Posts for 'Research'

I'm pleased to present the 190th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

We start our discussion with data that TiVo Research and Analytics (TRA) released this past Monday, which concluded, among other things, that Netflix does not cannibalize traditional TV viewing. TRA also identified the percentage of respondents who subscribe to Netflix (and other services) who watched "House of Cards." Using these numbers, Colin calculates that about 10 million people watched the program, a healthy amount by any standard (Netflix hasn't publicly released HoC's audience). Colin sees a class of "super-viewers" whose traditional TV consumption is augmented by, not substituted with, Netflix.

One thing that caught my attention in the TRA data was that while Netflix had a 57% adoption rate among respondents, Amazon Prime was right behind it, at 50% (Hulu Plus was further back at 18%). To be fair, it's not clear whether these Prime members are actually watching video included in Prime, or are mainly focused on the unlimited shipping benefit. But, assuming that many DO watch video, it's an impressive number for Amazon, and underscores how far Prime has come in the 2 1/2 years since Instant Videos were launched.

Colin and I discuss Amazon's broader agenda and how its aggressive pursuit of video is strategic in supporting both Prime and the Kindle ecosystem (all of which I described in my post this past Monday). Given Amazon's willingness to operate on razor-thin margins, I foresee the price for licensing high-quality content continuing to rise, which will in turn pinch profitability (and subscriber growth) at pure play OTT providers like Netflix.

Click here to listen to the podcast (16 minutes, 48 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

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

Google's new Chromecast device dominated the video landscape last week, making it easy to miss a highly noteworthy news nugget from Amazon: on its Q2 '13 earnings call last Thursday, Thomas Szkutak, the company's SVP/CFO said, "We're having new Prime members come to Amazon largely because of video." Szkutak's comment was a stark reminder of how far video has come for Amazon in the 2 1/2 years since it was first included in the $79/year Prime service.

Video - and other content/apps - are critical to Amazon because they all support two of the company's most important consumer-facing priorities: growing its highly profitable and sticky Prime service and supporting its line of Kindle devices in the fiercely competitive tablet market. Amazon's ability to successfully use video in service to these other businesses no doubt helps drive its willingness to spend heavily on content licensing and also to invest in its own original productions.

continue reading

Investment firm Needham & Company has released its latest Future of TV report, with lead analyst Laura Martin concluding that the biggest current risk to the TV industry's economics is unbundling of subscription TV channels. Martin asserts that if consumers had the option to choose their channels on an a la carte basis, rather than the multi-channel bundles that pay-TV operators currently offer, approximately 50% of today's TV revenue would be eliminated with fewer than 20 TV channels surviving.

The draconian forecast adds a financial dimension to the ongoing debate around whether the TV industry will need to radically re-think its business approach if - and it's still a big "if" - cord-cutting gains momentum. To date cord-cutting (and "cord-nevering," where younger viewers simply don't subscribe to pay-TV as in the past) have been relatively muted, with estimates for 2012 in the 500K range. However, several key industry trends such as the escalating cost of pay-TV, changes in consumer behaviors, proliferation of connected and mobile viewing devices, the surge in OTT SVOD adoption (e.g. Netflix) and DVR-based ad-skipping all suggest that the industry's traditional bundled model could be tested over the next few years.

continue reading

I'm pleased to present the 186th edition of the VideoNuze weekly podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. Colin attended a CDN conference earlier this week first shares observations on the potential long-term rollout of 4K TV and HEVC, along with the deployment of Netflix's Open Connect CDN based on conversations with Netflix and Time Warner Cable.

Next we turn to data from NPD earlier this week indicating that for watching TV shows, DVR usage is more than twice as popular as SVOD services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, which I wrote about earlier this week. Colin caveats the data, noting that in SVOD-specific homes he believes the usage is stronger than NPD suggests.

Lastly we touch on news that Samsung will be selling curved TVs, for $13K apiece. Colin and I are skeptics, to say the least.

Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (16 minutes, 28 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

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

SVOD services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime Instant Video are all the all the rage these days and a core part of their popularity is their ever-expanding library of TV series. No question, binge-viewing a TV season or series on an SVOD service is now one of life's little pleasures.

In SVOD's wake, one technology that always seems to get overshadowed is the DVR. But, according to data from NPD, watching TV shows on DVRs is actually more than twice as popular as watching them on SVOD services like Netflix. When asked how they watched TV shows in Q1 '13, viewers cited DVR/TiVo 42%, and SVOD 16%. As seen in the chart below, DVR/TiVo was in third place, after linear viewing on the TV network itself.

continue reading

In this week's 185th edition of the VideoNuze-nScreenMedia podcast, Colin Dixon and I mix things up a bit by introducing a new format of having a guest join us. We plan to do this periodically to get insights on new data or news. Our inaugural guest is Sudhir Kaushik, director of products, insights and optimization at Ooyala, which this week released its Q1 '13 Global Video Index (my post on it is here).

In the podcast, Sudhir sheds more light on Ooyala's key findings. We touch on topics including what's driving the surging growth of mobile video, distinctions between smartphone and tablet viewing, the important role of long-form content in shaping viewership patterns, the decline of the desktop as a viewing platform, the emergence of live programming as the dominant engagement format, what surprised Sudhir most in the data and much more.

Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (20 minutes, 48 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

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

Online video platform provider Ooyala has released its Q1 '13 Global Video Index, showing, among other things, that mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) accounted for more than 10% of online video views in the quarter, a new record. The total share of tablet video viewing alone grew by 33% in Q1.

It's not just the number of views that are up for mobile, but also time spent: watching long-form video (10 minutes or longer) on mobile devices grew from 41% of all time watched in Q1 '12 to 53% of all time watched in Q1 '13, an increase of 29%. Digging in deeper, for tablets, 25% of all viewing time was for content 60 minutes or longer.

continue reading

Periodically someone asks me how I think of the relative level of social networking use vs. video consumption. Of course they have both have been huge trends over the past 5 years, and they are very complimentary to each other. But, at least when it comes to mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) social dominates video in terms of time spent according to Nielsen's Q1 Cross-Platform Report, released late last week.

Looking at app-only usage on smartphones, social networking notched 9 hours, 6 minutes per person per month, nearly 8x as much as the 1 hour, 15 minutes of video viewed per person per month. For iPads, the range is tighter, with app-only social networking racking up 3 hours, 41 minutes per person per month, just over twice as much as the 1 hour, 48 minutes of video viewed per person per month. This makes sense to me because the iPad is more of a "personal TV" and therefore prone to longer-form viewing.

continue reading

A new report from video ad solution provider Mixpo has found that 78% of ad agencies ran multiscreen campaigns on behalf of their clients in 2012 and 90% expect to do so in 2013. In addition, 81% of media companies ran multiscreen campaigns in 2012 and 96% plan to do so in 2013. The report is based on surveys and interviews with 300 industry executives at agencies, media companies, and ad tech providers.

continue reading

I'm pleased to present the 182nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. Apologies in advance for audio quality this week as Colin was dialing in from a London hotel room and his audio level is low.

In today's podcast Colin leads off by sharing key takeaways from Cisco's latest Visual Networking Index (VNI) that was released this week. Cisco has been forecasting strong online and mobile video growth for years and this version continued the trend. Colin also wrote about it here.

Then we move on to discussing BlackArrow Linear, a new product announced yesterday that enables pay-TV operators to dynamically inserts ads into live and linear video viewed on devices. Colin and I agree that it should move the TV Everywhere ball forward, helping programmers monetize better and therefore help catalyze broader video distribution.

Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (16 minutes, 54 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

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

There's a lot of excitement about online, ad-supported access to TV programs (accessible on the TV networks' own sites or via Hulu), but a new study from ad manager FreeWheel being released this morning shows that in reality, short-form content and 3rd-party syndication are the workhorses of online video advertising.

For the first time, FreeWheel breaks down its data by "Linear + Digital" content providers (i.e. TV networks like Fox, NBC, etc.) and Digital Pure-Play (online-only content providers or aggregators like VEVO, AOL, etc. that mainly focus on short-form content). FreeWheel found that video views grew 30% in Q1 '13 vs. a year earlier, driven by a 47% increase in views from DPPs, which offset a surprising decline of 8% by L+Ds. The data is based on 16 billion video views in Q1.

continue reading

New industry data compiled by Leichtman Research Group shows that broadband ISPs that account for 93% of the U.S.  market added over 1.1 million subscribers in Q1 '13, nearly 6 times the 194K pay-TV subscribers that were added in the period by pay-TV operators that account for 94% of the market.

Broadband subscriber additions have outstripped pay-TV's for years, but the 6x ratio is more than double the average of 2.8x from the prior 2 years. The 194K pay-TV additions in Q1 were down 56% vs. the 445K added in Q1 '12, while the 1.1M broadband additions were off 15% from the 1.3M in each of the prior 2 years.

On the surface the data suggests that cord-cutting - a shift from viewing video via pay-TV to via broadband - may finally be taking hold. But while LRG's Bruce Leichtman has indeed found an uptick in his calculations of cord-cutting (up from .2% of U.S. homes to .4%-.5%), he sees a far more nuanced picture of what accounted for Q1's swing, plus lots of uncertainty going forward.

continue reading

Near the top of my personal list of confusing industry terms is "mobile video." Does it mean watching on a smartphone? A tablet? Both? Does it mean using a wireless carrier's network (e.g. Verizon, AT&T) or a WiFi network or both for access? Does it mean watching while out of home (and if so, where?) or at home? And what content is watched - live? on-demand? short-form? long-form? genre? The list goes on and on. Mobile video is truly one of the most confusing and misunderstood industry terms around.

And that's why recent data from Leichtman Research Group, a well-respected media research firm founded by a former colleague of mine, Bruce Leichtman, really caught my eye. In its 7th annual "Emerging Video Services" survey, of 1,240 adults age 18+, LRG found that of those who said they watched video on their mobile phone in the past month, 63% said they usually watch at home. More striking, of those who watched video on their iPad, tablet or eReader in the past month, 89% of them said they usually watch at home.

continue reading

The click-through rate for in-stream video ads served by PointRoll in 2012 was .62%, four times higher than for mobile ads (.15%) and rich media ads (.14%) served. The data is part of a new benchmark study comparing 2012 ad performance to 2011. The interaction rate for in-stream video ads was 5.7%, compared with 4% for rich media and .96% for mobile.

continue reading

Videology’s Q1 2013 infographic offers up fresh detail about what types of advertisers are embracing the medium, how their ads are performing, and how shifts in the use of devices are impacting the online video environment.
 
Based on 1.8 billion impressions delivered on Videology’s platform during Q1, the data shows that desktops continue to dominate despite the impressive rise of mobile devices. Ads seen on desktop accounted for 92% of online video ads people watched in Q1, with connected TVs accounting for 5% and mobile devices, 3%. Although ads seen on mobile devices increased 27% year-over-year in Q1, that surge was leapfrogged by the number of ads seen on the desktop, which grew 84%.

continue reading

At starting prices of $8/month or so, affordable subscription video on demand (SVOD) services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, Blockbuster and others would seem to appeal to middle and lower income Americans. But a new report from Nielsen finds the exact opposite is true: wealthier homes, with household income over $100K/year, adopt SVOD services at 185% of their index, while lower income homes, with household income under $50K/year, subscribe at just 47% of their index.

Adding to the picture, "Professional" homes subscribing to an SVOD service are at 150% of their index, while "Blue Collar" homes are just 63% of their index.

The data seems to support a contention that Netflix has repeatedly made, which is that SVOD services are typically adopted in addition to - not in substitution for - pay-TV services. To the extent that pay-TV rates have continue to increase, it makes sense that only upper income homes can afford to then layer on an SVOD service on top of pay-TV.

continue reading

Advertisers and agencies are funneling more money into online video advertising, and they’re taking more money from TV and online display ad budgets to make it happen, according to the latest “2013 Video: State of the Industry” report from Adap.tv and Digiday.
 
The Q1 2013 report, surveying 759 advertising and digital media professionals, shows 72% of video buyers increased spending for online video ads over the preceding 12 months, spending an average of 53% more on the category. That’s more than double the average 20% spending increase recorded over the previous 12-month period. The spending increases are a sign of momentum with the report saying, "Those for whom online video is a marketing staple are ‘doubling down’ on the medium."

continue reading

Forrester has updated its forecast for the real-time bidding (RTB) segment of the online video advertising market, calling for a 71% increase in 2013 spending to $686M and another 66% increase in 2014 to $1.14 billion (see chart below). Forrester sees the increase in RTB spending accounting for 44% of the overall growth in online video advertising between 2012 and 2014. The forecast is part of a commissioned report for SpotXchange, available here.

Forrester points to 4 drivers of RTB's rapid growth: more diverse pricing mechanisms that will increase RTB's appeal, especially for premium publishers; greater acceptance of RTB for mid-flight optimization; media buyers' desire to compliment traditional reach and frequency campaigns with targeted, engagement-oriented RTB campaigns; and automated RTB buying (and programmatic in general) that will reduce friction in the complicated online video market.

continue reading

I'm pleased to present the 174th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. There's no question video is moving to streaming and electronic delivery, but DVDs still have plenty of life left. That's what Redbox is banking on to get a foothold with its new Redbox Instant service, as CEO Shawn Strickland explains in this interview. Both Colin and I think it's a smart, albeit risky, strategy given the inevitable downward trend in DVD usage.

I see part of DVD's durability as due to Hollywood's windowing practices. Because of the multi-billion pay-TV window, licensing to networks like HBO, Starz and EPIX, major studios delay the availability of movies in SVOD services. The intervening home video access continues to give DVDs life. Unless and until Hollywood abandons the pay-TV window, DVDs will continue to have life. And since Netflix has essentially abandoned DVDs, there's a big opportunity for Redbox.

However, Redbox Instant has another problem, which is that its streaming content selection today is terrible, as Colin explains. That means prospective subscribers have to determine whether its worth the $3/mo or so they're effectively paying for it on top of the DVD value which is worth around $4-$5/mo. Colin and I are both skeptical. Even if Redbox Instant doesn't fly, we both see DVDs being with us for a long time to come.

Listen in to learn more!

Reminder: Colin and I will be at NABShow next Mon. and Tues. in our booth SU12907. If you're there and have a moment, please stop by to say hi.



Click here for previous podcasts

Click here to add the podcast feed to your RSS reader.

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

A new survey of local TV stations by video marketing platform provider Mixpo has found that between 58%-70% of local TV stations' online tune-in campaign budgets (depending on market size) are allocated to online video ads. Fully 85% of local stations intend to use online video advertising for tune-in campaigns in 2013.

Keeping this in perspective though, online advertising still only represents 14%-24% of local stations' tune-in ad spending, with stalwarts radio and cable still leading. However, online advertising already has strong buy-in from stations, with between 86%-100% reporting that they'll use it in 2013. And online advertising is poised to get a greater share of stations' ad budgets, as between 36%-57% of stations said they intend to increase online ad budgets. Video advertising would be a clear beneficiary of such moves.

continue reading