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Industry Research

Industry-Research

Pew Looks at Local News in a Digital Age

The Pew Research Center has just released its latest report,
“Local News in a Digital Age,” which:

…takes a microscope to the information streams in three news environments across the United States: Denver, Colorado—a highly educated urban area of more than 2 million with internet adoption above the national average and a large Hispanic population (19%); Macon, Georgia—a metro area of 175,000 with a substantial share of black residents (41%), an unemployment rate above the national average, and a local university working to serve as a hub for journalism innovation; and Sioux City, Iowa—a city that spans three states and has a predominantly white population of just 125,000. These cities are not meant to be extrapolated to the United States as a whole, but rather serve as a set of case studies on the ebb and flow of daily local news that speak to the diversity of modern American cities.

Pew breaks the results out into several distinct mini reports:

Some of Pew’s major findings include:

  • One of the greatest disparities occurs not across metro areas, but within them: that of race and ethnicity.
  • In all three cities, some local entities outside of journalism, particularly within government, are using the Web in part to serve as news providers.
  • Citizens are a part of the news process but mainly as quoted sources or as disseminators of news in social media.
Industry-Research

How Kids’ Media Palate Changes as They Age

A Nielsen analysis found that as young viewers cognitively and developmentally change, so too do their cross-platform habits.

According to Nielsen, kids’ media consumption across age ranges is akin to transitioning from strained peas to silverware—with distinct differences in taste, viewing and listening preference, and even who they’re viewing with.

For example, while more than 95% of all kids (2-17) prefer to watch traditional television over 20 hours a week—with Hispanic kids averaging about a half-hour more—the analysis found that older kids and teens go online on computers more, as about 29% of teens 14 to 17 years old were online via computer for at least one minute in March 2014.

Read the Nielsen post:  Grow and Tell: As Children Age from Toddlers to Teens, Their Media Palate Changes

 

Industry-Research | Video

Digital Dominates Millennial Content Consumption

DEFY Media has announced findings from its third annual ACUMEN Report: Constant Content. The report, conducted in partnership with Hunter Qualitative and KnoWhy Research, focused on teens and young adult Millennials to examine their content consumption.

acumentmillenialAccording to the report, digital dominates their content consumption with 13-24 viewers revealing a considerable 11.3 hours weekly watching “free” online video and 10.8 hours of subscription online video weekly – nearly twice the time reported for free online TV offerings from broadcast and cable networks (6.4 hours) or 8.3 for regularly scheduled TV. And, while 96% of those surveyed say they watch online video, only 57% watch free online TV and 56% watch recorded TV with no differences across the age range.

This segment also finds online personalities to be the most relatable and influential. For the millennial set, YouTubers are the today’s role models. Among the younger 13-17 segment, 32% responded they are more likely to look up to a YouTube personality over traditional celebrities, while the older 18-24 set reported a slightly higher affinity towards TV and movie stars (36% vs. 26% for YouTubers).

Industry-Research | Research | Revenue | Video

FreeWheel Q4 2014 Video Monetization Report

FreeWheel, a Comcast-owned ad serving platform servicing many major TV and cable networks and online video services, including A&E Networks, Discovery Communications, ESPN, NBC Universal and Univision, has released its Q4 2014 Video Monetization Report.

The report found that 2014 digital video growth was driven by ultra-premium content – new seasons of shows and live streaming. This was closely related to growth in TV Everywhere authenticated viewing.

Key findings include:

  • Live viewing grew 297% year-over-year, driven by strong growth in Sports streaming and News simulcasts.
  • First-run broadcast shows attracted far more viewers this quarter than the year prior, as seen by a 67% increase in digital video ad views.
  • Over-the top (OTT) streaming devices, overwhelmingly used for long-form and live viewing, overtook tablets, accounting for 8% of all video ad views.
  • Authenticated viewing grew 591% year-over-year, as 56% of all video ad views on long-form and live content now come from behind authentication walls.
Industry-Research

Digital a Major Factor in 5.9% Uptick in UK Ad Market

The UK ad market saw steady growth in 2014 largely thanks to digital media’s +15.5% increase over the period, according to Standard Media Index (SMI), which reports on actual spend data from the world’s largest media agencies. After softening in the third quarter of the year as a result of lower post-World Cup advertising budgets, a strong fourth quarter propelled the market to round out the year up +5.9%.

SMI’s report covers television, social media, print media, radio and cinema.

Television fared well in the UK showing growth in all four quarters of 2014. The TV sector’s winner was ITV, which holds 43% of the ad spend share, and grew +9.9% YoY in 2014.

Digital was definitely the darling of 2014. According to SMI:

After showing single-digit growth figures in Q3 for the first time in years, digital ended 2014 with a +16.1% upswing in Q4. It increased +15.5% YoY in 2014.

Within digital, investment in social media advertising grew by +38.4% in 2014, video increased by +34.8% and mobile gained +22%. Direct display advertising declined slightly by-2.3% due to an increasing portion of display advertising being bought programmatically. Programmatic grew +65.4% this year and +67.1% in the final quarter.

 

Industry-Research

Playing Well: Research on the Role of Fun and Games in the Media

A new report released looks at online media can best leverage games and quizzes to attract and engage audiences. Play the News Fun and Games in Digital Journalism was funded by the Tow Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and written by Maxwell Foxman. It describes specific intersections between games, play, and journalism, highlighting strategies, products, and sites of playful activity in the current news landscape with the goal of elucidating this pervasive phenomenon. Projects developed by the likes of The Washington Post and Mother Jones, and playful newsrooms like BuzzFeed, help illustrate some of the techniques journalists use to engage, inform, and educate readers through play. The report also counsels journalists, developers, and editors about the best ways and means of incorporating games and play into the newsroom.

Industry-Research | Perspectives

Agencies Find Digital Video Effective, Particularly for Targeting

For the past several years, The research team at BrightRoll (a vendor of video ad automation software) has surveyed agencies to reveal trends and topics that deserve more attention.  They look at how agencies are allocating media budgets, how RFPs are changing, frequently used success metrics, etc.

According to BrighRoll’s 2015 Advertising Agency Survey, agencies report that:

  • Digital video is becoming mainstream.
  • Online video advertising is effective.
  • Confidence in programmatic is growing.
  • Completed views, conversions, and brand lift are the metrics that matter most.
  • Targeting tops the list of digital video benefits.
  • Mobile and tablet spending are poised for growth.

BrightrollVideoMetrics

 

Industry-Research

Lies, Damn Lies, and Viral Content: Examining the Role of News Websites

“Going Viral” is a phrase often bandied about in the world of media today. Rarely is it construed as a bad thing. However, in a paper funded by The Tow Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Craig Sliverman examines the role of news websites in filtering (or failing to filter) erroneous information that spreads like wildfire in social media. In his paper “Lies, Damn Lies, and Viral Content How News Websites Spread (And Debunk) Online Rumors, Unverified Claims, and Misinformation,” Silverman writes:

News organizations are meant to play a critical role in the dissemination of quality, accurate information in society. This has become more challenging with the onslaught of hoaxes, misinformation, and other forms of inaccurate content that flow constantly over digital platforms.

Journalists today have an imperative—and an opportunity—to sift through the mass of content being created and shared in order to separate true from false, and to help the truth to spread.

Unfortunately, as this paper details, that isn’t the current reality of how news organizations cover unverified claims, online rumors, and viral content. Lies spread much farther than the truth, and news organizations play a powerful role in making this happen.

…There are also widely used practices in online news that are misleading and confusing to the public. These practices reflect short-term thinking that ultimately fails to deliver the full value of a piece of emerging news.

He goes on to offer key findings about common bad practices as well as exploring in depth many examples of viral content and the role that the news media played in spreading the “bad news.”

Industry-Research

Lack of Consumer Trust Slowing Growth of Mobile Content Industry Finds MEF

Trust remains the largest single obstacle to growth in the mobile content and commerce industry, according to the 2015 MEF Global Consumer Trust Report. The third annual study, supported by AVG Technologies N.V. analyzes data from 15,000 mobile media users in 15 countries across five continents. The Global Consumer Trust Report explores trust, privacy, transparency and security to identify their impact on mobile consumers in areas from purchasing a new device to downloading apps or paying for goods and services.

Some key takeaways include:

  • 49% of all consumers surveyed say a lack of trust limits the amount of apps they download, compared to 37% last year.
  • 40% of respondents indicated that a lack of trust is the number one factor that prevents them from downloading items more often.
  • 72% of mobile consumers are not happy sharing personal data such as location or contact details when using an app.
  • 34% say trust prevents them from buying more goods and services using their mobile device.

MEFpersonalAlongside this growing mistrust, the study also revealed an increase in resistance to sharing personal information such as location, address book details or health records, with apps.

According to the findings:

  • 72% of mobile users said that they are not happy sharing such information and 39% say that they never to do so.
  • 30% of respondents said that improving the way apps communicate about the data they collect would foster greater trust in the mobile platforms.
  • 63% said that they considered transparency important or extremely important (compared to 49% last year).

Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair, said that “Trust is the most important asset of any business, and consumer confidence must underpin the mobile ecosystem. The sustainability of the mobile industry depends on it. As mobile devices and services evolve, consumers will hold business ever more accountable … Consumer trust must be earned by consistently applying high levels of transparency, security and privacy to every mobile interaction.”

The full MEF Global Consumer Trust 2015 Report is available only to members only. Non-members can download a copy of the Executive Summary.

Industry-Research

Cisco Releases Mobile Forecast Offering Worldwide Behavior Predictions

Cisco has released its VNI Mobile Forecast highlights, 2014-2019, which it presents in an interactive map that allows users to filter by region or country.

Among the many data highlights offered are:

Mobile Data Traffic

  • In North America, mobile data traffic will reach 3.8 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 956 million DVDs each month), up from 562.5 Petabytes per month in 2014.
  • In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will reach 3.0 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 761 million DVDs each month), up from 199.5 Petabytes per month in 2014.
  • In Latin America, mobile data traffic will reach 2.0 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 509 million DVDs each month), up from 200.9 Petabytes per month in 2014.
  • In Western Europe, mobile data traffic will reach 2.4 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 604 million DVDs each month), up from 341.4 Petabytes per month in 2014.
  • In Asia Pacific, mobile data traffic will reach 9.5 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 2,376 million DVDs each month), up from 977.4 Petabytes per month in 2014.
  • In Central and Eastern Europe, mobile data traffic will reach 3.5 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 874 million DVDs each month), up from 242.3 Petabytes per month in 2014.

Percentage of Smart Connections

  • In North America, 60% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 72% in 2014.
  • In Middle East and Africa, 41% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 11% in 2014.
  • In Latin America, 61% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 20% in 2014.
  • In Western Europe, 66% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 48% in 2014.
  • In Asia Pacific, 53% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 24% in 2014.
  • In Central and Eastern Europe, 58% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 18% in 2014.

Mobile Traffic Per Capita

  • In North America, mobile traffic per capita will reach 10,259 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 1,571 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 46%.
  • In Middle East and Africa, mobile traffic per capita will reach 1,933 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 142 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 69%.
  • In Latin America, mobile traffic per capita will reach 3,106 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 322 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 57%.
  • In Western Europe, mobile traffic per capita will reach 5,692 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 816 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 47%.
  • In Asia Pacific, mobile traffic per capita will reach 2,303 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 247 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 56%.
  • In Central and Eastern Europe, mobile traffic per user will reach 8,299 megabytes per month by 201
Industry-Research

INMA News Media Outlook Report: Editorial and Audience Quality Keys to Success

The International News Media Association (INMA) recently released its 2015 News Media Outlook report, which explores the “digital transformation path for publishers.” The report is framed by INMA Executive Director and CEO Earl J. Wilkinson’s elegant metaphor of a rope with two ends burning toward each other:

 “On one end are legacy news publishers, and on the other end are the new digital news publishers. The contrasts between the two ends of the rope are stark: print vs. digital business models, access to capital, profitability, market capitalization, age of workforces, the positioning of classic journalism, serendipity vs. analytics, and more. Both ends of the rope aim to adopt the best qualities of each other.”

Key themes in “News Media Outlook 2015: Re-Imagining the Transformation” include:

  1. Legacy vs. new digital media companies
  2. Value pillars
  3. Excellence of execution
  4. Foundations for future growth
  5. Technology and mobility

Throughout the report, Wilkinson examines the range of strategies taken by INMA’s member organizations all over the world, while also focusing on the differences between digitally-native organizations and publishers with roots in offline media. As Wilkinson writes, “one thing is clear: legacy publishers are spending a lot of time creating synergies between print and digital, while digital publishers spend all of their finite time trying to grow digital audience and revenue.” Those latter two, digital audience and revenue, are inexorably intertwined, he finds.

Legacy publishers believe in classic journalism for classic audiences, according to the report whereas digital publishers are “less wedded to those rules” and focus on the reader relationship. Thus, the roadmap for transformation that legacy publishers are following includes the recognition that “they are audience solution providers that support great journalism across media platforms.”

To succeed today, organizations need to align with market needs, which Wilkinson says mandates a “root-and-branch shift in how business gets done to produce quality journalism and sell audience solutions.” Yet despite the pressure to move toward a digital culture, he finds that many legacy companies “continue to operate in a print culture cocoon.” Contrast this with digital publishers that “think digital-only all the time and have blinders on with regard to their mission of growing a digital audience at all costs.”

To illustrate the audience scale in play, the INMA report cites a December 2014 USA Today article Michael Wolff, which says the “minimum for a high-profile site” that attracts “big-budget advertising accounts” has grown from 10 million to at least 50 million monthly visitors. However Wilkinson wisely points to another audience factor that anyone doing business online should consider:

“There is another reality at play: the intensity of the audience’s relationship to the brand is directly proportional to success in charging consumers for digital access.”

So while the report is framed with the “burning rope” metaphor, there are similarities between the digital and legacy publishers at each end of the spectrum worth noting and emphasizing. “Both ends of the rope want quality editorial environments for quality audiences funded by quality advertisers.”

The 118-page report is free to INMA members and available for purchase by non-members.

Industry-Research | Perspectives | Policy

Truste Looks at Consumer Confidence (or Lack of It)

In case you missed it, Truste released its 2015 Consumer Confidence Index this week. We’ve been one of the louder voices on the importance of trust among consumers, marketers and publishers. We even baked it into our DNA by crafting our Trust Principles. Consumer and marketer trust is the basis of our members’ businesses and we must constantly strive to build and maintain it.

Unfortunately, that trust is a fragile thing and there is much taking place online that undermines it. For example, consider the rampant, untethered growth in the digital supply chain causes a daunting amount of tracking activity like this to happen. It seems likely that this level of tracking and data collection without more meaningful choice will undermine consumer trust

We are clearly not alone in our concern about consumer trust online. Truste calls it “a hot button issue for Americans with 92% concerned about their privacy when using the internet and 42% more concerned than a year ago.” Other of the key data points and takeaway from the Truste report include:

  • Lack of trust harms publishers: 77% of consumers moderated their online behavior because of privacy concerns. 51% of consumers have not clicked on an online ad because of privacy concerns.
  • Lack of trust harms advertisers: 86% of consumers took active steps to protect their privacy including deleting cookies, changing settings, turning off location tracking.
  • Consumers may be confused, but their behavior is telling: 63% of consumers deleted cookies in order to protect their online privacy but only 10% opted out of behavioral ads. Why the difference? Is it because consumers don’t know that they can opt out? Is it because opting out is difficult to do and reliant on cookies?

I hope this data makes everyone stop what they’re doing to think about how we actually grow trust across the media ecosystem. We need to ensure that the consumer and marketer trust in premium brands remains strong. We need to focus on building the future of trusted content, a future in which brands can stand the test of time because we have built a sustainable model based on a foundation of trust.

 

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