Posts for 'Ooyala'

Multi-screen video processing provider Elemental Technologies has raised a Series D round of $14.5 million, led by Telstra, with participation by Sky and existing investors. With the round, Elemental has raised $44 million to date. Funds will be used for product development and to support global growth.

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Mobile video may be the hottest trend in video today, with evidence of its ascendance seemingly everywhere. As just one data point, last week's Q3 2014 Global Video Index from Ooyala pegged mobile video plays at 30% of all online video plays. That was up from 20% share in Q2 '14, more than double mobile video's 14% share from one year earlier in Q3 '13 and quintuple the 6% share from Q3 '12.

That scorching growth prompted Ooyala to accelerate its forecast for when mobile video's share will cross the 50% threshold industry-wide. Ooyala previously saw this happening in 2016, but now believes it will occur by Q3 '15.

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The video ad tech consolidation trend continues on, with the latest deal seeing Ooyala acquire London-based Videoplaza for an undisclosed sum. The deal comes just 2 months after Ooyala itself was acquired by the big Australian telecom provider Telstra, which was a previous investor. Jonathan Wilner, VP, Product at Ooyala, told me in an interview that these are just the first 2 steps in Telstra's broader ambition to help content providers better monetize their video, particularly by using data.

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September is here and that means summer 2014 is in the rear-view mirror. For online video and the broader video ecosystem, it was another busy few months, as viewers around the world continue to shift their consumption patterns, with many companies scrambling to keep pace. Below I've distilled my list of the 10 biggest online video stories of the summer - read on and let me know if I've missed something!

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Late yesterday Australian telecom provider Telstra acquired online video publishing platform Ooyala, by increasing its ownership stake from 23% to 98%, through an investment of $270 million (the purchase of the incremental 75% stake implies a total enterprise valuation of $360 million. Though Ooyala's revenues are undisclosed, as one point of comparison, Brightcove's current public valuation is approximately $200 million).  

Subsequent to the deal's closing Ooyala will become a subsidiary of Telstra and will operate as an independent business with existing management and brand. This is a model that has worked successfully for thePlatform, another major OVP which was acquired by Comcast back in 2006. Ooyala will become part of Telstra's new Global Applications and Platforms group, which is investing in companies that are "adjacent to Telstra's core business, where software disrupts traditional business models."

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I'm pleased to present the 232nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

The World Cup is in full swing and as many predicted beforehand, live-streaming is a crucial part of how fans are following the action. Colin notes that Akamai (which is responsible for a lot of the live-streaming globally), said that back in the 2010 World Cup, the peak bandwidth used was 1.4 terabits/second. Akamai was expecting that level to quadruple this year.

Sure enough, in current group play, the Brazil-Mexico game already almost reached that target, registering 4.59 Tbps. That level will surely be exceeded as play moves on to the knockout stage (in which Colin's beloved England is unlikely to be participating).

A key part of the World Cup's streaming success is due to the proliferation of mobile viewing devices, and we next discuss data Ooyala released this week revealing that mobile's share of online views increased from 3.4% in Q1 '12 to 21.5% in Q1 '14. Live-streaming in particular was a big-driver, and that's mainly sports. We dig into the details.

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More evidence this morning about mobile video's surging adoption: in its Q1 2014 Global Video Index, Ooyala found that 21.5% of all online video views occurred on mobile phones and tablets, up from just 3.4% in Q1 2012. In addition, in Ooyala's prior Q4 2013 report, it predicted that by end of 2015, 37% of all video viewing will be on mobile devices, and by the end of 2016 it would be up to half.

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Reading through a WSJ article yesterday, "Advertisers' Dilemma In Online Video - Reach or Frequency?" it struck me once again how silly it is to keep reinforcing a debate of online video advertising versus TV advertising. Five years ago this debate may have had some merit. But in 2014, savvy advertisers know it's really online video advertising and TV advertising. The two are highly complementary and are actually blurring as many of the traditional distinctions between them continue breaking down.

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Ooyala released its Q4 2013 Global Video Index, finding an increase of 719% in video viewing on mobile devices and tablets since Q4 2011 and 160% since Q4 2012. In December, 2013, mobile and tablet viewing accounted for 26% of time played, up from 18% in October. Based on current growth rates, Ooyala forecasts that by the end of 2015, 37% of all video viewing will be on mobile devices and tablets, and by the end of 2016, it will amount to fully half of all viewing.

Ooyala said that the proliferation of video-capable mobile devices and tablets, WiFi hotspots and new multi-screen services have led to rapid increases in mobile video usage. Somewhat surprisingly, more than half (53%) of mobile viewers’ time was spent watching video longer than 30 minutes in Q4, compared to 35% for tablet users. Additionally mobile video share of plays increased by 21% from Q3 to Q4 2013.

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I'm pleased to present the 195th edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. Colin patched in from Amsterdam, where he's attending the big IBC show. Colin sat in on an interesting session with Keith Hindle, CEO of FremantleMedia's Digital & Branded Entertainment Division. For those not familiar with Fremantle, it is one of the biggest producers of TV shows in the world, with credits like American Idol and The X Factor.

Colin shares some of Hindle's key observations about how the TV landscape is shifting, the powerful role of 2nd screen apps in attracting advertisers, the paradigm of "paid/owned/earned" media and how to balance TV distribution vs. online (Fremantle is the 12th-ranked YouTube content partner). Lots of great insights.

We then shift our focus to the plethora of data this week quantifying the surge in mobile and tablet viewing. I have covered new reports from FreeWheel, Ooyala, VEVO and TubeMogul this week, all supporting this trend. VEVO in particular is capitalizing, with 50% of its views now on mobile, tablet and connected TVs (note, the success of VEVO TV has been a huge contributor on the latter).

Still, as we agree, it's important to remember that TVs and desktops are where the vast majority of video viewing currently occurs, per Nielsen and FreeWheel data respectively. This is changing each quarter, but it's an evolutionary, not revolutionary shift.

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(Note there is a 3 second drop-out in the audio mid-way. Apologies, we're not sure what happened. During it, I am referencing VEVO TV.)

Ooyala is showing a new mosaic player, giving viewers the option to watch up to 5 live or on-demand video streams simultaneously. The company has also released its Q2 2013 Global Video Index, with new data reinforcing the growth of mobile and tablet video.

The mosaic player (see screen shot below) will first be available on the desktop, and subsequently will roll out on tablets, smartphones and connected devices. Ooyala's director of products Sudhir Kaushik showed it to me last week and explained it is mainly intended for sports broadcasters looking to provide multiple camera angles and/or sports fans trying to watch multiple games at once. Sudhir touted the increased monetization opportunities that the mosaic player creates, as well as the personalization for users. All of Ooyala's analytics are included in the mosaic player.

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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!

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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.

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At NABShow this year, my weekly podcast partner Colin Dixon from nScreenMedia and I are doing a series of video interviews with industry executives, which I'll be posting over the next couple of weeks. Kicking off our series today I'm pleased to share Colin's interview with Jay Fulcher, CEO of Ooyala.

In the interview, Jay talks at length about several of Ooyala's recent innovations including Hook, which is a mobile video playback app for Android; XTV Connect, an Airplay-like feature bridging mobile video to connected TVs; and Ooyala Discovery Guide, which allows content providers to "assemble" a personalized viewing experience. VideoNuze recently covered them here.

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Video management platform provider Ooyala is introducing several new features today to make online and mobile video more accessible and pervasive across devices. The new features include Hook (a mobile video playback app for Android), XTV Connect (to bridge mobile video to any connected TV) and Ooyala Discovery Guide (to create live/VOD program guides). Below I describe each in more detail and explain their respective importance.

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Note: Today I'm pleased to welcome VideoNuze's latest contributor, Stewart Schley. Stewart has been writing about media and telecommunications subjects for more than 20 years for publishers including CED magazine, Multichannel News, Paul Kagan Associates and One Touch Intelligence.

Ooyala 2012 Video Index: Tablet-Based Viewing Times Continue to Rise


by Stewart Schley

Video’s leap to tablets continues to impress, and not just when it comes to short-form content. Ooyala’s new Global Video Index 2012 illuminates a rising role for tablets in playing long-form content. Ooyala's data shows that in Q4 '12, 63% of total viewing time on tablets was for videos longer than 10 minutes, up from 46% in Q1 '12.  Nearly one-third of time spent watching videos on tablets in Q4 ’12 was for those an hour or longer.


The numbers suggest users are becoming increasingly comfortable watching full-length TV shows, movies and other long-form content on tablets, a finding that has implications for television networks and other content providers that want to extend their viewership to the small screen. Among playback devices Ooyala tracks, only connected TVs and game consoles had a higher percentage of long-form video viewing (81.7%) in Q4. PCs clocked in at 57%, and smartphones at 43.6%.

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Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group and I are back for the 151st edition of the VideoNuze-TDG podcast. This week Colin and I first discuss YouTube's curation plans which I wrote about yesterday. I've received a number of emails about my post, with most readers intrigued by the idea, and wanting to learn more. Colin likes YouTube's curation direction too, seeing it as a reminder of the value of programming.

Colin then walks us through some of the interesting reactions he got on a panel he moderated at the TV Next conference, "The Rise of the Next-Gen Operator." He asked the question - imagine its 2022, what does a pay-TV operator look like? Listen in to learn more.

Last but not least, Colin is moderating a session for Ooyala at next week's Digital Hollywood. Ooyala is offering complimentary admission to the conference in exchange for completing the form located here.

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This summer, England is the epicenter of sports video streaming; a couple weeks ago Wimbledon had multiple online video enhancements, then starting July 27th will be the Summer Olympics, the biggest live streamed sporting extravaganza ever. Sandwiched in between, running today through the weekend, golf takes center stage, as the storied Open Championship from Royal Lytham & St. Annes offers a variety of online video features to immerse golf fans in all the action.

For U.S. viewers, the centerpiece of online viewing will be ESPN's simulcasting of its 73 hours of TV coverage on WatchESPN, including 10 1/2 hours of live play of the first two rounds. Of course WatchESPN is an authenticated TV Everywhere service, so you have to be a pay-TV subscriber to access it (and not all pay-TV providers support it yet either). I've been tuning in this morning and the quality of the video is outstanding. ESPN also has a separate feed for cameras positioned at holes 1 and 18 so you can see all the players come through, plus other "outside the ropes" video and non-video features.

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There were 4 separate research studies released yesterday from important video technology providers, all pointing to continued change and growth in video viewership and monetization. Below I've shared key highlights from each, along with links to obtain the original research.

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Ooyala's co-founder and president of product, Bismarck Lepe stopped by VideoNuze's NABShow booth last month to discuss the company's recently announced content recommendation engine. Bismarck says that an early deployment is driving up to 4x increase in overall engagement. He cites one broadcaster that is generating an incremental $70K per day just by keeping viewers engaged longer.

Bismarck explains that Ooyala's recommendations are based on behavioral analysis of hundreds of publishers' anonymous viewing data. Recommendations factor in type of device as well, so for example, shorter-form content for smartphones or longer-form for connected TVs. Watch the video below (7 minutes, 59 seconds)

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