Ken Kragen, co creator of We Are The World and Hands Across
America
tell Paso High kids he believed that those projects were
impossible
enough to be possible
Have no doubt that we are seeing
a great Paradigm Shift...in
fact the past few years the pace
of the evolution
of the new technologies
and how they are going to change the entertainment
business as we know it make the
invent of the wireless (radio), the flickers (movies), TV and
black and white TV to color and MTV look
like snail pace evolution...
Research has shown the mere act of being aware and knowledgeable of
events
and possibilities vastly reduce a person's vulnerability to stress, fear,
anxiety, and
bewilderment.
Marshall McLuhan said about Paradigm Shifts...
"By
the time one notices acultural
phenomenon,
it has
already happened."
"I
believe that I will never shoot another film...on
film." George
Lucas
According to
Bill Gates, in the next five years, content and
lectures available
online will be better than any single
university. Gates believes that
universities don’t need to be
“place-based”, and a system should be developed to
give
students credit whether they’re learning at MIT or teaching themselves from
on the Internet.
--------------------------
Americans Are Crazy For Digital Devices, Time Consumption Is Up
by Mark Walsh, Monday, February 10, 2014 2:14 PM
Americans own an average of four digital devices (including
high-definition TVs) and spend 60 hours a week consuming media
across them collectively.
“The number of digital devices and platforms available to today’s consumers has
exploded in recent years. As a result, today’s consumer is more connected than
ever, with more access to and deeper engagement with content and brands,” stated
a Nielsen blog post today on its Digital
Consumerreport.
-The majority of U.S. households now own high-definition televisions (83%),
Internet-connected computers (80%) and smartphones (65%). Nearly half also own
digital video recorders (49%) and gaming consoles (46%).
-Average monthly time spent using the browser and/or apps on their smartphones
has also grown by nearly 10 hours, ranking second only to live television in the
amount of time spent on media. Consumers have increased their monthly time spent
viewing time-shifted TV content by almost two hours.
Marketers, you do have a mobile video strategy, right? If not, consider this
your notice.Cisco
said in its latest Internet traffic reportthat
mobile video traffic will grow 14 times by 2018, when it will comprise 69% of
global mobile data traffic, up from about half last year. Much of that growth
will be centered in the Middle and Africa, but video will account for 67% of
mobile data traffic in this region by 2018.
Cisco also reported that mobile video use peaks in the evening, which is
something most advertisers know already. What’s noteworthy is that the busiest
mobile video times are growing at a faster rate than other dayparts. Advertisers
can use this insight to target their mobile video campaigns by time of day.
These findings dovetail with Nielsen’s
just-released report on digital consumer habits. Nielsen said Americans own
four digital devices on average and spend 60 hours a week consuming content on
those devices. About 65% of homes own a smartphone, and in the past year
consumers have upped the time they spend on apps and browsers by about 10 hours
more a month, making phones second only to TVs for media consumption.
Comcast To Buy Time Warner Cable For $45.2 Billion
Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable operator, has bought Time Warner Cable,
the second-biggest cable operator, in a deal worth $45.2 billion, the company
confirmed late Wednesday.
The all-stock offer is valued at $158.82 a share for Time Warner Cable's stock.
Previously, Charter Communications had made a cash and stock offer for Time
Warner Cable of $132.50, which Time Warner Cable said was “grossly inadequate.”
Growing faster than ever, the market for Web-connected gadgets is set to
surpass 6 billion units this year, per new estimates.
That’s 6.18 billion units, to be precise -- up 6% from the 5.82 billion
gadgets that connected users to media and marketers, in 2013. If
accurate, the jump will represent the market’s biggest increase in four
years -- when it saw a 10% hike in production in 2010 -- according to
IHS Technology.
“The improved growth this year of the connected devices industry marks
the return of higher production as manufacturers deliver all sorts of
connectivity equipment to users,” Jagdish Rebello, Ph.D. and senior
director for information technology at IHS, explained in the new report.
“Given the voracious appetite of consumers for social media and their
yen for always-on connectivity, it’s little surprise that makers will
continue to turn out such devices to keep buyers engaged,” Rebello
added.
Second screen recognized as permanent part of viewing experience
Editor | 28-01-2014
The second part of the NATPE/ CEA survey into second-screen usage has revealed
'tremendous potential' in content designed for synchronous viewing and the
simultaneous usage of both a primary screen and second device.
The first part of the report from Research from the US Consumer Electronics
Association and National Association of Television Program Executives found that
broadcasters have some way to go to fully realise the potential of second-screen
services, with synchronised content available for TV programmes not generating
strong positive perceptions, and only 13% indicating that it makes their viewing
experience "much more enjoyable." In addition it showed that despite four-fifths
of second-screen users accessing their connected device while watching TV
programming, only 42% tried synchronising their content experience to live TV
and almost
Part two has revealed a more positive view of the second screen, with a general
consensus that it is as an inevitable part of the future. Even though some
believe there are strong opportunities for synchronous viewing going forward,
producers were found to be still searching for the best solutions to optimise
technology to create a seamless experience for the viewer.
Driven by services such as Netflix and Pandora becoming commonplace, more than
three-fifths of US households now have at least one net-connected TV in their
home, according to data from The Diffusion Group (TDG).
The universe of connected TV devices surveyed inBenchmarking
the Connected Consumer, 2014includes
TVs connected to the Internet either directly as in a smart TV, or indirectly
via ancillary net-to-TV devices like game consoles or Internet sticks such as
Google Chromecast.
The 63% penetration revealed represents significant year-on-year growth from the
53% at the same period in 2013. Furthermore, among broadband households with a
net-connected TV, average ownership is 1.6 units, meaning a large portion of
users own multiple net-connected TVs. In fact, 42% of connected TV owners were
found to have two or more such configurations.
Google overtakes Intel as world's biggest 'dealmaker'
Google has made more deals than any company in
the world over the past three years, according to Bloomberg
From buying a digital thermostat developer to selling a mobile phone
business, Google has executed more deals than any company in the world over
the past three years.
Including acquisitions, investments and divestments, Google has been
involved with 127 deals in the past three years -- more than double the
number from January 2008 to 2011, according to data complied byBloomberg.
Intel, which led the previous three-year period with 104 deals, fell to
third with 121 transactions.
Google has ramped up its acquisition process since the appointment of Larry
Page as chief executive in 2011. Under his leadership, the company has used
its vast cash resources, which totalled $58.7bn (£35.4bn) in the company's
most recent financial results, to invest in connected devices, business
services and mobile applications.
The mergers and acquisitions group, led by Don Harrison, has
reportedly expanded by at least 50pc in the past two years, and
Google Ventures has become a big start-up spender, while a new
group called Google Capital backs later-stage companies.
From a global online 'anything store’ to high-end smartphones
challenging Apple, a generation of billionaire entrepreneurs is rising in the
East
A new generation is taking power in China. Not the grey graduates of
Communist Party committees. But aggressive, entrepreneurial and often
colourful internet billionaires.
As well as influencing domestic politics, several plan to break out on to
the world stage in 2014.
They will be following a trail blazed by Huawei, the telecoms equipment
maker. But with products and services that have much less to do with the
critical infrastructure and ownership structures more familiar in the West,
China’s internet giants are unlikely to hit similar trade and national
security barriers.
Leading the charge is Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, an online bazaar that
allows a business to sell almost any item to any other business.
LOS ANGELES -- Comcast will buy Time Warner Cable for about $45.2 billion in
a deal that would combine the nation's top two cable TV companies and create
a dominant force in creating and delivering entertainment.
The all-stock deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies,
trumps a proposal from Charter Communications to buy Time Warner Cable for
about $38 billion. It is expected to close by the end of the year, pending
shareholder and regulatory approvals.
The combined entity will end up with about 30 million subscribers, as the
two companies already have strongholds in major markets like New York,
Chicago and Los Angeles. Comcast has 22 million pay TV customers but plans
to divest 3 million after the deal closes. Time Warner Cable will contribute
11.2 million customers.
The annual Silicon Valley Index report shows a sizzling economy that
will only get hotter, thanks to high-tech companies, but perils coexist
with prosperity. Silicon Valley boasts the highest growth sectors, but
"rising tides do not lift all boats." A growing divide between rich and
poor is driven by an overwhelming demand for housing.
Jobs, income and investment keep
soaring in Silicon Valley, but the growth is also driving up housing costs and
widening the gap between the rich and poor, a report released Tuesday says.
"The economy is sizzling any way you slice it and it's about to get hotter, but
having said that, we are quick to point out there are perils with our
prosperity," said Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley,
which released its annual Silicon Valley Index in conjunction with the
philanthropic Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
The region added nearly 47,000 jobs in 2013, up 3 percent over the previous
year, and the total number of jobs has surpassed pre-recession levels. Many are
high wage jobs -- 45 percent of households now earn more than $100,000, and per
capita income is above $70,000 a year, much higher than the state average of
about $44,000.
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=01200000NIQC
Hollywood has been urged to ramp up the pace and redesign its content strategy
to keep up with technology. Addressing the annual Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers (SMPTE) technical conference and exhibition in Hollywood,
Thomas Gewecke, chief digital officer and executive VP for strategy and business
development at Warner Bros. Entertainment, said: “this is no longer science
fiction. The technology is there; the product is not.”
Echoing an emerging theme of the conference, Gewecke called for urgent action,
stating, “the change is measured in months and quarters, not in years. The
challenge for a company of our size is to move fast enough.”
A key factor for the industry to consider, Gewecke suggested, was to put content
distribution at the top of the agenda including defining what the product
actually is and how to best find its target audiences. “We need to make our
content as ubiquitous as possible. It needs to be in as many places as possible
so consumers have a legitimate way to access it,” he said.
http://www.whatech.com/iptv/18415-cbt407-hollywood-urged-to-match-content-with-tech-innovation
--------------------------------
Stop Putting About Tech's Next Big Thing, It's Here
It's easy to get jaded when you cover the technology industry. Silicon
Valley's giants are constantly belching wisps of marshmallow-thick hype,
and any reporter looking to cover the beat has to be constantly on guard
against unproven claims about this or that algorithmically-abetted
amazing advance.
So when Christopher Mims of Quartz recentlydeclared
2013 to be a "lost year for tech"—one
in which, he says, the industry produced nothing of great value—I could
see where he was coming from. I feel the same way some days; when I'm
covering some new me-too social-media productor
a great new way to target ads, I hang my head in despair.
But then I read a couple of rebuttals to Mims byDaring
Fireball's John GruberandOm
Malik, of Gigaom. They argued that the industry's biggest advances have
occurred beneath the media's radar, and that the industry, as a whole,
is anything but stagnant. I side with these more positive takes.
Here's my roundup of reasons to break out of your tech funk and be
optimistic about tech in 2014.
Hollywood has been urged to ramp up the pace and redesign its content strategy
to keep up with technology. Addressing the annual Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers (SMPTE) technical conference and exhibition in Hollywood,
Thomas Gewecke, chief digital officer and executive VP for strategy and business
development at Warner Bros. Entertainment, said: “this is no longer science
fiction. The technology is there; the product is not.”
Echoing an emerging theme of the conference, Gewecke called for urgent action,
stating, “the change is measured in months and quarters, not in years. The
challenge for a company of our size is to move fast enough.”
A key factor for the industry to consider, Gewecke suggested, was to put content
distribution at the top of the agenda including defining what the product
actually is and how to best find its target audiences. “We need to make our
content as ubiquitous as possible. It needs to be in as many places as possible
so consumers have a legitimate way to access it,” he said.
http://www.whatech.com/iptv/18415-cbt407-hollywood-urged-to-match-content-with-tech-innovation
--------------------------------
Stop Putting About Tech's Next Big Thing, It's Here
It's easy to get jaded when you cover the technology industry. Silicon
Valley's giants are constantly belching wisps of marshmallow-thick hype,
and any reporter looking to cover the beat has to be constantly on guard
against unproven claims about this or that algorithmically-abetted
amazing advance.
So when Christopher Mims of Quartz recentlydeclared
2013 to be a "lost year for tech"—one
in which, he says, the industry produced nothing of great value—I could
see where he was coming from. I feel the same way some days; when I'm
covering some new me-too social-media productor
a great new way to target ads, I hang my head in despair.
But then I read a couple of rebuttals to Mims byDaring
Fireball's John GruberandOm
Malik, of Gigaom. They argued that the industry's biggest advances have
occurred beneath the media's radar, and that the industry, as a whole,
is anything but stagnant. I side with these more positive takes.
Here's my roundup of reasons to break out of your tech funk and be
optimistic about tech in 2014.
----------------------
Spotify streaming surge boosts
record labels
A surge in online music streaming via Spotify and rival services
provided a bright spot in a mixed 2013 for the record industry.
Figures released today by the BPI, the record labels’ trade body,
show Britons streamed 7.4bn songs, double the 2012 total.
Music specialists such as Spotify and Deezer, as well as web giants
including Google, collected £103m in subscriptions for their
unlimited services, a tenth of the total music market. The revenues
compared with £77m in 2012 and do not include the money they make
from offering free access supported by advertising breaks every few
tracks.
Mark Foster, Deezer's UK MD, said: "We’ve witnessed a surge in
demand in the UK as people have caught on to the fact that they can
enjoy a huge catalogue of music, anywhere and on whatever device
suits their lifestyle."
Change is good - just look at the entertainment industry
This year, spending on digital music, films and video games could well
surpass physical sales
New figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) are
proof that the internet has been anything but the curse many in the
music and film industries feared it would be. Spending on
music, film and video games in the UK rose last year for the first
time since 2009, thanks to big increases in digital sales and
streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify.
It has taken too long for the music and film industries to embrace
the internet. For many years it was seen as the enemy; record labels
pursued file-sharers and resisted putting their songs online.
Meanwhile, revenues declined year after year.
Consumers were always going to value the internet’s convenience, and
many who were unable to buy what they wanted turned to piracy. Now,
with the exception of a few outspoken musicians, the music and film
industries have entered the 21st century. People can access movies
and songs at the touch of the button, and are willing to pay for it.
Looking at the ERA’s figures, which show a 34pc rise in music
streaming revenues and a 40pc rise in digital film sales, it is
clear that the industry’s obstinance was foolish.
A study of how teenagers use social media has found that
Facebook is “not just on the slide, it is basically dead and buried”,
but that the network is morphing into a tool for keeping in touch with
older family members
A study of how older teenagers use social media has found that
Facebook is “not just on the slide, it is basically dead and buried”
and is being replaced by simpler social networks such as Twitter and
Snapchat.
Young people now see the site as “uncool” and keep their profiles
live purely to stay in touch with older relatives, among whom it
remains popular.
Professor Daniel Miller of University College London, an
anthropologist who worked on the research, wrote in an article for
academic news websiteThe
Conversation: “Mostly they feel embarrassed even to be
associated with it.
“This year marked the start of what looks likely to be a sustained
decline of what had been the most pervasive of all social networking
sites. Young people are turning away in their droves and adopting
other social networks instead, while the worst people of all, their
parents, continue to use the service.
Facebook Becomes No. 2 Digital Ad Seller, Google Still Reigns
Fueled by its push into mobile advertising, Facebook this year will
account for 7.4% of U.S. digital ad spending, making it second only to
Google in market share.
Facebook jumped ahead of Microsoft and Yahoo in 2013 in its share of
digital ad dollars, but remains well behind Google’s hefty 40.9% slice
of spending, according anupdated
eMarketer forecast.
The research firm had previously forecast that Facebook would remain
slightly behind Yahoo this year, but the rapid expansion of its mobile
business -- which in the third quarter amounted to half of its total ad
revenue -- changed the outlook. Yahoo’s share is projected to fall to
5.8% from 6.8% last year.
Microsoft won’t see as steep a decline, dipping from a 6.2% to a 5.9%
share. Its $2.53 billion in ad revenue includes not only sales related
to its Web properties, but also from its Xbox and Skype services.
Twitter may have garnered much attention because of its IPO this year,
but the microblogging service this year will account for only 1% of
digital ad spend.
Looking ahead, Google is expected to maintain its digital ad dominance
through 2015, when it will claim 42.3% of U.S. digital ad revenues --
across desktop computers, smartphones and tablets -- while Facebook will
take in 9%, Microsoft 5.4%, Yahoo, 5% and IAC, 2.2%. One looming
question is how much additional revenue the rollout of video advertising
will drive for Facebook in 2014 and after.
Advertisers Have a Better
Idea About Online Video Than Many Content Creators
There’s so much about 2014 to figure out, and in the video business so
much is sometimes delightfully transitory. What has happened in 2013 was
old news as soon as it happened. But here’s where we are now as 2014
comes into view: Video is now becoming the focal point of the Internet,
and at the same time, the people who create it and sell it are still
close to clueless about the way it's all going to shake out. They aren't
sure how to make it work for consumers or advertisers, or I guess, the
betterment of mankind.
The business still doesn’t know the best ways to present advertising,
or to make sure it's actually viewable. It doesn’t know how to monetize
“quality” content. And there is the content: The Internet is filled with
amateur content that at once gives it its largest audience, creates its
image of cute kitties and novelty musical videos--and keeps it
imprisoned in unimportance. It also gives the world unexpected gems, but
a lot of what is on the Web is there to capture eyeballs and with no
greater purpose than that. And, as a pretty brilliant piece on The
Washington Post'sWonkblogpoints
out, the Quest for Virality can result in lots of page views of
...nothing.
Media Devices Hit 140 Million, Smart TVs Push Increase
Internet-enabled TV devices will witness rapid growth over the next year
-- but a huge portion of those devices will not be online connections.
U.S. homes will see a 44% rise to 202 million media devices -- up from
140 million at the end of 2013, per NPD Group's Connected Home Forecast.
Home devices include connected TV, all streaming media players, Blu-Ray
players and gaming consoles. Not all Internet-enabled
devices sold will be connected to the Internet.
The NPD study says 65% of those Internet-enabled devices will get
connections by 2015 (131 million connected; 71 million unconnected) --
up from 56% of those devices in 2013 (78 million connected; 62 million
unconnected). Smart TVs will help push this activity. NPD
estimates that by 2015, there will be 23 million smart TV sets installed
and connected in homes. In addition, the introduction of add-on TV
devices such as Chromecast will help push connected media players to 31
million by 2015.
“As consumers connect TVs to the Internet, they are not only using
streaming services such as Netflix, they also switch from linear and
on-demand TV programming to TV network apps such as HBO GO or WatchESPN,”
said John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst, NPD Connected
Intelligence, in a release.
Facebook Becomes No. 2 Digital Ad Seller, Google Still Reigns
Fueled by its push into mobile advertising, Facebook this year will
account for 7.4% of U.S. digital ad spending, making it second only
to Google in market share.
Facebook jumped ahead of Microsoft and Yahoo in 2013 in its share of
digital ad dollars, but remains well behind Google’s hefty 40.9%
slice of spending, according anupdated
eMarketer forecast.
The research firm had previously forecast that Facebook would remain
slightly behind Yahoo this year, but the rapid expansion of its
mobile business -- which in the third quarter amounted to half of
its total ad revenue -- changed the outlook. Yahoo’s share is
projected to fall to 5.8% from 6.8% last year.
Microsoft won’t see as steep a decline, dipping from a 6.2% to a
5.9% share. Its $2.53 billion in ad revenue includes not only sales
related to its Web properties, but also from its Xbox and Skype
services. Twitter may have garnered much attention because of its
IPO this year, but the microblogging service this year will account
for only 1% of digital ad spend.
Looking ahead, Google is expected to maintain its digital ad
dominance through 2015, when it will claim 42.3% of U.S. digital ad
revenues -- across desktop computers, smartphones and tablets --
while Facebook will take in 9%, Microsoft 5.4%, Yahoo, 5% and IAC,
2.2%. One looming question is how much additional revenue the
rollout of video advertising will drive for Facebook in 2014 and
after.
Advertisers Have a
Better Idea About Online Video Than Many Content Creators
There’s so much about 2014 to figure out, and in the video business
so much is sometimes delightfully transitory. What has happened in
2013 was old news as soon as it happened. But here’s where we are
now as 2014 comes into view: Video is now becoming the focal point
of the Internet, and at the same time, the people who create it and
sell it are still close to clueless about the way it's all going to
shake out. They aren't sure how to make it work for consumers or
advertisers, or I guess, the betterment of mankind.
The business still doesn’t know the best ways to present
advertising, or to make sure it's actually viewable. It doesn’t know
how to monetize “quality” content. And there is the content: The
Internet is filled with amateur content that at once gives it its
largest audience, creates its image of cute kitties and novelty
musical videos--and keeps it imprisoned in unimportance. It also
gives the world unexpected gems, but a lot of what is on the Web is
there to capture eyeballs and with no greater purpose than that.
And, as a pretty brilliant piece on The Washington Post'sWonkblogpoints
out, the Quest for Virality can result in lots of page views of
...nothing.
Media Devices Hit 140 Million, Smart TVs Push Increase
Internet-enabled TV devices will witness rapid growth over the next year
-- but a huge portion of those devices will not be online connections.
U.S. homes will see a 44% rise to 202 million media devices -- up from
140 million at the end of 2013, per NPD Group's Connected Home Forecast.
Home devices include connected TV, all streaming media players, Blu-Ray
players and gaming consoles. Not all Internet-enabled
devices sold will be connected to the Internet.
The NPD study says 65% of those Internet-enabled devices will get
connections by 2015 (131 million connected; 71 million unconnected) --
up from 56% of those devices in 2013 (78 million connected; 62 million
unconnected). Smart TVs will help push this activity. NPD
estimates that by 2015, there will be 23 million smart TV sets installed
and connected in homes. In addition, the introduction of add-on TV
devices such as Chromecast will help push connected media players to 31
million by 2015.
“As consumers connect TVs to the Internet, they are not only using
streaming services such as Netflix, they also switch from linear and
on-demand TV programming to TV network apps such as HBO GO or WatchESPN,”
said John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst, NPD Connected
Intelligence, in a release.
Yahoo remained the No. 1 U.S. Web property in November, extending
its lead over Google by about 2 million monthly visitors to 194.6
million, according to thelatest
comScore data. Google had 192.7 million visitors, followed
by Microsoft with 177.5 million, Facebook (141.4 million) and AOL
(120.2 million). Keep in mind that those figures include only
desktop activity.
Yahoo overtook Google as the top site in July for the first time
since May 2011 and has not yielded the top slot since. The company’s
CEO Marissa Mayer has made a point of highlighting audience growth
during her tenure -- noting that in September, for example, the
number of active monthly users worldwide topped 800 million.
But so far, those gains haven’t translated into revenue growth for
Yahoo, which fell further behind Google and Facebook in display ad
share this year, according to an eMarketer estimate. While both its
main rivals have ramped up their mobile ad businesses, Yahoo’s still
doesn’t contribute a significant amount to its overall sales.
Looking to deepen its entertainment data business, Tribune Company has
acquired Sony Corp’s Gracenote -- the big source of music data.
Tribune will purchase the company for around $170 million. Tribune
will look to combine Gracenote with Tribune Media Services (TMS), a
major provider of TV and movie metadata, used to provide electronic TV
program guides.
Gracenote has data on more than 180 million music tracks, and services
550 million music “look-ups” each day and more than 16 billion every
month. Gracenote technology works with thousands of mobile apps; 50
million cars have been equipped with Gracenote. It has data for 1
million movies and TV shows across 30 countries. Shashi Seth,
president of Tribune Digital Ventures, which includes oversight of TMS,
stated: "Both companies have substantial digital footprints and are
well-respected leaders in their areas globally.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/216139/tribune-buys-gracenote-expands-music-data.html?edition=68226
-----------------
Online/Digital Media Growth Lifts Ad Revenues
According to the BIA/Kelsey updated Annual U.S. Local Media Forecast,
total U.S. local media ad revenues are expected to grow from $132.9
billion in 2013 to $151.5 billion in 2017, representing a 2.8% compound
annual growth rate, growing faster than the firm originally forecast
earlier this year.
Faster growth in online/digital advertising revenues will drive that
faster overall growth, increasing at a 13.8 percent CAGR from $26.5
billion in 2013 to $44.5 billion in 2017. That compares with a CAGR of
0.1 percent during the same period for traditional advertising revenues,
which will remain flat, growing slightly from $106.4 billion in 2013 to
$107 billion in 2017.
As the TED 2014 "Ads Worth Spreading" campaign gets under way, Google's
YouTube unit is helping showcase the most creative and innovative video
advertisements before the award winners are determined and announced in
March 2014. The awards, which are in their fourth year, are presented by
the group that puts on TED Conferences (Technology, Education, Design),
which are devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, according to the
organization, to celebrate creativity and emotional power in
advertising. The 2014 TED video ad competition, with the help of
YouTube, will make all the contending ad videos available to online
viewers so they can see the best of the best before the votes are
counted, Tara Levy, managing director of ads marketing for Google and
YouTube, wrote in a Nov. 20 post on The Official YouTube Blog. - See
more at:
http://www.eweek.com/cloud/google-highlights-ted-2014-award-candidates.html/#sthash.NAtMMBk4.dpuf
------------------------------
Major Newspaper Chains Continue Revenue Slide
Judging the overall health of the newspaper industry became a bit harder
in September, when the Newspaper Association of America announced that
it would no longer be reporting quarterly results in favor of annual
results, in order “to produce a more comprehensive report to properly
reflect the evolving nature of the newspaper industry and its revenues.”
However, many publicly traded newspaper companies still release
quarterly results, and a survey of 10 such companies of varying sizes
shows a continued downward trend in line with the industry’s trajectory
to date.
All 10 publishers surveyed -- A.H. Belo, E.W. Scripps, Gannett Co.,
Gatehouse Media, Journal Communications, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy Co.,
New York Times Co., News Corp., and Tribune Co. -- saw total revenues
decline at their newspaper publishing divisions, with an average
percentage decline of 3.8%.
'Despicable Me 2' Delivered to Mexican Cinemas Via Satellite
Contenido Alternativo, Latin America’s first alternative digital distributor,
deliveredDespicable Me 2to
281 Cinepolis theaters ahead of the picture’s Friday release here in Mexico.
Contenido Alternativo has previously worked with Cinepolis in distributing live
digital content to its theaters via satellite.
The new satellite technology is quicker and more efficient.
“It took only a few hours to deliver the film, compared to three or four days
that it usually takes to copy and distribute hard drives to all the theaters,”
said Contenido Alternativo headJuan
Manuel Borbolla. Additionally, satellite movie distribution
dramatically reduces costs. Cinepolis, Latin America’s leading theater chain,
has gone 100 percent digital in preparation for the new cost-efficient
technology.
According to a recent worldwide study conducted by Be On, the new
AOL global branded content business, the majority of online video
spend in the last 12 months is coming from budgets previously
reserved for TV advertising. Although TV is considered a key
awareness driver, 78% of respondents in Europe and 58% globally said
they could achieve greater engagement and scale with online video.
-------------------
Yahoo's $800 Million Bid for Hulu: Safe, Boring, and Brilliant
After snagging Tumblr, which earns practically nothing, Marissa
Mayer is hoping to add something with a more predictable stream of
revenue
Yahoo's recent acquisition of youth-centric site Tumblr grabbed all the
headlines. But for anyone who wants to understand Yahoo's strategy--and
"Web 3.0″ in general--it's the company's recent bid for video streaming
site Hulu, reportedly worth $600-$800 million, that matters more.
By contrast with Tumblr, there is nothing exciting about buying Hulu.
The video site's current owners are a bunch of utterly traditional media
companies that provide much of the video for it, including Walt Disney,
Comcast, NBCUniversal and News Corp. (Hulu has beenon
sale since March, and there are quite a few buyersvying
for the company.)
But Hulu has 4 million subscribers--double the numberjust
a year ago--who
pay $7.99 per month each. That's due entirely to Hulu's ability to
strike deals with various US television networks, includingABC,
Fox, NBCandCBSfor
their current shows and/or libraries of old episodes. Throw in
advertising revenue, and the site brought in $695 million in 2012.
(Tumblr, which has only a limited advertising business, was reported as
having made just $13 million last year, andmay
have made only $5 million.)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/yahoos-800-million-bid-for-hulu-safe-boring-and-brilliant/276270/
-----------------------
Biggest Video News Stories Of The Half-Year
Six months into the year, the level of corporate development activity on
YouTube-related channels has been nothing but breathtaking:
-- Bertelsmann invested in StyleHaul.
-- Time Warner invested in Maker.
-- Dreamworks acquired AwesomenessTV for $33 million guaranteed, and up to $123
million total
-- Cherning Group and Comcast invested in Fullscreen
- RTL invested in Broadband TV.
Whether or not these investments bear fruit remains to be seen. It’s clear,
however, that the general multichannel network (MCN) strategy is anything but a
slam-dunk.
Diversification is the Name of the Game
In fact, while YouTube remains the main game in town, many MCNs have hatched
strategies tobuildan
off-YouTube business to improve their fortunes and diversify.
All Quiet on the Western Front?
Under Ross Levinsohn's brief tenure, Yahoo made content and video a central
pillar of its strategy. Yet under Marissa Mayer, the focus shifted to tech,
mobile and apps. That doesn't mean Yahoo's been inactive in video: commanding a
large enough video audience to matter for the foreseeable future, it remains a
major producer of branded entertainment for marketers.
Dawn of Fat Content Startups
It's not just MCNs that are getting funded. We have finally seen venture
capitalists give in to temptation andinvestin
content: Business Insider ($19 million), Buzzfeed ($46 million), Cheezburger
($37 million), VOX Media ($40.5 million), Sugar Media ($46 million), BuzzMedia
($58 million) and Bleacher Report ($40.5 million) being some of the more notable
ones.
While overall online video advertising keeps growing, it's not growing fast
enough (especially relative to television advertising), nor areCPMs
going in the right direction. In fact, with 100 hours of content being
uploaded onto YouTube every minute now and more advertising showingcomfort
around some UGC, the industry is holding out for amiracle
solutionto make the production
of content a viable one.
According to the BIA/Kelsey updated Annual U.S. Local Media
Forecast, total U.S. local media ad revenues are expected to grow
from $132.9 billion in 2013 to $151.5 billion in 2017, representing
a 2.8% compound annual growth rate, growing faster than the firm
originally forecast earlier this year.
Faster growth in online/digital advertising revenues will drive that
faster overall growth, increasing at a 13.8 percent CAGR from $26.5
billion in 2013 to $44.5 billion in 2017. That compares with a CAGR
of 0.1 percent during the same period for traditional advertising
revenues, which will remain flat, growing slightly from $106.4
billion in 2013 to $107 billion in 2017.
As the TED 2014 "Ads Worth Spreading" campaign gets under way, Google's
YouTube unit is helping showcase the most creative and innovative video
advertisements before the award winners are determined and announced in
March 2014. The awards, which are in their fourth year, are presented by
the group that puts on TED Conferences (Technology, Education, Design),
which are devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, according to the
organization, to celebrate creativity and emotional power in
advertising. The 2014 TED video ad competition, with the help of
YouTube, will make all the contending ad videos available to online
viewers so they can see the best of the best before the votes are
counted, Tara Levy, managing director of ads marketing for Google and
YouTube, wrote in a Nov. 20 post on The Official YouTube Blog. - See
more at:
http://www.eweek.com/cloud/google-highlights-ted-2014-award-candidates.html/#sthash.NAtMMBk4.dpuf
------------------------------
Major Newspaper Chains Continue Revenue Slide
Judging the overall health of the newspaper industry became a bit harder
in September, when the Newspaper Association of America announced that
it would no longer be reporting quarterly results in favor of annual
results, in order “to produce a more comprehensive report to properly
reflect the evolving nature of the newspaper industry and its revenues.”
However, many publicly traded newspaper companies still release
quarterly results, and a survey of 10 such companies of varying sizes
shows a continued downward trend in line with the industry’s trajectory
to date.
All 10 publishers surveyed -- A.H. Belo, E.W. Scripps, Gannett Co.,
Gatehouse Media, Journal Communications, Lee Enterprises, McClatchy Co.,
New York Times Co., News Corp., and Tribune Co. -- saw total revenues
decline at their newspaper publishing divisions, with an average
percentage decline of 3.8%.
'Despicable Me 2' Delivered to Mexican Cinemas Via Satellite
Contenido Alternativo, Latin America’s first alternative digital distributor,
deliveredDespicable Me 2to
281 Cinepolis theaters ahead of the picture’s Friday release here in Mexico.
Contenido Alternativo has previously worked with Cinepolis in distributing live
digital content to its theaters via satellite.
The new satellite technology is quicker and more efficient.
“It took only a few hours to deliver the film, compared to three or four days
that it usually takes to copy and distribute hard drives to all the theaters,”
said Contenido Alternativo headJuan
Manuel Borbolla. Additionally, satellite movie distribution
dramatically reduces costs. Cinepolis, Latin America’s leading theater chain,
has gone 100 percent digital in preparation for the new cost-efficient
technology.
According to a recent worldwide study conducted by Be On, the new
AOL global branded content business, the majority of online video
spend in the last 12 months is coming from budgets previously
reserved for TV advertising. Although TV is considered a key
awareness driver, 78% of respondents in Europe and 58% globally said
they could achieve greater engagement and scale with online video.
-------------------
Yahoo's $800 Million Bid for Hulu: Safe, Boring, and Brilliant
After snagging Tumblr, which earns practically nothing, Marissa
Mayer is hoping to add something with a more predictable stream of
revenue
Yahoo's recent acquisition of youth-centric site Tumblr grabbed all the
headlines. But for anyone who wants to understand Yahoo's strategy--and
"Web 3.0″ in general--it's the company's recent bid for video streaming
site Hulu, reportedly worth $600-$800 million, that matters more.
By contrast with Tumblr, there is nothing exciting about buying Hulu.
The video site's current owners are a bunch of utterly traditional media
companies that provide much of the video for it, including Walt Disney,
Comcast, NBCUniversal and News Corp. (Hulu has beenon
sale since March, and there are quite a few buyersvying
for the company.)
But Hulu has 4 million subscribers--double the numberjust
a year ago--who
pay $7.99 per month each. That's due entirely to Hulu's ability to
strike deals with various US television networks, includingABC,
Fox, NBCandCBSfor
their current shows and/or libraries of old episodes. Throw in
advertising revenue, and the site brought in $695 million in 2012.
(Tumblr, which has only a limited advertising business, was reported as
having made just $13 million last year, andmay
have made only $5 million.)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/yahoos-800-million-bid-for-hulu-safe-boring-and-brilliant/276270/
--------------------------------
Digital Cannes: Meet the IMDb guy – Colin Needham
CANNES, France – Just like
it has newspapers, magazines, and television, digital technology is
poised to change the way people consume movies. The Netflix-ization of
your favorite films means that more and more, you can stream what movies
you want, when you want, straight to whatever device you want.
The principals of several digital companies working to do this with
independent and foreign films – Filmbuff, Indieflix, and Fandor –
gathered at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival for a talk
on 'Digital Hollywood,' but the star of the show turned out to be
strictly old school -- the person who started the first website ever for
dedicated film buffs.
That's right – the IMDb guy!
"I’ve been doing this for 30 years now," said Colin Needham, 46, the
founder of the Internet Movie Database, the Internet’s largest source of
information about films.
Needham was an engineer for Hewlett-Packard in England when he and some
friends had an idea – why don’t we put all of the information about all
of our favorite movies in one place on this new thing called the
Internet?
"I found some like-minded people online and wrote some software in 1990,
got a website in 1993, at a time when you could count the number of
websites launched each day on one hand," Needham said.
Here’s another stunning confirmation of what would seem to be a
no-brainer: It doesn’t matter much where content comes from if people
like the content. Online video is no less enticing than the stuff you
can see on everyplace else, from ABC to Viacom’s cable channels.
Starcom’s latest headline-maker,reported
here yesterday by Gavin O’Malley, says that while consumers believe
TV fare is better, it “found no statistical relationship between quality
or likability scores and whether consumers believed content was from the
Web or TV.”
Amazon CFO: Prime Instant Video Usage Up ‘Dramatically’
Amazon Jan. 29 said consumers streamed TV shows and select movies in
greater numbers in the fourth quarter as members of the Prime loyalty
program.
CFO Tom Szkutak, in an analysts’ call to discuss fiscal results, said
consumer adoption of Prime Instant Video subscription video-on-demand
remains strong. Again, Szkutak provided few specifics regarding actual
SVOD usage since viewers are technically a component of the Prime
discount shipping program.
“The percentage of Prime customers who are watching free content through
Prime Video has gone up dramatically year-over-year,” Szkutak said.
“We’ve also increased Prime membership dramatically.
The CFO said consumers are also purchasing more digital content,
including movies and episodic TV shows. He added that a new program that
includes a cloud-based MP3 file of a music CD is going well.
“I can’t give specifics for [consumer] attach rates, but the business is
making progress on the video content side,” Szkutak said.
Amazon heralded new Prime Instant Video licensing agreements in 2012
with Turner Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
and A+E Networks for television series including “Falling Skies,” “The
Closer,” “Pawn Stars,” “Storage Wars” and “Dance Moms,” expanding its
catalog of title offerings for Prime Instant Video subscription
video-on-demand service to more than 36,000 movies and television
episodes.
When asked specifics on original programming via Amazon Studios and
expanded license deals for Prime Instant, Szkutak said Amazon would
continue to up content selections for both the SVOD and transactional
VOD platforms in a variety of ways — which, of course, he wouldn’t
elaborate on.
Yahoo's $800 Million Bid for Hulu: Safe, Boring, and Brilliant
After snagging Tumblr, which earns practically nothing,
Marissa Mayer is hoping to add something with a more predictable stream of
revenue
Yahoo's recent acquisition of youth-centric site Tumblr grabbed all the
headlines. But for anyone who wants to understand Yahoo's strategy--and "Web
3.0″ in general--it's the company's recent bid for video streaming site Hulu, reportedly
worth $600-$800 million, that matters more.
By contrast with Tumblr, there is nothing exciting about buying Hulu. The video
site's current owners are a bunch of utterly traditional media companies that
provide much of the video for it, including Walt Disney, Comcast, NBCUniversal
and News Corp. (Hulu has beenon sale
since March, and there are quite a few buyersvying
for the company.)
But Hulu has 4 million subscribers--double the numberjust
a year ago--who
pay $7.99 per month each. That's due entirely to Hulu's ability to
strike deals with various US television networks, includingABC,
Fox, NBCandCBSfor
their current shows and/or libraries of old episodes. Throw in
advertising revenue, and the site brought in $695 million in 2012.
(Tumblr, which has only a limited advertising business, was reported as
having made just $13 million last year, andmay
have made only $5 million.)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/yahoos-800-million-bid-for-hulu-safe-boring-and-brilliant/276270/
--------------------------------
Digital Cannes: Meet the IMDb guy – Colin Needham
CANNES, France – Just like it has
newspapers, magazines, and television, digital technology is poised to change
the way people consume movies. The Netflix-ization of your favorite films means
that more and more, you can stream what movies you want, when you want, straight
to whatever device you want.
The principals of several digital companies working to do this with independent
and foreign films – Filmbuff, Indieflix, and Fandor – gathered at the American
Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival for a talk on 'Digital Hollywood,' but the
star of the show turned out to be strictly old school -- the person who started
the first website ever for dedicated film buffs.
That's right – the IMDb guy!
"I’ve been doing this for 30 years now," said Colin Needham, 46, the founder of
the Internet Movie Database, the Internet’s largest source of information about
films.
Needham was an engineer for Hewlett-Packard in England when he and some friends
had an idea – why don’t we put all of the information about all of our favorite
movies in one place on this new thing called the Internet?
"I found some like-minded people online and wrote some software in 1990, got a
website in 1993, at a time when you could count the number of websites launched
each day on one hand," Needham said.
Marissa Mayer’s startup shopping spree continues with PlayerScale acquisition
Another day, another acquisition from Sunnyvale-based Yahoo. The Internet giant
on Thursday announced it was buying Belmont-based gaming infrastructure startup
PlayerScale. Terms of the deal were not released.
Today’s news comes just days afterMarissa
Mayer’s $1.1 billionacquisition
of Tumblr, and marks Yahoo’s 12thacquisition
under Mayer’s tenure.
The PlayerScale acquisition differs from Mayer’s smaller acquisitions, because
the company’s Player.IO platform will continue running for the immediate future.
Player.IO is a toolset that helps developers port their games over to other
social, mobile and Web platforms.
“We have spent the past four years growing a three-person startup into a product
that powers games played by over 150 million people worldwide and we are adding
over 400,000 new users every day,” PlayerScale CEOJesper
Jensenwrote in apost
online. “With Yahoo!’s backing, we can crank out awesome products and
improvements to our platform faster than
Here’s another stunning confirmation of what would seem to be a no-brainer: It
doesn’t matter much where content comes from if people like the content. Online
video is no less enticing than the stuff you can see on everyplace else, from
ABC to Viacom’s cable channels.
Starcom’s latest headline-maker,reported
here yesterday by Gavin O’Malley, says that while consumers believe TV fare
is better, it “found no statistical relationship between quality or likability
scores and whether consumers believed content was from the Web or TV.”
Amazon CFO: Prime Instant Video Usage Up ‘Dramatically’
Amazon Jan. 29 said consumers streamed TV shows and select movies in greater
numbers in the fourth quarter as members of the Prime loyalty program.
CFO Tom Szkutak, in an analysts’ call to discuss fiscal results, said consumer
adoption of Prime Instant Video subscription video-on-demand remains strong.
Again, Szkutak provided few specifics regarding actual SVOD usage since viewers
are technically a component of the Prime discount shipping program.
“The percentage of Prime customers who are watching free content through Prime
Video has gone up dramatically year-over-year,” Szkutak said. “We’ve also
increased Prime membership dramatically.
The CFO said consumers are also purchasing more digital content, including
movies and episodic TV shows. He added that a new program that includes a
cloud-based MP3 file of a music CD is going well.
“I can’t give specifics for [consumer] attach rates, but the business is making
progress on the video content side,” Szkutak said.
Amazon heralded new Prime Instant Video licensing agreements in 2012 with Turner
Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution and A+E Networks for
television series including “Falling Skies,” “The Closer,” “Pawn Stars,”
“Storage Wars” and “Dance Moms,” expanding its catalog of title offerings for
Prime Instant Video subscription video-on-demand service to more than 36,000
movies and television episodes.
When asked specifics on original programming via Amazon Studios and expanded
license deals for Prime Instant, Szkutak said Amazon would continue to up
content selections for both the SVOD and transactional VOD platforms in a
variety of ways — which, of course, he wouldn’t elaborate on.
comScore has released data from thecomScore
Video Metrix service showing that 182.5 million Americans watched
39.3 billion online content videos in March 2013. Not
surprisingly, the number of video ad views reached an all-time high at
13.2 billion.
comScore says that more than 39 billion video content views occurred
during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at
12.8 billion and Facebook reaching an all-time high for the second
consecutive month with nearly 706 million.
Google Sites had the highest average engagement among the top ten
properties, the report shows.
As more companies hitch their futures to the Internet video stream
business, Netflix has the distinction of being there first, having
pioneered app-based TV. Hastings, in Toronto Tuesday to give the keynote
speech at the Canadian Digital Media Network 3.0 conference, predicts
the future of Internet TV will be filled with apps — and he can’t wait
to duke it out.
“We are now in 40 countries around the world, so people are starting to
watch Internet video and you can start to see the outlines of what TV
will be like in the future,” he said. “The simplest explanation is if
you take your iPad and you stretch it out to be two metres and hang it
on a wall that’s what it will look like. It will be beautiful, it will
have all kinds of applications and it’s constantly getting better.”
http://metronews.ca/news/canada/673341/netflix-ceo-reed-hastings-weighs-on-future-of-internet-tv/
---------------------
Netflix, Reed Hastings Survive Missteps to Join Silicon Valley's Elite
On a normal weeknight,Netflix
accounts for almost a third of all Internet traffic entering North
American homes. That’s more than YouTube, Hulu,
Amazon.com
, HBO Go, iTunes, and BitTorrent combined. Traffic to Netflix usually
peaks at around 10 p.m. in each time zone, at which point a chart of
Internet consumption looks like a python that swallowed a cow. By
midnight Pacific time, streaming volume falls off dramatically.
Netflix has more than 36 million subscribers. They watch about 4 billion
hours of programs every quarter on more than 1,000 different devices. To
meet this demand, the company uses specialized video servers scattered
around the world. When a subscriber clicks on a movie to stream, Netflix
determines within a split second which server containing that movie is
closest to the user, then picks from dozens of versions of the video
file, depending on the device the viewer is using. At company
headquarters in Los Gatos, Calif., teams of mathematicians and designers
study what people watch and build algorithms and interfaces to present
them with the collection of videos that will keep them watching.
Netflix is one of the world’s biggest users of cloud computing, which
means running a data center on someone else’s equipment. The company
rents server and storage systems by the hour, and it rents all this
computing power from Amazon Web Services, the cloud division of
Amazon.com, which runs its own video-streaming service that competes
with Netflix.
Tablets will drive mobile content sales to $65 billion
A surge in tablet ownership will drive revenues from mobile content
purchases from $40 billion this year to $65 billion by 2016, according
to a Juniper Research report. "What’s particularly interesting is the
way in which advertising has now become a fully-fledged content
monetization model on the mobile," said Juniper analyst Windsor Holden.
The report points to content that consumers are particularly comfortable
paying for and notes that streaming video will play a major role in
generating revenues
----------------------
Mobile Marketing Spend Hits $6.7B In 2012, Forecasts Soar
The mobile marketing ecosystem generated $139 billion in additional
sales within the U.S. economy last year, with that figure expected to
grow 52% annually to $400 billion by 2015. The vast majority of mobile’s
sales impact -- at least 85% -- is taking place offline rather than
through m-commerce transactions.
Separately, spending on mobile marketing (across mobile phones and
tablets) in 2012 totaled $6.7 billion, with that amount projected to
reach nearly $20 billion by 2015.
Lots of younger people abandoning broadcast, cable or
satellite TV
My son and daughter, both in their 20s, are part of a growing group of
people who have "cut the cord" and no longer watch video via broadcast,
cable or satellite TV. The apartments they live in are among the more
than five million U.S. homes that, according to a recent Nielsen study,
have "zero TV." That's up from just over 2 million in 2007.
But as the report points out, zero TV doesn't mean zero video, nor does
it mean that they never sit in front of a TV set. More than 75 percent
of these homes still have at least one TV that's being used for DVDs,
video games and -- in some cases -- watching Internet video. As
you'd expect, the Nielsen study found that younger adults were much more
likely to live in zero TV households than people over 44.
Movie studios sign on for satellite-based digital delivery to theaters
We doubt we'll see any reduction in ticket prices, but the process of
bringing new movies to theaters could get easier very soon as five major
studios have signed on with the Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC)
to use its satellite distribution network. Lionsgate, Universal, Disney,
Warner and Paramount are all on board with the scheme, which says it
will provide participants access to "a host of delivery options" asdigital
projectionbecomesincreasingly
common.The
Hollywood Reporterquotes
spokesman Randolph Blotky saying the network is expected to reach 300
locations when it launches this summer, all of which will be equipped
with an appliance from video distributor KenCast. The satellite end of
things is being handled by EchoStar/Deluxe, and once it's rolled out
should make things much easier than the current system of shipping hard
drives back and forth. Of course, what we're not hearing so far is
if/how this upgrade will reach smaller, older theaters that are facing
pricey upgrades from film-based equipment, but with theater chains like
AMC, Regal and Cinemark forming the DCDC along with Universal and
Warner, those considerations are probably a little further down the
list.
AOL wants to be an 'arms dealer to Silicon Valley'
FORTUNE -- To AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, Silicon Valley is a "pig pile"
where every company is copying every other company. "Everyone is putting
out the same services, the devices have become more commoditized, and
the platforms are the same," he said Thursdayduring
a presentation at the Paley Center for Mediain
New York.
Sounding a bit like a Web-media executive from 1998, Armstrong basically
put forth the idea that, as a lot of people said back then, "content is
king."
That might sound a bit quaint in this era of ad rates falling with
breathtaking speed and many Web publishers stretching the limits of
propriety to draw page views and generate revenue. But Armstrong is a
true believer, and he believes that "content," more than gadgets and
more than platforms, will be what drives communications technology.
AOL's aim is to be the "arms dealer to Silicon Valley," he said.
Amazon
CFO: Prime Instant Video Usage Up 'Dramatically'
Fourth-quarter media sales up 13%, topping $2.9 billion
Amazon Jan. 29 said consumers streamed TV shows and select movies in
greater numbers in the fourth quarter as members of the Prime loyalty
program.
CFO Tom Szkutak, in an analysts’ call to discuss fiscal results, said
consumer adoption of Prime Instant Video subscription video-on-demand
remains strong. Again, Szkutak provided few specifics regarding actual
SVOD usage since viewers are technically a component of the Prime
discount shipping program.
“The percentage of Prime customers who are watching free content through
Prime Video has gone up dramatically year-over-year,” Szkutak said.
“We’ve also increased Prime membership dramatically. The CFO said
consumers are also purchasing more digital content, including movies and
episodic TV shows. He added that a new program that includes a
cloud-based MP3 file of a music CD is going well.
Online gambling: How long until it's legal everywhere?
It used to be you had to go all the way to Las Vegas to play the slots.
But soon, you may be able to gamble on your smartphone. Thanks to
improvements in technology, a change in federal rules and shifting
political calculations, a push to legalize online and mobile gambling is
picking up steam. Three states already have moved to allow it, and
Silicon Valley tech companies, including San Francisco-based social
gaming giantZynga,
are rushing to cash in.
"It's inevitable that this spreads pretty quickly," said Doug Walker,
who studies casino gambling as a professor of economics at the College
of Charleston in South Carolina. Last month, the governors
of New Jersey and Nevada signed laws to legalize online gambling in
their states. And earlier this year, Delaware, which legalized online
gambling last summer, solicited bids from companies to run the service
that will oversee online gambling there.
Similar legalization proposals are being promoted in numerous other
states, many of which are searching for new revenue to replace tax
dollars wiped out by the Great Recession. In California, state Sen.
Roderick Wright, D-Inglewood, has introduced a bill that would legalize
all online gambling in the state, while state Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa
Ana, has proposed a bill that would legalize only online poker.
It's not just cash-strapped state governments that see a potential
jackpot in
Placed study reveals how Amazon is impacting brick-and-mortar retailers
Online shopping has brought upon a new phenomenon called showrooming, a
term describing the act of browsing brick-and-mortar stores and then
later making the purchase it online often at a cheaper price. With the
abundance of smartphones, showrooming is taking place around stores more
than ever and companies like Target and Best Buy have already
implementedyear-round
price-matching programs.
Perhaps there has been no company that’s cashed in on this more than
Amazon. Now, thanks to Seattle
location analytics startup Placed, we have some data onexactly
how much Amazon is affecting physical stores.
Placed used 14,925 U.S. survey respondents and combined that with nearly
one billion U.S. location data points to measure customers of Amazon and
their path in the physical world.
“Placed Aisle to Amazon is the largest study to date quantifying the
impact of showrooming for brick-andmortar retailers,” David Shim,
founder and CEO of Placed, said in a press release. “The study clearly
shows that showrooming is more than media hype, and a real problem that
retailers need to address. By putting a number to showrooming, retailers
can start to better understand the impact, and take action based on data
versus anecdotes and assumptions.”
YouTube is expected to launch a streaming music service later this year
and will be separate from the service rumored to be coming to Google
Play. According to Fortune, the service will allow users to listen
to music for free, but that a paid subscription will "unlock" other
features and likely remove ads.
A YouTube spokesperson told Fortune that "while we don't comment on
rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they
would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so
we're looking at that." Warner Music Group is rumored to
have partnered with Google on the service, according to the report.
Study after study has shown that the U.S. lags behind other countries
when it come to broadband. Not only are fast connections more expensive
in the U.S. than abroad, but many people only have a choice of two
broadband providers: their cable company or telecom. Some people don't
even have that; an estimated 19 million Americans live in areas that
lack all access to broadband, the Federal Communications Commission
reported last year.
The sorry state of high-speed Web access in the U.S. has led the FCC to
concludefor three
years in a row that broadband isn't being deployed in a "reasonable and
timely" fashion.
What does this mean in dollars and cents? Consider this stat from the
New America Foundation: In Seoul, residents can obtain
triple-play Internet-TV-phone service with broadband speeds of 50 Mbps
in both directions for less than $33 a month; in New York City, Time
Warner subscribers pay around $112 a month for triple-play service with
download speeds of 15 Mbps.
CBS Coming Close to Putting Local Stations on Mobile?
That big sweet spot of commerce and media must still be at the wild
intersection where video meets local meets mobile meets live. It appears
CBS stations in New York and Los Angeles are leaping to get there.
A story at TVNewscheck.comtoday
says WCBS in New York and KCBS in Los Angeles have been testing mobile
video streaming of their signal to a select group of about 100 people in
each city. The big news, especially to broadcasters, is that the system
it’s using from Syncbak would allow mobile customers to watch CBS
--without using an antenna or any other device. The legal hoop
stations have to jump through is that they are contractually allowed to
air programs only within their own markets.
If you’re watching more premium video online it’s because, well, you
are. Total video views for rights-managed programming jumped 23% year
over year, according to the recently released report fromonline
TV technology company FreeWheel, which tracked about 52 billion
video ads and 43 billion video ad views in 2012.
But premium programmers shouldn’t rest on their laurels. While video
viewing is still rising, the growth rate is slowing each quarter. Video
viewing volume rose 23% in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago,
but only rose 7% in the third quarter compared to the fourth quarter. On
the other hand, the growth rate for video ad views is more than double
that of video views.
“This trend has been consistent for several quarters, and presents a
real revenue risk to content owners,” FreeWheel said in the report. “If
new opportunities for distribution and syndication aren’t created and
more content isn’t made available online, advertising revenue potential
will stall, as there is a limit to the number of video ads that can be
placed in a single piece of content.” Programmers then need not
only to focus on selling ads, but also on continuing to drive viewership
of online video across the Web.
How Will That Connected TV Future Look? Hard to Imagine
We’ve gone from calling TV the “idiot box” to hoping for its future as a
“smart TV.” The bet is that millions of video consumers and the
advertisers that support them will make this whatever-screen-you-choose
universe happen.
But like every other change in media, connected TV and smart TV probably
won’t work in ways we know about yet.
One thing is for sure. “The death of TV has been greatly exaggerated,”
says Waikit Lau, senior vice president of business development for
Tremor Video, who, among other impressive credits, is a member of the
advisory board of Harvard’s Digital Community and Social Networking
Group. “A short term evolution has been overestimated, but I also think the
longterm evolution will be underestimated.” (In the very long term, he
thinks the TV will control every function of a household from heating to
security.)
What we are seeing now are signals of change of a connected TV future,
but not much change. Lau says, for example, “I think in the last few
years you see the cord-cutting that’s happened and I think all those
figures have been exaggerated.”
Those cord-cutters, often young, will probably be back,
even as we suspect that absolutely everything young consumers do augurs
a trend rather than a phase. But it’s possible that when they rejoin
the TV viewing world it will be on different terms.
It’s a marketing term like “clouds” which are really great big storage
farms sitting by a river (for cooling) or in a cheap power area with
content, data, information being constantly sent to them.
IDC projects that by 2020, we’ll exceed 40 zettabytes or 5,200 GB of
data for everyone on the planet - including the baby that was just born.
Data will more than double every two years through 2020.
It includes everything from your mobile phone images/videos, YouTube
uploads/downloads, emails, social media updates, searches,
contacts/calls, phones looking for towers and stuff.
In One Day:
-Enough
data to fill 168 Million DVDs is created
-294
million emails sent (it would take 2 years to process that much paper
mail)
Most of the data won’t be produced by people but by machines talking to
each other over data networks.
Data Growth –People
and devices keep compiling more and more data on everything and
anything. By 2020, there will be the equivalent of 5,200 GB of data
somewhere for every man, woman, child on the planet.
Hundreds of millions of connected people, billions of sensors and
trillions of transactions now work to create data--unimaginable amounts
of information.
Only a tiny fraction of the data being produced has been explored for
its value through the use of data analytics.
Source – IIDC’s Digital
Universe Study, sponsored by EMC
-----------------
A Video Player On Every Page
Today’s online publishers have to work much harder to keep audiences
engaged and to earn revenue from advertising. Not only do they have to
offer interesting content in as many media formats as possible, but they
also need to generate revenue from every space of their property.
Publishers who can manage this balance will likely enjoy larger, more
engaged audiences and happy advertisers. Unfortunately, the most
lucrative and engaging medium – video – is often left out. And, I don’t
mean having a video section or a few videos that accompany articles. I’m
talking about having a video player on every page.
It seems that publishers are hesitant to follow this philosophy. But
when you look at properties of Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL, every page
seems to have a video player.BabyCenteris
a prime example of a mid-market publisher that understands the
importance of video for both content and advertising. (No, we have no
relationship with the company; we just thought its video approach was
exemplary).
In addition to an entire section devoted to videos,
BabyCenter incorporates one (sometimes more) video on every page. On the
homepage alone, you’ll notice a featured video on the upper right-hand
corner, which, if played, runs an ad that generates real revenue for the
publisher, and also provides the visitor content.
At the end of last year, APPLE was sitting on $137
billion --and the heap keeps growing.
Corporations normally don't hoard cash the wayApple(AAPL)
does. They keep enough around for immediate needs, and either invest the
rest in their operations or dole it out to shareholders in the form of
dividends or stock buybacks. If they need more cash for, say, an
acquisition, they borrow it.
Apple has never explained why it is salting away so much money --other
than to say the company is preserving its options.
The money belongs to shareholders, so
Apple is limited in what it can legally do with it. Leaving legality
aside, here are some things Apple could do with $137 billion:
----------------------------------
LinkedIn hits 200 million members, majority outside U.S.
MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Professional networking service LinkedIn announced
Wednesday that its membership rolls now surpass 200 million people, as
international expansion has helped the company double its user base in
less than two years.
The new tally is "an important and exciting milestone for the company,"
Deep Nishar, senior vice president for products and user experience at
LinkedIn, wrote in a blog post.
"This milestone is more than just a metric -- it's a reminder of the
global footprint and the scale of impact our network has each day,"
Nishar wrote.
LinkedIn passed 100 million users in March 2011, and has focused on
other countries to grow that number, adding 13 new languages in the
interim. Now offering its service in 19 different languages, LinkedIn
says that more than 64 percent of its users live outside the United
State
BlackBerry looks beyond business with entertainment push
BlackBerry apparently recognizes that a fully realized app store is
required to win over devoted Android and iOS users. Its music and movie
offerings, while not as extensive as what its competitors can boast, are
still plentiful. Prices are competitive, ranging from 99 cents to $1.49
for a song and from $8.99 to $11.99 for a popular album. By way of
comparison, individual songs at Apple’s iTunes store range from 99 cents
to $1.29 (with some tracks available for less).
BlackBerry also partnered with eight major movie studios and the large
TV networks to offer a wide selection of streaming content. To
highlight its commitment to content, BlackBerry called on
singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. She’s now a global creative director of
the company. BlackBerry is working with Keys, film director Robert
Rodriguez, and author Neil Gaiman to showcase howits
new phones, the Z10 and Q10, can be used to create content.
“I’m going to work with people in the entertainment and music business
to inspire creative projects,” Keys said during BB10’s Tuesday launch
event in New York City.
BlackBerry’s Keep Moving Projects, featuring Rodriguez, Gaiman, and
Keys, will follow the artists as they use the new BlackBerry phones.
Rodriguez plans to collaborate with fans on a filmmaking project, Gaiman
is using BlackBerry to connect with readers and create art, and Keys
will be shooting music videos on her smartphone in each city she plays
on her upcoming “Set the World on Fire” tour.
Technology is Disrupting the Media Industry, but Digital
Media Demand is Being Driven by Hispanics
As I walked the2013
International CESfloor
last week in Las Vegas wondering what the biggest trends are at this
year’s show, I heard a lot being discussed:
I’d argue however, that while all of these are noteworthy, the most
important trend of the New Year is the impact of U.S. Hispanics on the
digital marketplace. Seventy percent of Hispanics in the U.S. own a
smartphone; their consumption of online video has soared 282 percent
over the last five years; 60 percent of U.S. Hispanics desire more
in-language digital video and say they would likely share this content
with friends; and, Latinos are more receptive to messaging through
mobile and social means than other demographics (more than 70 percent
are more likely to purchase products they see advertised on their cell
phones than non-Hispanics). In fact, Andy England, CMO of MillerCoors,
recently told Forbes:
“Given that Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the U.S.
population, and that they are extremely digitally active, my prediction
is that marketers will become increasingly focused on Latino Digital.”
At CES, I spent a lot of time talking with leading
Hispanic advertising executives about the opportunities that this
disruption provides. Two groups of people stand at the epicenter of
this: content creators and Hispanic consumers, who as Adweek writes,
“are disproportionately inclined to use smartphones, tablets and other
connected devices.” Hispanics, in addition to using these devices at a
higher rate than the average American, are demanding that more digital
content – news, sports and entertainment, and of course, telenovelas –
be available to them wherever and however they want to consume it. The
importance of Hispanic consumers really resonated on the Vegas Strip.
Fourth-quarter media sales up 13%, topping $2.9 billion at Amazon
Amazon Jan. 29 said consumers streamed TV shows and select movies in
greater numbers in the fourth quarter as members of the Prime loyalty
program.
CFO Tom Szkutak, in an analysts’ call to discuss fiscal results, said
consumer adoption of Prime Instant Video subscription video-on-demand
remains strong. Again, Szkutak provided few specifics regarding actual
SVOD usage since viewers are technically a component of the Prime
discount shipping program.
“The percentage of Prime customers who are watching free content through
Prime Video has gone up dramatically year-over-year,” Szkutak said.
“We’ve also increased Prime membership dramatically.
Today, Congressional advocates for the anti-innovation legislation Stop
Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) formally declared
defeat and said they would pull the legislation from consideration. I
had confidentially and publicly predicted this result in earlyDecember.
With this victory fresh in mind, I want to make sure the CE.org audience
knows my view of how this happened.
First, many of you know (especially if you have been around for a while
or read my bookThe
Comeback), I have spent more than 30 years fighting for innovation
and against efforts to restrict it. Often this meant going head to head
with the copyright lobby, who always wanted to ban, restrict, and/or tax
almost every CE innovation. Think of the VCR, DAT, minidisc, DCC, PVR
and even the Internet. We won many battles in Congress and the courts,
but there is no question that the content lobby has in every case spent
much more than us on lobbying; given more in campaign contributions; and
had a more single-focus on copyright legislation while we cover other
issues like the environment, labor, trade, etc. Indeed,Politicorecently
estimatedthat we have
recently been outspent by a factor of 10 to one.
How Kickstarter stole CES: the rise of the indie hardware developer
While corporate giants hog the floor space, indie gadgets
are getting the rave reviews
They said the wristwatch was dead, but they were wrong. Forward-thinking
watches are making a big splashat
this year’s CES, the largest technology trade show in the country, and
two watches stand out: the ultrathin, ultrasimple CST-1, which looks
like a metal slap bracelet with giant numbers, and the Pebble smartwatch,
which interfaces with the owner’s smartphone and can also run apps of
its own.
Those two watches have something else in common: the crowdfunding
platform Kickstarter. Pebble raised $10.2 million from 68,929 people,
making it by far the largest Kickstarter campaign to date. Pebble held a
press conference at CES this week to announce that the product would
begin shipping on January 23. Then on Tuesday, the two engineers behind
the CST-1 launched a Kickstarter campaign of their own, which hit its
$200,000 goalin under 48
hours.
Kickstarter has really changed the dynamics at CES. This year,
independent developers are getting as much attention as the big
companies that usually dominate, and many of them built their products
with crowdfunded cash. http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/10/3861406/kickstarter-at-ces
----------------------------------
CNET parent CBS bans Dish from CES awards, any product under lawsuit
from future reviews
On Friday,news
brokethatCNEThad
been forced by its parent company CBS to remove the Dish Network's
Hopper set-top box from its "Best of CES" awards due to ongoing
litigation between the two companies. CBS has been battling the Dish
Network in court over the Hopper's ability to skip past commercials
automatically (NBC, ABC, and Fox are also taking action).
CBS Interactive representatives toldThe
Vergethat the Hopper
with Sling had been "withdrawn from consideration" from the "Best of CES"
awards due to CBS's lawsuit with Dish; that the ban on coverage is
limited only to specific products implicated in ongoing litigation withCNET's
parent company; and that the ban only applied to product reviews and
that news coverage would be exempt. That policy appears to have been
hastily put in place. Prior to the move Friday,CNEThad
reviewed the Hopper and written extensively about the device.
But the problems may go deeper than that.The
Vergehas now learned
that the facts of the case are somewhat different than the storyCNETand
CBS had previously shared with the public. According to sources familiar
with the matter, the Hopper was not simply an entrant in the Best of CES
awards for the site: it was actually chosen as the winner of the "Best
of Show" award (as voted byCNET's
editorial staff).
Apparently, executives at CBS learned that the Hopper would win "Best of
Show" prior to the announcement. Before the winner was unveiled, CBS
Interactive News senior-vice president and General Manager Mark Larkin
informedCNET'sstaff
that the Hopper could not take the top award. The Hopper would have to
be removed from consideration, and the editorial team had to re-vote and
pick a new winner from the remaining choices. Sources say that Larkin
was distraught while delivering the news — at one point in tears — as he
told the team that he had fought CBS executives who had made the
decision.
Apparently the move to strike the Hopper from the awards was passed down
directly to Larkin from the office of CBS CEO, Leslie Moonves. Moonves
has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the Hopper, telling
investors at one point, "Hopper cannot exist... if Hopper exists, we
will not be in business with (Dish)."
www.TheVerge.com
----------------------------
Social Media Predictions for 2013
2012 was another exciting year for social media, including the “Social
Media Olympics,” the rise of Pinterest, Facebook’s acquisition of
Instagram, and the growing role of social media in political ferment
around the world. There were also plenty of not-so-spectacular moments,
like Facebook’s busted IPO, LinkedIn’s security breach, and Instagram’s
terms of service fiasco. And of course it ain’t over: looking ahead,
2013 is certain to be just as interesting, in both the positive and
negative senses, for this fast-growing, fast-changing industry.
I’m not sure why human beings love to issue predictions, considering
that it’s basically begging to be proven wrong; I guess if the
predictions come true, we think it makes us look smart (rather than just
lucky, considering many issues basically boil down to a 50-50 chance).
But New Year’s is prediction time, so here are some of my predictions
for social media in the coming year, and an invitation to share your own
in the comments section.
Growing Influence Leads Reader Interests at Market Daily
Technology wielded its influence over nearly every sector of marketing,
but none was of more interest to Marketing Daily readers than the world
of social, which was enabled more than ever by the widespread
penetration of smartphones and tablets.
Technology has become a central point in people’s lives, illustrated byconsumers’
increasing average monthly spendingon
cable TV, home Internet, mobile phone and digital subscriptions
(including streaming video) to $166 a month, equivalent to 17% of their
monthly mortgage or rent payment. Additional costs such as downloading
songs, apps and other products averaged an $38 more a month. The
findings, from the AICPA, suggested that spending would only increase as
households added more devices.
Cisco Report Proves 2012 Was Another Very Good Year for
Professional Online Video Fare
Did you get or give a DVD for
Christmas this year? Probably not, given the crowd that is likely
reading this, but you probably would have given the same answer if you
weren’t somehow connected to The Biz. In fact, though home video
sales had a comparatively good year, cresting at $18.7 billion, that’s
the best it’s done since 2009. It’s far off the torrid $21.4 billion the
home video industry grabbed in 2004 when it seemed like there was a
future for it.
Double-digit declines in DVD sales ended in 2012, but no one is
predicting a lot of uptick for the industry. Rick Newman, US News &
World Report chief business correspondent, asked industry research firm
IBIS World to predict the 10 Worst Industries of 2013. “Recordable
media” came in tied for first with “Photofinishing,” --what do you know,
it’s a photofinish!—with both predicted to have a 15% decline in jobs.
“DVD and video game rental stores are becoming scarce, and the
DVD-by-mail business, which seemed revolutionary a decade ago, is now
becoming more and more antiquated with each passing day,” Newman wrote.
It’s no surprise a lot of those former DVD consumers are still watching
films and TV shows, but either streaming or downloading them,
While President Barack Obama and his Republican presidential rival Mitt
Romney take turns bashing China, Silicon Valley’s relationship with the
world’s second-largest economy is blooming like never before.
Virtually every day, a Chinese government delegation arrives in the
region with offers of business deals, partnerships and cash for
investments. On Saturday, officials
from Peking University’s Science Park came to San Jose to officially
open an office at the new incubator operated by Beijing-based Hanhai
Investment, which oversees tech parks across China, and Zhongguancun Science Park
Beijing-based TusPark is one of many tech parks in China — also known
as Z-Park — China’s largest tech park that is run by the government. The
Hanhai Z-Park incubator — whose mission is to encourage cross-Pacific
business opportunities — was launched during a ceremony
in Washington D.C. in February attended by Vice President Joe Biden
and China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, the presumptive heir to President
Hu Jintao.
“The two great countries — the United States and China — may have their
differences, but they also have a lot of similarities,” said Geng Chen,
president of the Peking University Science Park. “That is why our
relationship is getting closer and closer. Politicians may use this
relationship for their own benefit during campaigns. But that won’t stop
the relationship from becoming closer and closer.”
That relationship has great economic benefits for Silicon
Valley and California. Wang sees his role as providing a “window”
into Silicon Valley for Chinese investors, both government and private,
desperate to create more innovative companies.
Wang said Hanhai also wants to work with U.S.-based companies hoping to
crack China’s market.
