VideoNuze Posts

Yesterday YouTube TV raised its monthly rate by 30% from $50 to $65. It’s the fourth rate hike in just the past 2 years, as YouTube TV moved from its introductory rate of $35 to $40 to $50 to the new $65 per month. As recently as March, 2018 it was still possible to sign up for $35 per month and be grandfathered into that rate for a short period.

I’ve been a mostly satisfied YouTube TV subscriber since the early days, and of course, the rate increases have been painful to absorb. The fundamentals of YouTube TV as a pay-TV alternative that were appealing from day one have changed little - strong cross-platform access, unlimited DVR, 6 concurrent users, etc. What has changed is the growth in number of TV networks carried; indeed yesterday’s rate hike was tied to the launch of a group of ViacomCBS networks, just as the previous hike was tied to the addition of Discovery networks.

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Parks Associates has released a new white paper with Applicaster, with research finding that in Q1 ’20 almost one-third of U.S. broadband users said that their smart TV was their primary streaming video device. That’s up from less than 30% in Q1 ’19. That’s almost double the percentage of users citing streaming media players and computers as their primary device. Broadband users are watching more than 20 hours of video on their smart TV per week, up 40% from 2017.

Overall, Parks found that more than half of broadband users in the US report owning at least one smart TV. Parks believes technological advancements in smart TVs have been critical to their adoption. These advancements include:

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I’m pleased to present the 520th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. With the pandemic currently surging in multiple states, we hope all of our listeners are staying safe and healthy.

This week was the IAB NewFronts and I watched some or all of about a dozen of the presentations which are directed toward ad buyers. As usual, I was impressed with how well the presenting companies told their stories, through remarks by executives, talent, creators, partners and others. Presenters highlighted compelling usage data, ad formats and effectiveness, often juxtaposed against traditional TV.

On this week’s podcast we discuss key takeaways and common themes. The migration from linear TV to OTT video was already well underway, but the pandemic has accelerated the shift, making NewFronts presentations even more important, especially for advertisers trying to reach cord-cutters and cord-nevers.

Listen in to learn more!

 
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As part of the IAB NewFronts, YouTube held its reimagined Brandcast virtual event today, emphasizing its TV viewership, incremental reach and originals as part of a broader pitch for ad buyers’ budgets. Brandcast attendees were able to customize their selection of videos by content genre and then learn from YouTube executives and talent about specific programming and monetization initiatives.

As it has done in the past, YouTube highlighted how the platform is used by viewers to create personalized experiences, helping advertisers better connect with passionate viewers on TVs. YouTube cited Comscore research that it had the largest ad-supported reach among cord-cutters and cord-never on connected TVs and the highest viewing hours among AVOD services. YouTube said it reached 77% of AVOD households in March and accounted for 41% of all AVOD watch time in March in the U.S. YouTube cited Nielsen research that it reached more 18-49 year-olds in March than all linear TV networks combined.

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In conjunction with this week’s NewFronts, IAB has released new survey results, again demonstrating the power of connected TV (CTV). According to the survey, conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, for ad buyers planning increased spending on CTV in 2020, in a multiple response question format, 53% said those additional funds would come from a shift from broadcast TV and 52% from cable TV (53% also said funds would come from an overall expansion of budgets).

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Continuing our series of periodic short interviews with industry thought-leaders about the the pandemic's impact, I'm pleased to share a Q&A with Field Garthwaite, CEO and Co-Founder of IRIS.TV. Read on to learn Field's perspective on how COVID has affected the video marketplace, why connected TV has benefited, what video publishers can do to better monetize their inventory and what the critical upcoming challenges.

VideoNuze: How has COVID affected the video marketplace overall?
Field Garthwaite: While overall, publishers are seeing large increases in user engagement across web, mobile, and Connected TV (CTV) there are also several additional trends unique to the pandemic:

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I’m pleased to present the 519th edition of the VideoNuze podcast, with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. We hope all of our listeners are staying safe and healthy.

The IAB NewFronts are next week and over two dozen different companies will be presenting. There is a ton of market momentum going into the NewFronts, with the pandemic having shifted viewership to both SVOD and AVOD services. Advertisers are taking note and per a new IAB survey, 59% of ad buyers are planning to increase connected TV ad spending in the second half of 2020, by 25% or more.

Colin and I discuss this and other recent data supporting why OTT and CTV advertising are poised to benefit going forward.

Listen in to learn more!

 
Click here to listen to the podcast (22 minutes, 36 seconds)

Explore all previous podcasts

Add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today!

Heading into the NewFronts next week, the IAB has released its third survey of ad buyers since the pandemic began, finding, among other things, that 59% of respondents plan to spend more on Connected TV and OTT in the second half of 2020. Another 22% said they aren’t planning any change and 18% said they plan to decrease spending.

Ad buyers were more bullish on CTV/OTT than any other digital channel though 56% said they plan to spend more on digital video that isn’t on CTV, with 25% saying no change and 19% saying they’ll decrease spending.

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