could see gaming consoles replace converter boxes in some ways. We see a lot of VOD and over-the-[Internet] viewing as being complementary.”
When reports emerged last Friday that Facebook had begun running ads on Zynga’s Web site, it instantly touched off speculation that the social network was planning to launch its own ad network to compete with Google’s AdSense. Now people playing games at Zynga.com who log in with their Facebook accounts are being shown banners and Sponsored Story ads targeted to them, based on information they share on Facebook. For the record, Facebook issued a statement Friday acknowledging the ads running on Zynga’s site, but saying “it will not be showing ads on other sites at this time.” Given the pressure the company is now facing from Wall Street to deliver high revenue growth on a quarterly basis, the expansion of Facebook-powered advertising to other sites integrated with it isn’t hard to imagine. In a research note today, Pivotal Research senior analyst Brian Wieser said the extension of Facebook ads to Zynga signals the company’s continuing effort to monetize its user base of nearly 1 billion worldwide. The news comes on the heels of Facebook announcing plans to launch a real-time-bid ad exchange allowing marketers to retarget ads to people on Facebook, based on their Web browsing history. “This initiative will capitalize on the Facebook Connect platform by which Facebook is already integrating with publishers across the Internet, and may further accelerate Facebook’s ability to extend e-commerce/payment initiatives further," wrote Wieser. The latest step would put Facebook in competition with networks in general -- especially AdSense -- rather than trying to take ad revenue from just premium Web publishers like Yahoo and AOL, he added. Pivotal has already forecast that Facebook will increase its share of the online display and lead-generation market from 14.4% to 16.5% this year. Wieser is also sticking with his revenue estimates of $4.1 billion and $5.3 billion for Facebook in 2012 and 2013, respectively. For their part, agency executives are already warming to the idea of a Facebook ad network. “The promise of using FB data to target off the site is intriguing,” said Adam Kasper, EVP, digital investments at Havas Digital. “I’m certain many advertisers would love to try this." Likewise, Blake Cahill, president of social media agency Banyan Branch, said Facebook’s wealth of social data for targeting ads could give it an advantage over other ad networks. “Advertisers would have improved targeting gleaned from Facebook user data than what existing advertising networks provide when selling online inventory,” he said. Still, the use of member data beyond Facebook is likely to raise further privacy questions for a company with a history of overstepping its boundaries in that regard (see latest example here), as many things data and Facebook-related tend to do,” said Kasper. “What level of data will FB allow to be used here? That will likely define how it works and ultimately how successful the effort is.” While Facebook has been tight-lipped about its plans, a company spokesperson told the L.A. Times on Friday it hasn’t shared any information about people or advertisers with Zynga, and that advertisers don’t have access to targeting criteria. That Facebook would begin testing such a venture with Zynga isn’t surprising, given the long symbiotic relationship of the two companies. Facebook’s share of virtual sales through Zynga games like "FarmVille" and "CityVille" accounted for 12% of the social network’s $3.7 billion in 2011 revenue.
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Netflix violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide closed captioning on Web video streams. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Ponsor in Massachusetts rejected Netflix's argument that its online video service isn't considered a "place of public accommodation" under the ADA. Netflix argued that the 1990 federal law -- which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities -- applies to brick-and-mortar retailers, but not to businesses that exist solely in cyberspace. The company also argued that the ADA didn't apply because people used the service at home, and not in public. Ponsor rejected both of those arguments. "In a society in which business is increasingly conducted online, excluding businesses that sell services through the Internet from the ADA would run afoul of the purposes of the ADA," he wrote in a decision issued last week. "The Watch Instantly Web site is a place of public accommodation and defendant may not discriminate in the provision of the services of that public accommodation -- streaming video -- even if those services are accessed exclusively in the home." Netflix still could prevail at a later stage, but the ruling appears to clear the way for similar lawsuits against online video services, according to Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman. "The decision is potentially quite significant," Goldman says. "This opinion is a green light to plaintiffs' lawyers that Web sites are potentially covered by the ADA." He adds that Ponsor's ruling potentially could affect a wide swath of online video companies -- including startups like Aereo and companies that offer video games. The litigation against Netflix dates to last June, when the National Association of the Deaf sued Netflix for failing to caption streams. The group is seeking an injunction requiring Netflix to provide closed captioning. The organization said in its complaint that it has received many complaints about Netflix directly from deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, including from its members, from all over the country. Netflix is not the only company to be sued for operating a Web site or service that potentially violates the ADA. eBay was sued in 2010 for allegedly discriminating against deaf people by requiring sellers to use a telephone to verify their identities. The auction site, which is fighting that lawsuit, has argued that it isn't covered by the ADA; that case is pending in federal court in the Northern District of California. In 2008, Target agreed to pay $6 million and make its site friendlier to people who access the Web via screenreaders in order to settle a lawsuit brought by the National Federation of the Blind. But unlike Netflix, Target operates brick-and-mortar stores, and the company's Web site was viewed by the court as connected to the physical retail outlets. In the lawsuit by the National Association of the Deaf, Netflix also unsuccessfully argued that the case should be dismissed because a more recent federal law governs online closed captioning. But Ponsor said that newer law complements the ADA, but doesn't trump it. The video company also said it couldn't start captioning material without the copyright owner's consent. Ponsor found that argument was premature. "There is currently no evidence before the court concerning how much of the streaming content and associated copyrights defendant owns, what the terms of defendant’s agreements with other copyright owners may be ... and whether content is delivered to defendant with or without captioning," he wrote.
Longtime Netflix bear, analyst Tony Wible of Janney Capital, on Monday lifted his rating on the streaming content provider’s shares from Sell to Neutral, citing a recent sell-off and Street estimate cuts as the catalyst for changing the company’s rating. Netflix shares are down 41 percent since the end of March. “We are not changing our views on the longer term headwinds for the company tied to a slowdown in sub growth and the cannibalization of the high margin DVD business,” Wible said in a research note. “However, this is tempered in the near term by studio dependency, lack of competition, slower decline in DVD, new compression technology counteracting UBB, potential M&A, and cost rationalization.” He added: “studios have become increasingly dependent on NFLX, as competitors have been inept to date, and as NFLX scales its streaming margin (albeit with lower quality improvements). Furthermore, we see the company benefiting from new compression technology and the potential for new services and/or acquisition opportunities that incrementally ease long-term survival and usage-based billing concerns.”
Two of New Orleans’ favorite brands, Zatarain’s and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, have teamed on a limited-time, co-branded promotion. From June 25 to July 29, the more than 1,600 Popeyes locations in the U.S. are offering a Popeyes Zatarain’s Butterfly Shrimp meal featuring eight shrimp, Cajun fries, a biscuit and the chain’s Lemon Garlic Dipping sauce ($4.99). Zatarain’s, the nearly 125-year-old brand best known for its New Orleans-style rice mixes, has a foodservice business supplying ingredients and spices to restaurants, but this is the first time that it has done a co-branded product with a national restaurant chain, according to Zatarain’s General Manager Michael Morse. (Zatarain’s is supplying Popeyes with the breading and seasonings for the butterfly shrimp.) Popeyes, founded in New Orleans in 1972, is a leader in the New Orleans foodservice industry segment and the world’s second-largest QSR chicken concept by number of units (2,044 total restaurants as of mid-April, including units in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, the Cayman Islands and 26 other countries). Popeyes is a division of AFC Enterprises, Inc. Zatarain’s’ National Push For Zatarain’s, which has been pushing to evolve and expand its products, as well as the way it connects with consumers, the co-branded promotion – which will generate some 550 million impressions nationally through Popeyes’ TV ads, in-store promotions, billboards and other efforts – is a major opportunity, says Morse. The co-branded offering is also being promoted on both brands’ sites and Facebook pages. The most recent major new lines from Zatarain’s -- which now offers 200-plus products, including pasta dinner mixes, fry mixes, seafood boils, stuffing mixes, seafood cakes, condiments, sauces, spices and extracts -– are frozen entrées. Those now include 10 microwaveable single-serve dishes, and four dishes-for-two that can be prepared in a skillet in about 10 minutes. As Zatarain’s seeks to expand its national share and profile – capitalizing on Americans’ increased interest in Cajun and Creole foods -- its marketing has also expanded and taken new directions in recent times. TV ads featuring its “Jazz It Up With Zatarain’s” tagline, both for its new products and its rice mixes, have been running in key markets around the country. (TV ads ran through April and will start up again in September, according to Morse.) Given its deep New Orleans roots, the brand has always made the most of the Mardi Gras holiday, and this year, it used a variety of new channels to engage consumers around the country in the fun. In addition to featuring favorite Mardi Gras dishes on its site and Facebook page and tweeting up excitement, Zatarain’s offered (through a tab on its Facebook page) a free branded online Pandora radio station featuring classic Carnival favorites, jazz and swing music. It also brought fans into the Mardi Gras experience via “Zat’s Cams” showing live video footage straight from the streets of New Orleans, and offered an interactive “Create Your Krewe” app allowing fans to select four friends to be in their personal Mardi Gras krewes, celebrate together and receive coupons. In addition, Zatarain’s created its own “Krewe of Influencers”: Five bloggers with a variety of backgrounds (from a foodie to a stay-at-home dad) who took part in the Mardi Gras festivities and shared their experiences with people around the country. Those bloggers are continuing their brand-advocate roles, showcasing the “ease, convenience and flavor” of Zatarain’s products and recipes -- and now the co-branded shrimp promotion with Popeyes—according to Morse. Zatarain’s worked the events angle by hosting 2,000 house parties around the country (through HouseParty.com) in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday. Furthermore, in a new twist on its ongoing partnership with New Orleans chef John Besh (Besh Restaurant Group), this year, in addition to Besh’s developing recipes, attending blogger conferences, socializing content and conducting PR interviews, his voice was heard on the audio systems in 1,000 retail stores around the U.S., offering tips on celebrating Mardi Gras with “bold flavors.”
A few weeks ago, Wellesley High teacher David McCullough gave a much-discussed commencement speech that went viral. McCullough didn’t say anything earth-shattering, but did remind the newly minted Mass.-based Class of 2012 that in our culture, kids begin to believe in their coddling-manufactured greatness, that they can’t lose at anything, and are meant to be stars. All of them. So, in that vein, here’s a little missive for the incoming class of video content providers: Content platforms trying to become big Hollywood players are Not That Special. Companies specializing in content platforms do not all have to be content producers. Sure, the lure of being a big-time Hollywood player is strong (Isn’t being a player that can get into every L.A. restaurant the most special of all?), but sometimes a content distributor is meant to be a content distributor and can excel at the highest level in that form, as a level playing field for others’ content. What’s really driving Amazon’s entrance into the production business? Didn’t anyone pay attention to what happened when AOL bought Time-Warner? Treating your customers as Not That Special will cost you. Did Netflix ever recover from its let’s-make-our-core DVD-business-harder-to-access move? Or, even worse, the Netflix DVD copy of the Warner Bros. film “Inception” has 15 minutes of unavoidable previews. 15 minutes! It’s only a matter of time before this becomes a widespread customer-satisfaction issue and catches up with Netflix. Treating IPO company executives as All Too Special will cost you. Case in point, the IPO for Facebook. Does anyone really think that giving a company a cash infusion with no shareholder rights to hold its executives accountable is a good idea? As egos inflate, this will happen more and more. I suspect it has a lot to do with how Steve Jobs, who did think he was All too Special (read Walter Isaacson’s wonderful biography) was kicked out of Apple in its early years. But, that typical deal also allowed for him to come back when the company faltered, and ultimately made Apple an even better company. Creating shows to appeal to what you think is a dumb, Attention-Deficit-Disorder audience is Not That Special. For this one, let’s quote McCullough himself: “Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations, and you'll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon.Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” In other words, maybe you’re Not That Special -- but your content, commitment to your core business, and customer service should always be That Special.