Posts for 'Advertising'

Connected TV audiences reflect the diversity and age profiles of the U.S. population, making it a better platform for advertisers to achieve their key performance objectives compared to traditional TV (TV consumed though set-top boxes or over the air), according to Magnite’s new “CTV is for Everyone: U.S. 2021” report.

The percentage of Black viewers (13%) and Hispanic/LatinX viewers (20%) watching CTV match their respective share of the U.S. population. Asian viewers watching CTV slightly over-indexes their share of the U.S. population (8% vs. 7%). White viewers watching CTV slightly under-indexes their share of the U.S. population 59% vs. 60%). Importantly, the research found that traditional TV over-indexes for white viewers (69% vs. 60%) while under-indexing across Black, Hispanic and Asian audiences.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

HBO / HBO Max lost 1.8 million subscribers in the U.S. in Q3 2021. On the surface that might seem like a bad thing, especially given how hot the streaming business is these days. But as Colin and I discuss, this week, it’s actually a good thing, as it reflects the rolloff of many millions of subscribers who were acquired via a prior distribution deal with Amazon Channels.

HBO Max has made an intentional decision to focus on a direct-to-consumer strategy, which we think is smart. Back in August, I explained the challenges SVOD services have with third-party distribution, including with Amazon, based on my personal experience subscribing to AMC+ through Amazon.

After talking to industry colleagues since, I’ve become more skeptical about the long-term value to SVOD services in these deals. So a DTV strategy, especially for a big player like HBO Max, seems like the right one. As we also discuss, it’s also a smart move given HBO Max, as part of WarnerMedia, will be merged into Discovery in 2022.

Elsewhere in the podcast we talk about the per subscriber value of the ad-supported vs. ad-free business model, and why I think that in the long-term, the former is far greater in a connected TV dominated world with “full funnel” marketing capabilities. We also dig into HBO Max’s decision to have content parity starting in January between its ad-supported and ad-free tiers. Lots to digest.

Listen to the podcast (33 minutes, 57 seconds)

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VAB has released a valuable new Stream On report, highlighting 23 case studies across 15 different product categories in which advertisers are using streaming video ad campaigns to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs) including incremental reach, brand favorability, ad recall, web site visits and sales.

The report is very well organized, by eight specific question topics such as “How do I use streaming to extend the reach of my video campaign beyond linear TV?” “How do I use streaming to increase my share of voice?” and “How can I use streaming to build brand love?” among others. Under each question topic there are 1-5 real world case studies.

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I’m really excited to announce the first 15 speakers for the Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on Nov. 16th and 17th. The speakers include:

• Yale Cohen - EVP, Global Digital Standards, Publicis Media
• Danielle DeLauro - Executive Vice President, VAB
• Karina Dobarro - EVP, Managing Partner, Horizon Media
• Rayna Elliott - SVP, Digital Strategy and Innovation, Horizon Media
• David George - CEO, Pixability
• Asaf Greiner - GM, Verification, Mediaocean
• Larry Harris - Founder and CEO, Alpha Precision Media
• Eric John - VP, Media Center, IAB
• Joshua Lowcock - U.S. Chief Digital & Global Brand Safety Officer, UM
• Pooja Midha - Chief Growth Officer, Comcast Advertising
• Jackie Swansburg Paulino – Chief Product Officer, Pixability
• Will Richmond - Editor and Publisher, VideoNuze
• Mike Richter - VP, Global CTV Revenue Operations, Trusted Media Brands
• Susan Schiekofer - Chief Digital Investment Officer, GroupM North America
• Karen Schuchardt - SVP, Digital Sales & Partnerships, NBCUniversal
• Plus many others to come

I’m honored that these executives are allocating time from their busy schedules to participate in the Summit. I anticipate adding more executives to the program in the coming weeks. The sessions are coming together nicely and I’ll be able to announce them shortly as well.

REGISTER NOW!

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I’m really pleased to announce that all paid attendees of VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on the afternoons of November 16th and 17th will be entered to win a 50-inch Roku TV and Smart Soundbar, both generously provided by Roku. The drawing is always a fun part of VideoNuze’s events and with the holiday season fast approaching, a couple of attendees will get a jump start on their shopping lists. Thanks to Roku for their longstanding support of VideoNuze events.

A reminder, the CTV Brand Suitability Summit is the first and only connected TV advertising industry event that is 100% focused on all aspects of brand suitability and safety, including the integral role of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

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A new study released by Pixability and GARM (the Global Alliance for Responsible Media) has found that although 99% of YouTube campaign impressions are considered “brand safe,” approximately one-third of these impressions can still be unsuitable for particular advertisers. The new Advertising Insights Study, “What Every Agency Should Know About Brand Safety, Brand Suitability & Performance on YouTube” is based on 20,000+ YouTube campaigns that ran on YouTube in the first six months of 2021. DoubleVerify’s brand safety measurement provided further input to the study.

The study first seeks to distinguish between brand suitability and brand safety, as well their impact on campaign performance. GARM has developed a framework for identifying 11 topics that can be considered objectively harmful. On these dimensions, which align with YouTube’s own monetization policies, GARM reported in April, 2021 that YouTube is 99% safe for advertisers.

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I’m thrilled to share the first group of sponsors for VideoNuze’s inaugural Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on the afternoons of November 16th and 17th. Pixability is the Presenting Partner; Mediaocean is a Gold Partner and FreeWheel and Roku are Silver Partners. Each of these companies is a leader in their particular field within the industry, and each will have an executive speaking at the Summit. I am extremely grateful for their early commitment to the event. All are past partners in VideoNuze events and many of their executives are trusted colleagues and longstanding friends.

The Summit is the first and only connected TV advertising industry event that is 100% focused on all aspects of brand suitability and safety, including the integral role of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I).  According to eMarketer, CTV advertising will exceed $13 billion in 2021, and will more than double, to over $27 billion in 2025. As CTV advertising gains a larger share of both linear TV and digital ad spending, it is poised to play a more important role in brand suitability and DE&I.

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I’m really excited to share that GroupM, Horizon Media and UM are the first Agency Partners of VideoNuze’s inaugural Connected TV Advertising Brand Suitability Summit (virtual) on the afternoons of November 16th and 17th.

GroupM is the largest media investment firm in the world, responsible for more than $50 billion in annual client spending; Horizon Media is the largest independent media agency in the world; and UM is the strategic media planning and buying agency arm of the IPG Mediabrands family of agencies. I deeply appreciate their support of this highly relevant first-time industry event.

Agency Partners will have their executives speaking at the Summit, and they will use their best efforts to have colleagues/clients/partners register and attend as complimentary guests. Agency partners will also co-promote the Summit. I have committed to redirecting 10% of sponsorship revenue to Agency Partners to support their DE&I initiatives.

More Agency Partners will be announced soon.

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Last week brought another step forward in the evolution of streaming and connected TV advertising’s evolution to becoming a full-funnel marketing solution with the launch of Wurl Perform from Wurl, which powers the distribution of 1,200+ streaming channels in 50+ countries. As VideoNuze readers know, I have been steadily beating the drum for how, and why, streaming and CTV advertising need to evolve beyond mainly reach and frequency KPIs, to also enable advertisers to pursue lower-funnel KPIs.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

This week we’re pleased to have as our guest Alan Wolk, who is the Co-Founder and Chief Analyst at TV[R]EV and who is well-known to all of us in the industry. Alan has released a new report, “The Emerging Smart TV Ecosystem,” which is available for complimentary download and was underwritten by LG Ads, Samsung Ads and VIZIO.

In a nutshell, Alan believes smart TV makers “are having a moment.” A key part of our discussion is whether and how quickly smart TVs will supplant streaming sticks and boxes as the primary connected TV device. Alan also shares his predictions and assumptions for how quickly smart TV advertising will grow over the next several years. We also get into the crucial role of improved user interfaces, how the big 3 work with FAST services to attract and retain viewers, and where Amazon’s new Omnia smart TV fits in.

Smart TVs are helping reinvent the living room experience; hopefully our interview provides new insights for how they’re doing so and over what time period their impact will be felt.

Listen to the podcast (36 minutes, 32 seconds)
 

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News yesterday that NBC has certain advertisers willing to pay a record price of up to $6.5 million for a 2022 Super Bowl spot, 18% higher than this year, and that it has fewer than five unsold 30-second spots remaining for February’s big game, brought to mind a newsletter I wrote way back in February, 2006 entitled “The $10 Million Super Bowl Ad?” (Unfortunately link no longer available). In it I asserted that Super Bowl ads would eventually command $10 million.

For reference, back in 2007 NBC sold spots in Super Bowl LXI for $2.5 million apiece. That means the price per spot has grown by an annual compounded rate of approximately 6.5%. That is 3.5x the rate of inflation over that 15 year period, which was approximately 1.9%. If Super Bowl ad rates continue to increase at an average of 6.5% per year, then the price will hit $10 million per spot in about 7 years, for the 2029 big game.

(Note, back in 2015, when NBC was charging $4.5 million per Super Bowl spot, NBC Sports Group’s EVP of Sales and Marketing Seth Winter said “$4.5 million is a steal. We think the Super Bowl is worth closer to $10 million in incremental exposure for marketers.” Worth it or not, 6 years later NBC believes a spot is now valued by the market at $6.5 million and to be fair some of the ads’ value is tied to a packaging approach NBC is taking with the 2022 Winter Olympics).

What’s going on here?

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(Reminder - if you are a listener of The VideoNuze Report podcast, please update your feed per below to the new Inside the Stream feeds which have been available for a couple of months....we don't want to lose you as a listener as we complete this transition!)

Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

Colin has just released an in-depth white paper on the free ad-supported streaming TV (“FAST”) market, underwritten by Verizon Media, and on today’s podcast he shares his key takeaways and assumptions (note, I have not yet had a chance myself to review the paper which is free to download).

The paper also includes Colin’s forecast for FAST services’ advertising revenues in the U.S. alone. Colin has built his model with both a top-down industry analysis and a bottoms-up review of FAST services including logging ad pod durations, frequency, fill rates, etc, and consulting with numerous industry leaders. Colin sees FASTs generating $2.1 billion in ad revenue in the U.S. in ’21, increasing to $4.1 billion in ’23, though he notes he may be erring on the conservative side.

If you’re interested in the FAST market and especially how it relates to AVOD, Colin’s paper is a must to download. Colin’s also eager to refine his model further, so please feel free to share your feedback directly with him.

Listen to the podcast (33 minutes, 28 seconds)

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“There’s something happening here,
But what it is ain’t exactly clear…”
-Buffalo Springfield, “For What It’s Worth,” 1967

Late yesterday, Alphabet released its Q2 ’21 earnings. Included was the single snippet of financial information for YouTube that Alphabet began reporting a couple of years ago: “YouTube ads,” which represents YouTube’s global advertising revenue (non-ad revenue such as YouTube TV and YouTube Music subscriptions, etc. are not included). YouTube’s ad revenue for Q2 ’21 was $7.002 billion, which was 84% higher than the $3.81 billion Covid-affected Q2 ’20 ad revenue, and 94% higher than the $3.60 billion pre-Covid Q2 ’19 ad revenue.

Yes, Covid dampened Q2 '20 ad revenue, as management had previously said. But still, you read those numbers right. An 84% year-over-year increase. On a very large prior number.

Consider a little comparative context for YouTube's $7 billion quarter: YouTube’s ad business alone is nearly the size of Netflix’s entire global subscription business, which generated $7.34 billion in revenue in Q2 ’21. But two years ago, Netflix’s Q2 ’19 revenue was $4.92 billion, which means over the past 2 years, Netflix has increased its second quarter revenue by $2.42 billion, or 49%.

YouTube has increased its ads revenue alone by nearly $3.4 billion, or 42% more than Netflix. Since Alphabet does not disclose YouTube’s specific expenses, it is impossible to calculate its profitability. But because virtually all of YouTube’s content comes from third party creators while Netflix’s annual content tab is approaching $20 billion, suffice it to say YouTube’s ad business is far more profitable than Netflix’s subscription business. It is also fair to project that in Q3 ’21 YouTube’s ad revenue will exceed Netflix’s subscription revenue.

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At VideoNuze’s Connected TV Advertising Summit last month, one of the issues most often raised by speakers was frequency. Sometimes speakers articulated the issue through their lens as an industry participant; other times it was from their own personal experience. For example, in our final session of the conference, Cara Lewis, EVP, Head of US Investment for Amplifi USA / Dentsu spoke about her experience streaming during the miserably cold Memorial Day weekend (slightly edited for clarity):

“Frequency is definitely an issue. And I can tell you just for myself and my viewing experience this weekend, it was extremely rainy. And I watched a lot of CTV and I kept on seeing the same commercial over and over again, which is completely frustrating because I'm being told as somebody who's buying these ads that we have a frequency cap. Maybe those advertisers didn’t have one, but if they did what I saw was well over what I know our advertisers put in as a frequency cap.”  

My experience mirrors Cara’s, as I mentioned in Q&A after moderating a CTV session at Pubmatic’s ENVISION conference two weeks ago. As VideoNuze readers know, I watch a lot of professional golf, on Golf Channel, NBC and CBS, most often on my Roku devices and using YouTube TV. It is mind-boggling how often the same ads are repeated. Admittedly I’m not sure if what I’m experiencing is a CTV frequency issue. It could have much more to do with the TV network, the rights of tournament sponsors, faulty legacy TV system frequency capping, shortage of available campaigns, etc. Who knows.

Regardless of the root cause, as Cara said, as a viewer it’s frustrating and diminishes the experience (and because I’m never able to fully take my industry analyst hat off, even on weekends, I can’t stop thinking “really, where IS all this great adtech that I write about each week?”)

Having said all of that, a new report from Innovid and the ANA, “Decoding CTV Measurement,” asserts that the frequency problem is actually both “highly exaggerated” and likely only limited to very particular situations. Innovid and ANA studied 35 campaigns from 20 big advertisers, representing $35 million in ad spend across 169 publishers and 25+ connected device types.

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Mediaocean is acquiring Flashtalking, an independent ad-serving and analytics provider. Deal terms were not disclosed but the Wall Street Journal reported the valuation at $500 million. Although Flashtalking offers open web ad serving and dynamic creative optimization (DCO) for the buy side, its fastest-growing business is connected TV ad serving and analytics, Mediaocean’s CMO Aaron Goldman told me in a briefing about the deal.

Aaron noted that CTV is also the fastest-growing part of Mediaocean’s business as well, and that the combined companies will be able to do “ad serving and creative optimization along with audience planning and other workflow for both the buy side and the sell side.” A year ago Mediaocean acquired 4C, giving the company a key role in walled garden ad serving and optimization. Aaron said Flashtalking fills a big remaining gap in its portfolio focused on CTV on the open web for the buy side.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of Inside the Stream, the podcast where nScreenMedia’s Chief Analyst Colin Dixon and I take listeners inside the world of streaming video.

This week we’re pleased to have Zvika Netter, CEO and Co-Founder of Innovid, as our guest. Innovid has been in video advertising for 14 years, evolving from an early player in interactive ads to become the leading delivery and measurement platform for brands and agencies. Importantly, as Zvika explains, Innovid has held fast over the years to being independent - not involved with any media buying or selling, which he views as a clear differentiator.

Late last week Innovid achieved a major milestone, by filing to go public via a SPAC. Zvika explains the decision process, and his points are a great counterpart to our conversation last week with JW Player’s Dave Otten, who also considered a SPAC, but decided instead to raise a large private round.

But the bulk of our time with Zvika is spent drilling into CTV, what’s driving the business, the key challenges, how they’re being addressed, what’s ahead, and of course, what role Innovid is playing. For anyone who wants a really deep dive into CTV, the interview is an intimate window into the CTV ad buyers’ perspective and how this is influencing the future shape of the industry.

(Note, Colin and I will be taking a break next week for the holiday, so we’ll be back in a couple of weeks)

Listen to the podcast (32 minutes, 17 seconds)

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Last Friday Hub Research published interesting survey results about consumers’ willingness/desire to watch ad-supported streaming services, especially if it means saving money compared to more expensive ad-free alternatives. No surprise to anyone who’s been playing close attention to the evolving SVOD/AVOD landscape, the research showed strong interest in ad-supported streaming. For me it was further validation of the Connected TV flywheel that I have described that is only going to accelerate adoption as consumption of ad-supported video both deepens and broadens.

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