Looking Ahead During The On-Screen Summit

• by Charlene Weisler , Op-Ed Contributor, December 13, 2012

We often hear from media industry executives that the rate of industry change is accelerating. This year’s On-Screen Media Summit, which took place last week in New York, parsed the areas of change across the on-screen landscape both in and out of home.

There are no sacred cows; all points of media are being affected, from retransmission, digital distribution, measurement, metrics, content recognition and addressable advertising, to bundling and even a shifting of target consumer valuation. Where will it all lead? Here are a few opinions from the conference:

Increased Importance of Revised Measurement

Does the current C3 television measurement need to evolve? According to CBS’ Les Moonves, "The world is changing rapidly and this year is the tipping point.  The viewer can now get content in all sorts of different ways. …We need to expand measurement and need to get paid for all of it... We also need measurement beyond three days. We want to get paid properly.” But as cross-platform distribution expands, the lack of a standardized, platform-agnostic measurement capability hampers the full valuation of content. John Pascarelli of Mediacom sees potential in creating applications on the set-top box that can help in measurement.

Updating the Target Demo … Or Not?

Les Moonves questioned the continued use of 18-49 as a sales delivery target. “One of the greatest bullsh*t numbers is 18-49. Writers say ‘it is the only demo that advertisers care about,’ but it is a lazy way to look at the world and it is giving advertisers adults 50 plus for free.”  He thinks  it’s time that 50- year-olds get recognized because they have more buying power than 18-49-year-olds. His suggestion is to shift the target demo slightly upward to 25-54 and, citing the continued success of 60 Minutes, target different age groups for different shows.

Taking a different view was GroupM’s Irwin Gotlieb, who supports the 18-49 status quo. He spoke of the psychology of demographic targeting,  referring to an “aspirational age group,” where a 12-year-old aspires to be like a 17-year-old and a 65-year-old aspires to be a 40-year-old. In this way, 18-49 captures the psychological essence of the viewer, no matter how old they chronologically are.

Technology Rules

Tom Rogers of TiVo gave an update on the advancements of the TiVo box including an Over The Top integrated solution for any device in the home, including iPads.  TiVo has also developed a program audience research data business compiling STB data that measures not only what  programs, but what commercials, they are watching.  Jeremy Helfand from Adobe noted that the days of forgoing content delivery because it couldn't be monetized are over.  He credits dynamic ad insertion as one of the most significant technology developments today.

Content Continues to be King

“Breaking Bad” Executive Producer Mark Johnson spoke about the importance of scripted series in network brand development. “Breaking Bad” helped classic movie network, AMC achieve greater recognition and industry cachet.

And great long form-content such as feature films can be packaged to offer viewers greater choice. Susan Cartsonis of Storefront Pictures spoke of the flexibility of content delivery, explaining how film companies can release their films in two ways  -- by dividing the film into segments so commuters can view it in shorter, smaller installments , and also releasing it to theaters in its original long form. Compelling quality content continues to be a pivotal component of success. Some things never change. But the way it is delivered to the consumer is evolving.

Consumers Are Driving Advancements and Creativity

As viewers can consumer video on many different platforms and both in and out of home, it is clear that, as Jeremy Helfand said, “The living-room-on-the-go is the new reality.” So how can we monetize these new platforms and add value to the viewing experience? Peter Low of EnSequence suggests that there are three ways to add value: 1. Overlay content and create opportunities for advanced advertising. 2. Increase time spent viewing. 3. Create ratings with greater measurability and ROI.

Advanced Advertising Coming into its Own

As the industry focuses more on advanced advertising, Frank Foster of Comcast Spotlight noted that there are four data sets used in advance advertising: identifiers,  transactional data, optimization components and reporting capabilities. Comcast, he says, is rolling out advanced advertising in five cities based on its new audience-based technology. Irwin Gotlieb concludes that “TV will be far more effective once it is addressable…. It will reduce waste and increase effectiveness... And the potential revenue from addressable is astounding.”