November 22, 2006
Secret Nuke Plans Smuggled Out of North Korea
Its short, but humorous.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 09:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAugust 30, 2006
Slingbox Baby, Sure Had a Real Good Time
Despite its toy-like appearance, the Slingbox is a serious piece of hardware. The idea is simple: hook up the little box to your TiVo or your cable set top box and connect it to your home internet. Then, when you're out and about, just pull up the client software on your laptop. SlingBox's software will detect the quality and throughput of your connection and shoot you a recompressed, digital stream of whatever you could be watching at home. It even works on cellphones.
As Slingbox expands its customer base, it could end up drawing some worried glances from big media players. Why? Because the device provides a simple way to deliver existing TV programming to PCs and wireless devices at a time when media giants such as Disney, Time Warner, and NBC are grappling with how to provide TV content to consumers online and GET PAID FOR IT.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 01:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackJune 22, 2006
More Evidence that Online Video can generate real money
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CBS President-CEO Leslie Moonves said analysts and investors aren't giving his media empire the credit it deserves for modernizing. Speaking at the "Outlook 2010" seminar hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. Moonves was asked why CBS isn't getting more credit from Wall Street for its many digital innovations of the past six months.
Here is part of his reply as reported in AdAge:
"There is a perception out there that we are 'old media,' that we are stuck in the old days … [but since we formed [the digital media division in] Jan. 3, we have probably done over 20 new-media deals. We did a Comcast deal. We've done a Google deal. We've done numerous deals with Verizon. We're doing video on demand on our own website. We did the NCAA basketball tournament."
What caught my attention this morning was that Mr. Moonves said CBS took in $4.2 million in new revenue from advertisers supporting its March Madness webcasts, and he expected that figure to double next year.
So, a let’s do a simple calculation: 21 days of March Madness averages to $200,000 per day in ad sales from one web site (albeit a very popular web site).
Next, let’s find a comparison. National Cable Communications is the rep firm for the cable MSO’s. While they do not sell all the ads for local cable television, they do (presumably) target the same type of advertisers that CBS covets: nationally focused and large. NCC probably sells $3 Million in ads per day; that is $1 Billion in national ad sales for spot cable last year. Let’s keep in mind that this business represents national ad sales inventory for the entire country across Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, etc.
The two metrics are not an apples-to-apples comparison and people could pick it apart. But I find it interesting that one very popular web site can generate 1/15’th the daily gross revenue from national advertisers as all of local cable can.
Some of the data in this email may be so television ad industry specific that it is clear to me but not clear in type. Please contact me if it is confusing.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackJune 08, 2006
Online Download Preferences: Many Choices, Little Concensus
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Read the entire report by Ipsos Insight >>
May 16, 2006
IAB Sets New Broadband Guidelines
The IAB has said that a broadband commercial not be counted as displayed until its buffered stream has begun. That was the final verdict announced Monday by the IAB and its Broadband Committee and Measurement Task Force on new Broadband Video Commercial Measurement Guidelines.
"A valid broadband ad impression may only be counted when an ad counter (logging server) receives and responds to an HTTP request for a tracking asset from a client," the new guideline states. That means measurement should not occur when the buffer is initiated; rather, "measurement should occur when the ad itself begins to appear on the user's browser, closest to the opportunity to see."
I will just state the obvious: guidelines help make a market function, and this definition is a reasonable approach that balances the publisher'ss and advertiser's conflicting needs.
Read the IAB press release >>
April 18, 2006
Your local broadcaster is the middleman
The Christian Science Monitor has an article about how on-demand TV, "which rather suddenly is shaking up local stations that, until days ago, had locked up exclusive access to the best programming."
But what is happening now? The spike in the number of TV shows available online has put network affiliates on notice. "Let's face it: The Internet eliminates middlemen ... and your local broadcaster is the middleman."
Posted by Martino Mingione at 11:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackApril 12, 2006
Broadband penetration is still low in the U.S.
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Americans may be surprised to learn that they actually rank fairly low on the list of countries who have adapted to hi-speed broadband. At least, that is the according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The U.S. ranked 12th among industrialized nations, with 16.8 broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants, as of December, the OECD said.
The obvious take away is that telecom oriented companies have continued room to grow. A consequence of that is that even more Americans will have the faster pipes into the household to view Internet-based television. Something to think about.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 08:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMarch 23, 2006
FCC embarks on its plan to foster online video
If the FCC intended to scare TV networks into sanitizing broadcast programming by imposing staggering multimillion-dollar "indecency" fines, the tactic worked. The feds have chased portions of the new WB show "The Bedford Diaries" off the air--and onto the Web.
The New York Times reported today that the WB is shying away from broadcasting scenes that could potentially offend the federal watchdogs. But, rather than leave the footage on the cutting room floor, the WB will make the entire, unexpurgated version of the show available online.
On the other hand, providing complete "director's-cut" shows online can only be a boon for the Web, ultimately driving more and more consumers online, showing them that content unavailable anywhere else can be found on the Internet.
Nielsen To Report TV Viewing Via Web, Will Use Software Meter To Do It
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Nielsen's No. 1 priority for the next couple of years isn't commercial ratings, TV time, or place-shifting, or even advancing its traditional in-home measurement of conventional TV. It's understanding the link between television and the Internet, and the company plans to introduce a new method for measuring television programming viewed over the Internet by the end of this year, Susan Whiting, CEO of the TV ratings giant, told a roomful of the nation's biggest advertisers Wednesday during a presentation in New York.
Read more of Joe Mandese's story >>
Posted by Martino Mingione at 12:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBackMarch 22, 2006
Brightcove acquires MetaStories
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Internet TV player Brightcove has acquired rich media technology provider MetaStories to increase its self-service publishing capabilities.
MetaStories' StoryMaker tool is a hosted service that lets producers of online content combine video, graphics, text, and audio components to create Flash-based rich media. Its Web-based video editing tools are expected to complement Brightcove's existing tools to publish, track, and monetize existing video content.
MetaStories' StoryMaker tool is used by media companies like Yahoo!, MSN, Discovery Networks and Scripps Networks. Yahoo! uses StoryMaker to produce its "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" episodes; while Scripps uses it for producing niche broadband channels for its HGTV, DIY and Food Network content.
MetaStories' client list is also complementary to Brightcove's, with many of the companies either working with Brightcove or on Brightcove's radar as a potential client.
Like Brightcove's own online video publishing tools, StoryMaker creates Flash-based content, which fits in with founder Jeremy Allaire's past experience as CTO of Macromedia.
The companies did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 09:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackIAB proposes guidelines for Broadband Video
The INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU is calling for comment on a set of guidelines for broadband video commercial measurement. The proposed guidelines address online browser activity that involves streaming video.
According to the guidelines, "a valid broadband ad impression may only be counted when an ad counter (logging server) receives and responds to an HTTP request for a tracking asset from a client. The count must happen after the initiation of the stream, post-buffering, as opposed to the linked broadband content itself."
Web Execs: TV Merging With Internet
I was reading an article by Erik Sass. It quoted panelist comments hosted by the Advertising Research Foundation in New York. Two of the panelists were interesting enough to include here. Here is an excerpt of those comments with a few of my own mixed in.
Internet companies will increasingly rely on TV networks to provide online content.
"They do have the content," Yahoo Executive Vice President Greg Coleman said of the major TV industry players, adding: "the answer is going to be partnerships of all different kinds."
Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president of global sales and trade marketing and chief media revenue officer for Microsoft, said that even though the Internet and television are melding, TV isn't likely to dominate the smaller, fledgling Internet advertising market.
"The industry is not at a place where you can just turn over what we do to television," she said, stressing that online ad sales are driven by data. "It's a very different sell--it's bought in a different way; the back-end reporting structure is different."
I’ll kibitz here a little. She is absolutely correct but I have a different question: if Madison Avenue were willing to shift a portion of its huge $18B television ad spending ($60B from all U.S. sources) away from traditional television into online television, would online media companies sell their ad inventory differently? I think so.
Bradford noted that online agencies' capacity to place premium inventory still lags far behind demand -- meaning that a huge pot of ad dollars are being lost every year. "Until we're at the place that we have operational scale and ease of use as an industry, we're always going to be behind," Bradford warned, concluding: "[TV's] not as efficient as we are, but we don't have the scale that they do."
Experience has taught me one thing: the definition of efficiency is different on Madison Avenue. Their economics dictate that the best buy is one that fulfills the media plan and generates very low internal overhead costs. And I am afraid to say that by that measure, Ms. Bradford, TV is the most efficient medium.
March 20, 2006
Do the Math, download fees alone don't cut it
Dick Wolf, the producer of the Law and Order series, said the following in Variety:
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That doesn't include profit participants or the studio, of course, so let's say ($30 million) is cut 50-50 with the studio and everybody else. To the network, that's a grand total of $15 million -- and 22 episodes of a hit like that are worth a lot more than that.
"Housewives" might average $250,000 for a thirty-second commercial spot. With about 20 thirty-second spots an episode for ABC to sell, that comes to $5 million for just one episode. Over the course of a season, that's $260 million in average gross revenues ABC pulls in.
That is way more than one gets from downloading fees.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 03:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackNCAA March Madness Video Streams
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Here we are in the middle of NCAA March Madness, with college hoops fans among the best consumer audiences a marketer could hope for because they are loyal, passionate, educated, and affluent.
As of Sunday night, CBS said its NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) served more than 14 million streams of live video from the 2006 NCAA® Division I Men's Basketball Championship. It logged more than 4 million visitors during the first four days of the tournament.
CBS said that a total of 1.15 million users have registered for March Madness on Demand.
CBS also scored nicely with sponsorship of the extravaganza from the likes of Courtyard by Marriott, Dell, Lowe's, Pontiac, and State Farm.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 12:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackMarch 07, 2006
AOL To Sell Programming -- Just Like Yahoo! and Google
Reuters is reporting that Time Warner's AOL unit will soon behave even more like Web rivals Yahoo! and Google when it begins selling content on its site. The company says it will not limit content to what is produced by Time Warner's various divisions. Instead, it is in discussions with an array of TV networks and other providers of video and music.
One reason AOL is beginning to go where others have gone before is the perception that Apple's iTunes site, which has been enormously successful, imposes too rigid a price structure on consumers. AOL will be more flexible in its pricing. Some of the content available for download will even be free.
February 27, 2006
Is Cyprus really the first country to open up a 24x7 internet TV station?
I ran across the folks at Narrowstep a few years ago and had a chance to look at their system. It was quite interesting and it was then it hit me how easy it would be someday for anyone and everyone to become their own television station.
Cyprus has just become their client and they claim to be the first country to have its own television channel on the internet, launched at a fraction of the cost of a conventional terrestrial or satellite television station.
Promoting culture, leisure and business for Cyprus, the online video-on-demand service is designed to provide viewers with information about the Mediterranean island and associated businesses.
Cyprus ITV has an in-house production company, shooting on high-definition video for the service. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation and the Press and Information Office on the island have will also use the channel to broadcast their own productions.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 12:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackFebruary 24, 2006
Viacom in talks to supply internet content
Viacom is looking to supply a major Internet portal with its content, according to the Financial Times. During the company's fourth quarter earnings conference call, Chief Executive Tom Freston disclosed the negotiations, but did not mention the portals under consideration.
The arrangement would see Viacom supply video and other content in exchange for a share of ad revenue.
Viacom already supplies content to Yahoo, AOL and TV Guide's video search engines. Freston wants to increase digital revenues from $150 million last year to more than $500 million over the next three years. Viacom reported a 68 percent drop in profit due to weak results from the company's movie studio, Paramount and a series of special charges.
February 21, 2006
NASCAR video streams online
Turner Sports is looking to take advantage of the Daytona 500's popularity by launching a Daytona 500 ad gallery at NASCAR.com. NASCAR.com's strategy is similar to that of AOL, which created a Super Bowl ad gallery that generated more than 42 million video streams, according to AOL.
Televised on NBC this year, the Daytona 500 drew almost 19 million viewers to Fox last year, when advertisers spent about $35 million on TV spots. In comparison, TV ad spending on the 2005 Super Bowl reached $160 million, and ads for the 2005 Oscars pulled in $72 million.
Advertisers in the Commercial Showcase will include Budweiser, Chevy, Pepsi, NASCAR, NASCAR.COM, Coca-Cola, Goody's, Sears, Home Depot, and Ford.
February 15, 2006
Watching downloaded content on your TV
Points North Group research found that 25% of Internet users are interested in watching downloaded TV shows and movies on their PCs and 38% expressed interest in watching that same video on their TVs.
Interest in watching content on TV is even stronger among 18- to-34-year-olds (68%), compared with the 45% interested in watching on PCs.
Over the past month, America Online, Yahoo, and ESPN.com, among others, have announced partnerships with chip maker Intel to use its new Viiv technology platform, which allows users to consume Internet content over their TV screens.
The first Viiv-compatible computers and laptops are expected to start trickling to market over the next several months. TVs, Internet-ready DVD players, and other devices, however, are not expected to debut until the second half of this year.
February 08, 2006
About.com hires Brightcove for distribution, ads
The New York Times Co. has hired Internet TV start-up Brightcove to facilitate distribution of online video content. Brightcove will help the Times syndicate video content to other Web sites via its customized video player. The company also will facilitate production of videos submitted by consumers.
The deal will roll out in the next several months with the New York Times Co.'s About.com's new "About Gadgets" videos, which focuses on technology, said Scott Meyer, CEO of About.com. He added that About.com plans to syndicate videos far more broadly than at present; currently, the company is distributing video on Comcast's high-speed portal. "The reason we went with Brightcove is because we wanted to have a platform that would scale," he said.
In addition to providing distribution support, Brightcove will help power ads that accompany the video clips, said Adam Berry, Brightcove vice president, marketing and strategy. The Times Co. will continue to sell the ads.
February 07, 2006
TVeyes has ears, too
A new, free service from multimedia search engine TVEyes lets you search each and every word spoken during TV news broadcasts from well-known news organizations. This includes (or soon include) FoxNews.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, CBSnews.com, Reuters.com, and News.BBC.co.uk.
TVEyes is using voice recognition technology to create a "spoken word index" that makes these programs keyword searchable. You'll find the search box on the TVEyes home page. Searching is simple and straightforward. Enter your keywords and go. Results can be sorted by relevance or date.
One drawback with the service is that you're only able to search video news content the sources have made available on the open web. Not every segment from every news program is placed on the web. Also, most of these sources are available via other sites.
In addition to the free TVEyes service, the company also offers a sophisticated subscription-based video search service. It's used in many industries, including media and public relations, media organizations and educational institutions to name just a few.
The fee-based TVEyes also know as TVEyes Professional offers near real-time (delayed by only a couple of minutes) searchable transcripts (created in many cases using closed captioning) of television programming on most U.S. major networks, local stations throughout the U.S., and a selection of stations around the world like BBC1, CBC Newsworld, and Al Jazeera (English language service). A free trial is available.
The fee-based service offers email alerts so when a name, word, company or other important word is mentioned on the air, a subscriber is notified within minutes of the airing.
Podcast Search from Podscope
TVEyes is the company that powers Podscope. This service, launched last April lets you keyword search podcasts using speech recognition technology (again it's not a perfect transcript). Podscope also makes other video and audio content (both submitted by users and found via their crawl) keyword searchable.
Last September, we learned that Podscope will power podcast search on AOL. In December Podscope began offering keyword-based RSS feeds. In other words, when the keywords you select are mentioned in a podcast, you're notified via RSS. Here's a Robin Good interview with the man in charge of TVEyes/Podcast, David Ives.
January 16, 2006
Say Bravo to ad-supported broadband networks
NBC Universal's Bravo Network announced plans to launch a suite of ad-supported broadband sites throughout the coming year. The broadband sites will build on the network's main hub online, BravoTV.com.
January 06, 2006
Akimbo links up with MovieLink, adds new set top box
from the San Jose Mercury News:
Akimbo announced a potentially lucrative deal with MovieLink to deliver movies over the Internet to consumers' televisions. Akimbo provides its broadband content services over the Web, but will now produce a set top box manufactured by Thomson and sold under the RCA brand in an attempt to attract more customers.
The notion of bringing movies to television screens via the Internet represents a new method of distribution for movie studios and television companies, and presents a real threat to cable companies, analysts said.
Other companies are also making similar moves. Netflix has hinted at bringing video-on-demand to the Internet, having recently partnered with the Independent Film Channel to distribute its movies over the Web. Akimbo's new service is fairly similar, but it will offer TiVo-like functionality to consumers that lets them watch content on their TVs. Analysts warned that consumers could be reluctant to add another set top box to their TV screens. Akimbo plans to bring the new product to market in April.
January 05, 2006
Google to offer Video Downloads
There is an article in today’s Wall Street Journal called ‘Google to Offer Video Downloads, Software That Rivals Microsoft's’ which I find interesting. It looks somewhat like Apple’s iTunes service, with the emphasis being on using the PC as the video viewing platform.
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What is interesting to me is that Google (a company who receives 98% of their revenue from advertising) is monetizing the video through a traditional ‘purchase’ mechanism. My initial thought is that it this strategy is the easiest way to get high-quality content from partners like CBS initially. Then, when that model inevitably pressured to move to an ad-supported structure, Google will be well positioned to be a leader in that model.
Excerpts from that article:
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The search company also plans to announce Google Pack, a bundle of software from Google and other companies that consumers will be able to download and install on their computers... That software will include … RealNetworks Inc.'s RealPlayer multimedia software... Google Pack will also include Google's own desktop search software, Google Earth satellite imaging and maps software, Picasa photo-management software, Google Talk instant-messaging program, its Toolbar add-on for Web browsers and screen saver software.
… Google Pack, which could eventually come preinstalled when people buy some new personal computers, is one way for Google to promote alternatives to Microsoft. It doesn't, however, appear to include productivity applications, such as word-processor software, that would compete more directly with Microsoft's core software business. A Microsoft spokesman wasn't able to comment.
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Some details of Google's online video service remain unclear, such as how much content owners might charge consumers to download their videos. Google last year had said it planned to allow content owners to charge for videos, but it hadn't activated that feature. Interest in delivering video over the Internet has surged since October, when Apple began offering downloads of popular TV shows through a partnership with Walt Disney Co. Google has developed its own digital-rights-management software to protect downloaded videos from piracy.
January 02, 2006
Woo, woo. ROO wins $5.1M from VC's
ONLINE VIDEO BROADCASTER ROO GROUP, Inc. completed $5.1 in private equity financing, the company announced Thursday. The financing was completed by broker dealers Burnham Hill Partners, a division of Pali Capital, Inc., and Brimberg and Co.
December 28, 2005
CBS to Stream TV Shows on Yahoo!
CBS is looking online to attract new viewers for its popular comedies "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother."
The network will make two complete episodes of each of the Monday night sitcoms available for one week in a deal with Yahoo! The promotion is called the "CBS Comedy Bowl," alluding to the plethora of college football bowl games that take place this time of year.
December 20, 2005
Give me your Time or give me your Money
Ultramercial says they have a patent on a business model for VOD advertising. In an email, they said "it allows the viewer to make the choice: watch an ad that 'earns' them each segment of their program - OR - pay-per-view. The viewer chooses between an explicit exchange of value: their time for the content - OR - their money."
In the accompanying graphic, you can see how they expect a viewer of broadband TV shows to navigate to the show they want to watch.
Paul Grusche of Untramercial claims that the Ultramercial approach is "being considered by two major networks to bring their shows online."
Time Magazine Considers Ad Gateway to Subscription Content
Using technology from Ultramercial, Time.com gives access to its "Person of the Year" cover story, along with full archive of articles.
Klipmart Rolls Out In-Stream Product
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Klipmart unvieled an in-stream video advertising product that consolidates media placement and reporting for online video ads.
Called Universal In Stream, the offering is geared toward agencies and aims to simplify the deployment of ads that run before or during broadband video content.
With the new product, Klipmart will encode a single video ad and send the execution to each Web site in the media buy. The agency receives back one consolidated report with both reach and frequency metrics.
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The target customers are media buyers who may have to place more video campaigns and executions. Chris Young, Klipmart's CEO, says "the top 30 sites on the Internet," have certified the product. The site roster includes Yahoo!, but Klipmart hasn't gotten permission to divulge the names of other publishers.
Klipmart had processed about 10 beta campaigns for agency clients using the new system.
December 09, 2005
Meet the Press netcasts on MSNBC.com
NBC says that their 'Meet the Press' podcasts are popular. The company says that "since its launch in July, monthly downloads have increased tenfold – with 90,000 downloads in November and 25,000 already in the first week of December."
With the philosophy that content just wants to be consumed however each person dictates, starting this Sunday, Meet the Press can be watched via broadband at the viewers convenience.
"We are already appointment television on Sunday mornings for those who are home. Now if people are busy with their families when we are on the air, they can watch us when it is convenient for them" said Tim Russert.
In his own words ...
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We are a pretty simple company. We are trying to make content and then we want to be able to get it into viewers’ homes ... without gatekeepers, without intermediaries.
Peter Chernin, News Corp.’s Chief Operating Officer, while speaking to investors at the Credit Suisse First Boston Media Week Conference. The single biggest trend has been the growth of broadband and that bodes well for content companies such as his.
December 06, 2005
Laugh it up, Fuzzball
If you want to get access to high-quality movies legally via the Internet on a pay-per-view basis, Movielink is likely your destination. The company is a joint venture between MGM studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Studios.
Two weeks ago, Movielink signed a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, covering both new-release and library titles. The first Fox titles to be available on Movielink include the CG-animated movie "Robots" and the horror film "Hide And Seek". Movies you will not find there are the Star Wars films because that series of titles is excluded from the deal.
MovieLink now has distribution rights to titles from each major studio. Movielink competitor, CinemaNow, has had a distribution deal in place with Fox for around two years.
December 04, 2005
Viiv, that rhymes with 'Five'
"There was an inevitability to it. Thirty-eight million PCs in the U.S. are broadband connected. That's like 38 million set top boxes."
Kevin Corbett, vice president and general manager of the Content Services Group in Intel's Digital Home Group
Just in case you missed it, Intel announced last week its Viiv technology initiative. In Q1 2006, Intel claims that 50+ companies will offer content services and software that work with Viiv technology-based PCs. The chip maker said prospective partners for its Viiv effort include movie, TV, music, games and software companies. Intel plans to certify their content to ensure, among other things, that it has been adapted to work with TV screens and remote controls.
And what will you find? Intel says “subscription-based, pay-per-view, and free video-on-demand services … [and] free gaming services offering hundreds of games on demand for play online.”
This should be an interesting next step for the broadcast networks who have begun experiments with Apple, Comcast, and the Dish Network to show content to viewers who would pay for it. (see: The Traditional Television Business Model and Video on Demand and Robert Iger Believes Large-Screen Version Worth More Than $1.99)
Previous home entertainment efforts from PC-centric companies have mainly focused on consumers who want to watch TV programming on their PCs. While this niche of people is growing, most people still prefer watching video on their televisions. Intel seems to have noticed that.
“Intel is trying to accelerate a flow of content in the other direction – adapting Internet-based services that were designed for PCs to be seen on TV sets and using logos to help consumers know what hardware and services work together.” (The Wall Street Journal)
Another thing that Intel may have learned from watching the misfortune of others is how to deal with pirated material. With Viiv, Intel will supposedly to use their unprotected content as they can now. However, Viiv will support a variety of content-protection technologies to protect content owners.
December 02, 2005
Meet the new viewer, same as the old viewer
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comScore Networks and StreamingMedia.com published some research on who is watching video online. It found that people between the ages of 35 and 54 were 20 percent more likely to watch online video than the average Internet user.
The researchers gathered the statistics via a cross-section of comScore's 1.5 million strong Internet user panel.
The report also says more than 100 million users, or nearly 60 percent of the U.S. online population (97.5 million computers), consume online digital media each month, either via streams or downloads.
Video consumption crosses all dayparts and demographics, with the primetime and daytime dayparts showing particular strength.
Many of these media consumption sessions begin at a portal, with nearly two-thirds of Internet users streaming audio or video through one of the major all-purpose sites. Meanwhile, almost 50 percent did so from an entertainment site, more than 17 percent streamed content via a music site, and 15 percent even initiated a stream on a retail site.
November 29, 2005
Google Video provides interviews with Hollywood elite
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Google has teamed with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation to make the Foundation’s Archive of American Television interviews available for free viewing on Google Video.
Interviews include Alan Alda, Sid Caesar, Diahann Carroll, Ossie Davis, Phyllis Diller, Michael J. Fox, Andy Griffith, Robert Guillaume, Florence Henderson, Angela Lansbury, William Shatner, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, James Garner, Dick Wolf, Steven Bochco, Dick Clark, Sherwood Schwartz, Norman Lear, Grant Tinker, David Wolper, Carl Reiner, James Burrows, John Frankenheimer, Bob Mackie, Gene Reynolds and Ted Turner.
“The Foundation’s Archive of American Television is probably the most diverse, complete and fascinating resource of its kind. The stories are told through the eyes of the creative geniuses – in front of and behind the cameras – who shaped and continue to shape television into the most powerful medium in the world,” Steve Mosko, Chairman of the Television Academy Foundation, commented.Posted by Martino Mingione at 05:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 22, 2005
Earth to America on Internet TV
AOL began offering the TBS comedy special, "Earth to America," on-demand free-of-charge on its Web portal. The special stars aline-up of high-profile comedians Jason Alexander, Jack Black, Rob Corddry, Cedric The Entertainer, Bill Maher and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and other celebrities (Leonardo DiCaprio, Dustin Hoffman and Conan O'Brien). The show is intended to raise awareness of environmental issues. It aired on TBS.
The broadband VOD version of the special is available through the end of the year. Supposedly, it includes material that was not used in the broadcast version, and is also divided into segments, so that viewers can go directly to the acts and performers that are of most interest to them.
November 14, 2005
AOL Mail: "You've Got Horshack"
If Microsoft or Google strike a deal to buy AOL, I am doubtful that it would be for the entire entity. More likely any deal will be a partnership with Time Warner retaining a significant piece of AOL.
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As one piece of evidence: today AOL has announced that it will launch a free online television network in January called In2TV. By the end of 2006, the service will offer over 3,400 hours of archive programmes from 100 series of Warner Brothers productions in its first year.
“This builds on what has been our programming focus for many years and aligns well with our move to the open Web,” says Kevin Conroy, AOL Media Networks executive VP. “Our focus is on building a media business and driving advertising revenue.”
Now I ask you: would Time Warner (who owns both AOL and Warner Brothers) allow In2TV to air their WB content if they were not going to share on the revenue upside with a future partner?
The move fully embraces an advertising model. Conroy says the model likely will show four spots for each half-hour of content, with single 15- or 30-second spots. This strategy allows Time Warner to bring more content online faster. That, in turn, means more eyeballs, he says, to drive ad revenues and additional content.
“There are reasons that there were decades of ad-supported TV before there was the first pay channel,” Conroy says. “We firmly believe the ad model is the way to build a market and business.”
In2TV’s six original channels are
* LOL TV (comedies such as Welcome Back Kotter, Perfect Strangers and Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper),
* Dramarama (Falcon Crest, Sisters and Eight Is Enough)
* Toontopia (animated shows like Beetlejuice and Pinky and the Brain)
* Heroes and Horrors (Wonder Woman, Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman and Babylon 5)
* Rush (action shows such as La Femme Nikita, Kung Fu and The Fugitive)
* Vintage (Growing Pains, F-Troop and Maverick)
Two channels will be added next year for reality shows and cancelled series, the latter perhaps becoming a clearinghouse for unseen programs.
For now, In2TV will have its strongest appeal with nostalgia buffs who miss those shows they can no longer find on TV. Noting that those shows, not surprisingly, were easiest to get the rights to, Frankel adds that newer programs will soon be in the fold.
“In six or eight months, we’ll have shows that are playing on popular cable networks or have recently come off a network,” he says. “We’ll be getting deeper into the mix.”
December 8, 2005
Apparently, NONE of AOL is for sale. Read IP Democracy.
November 08, 2005
Casting some 'Illumination' onto Brightcove
Internet TV player Brightcove has hired several new advertising executives. Buried below the headlines is this little diddy:
(excerpts from Kevin Newcomb at ClickZ)
The new hires come as Brightcove takes the wraps off a relationship with Publicis Groupe Media Ventures, which has been helping it develop a business model that would fill the needs of advertisers.
The partnership, which began in May 2005, gives Brightcove access to Publicis Groupe media agencies and clients for strategic advice on things like ad formats, metrics, desired features and policies.
"In the last six months, we've gotten a variety of strategic input... We've been working closely with programmers who are preparing to launch these ad-supported broadband channels to understand their requirements, and we've been working closely with Publicis to understand what kinds of formats, metrics and policies are going to be meaningful to TV advertisers coming into this medium," said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove's founder and CEO.
Brightcove has developed a platform to allow publishers of commercial video to distribute their content over the Internet using Flash. Smaller publishers can use a self-service interface, while larger ones will have access to more advanced tools used by traditional broadcasters. Publishers upload their video, categorize it with metadata tags, choose a design template, create graphic overlays with their brand or an affiliate's brand, and publish the Flash file.
Publishers will be able to monetize their content either by selling and serving their own ads, by running ads from Brightcove's ad network, or by selling their content for purchase or subscription. The Brightcove platform allows publishers to create customized video players to distribute on their own site, or on affiliate sites. Brightcove offers the production and syndication tools, and handles the billing and collection for the publisher.
Content owners can specify the ad behavior and policies. They can define policies for where ads appear, how frequently they are shown, and limit the maximum number of ads per session. Publishers can also choose to target ads by daypart, by geography, and contextually based on the metadata they supplied.
November 07, 2005
Full 'NBC Nightly News' Runs Online
NBC Nightly News is the first network evening-news show to run in its entirety online. The full 30-minute newscast is available at MSNBC.com (specifically, nightlynews.msnbc.com. At ABC and CBS, individual segments are available.
| Monthly Data for Sept 2005; U.S. Home & Work |
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| Brand / Channel | Unique Audience |
| MSNBC | 26,381,000 |
| CNN | 26,010,000 |
| Yahoo! News | 25,632,000 |
| AOL News | 15,409,000 |
| NYTimes.com | 13,165,000 |
| Garnnet Newspapers | 12,859,000 |
| Source: Nielsen/NetRatings | |
The move acknowledges what many of us know already: that many viewers are simply unavailable to watch evening-news broadcasts in the current 6:30 p.m. time slot and have turned to the Web for news during the day.
While NBC’s show is the same, the ad lineup may look significantly different. MSNBC.com will add its own broadband commercial inventory rather than carrying the existing advertisers over from the broadcast.
September 20, 2005
We want to be more like a television network! Wait, isn't that what we are already?
Another proof point about how much more content will be watched when it is non-linearly available at the convenience of the viewer. This posting at IP Democracy is so brief, I will repost it in its entirety.
Courtesy of Lost Remote, this article from the Puget Sound Business Journal in which MSNBC.com’s Publisher Charlie Tillinghast lays out the online news service’s strategy for growth. Tillinghast says MSNBC.com will focus on search engine optimization, content syndication, content personalization and video.
"Tillinghast’s long-term vision for MSNBC is to make the site more like an online television news report, with live reporting to cover events as they happen. According to internal numbers, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise’s now-famous confrontation with “Today” show host Matt Lauer on June 24 was watched by 2.5 million people on MSNBC. In early July, the terrorist bombings in London generated 4.4 million video streams in one day. Video is also a potential jackpot for MSNBC. Tillinghast said about 10 percent of its overall advertising revenue comes from ads and short commercials that run with its video news clips."
But, wait a minute? Isn’t there already an MSNBC news channel actually on television?
Posted by Martino Mingione at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackSeptember 19, 2005
Semel: Why do I want to imitate a dying business?
(excerpts from Reuters, all emphasis added)
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Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel outlined his television strategy on Friday, saying that the Internet company wants to commission original content without aping existing TV networks.
Speaking to a group of top British TV executives who were not sure whether to regard Yahoo as friend or foe, Semel urged them to index their dormant archives and add them to Yahoo's video search service.
"Video search is a way to monetise some of the stuff that's lounging around in warehouses and hasn't made a dime for years," he said at the Royal Television Society conference.
... Semel said that the company hopes to go further, and urged independent producers to think of Yahoo as an outlet for new programming.
"I don't think that Yahoo or any other Internet company should try to become a television network," Semel added. "We will be nowhere if we have to create our own content."
He warned TV executives that television would lose an increasingly large slice of the advertising pie in coming years due to fragmenting audiences and the prevalence of ad-skipping technologies -- especially since consumers were spending more and more time on their computers.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 07:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackSeptember 16, 2005
stimTV in its Embryonic phase
One of the great things about broadband television is that many new things can be tried. I took a look at stimTV after I read that Los Angeles based NPOWR Digital Media brought in a Arnie Semsky, a high-profile figure from the advertising world, to provide consulting services for its broadband interactive TV network.
StimTV™ will launch its new design October 15. It is fusing browsing and entertainment to help viewers "sift through millions of hours of film and video programming in an entertaining way." Basically, it’s a television-like streaming media channel that morphs itself into what each individual viewer wants to see.
stimTV™ offers content owners a form of highly-targeted e-commerce. And everything a viewer sees on stimTV™ has an underlying product to sell.
Click here to see their explanation.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 08:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackSeptember 14, 2005
Video over the Internet
If you are interested in either the Akimbo PVR to receive quality video streams through the Internet or the Slingbox to to "place shift" their own content over the Internet, you might want to check out Maury Wright and Matthew Miller at the EDN's Digital Den.
"... assuming some form of a home network, the products and services won't bust the bank. Remaining obstacles include distributing digital video in a home, the rather narrow choice of Internet content, and, of course, the business models involved. Still, our evaluation suggests that digital video is in the nascent stage and will still offer designers and entrepreneurs many opportunities in the future."
Unlike TiVo, which records from a broadcast source, subscribers instruct Akimbo to get the desired content, and then watch it later. A 30-minute show can take only a few minutes to arrive by means of a cable modem. Akimbo is selling its Internet PVR for $100, including three free months of service (normally, $10 per month).
"Still, to survive, Akimbo may need to tweak its business model. It provides much of its content on a pay-per-view basis on top of the $10-per-month subscription fee. Perhaps an extra charge for adult content is legitimate if the company feels it must offer such programming. But subscribers interested in subjects from wine to golf are likely to feel that they are being nickel-and-dimed to death."
With Slingbox, you are able to watch or listen to anything available on your home TV or stereo from any high-speed Internet connected device anywhere in the world. So, if you are staying in a hotel in Los Angeles but want to see your beloved Yankees airing on YES back in New York, it is still possible to view what airs on your TV back home. This is known as place shifting.
"In all [EDN test] cases, it [was] best to view the video stream as a relatively small window. At one-quarter to one-third of a 19-in. display set to 1024×768-pixel resolution, the video quality looks good. ... Overall, the Slingbox experience was positive, but the company could do so much more with just slightly better software."
Read their review for more in-depth information.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 02:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackSeptember 09, 2005
Now, let's turn to Ed for commentary from his Lazy-boy
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Beginning today, CBS SportsLine will feature on its front page what it calls "TheEyebox," a video window that plays on-demand clips. The added online video content gives CBS more opportunities to sell 15-second, pre-roll video ads, which advertisers have been clamoring for, said Larry Kramer, president of CBS Digital Media.
The site will also add user-generated content in the form of blogs that provide color commentary on sporting events as they are taking place. CBS has dubbed these live game logs "glogs."
Kramer said the initiative was not meant to compete with cable channels like ESPN, but with other Web sites. He pointed out that advertisers on CBS SportsLine can reach users at work during the day better than cable can.
So, what are the bullet points from this story besides the obvious sports/video/broadband angle?
- Television and advertising go together like
politics and corruptionbaseball and hotdogs. With a few exceptions, people basically demand free access to content and they accept that commercials are the price that they pay. As the Internet becomes a viable distributor of television-like content, It is wrong to believe that anything will change other than the advertising formats. - The Internet is a viable television delivery mechanism. Fifty years ago there was 3 ‘broadcast’ networks over the airwaves. Next those signals where sent over cable buried under a community’s streets and hundreds of niche channels were added. The third distribution change occurred when satellite TV became economically viable. What really is interesting about the strategic significance of the Internet as a fourth conduit is that, similar to broadcast, it re-establishes a direct connection between the viewer and broadcast. It also creates that direct connection with the thought of a million channels (if that is the right word) available. It is no accident that it is CBS that is aggressively pushing Internet TV.
- Finally, the Internet is non-linear. This is different from the broadcast model and allows for different forms of content that are not feasible to air over broadcast. Witness CBS SportsLine’s mixture of content aired on TV, with video that did not make the edit, with user-generated glogs.
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CBS News is also in the Internet TV arena. |
September 08, 2005
New WB Campaign: watch our show online, then come back to watch ads on TV
In an environment where 150 shows will premier in the next couple of weeks, how does one break away from the clutter and get noticed? If you are the WB, you show it on the Internet – ad free!
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To lure consumers to its new show, called Supernatural, the WB network has done a deal with Yahoo! to make the entire first episode available online 7 days before the show's Sept. 13 television debut. The 40-minute long episode will be streamed from the Yahoo TV section if you want to watch it.
Expect Yahoo! to promote Supernatural with prominent video ads. The Web pages for Supernatural will also be enriched with interviews with cast members, a slide show, a trailer, pilot, information about the show and links to the program’s official Web site.
Asked if he thought the online showing would dilute interest in the premier on TV, Garth Ancier, chairman of the WB, said, “I think the nature of streaming is such that generally it’s more for awareness than actual viewing. There will be some people who will watch it on their small PC screen, but the majority of people will [just] sample it.”
Posted by Martino Mingione at 02:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAugust 29, 2005
The Beeb get's more progressive
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The BBC's TV channels will be made available on the internet, BBC Director General Mark Thompson has confirmed.
"We believe that on-demand changes the terms of the debate, indeed that it will change what we mean by the word 'broadcasting." … An expanding portion of the BBC's audio and video material from the archive will also be able to be accessed via MyBBCPlayer. "It should make it easier for users to find the content they want whenever and wherever they want it."
He said he hoped the service would launch next year.
A simulcast of BBC One or BBC Two, letting UK viewers see programmes on the web at the same time as they go out on TV, is also planned as part of MyBBCPlayer.
August 23, 2005
Internet TV: Google vs. Yahoo
Both Google and Yahoo want to use video to in their quest for creating new ad inventory. Judging by recent stories, we will have to give this early round to Yahoo.
You may recall that Yahoo is expanding its news portal to include video. There was the recent story about how ABC, CNN, and AP will participate in that. We also saw that Viacom sees opportunity in repurposing CBS News segments online, too. Now comes the news that Viacom and Yahoo have just signed a multi-year agreement under which Yahoo will provide search-marketing and Web-search services to Viacom's online properties including the CBS News and MTV Web sites. The Web sites of Black Entertainment Television, Country Music Television, Nick Jr., Showtime and VH1 will also get Yahoo services.
And what is Google up to? The last thing I saw on the video side of their strategy was that the Googlians were going to index the transcripts from many television shows and provide those result under a special search. Google Video has the promise of becoming the index of preference for online VOD. I love the concept. However, Google apparently forgot to build key business relationships with content owners. The end result: many television networks are very unhappy and are fighting with Google, demanding that they stop the practice.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 11:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBackAugust 17, 2005
Veoh: an Internet Television Peercasting Network
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Veoh Networks, a San Diego start-up, is described as an Internet Television Peercasting Network. They also completed a Series A round of financing led by Shelter Capital Partners. No where could I find how large (or small) that financing round was but Dmitry Shapiro, the company’s founder, did tell me that they are well capitalized and has what he needs to solidly move forward.
One of the impressive thing about Veoh is Dmitry Shapiro. He is a specialist in peer-to-peer networking and computer security. Veoh just announced its own protocol appropriately called VeohNet. I am not in Dmitry's league of expertise so my take is to think of it like BitTorrent (swarmcasting) but even better. For example, viewers will not have to open up ports to make it work. Also, publishers can pull back content if they need to. This should go a long way to solving legitimacy issues and ease of use.
InformITV said: "Unlike unmanaged P2P networks using software such as BitTorrent to share mainly illicit copyright video, Veoh will have a community of publishers and content will be approved by editors. The system will also integrate with Google Video and RSS, providing content producers with easy publishing to multiple video systems."
The current management team is supposed to include executives and advisers from Coco-Cola, Columbia Pictures, eBay, Gateway and Musicmatch.
I have put Veoh on my radar because there is a compelling economic logic to using the Internet as a distribution mechanism that allows content providers to connect directly with viewers. There have been many postings here on content owners who are doing exactly that. Who knows, maybe Veoh can latch onto that pin action.
From what I know about their business model it is straightforward. Publishers can use a program called VeohUploader (which is due to be released tonight). Dmitry described to me that if you can handle being a seller on EBay, you can become a publisher on Veoh. A content owner can specify whether people can watch for free or pay per viewing or work under some sort of subscription model.
Les Moonves, here is your chance to test your $1 per CSI episode and see if the market place validates that price point. But the real reason I bring that up is this: if Viacom were to do that in Veoh’s business model, they simply could start tomorrow. They would not need Comcast or Time Warner’s agreement to do so. They also would not have to invest any significant money to do so. This is why Veoh can allow people to easily become their own publishers.
Obviously, one key business driver for Veoh will be to amass an audience size to make it worth the larger network’s while. This is the classic chicken and egg scenario: well branded networks want larger audiences to make it worth their while, and larger audiences show up for high-quality content. We will see how Veoh gets past this business challenge and I for one will watch their progress.
There’s not much yet at Veoh’s web site, but you can sign up for notification when their beta is ready. Another thing is that you can enjoy their word-smithing:
It will open the world of media so that every country, established or third political party, foundation, charity, cause, company, and individual has an unrestricted voice, able to reach the farthest reaches of the world, with the capacity to alter human understanding. We will be able to stop wars, expose genocide, enlighten, entertain, educate, bring together, inspire, connect, and help find love of all kinds.
We are building the next phase of the Internet, the Self Published Video Web. Think of it as Television 2.0Posted by Martino Mingione at 04:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2005
Texas U Publishes First Internet Video Magazine
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The Longhorns college football team will have what is thought to be the first Internet-based video magazine. Two interesting articles on it:
AdAge reports that "For the price of $24.95 for four issues delivered during the season, subscribers receive a slick, rich-media product that guarantees at least 50 minutes of TV-quality video per issue. V-Mag will provide links to other sites -- including sites where fans can purchase Texas apparel and paraphernalia -- and give subscribers a behind-the-scenes look that they can’t get from the traditional print and broadcast media outlets that cover the Longhorns."
"Host Communications, a collegiate-sports-marketing company that holds the multimedia rights for the university and manages advertising on the college’s sports Web sites, will market V-Mag and plans to sell video ads to marketers. But no rate card has been set yet and no advertisers are signed on."
MediaBuyerPlanner reports that "No Ads Sold Yet for Internet Video Mag."
August 12, 2005
More Evidence of the coming Adpocalypse
I've reported here a number of instances of established media companies using the Internet to reach a new generation of viewers directly. Just about everyone of them says that getting advertising revenue is part of their goal.
In addition to AOL announcement that it will become a non-subscription based, video portal seeking advertising dollars and the AP's announcement to offer ad supported video on the Internet, these are just a few of the many recent stories:
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ABC & CNN are putting news segments on Yahoo! News. |
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CBS now eyes Internet VOD. |
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Nickelodeon Cartoons on Demand. |
So, a logical question is this: how large is that market now? AccuStream iMedia Research forecasts that ad revenue for online video will reach $321 million this year, up 75 percent from 2004.
Meanwhile, ClickZ reports that more agencies are looking both inside and out to find talent to bridge the gap between offline video and online rich media.
MarketingVOX reports that Mike Griffin, VP of business development at EyeWonder, says that nearly 80 percent of video ads that the firm sees are made by repurposing television ads. Another 15 percent use existing video content, edited to fit online. Only 5 percent of online video ads are created entirely for the Web. The trend is shifting, as more advertisers begin to realize the power of video ads, he said.
For about a year or so, Jupiter Research has been forecasting that online video advertising will hit $657 million in 2009.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 10:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAugust 09, 2005
Associated Press Aggressively Pushing Video
MarketingVOX Daily reports that the Associated Press will launch an ad-supported Web video network by the end of the year to its more than 6,500 newspaper and broadcast members. AP will provide the members' sites with a branded video player and access to its daily video news feed, which will include :15 and :30 pre-roll ads. Members will get a cut of the ad sales for the videos watched.
I recently reported here about Yahoo's video news portal with ABC News and CNN. That, too, will expand further with content from the AP later this quarter.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 05:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBackAugust 08, 2005
ManiaTV: is it a model for Internet TV?
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In August 2004, ManiaTV went live from a 15,000 square foot warehouse in Denver with a roster of green "cyberjockeys" or CJs. They were recruited mostly through craigslist and hired more on personality and looks than experience. The production booth was put in an old school bus.
In the intervening 10 months, Madison & Vine reports that ManiaTV has drawn an audience of 1.5 million college-aged students. I know a number of niche cable networks that wish they could do that.
Drew Massey, 35-year-old entrepreneur and founder, said "The whole mission is to do with Internet TV what Ted Turner did with cable."
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USA Today: ManiaTV starts a frenzy. (written in April) |
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Westworld.com: Is ManiaTV! the future, or a new version of the past? |
May 16, 2005
Online Video is for Real
Thinking about the future of television and pondering its impact on advertising is not the sort of thing you freely admit to in polite company. Never-the-less, my closer friends know that this is my job. In most conversations, my friends cannot envision how the Internet will be an effective vehicle for television.
Here are two recent news stories that point out the error of their ways:
First, witness what happened when comedian Jon Stewart went on CNN’s Crossfire to take on Tucker Carlson live on cable television. Jeff Jarvis, president of Advance.net noted:
“That episode got maybe 400,000 viewers on big old powerful CNN? Well that same segment was copied onto the Internet, where it got at least 5 million views. So what’s more powerful, the network CNN owns or the network no one owns? So now suddenly the distribution is exploded.”
Online video will augment television distribution in a manner similar to how online news expands a newspaper’s readership. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and many others already tell us that online readership substantially exceeds their paper readership. So, how far away is it before online viewership substantially expands a producer’s audience?
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Second, witness last week’s announcement of Mark Burnett’s upcoming online boxing event. Here are three professional matches at Ceasar's Palace airing on May 24 at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. EST, taking advantage of the broadband-connected at-work viewer.
But if that is not enough, ponder this. None of these boxing matches will air on television. Also, Intel and Toyota are sponsoring the event. And for anyone left who does not already know who Mark Burnett is; he is the creator of many hit television shows.
These two online television stories are not the only ones I could pick from. However, they are solid examples that make real the fact that the broadband revolution is blending television and the Internet together in interesting ways.
Posted by Martino Mingione at 02:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
