Tags containing: "digital video"

Reuters Offers a Look at its Vision for the Future of News: Reuters TV

November 11, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

It’s not the nightly news. It’s not search-and-click web news. It’s not a fleeting stream of headlines in a social feed. It’s something new: Reuters TV.

On November 10, Reuters previewed its forthcoming video news service, which has ambitions to create an entirely new category for digital news, according to Managing Director Isaac Showman. While many types of media organizations are making a foray into digital video, Showman points out that most avoid the TV moniker. However he embraces it. Television has traditionally been a lean back medium and Showman noted that the Reuters TV team aligned that behavior with the experience they plan to deliver in the New Year.

This product should not be confused with traditional television experiences, however. “We wanted to create a television-quality experience but the difference is that you can consume your news at the right moment for you.” The world of media as a whole is changing radically, as are consumers’ consumption habits. “An on-demand experience doesn’t really work for news,” Showman points out. “A recording of the nightly news isn’t particularly useful hours later.”

Thus, Reuters leveraged the resources of Thomson-Reuters and a talented group of technologists to reinvent its process for the creation and delivery of news. The goal is to provide consumers with a complete picture, optimized for their interests and time constraints, whenever and wherever they want it.

There are two primary components to Reuters’ new service:

Right Now: Rather than create finished linear programming, Reuters’ vast network of global editors will produce segments that are continuously updated to cover top national and international stories. These segments will then be algorithmically assembled using a proprietary technology that allows users to create an on-demand news show that maintains the flow, pace and elegance of a traditional broadcast. Right Now allows Reuters to customize each broadcast to the length, location and interests of each subscriber. At any moment, they can watch a news show that will be to be up-to-date, relevant to their interests and of the length that they choose.

Live Feeds: Gives subscribers access to the world’s news events as they take place. From presidential addresses in Tennessee to public protests in Tahrir Square, viewers can choose the events they want to watch, in high-definition from wherever they are.

Reuters TV is slated to launch January 15^th, be priced at $1.99 a month and include very limited advertising, such as one brief commercial per break. Despite the wide array of news available online, the company firmly believes that there’s an audience for its new service.

As Showman points out, those under 50 are least likely to watch television news. And while many media companies are chasing the millennial segment of that audience, Reuters TV is aimed at what they are calling the “realists.” This is a psychographic group comprised of what Showman describes as those who need to be in-the-know: “They are affluent, intelligent and globally minded. They remember life before the internet but today live their lives through connected devices. They demand visual storytelling on their terms and that fits into the busy lives they lead.”

These are not people you’ll find scheduling their lives around the nightly news broadcast. At the same time, Showman believes they can be better served than by the existing web news experience, which requires searching and clicking in the hopes of cobbling together a full picture of world events. Even if you only have five minutes, the Reuters TV offering is designed to provide high-quality streamlined versions of all of the key stories of the day. Those with more time will receive a deeper perspective on these stories. Given the audience target, time was a key component. This can also be seen in the offline viewing feature, which allows the user to set daily times for automatic downloads—say at morning and evening commute times, during which internet access might be spotty, but one has a predictable block of time to stay informed.

Because social media increasingly plays a role in how we learn about, share and participate in breaking news the Reuters R&D team included social integration features, including a tool that reads Tweets in real time, gleans their meaning and then organizes and displays them within Reuters TV. This allows viewers to see all of the social conversation about an event they are watching.

Reuters, says Showman, has always been an organization with a business model to produce content once and make it available to a variety of users, as widely as possible. This effort, he says, is simply an “extension of what we do; one we hope will have scale.”

The challenge he sees is that creating an entirely new category of news requires “educating the market,” a process Reuters kicked off at its reveal party last night. Reuters TV will be launched on iOS, but it has been designed for adaptability with an eye, no doubt, to keeping pace with the changing way that consumers consume the news.

Innovation | Video

Meredith Builds its Multiplatform Strategy with Debut of Better Homes and Gardens on Connected TV

September 5, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Meredith reaches 60% of millennial women adults across its platforms. That’s more than MTV or Netflix. And, just over a year into her tenure as Vice President, Video Production and Product for the Meredith National Media Group, Laura Rowley plans to deliver content to this audience exactly when they need it and where they want it. To that end, Meredith recently announced that its Better Homes and Gardens brand has made its way onto Connected TV.

According to Rowley, this is a natural progression for Meredith, given its significant push into video over the past two years (the company now boasts more than 10,000 video titles across its sites). That progression, she believes, was a necessary one given the preferences of younger audiences. “We’d be crazy not to do a deep dive into digital video. We know that it is how Millennial women want to consume information. And they want it on whatever device suits them –tablet, mobile and, increasingly, Connected TV.”

The launch of the 30-minute Better Homes and Gardens streaming program marks Meredith’s first foray into Connected TV. As Rowley points out, Connected TV is rapidly growing in popularity, with three-quarters of TV’s predicted to be internet-connected by 2017. “So extension to this platform is key.”

The Better Homes and Gardens show will air twice a month on Net2TV’s Portico TV service, which is distributed to more than 30 million screens via smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sharp and Philips; on Roku-connected TVs; and on Toshiba tablets and notebooks. The shows will also available online at www.portico.tv.

Rowley feels strongly that among Meredith’s 14 magazine titles and nearly 100 special interest publications, the Better Homes and Garden brand was the right title to begin with. “It is an ideal launching pad for Connected TV because it not only has the widest potential audience, but also the best content for a lean back experience.” That, she feels, is the sweet spot for Connected TV, as opposed to lean-in moments that are better suited for desktop or mobile.

After looking at “a whole lot of possible hosts,” Jackie Tranchida
(NBC’s First Look) was chosen to host the new Better Homes and Gardens show because of her genuine, personable style, one that Rowley feels is consistent with the brand. Maintaining that brand authenticity is essential as Better Homes and Gardens continues to build out its multiplatform strategy. Collaboration with the editorial team is a key factor in ensuring this consistency. “Meredith is one of the most collaborative companies I’ve ever worked for,” says Rowley. “Our editorial team is at the heart of our video creation strategy.”

She also credits Meredith’s emphasis on audience understanding as a crucial component in building out its content strategy. “I come from the Huffington Post, so the marriage of science and inspiration is natural for me. At Meredith, we have hundreds of data points on our audience of women and we are already at the center of the conversation they are having about better living and style.” Connected TV, says Rowley, “is the next step in a multiplatform strategy to empower her passions.”

She also says Meredith is continuing to experiment on content including quality, subject matter, duration and delivery. Next month, as part of the Meredith Originals strategy, the Parents brand will debut a web-based reality show called Baby Sleep 911. The series will follow a baby sleep-whisperer who offers tips and expertise for sleep-deprived parents.

Meredith has an “incredibly connected audience and we want to do everything we can to help her needs in the moment,” says Rowley. For her, the opportunity to lead this strategy is even more personal, “it is a thrill to create video for an audience so deeply invested in these brands. There’s so much video out there, but we are someone these women can trust.”

Perspectives | Video

IBM Plays Up Reusable Content

September 2, 2014 DCN

Although TV still prevails among media platforms, audience screen time is shifting as digital video becomes more prevalent. Ann Rubin, vice president of branded content and global creative at IBM, spoke with eMarketer’s Danielle Drolet about how best to reach the fragmented viewers on any screen.

“Today in the industry, content is becoming more and more
important. And it’s targeted, individualized and personalized…

It’s becoming less about creating some TV spot or advertising content. Instead, create content that could be reused and repurposed.”

From content creation to optimal delivery, Rubin Ann Rubin offers some terrific insights on making the most of your content investment. Join us at Content All Stars September 18th to hear how Rubin and IBM approach their content marketing initiatives.

Revenue | Video

Q&A: Beth Lawrence, EVP Digital Sales, Scripps Networks Interactive, on Video Ad Innovation

July 23, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Q: To drive success in video advertising, what are the most important things to consider?

A: A successful video business can be driven from two metrics: The first is that quality content matters. High quality production delivered in a well-lit environment is what marketers are looking for.

The second is scale. When clients look to extend TV reach, it’s important that enough users can engage with the message. It’s one of the reasons Scripps Networks Interactive launched a premium lifestyle video portal and distributed network last year called uLive. Comprised of both full-episode play and short-form programming from the Scripps Networks library along with original video, it’s a way to distribute our content—coupled with the ad message—so the viewer can “discover” vs. being sent to a particular destination only.

Q: Describe a video advertising campaign that you think is particularly innovative or effective:

A: I really like what we did with the video content we created for Buitoni for Food Network Star. This content included the on-air in-show integration of Buitoni and the custom on-air short form that ran as Buitoni’s TV commercial, as well as its digital pre-roll and VOD offering. Additionally, it contains an excerpt from the Star Salvation webisode series with Robert Irvine that ran on FoodNetwork.com, Food Network VOD and on Food Network’s YouTube channel. Star Salvation offers contestants the chance to “come back to life” after earlier elimination from Food Network Star on TV. I like this example because it is fun, it’s engaging and it provides a web-only solution for these previously eliminated contestants to jump back into the Food Network Star mix, integrated seamlessly with the sponsor’s brand.

Q: What is working in video advertising and what do we need more of in order to drive success in this area?

A: Consumers are demanding great quality video on any device at any time of day. So for Scripps Networks, that’s a beautiful thing and we love the audience wherever we find them. Come on, you can never get enough of HGTV’s Property Brothers! As an industry, we need to be able to answer reach and other needs that arise so that video buying can be seamless like it is in the television business.

Also, I think we’re ripe for ad product innovation in video. We shouldn’t just assume that standard TV ads must travel to digital video and that’s the end of the conversation. With social media tie-ins like Twitter Amplify and second screen solutions that drive the viewer deeper into the content online from TV, the sight, sound and motion experience only gets better.

Beth Lawrence serves as executive vice president of digital sales for Scripps Networks Interactive. In this role, she is responsible for growing revenue streams for Scripps’ portfolio of lifestyle media brands – HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country – and their respective websites, as well as uLive, Scripps’ premium lifestyle video portal and distribution network. Lawrence also guides the company’s ad sales efforts relating to its mobile, broadband and video-on-demand offerings. In a stellar career with notable media companies including The Weather Channel, Yahoo! and DoubleClick, Beth has proven to be an outstanding leader with strong industry relationships.

Note: This interview is part of our “Three on Three” series in which we ask three executives the same three questions to uncover actionable insights.

Also in this series:

Q&A: Aaron Broder, CEO & Co-Founder Evolve Media, on Video Ad Innovation

Research | Video

comScore Looks at Multi-Channel Media Consumption to Reveal Real Value

June 12, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

While the proliferation of digital media devices and its effect on consumption patterns presents challenges for media and marketers, it also creates opportunities for increased reach, according to a new comScore White Paper, “From TV to Total Video: How Integrated Video Planning Can Transition Advertising from Upfronts to Allfronts.” While comScore finds that “rampant digital media proliferation is a value-creating event” the research also shows that there is “considerable value currently being left on the table.”

“We’re all very familiar with the way the consumer is transitioning to more and more platforms,” says comScore Vice President of Marketing & Insights Andrew Lipsman. “Fortunately, much of this activity has been incremental so far; one platform is not taking away from each other.” However he also points out that in younger demographics, new habits are developing that may indicate bigger shifts to come. “Particularly among millennials, there is a shift away from TV to online, set top boxes and mobile. Sooner or later, it will hit a point of no return, where video is not just the domain of what is happening on TV.”

The good news is that there’s time to prepare for the shift so that everyone within the media ecosystem can maximize the full range of content delivery channels. “Right now we’re at a point of transition and we have a period of time here where everyone can manage this transition before we have to worry about any possible cannibalization crisis.”

In the meantime, Lipsman says that it is important to continue to develop cross-platform measurement so that media companies “get credit for the full audience they reach” but also so that marketers can more effectively address those audiences. Currently, much advertising buying and selling remains channel focused—desktop, mobile, television, print. However many believe that the most effective initiatives are user-centric, finding the right audience wherever they are with the appropriate message.

“One of the most important, critical points in this whole debate is that, to optimize GRPs, you need to be able to look at all of the channels together to optimize for reach and frequency goals,” says Lipsman.

comScore’s study examined the incremental reach by channel for the duration of a given campaign. In a frozen vegetable brand example, the campaign’s cumulative reach via TV hit a plateau halfway through the campaign, providing no significant additional reach despite continued spend. However, the incremental reach provided by digital platforms (in this case, web and online video) continued to increase even after TV reach had flattened, resulting in a 12.2% increase over the course of the 14-week campaign. As Lipsman points out, this level of multichannel awareness will provide a way for marketers to address audiences more efficiently and to spend more effectively given limited budgets.

Large shifts such as these take time, though. And while comScore has already invested five years of R&D into the issue of cross-platform measurement (with new Video Metrics 3.0 and a Total Media Planning System offerings rolling out this Fall), Lipsman foresees a period of transition akin to the shift from click-through to view-through metrics. “Maybe I’m a bit biased being part of a measurement company, but one of the things we’ve seen is that the big paradigm shifts have happened when there’s been measurement to support the changes. We need to be able to provide the data and insights to help make these decisions more effectively so that media can do better monetizing and marketers can work more efficiently. If we can bring buy and sell side along at the same time, that will change the industry.”

Innovation | Video

Scripps Networks Interactive Continues ulive Momentum with Three New Shows

May 23, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

This week, Scripps Networks Interactive’s online lifestyle channel ulive announced the launch of three new series, marking the continued expansion of the digital network’s original programming. Lisa Choi Owens, COO of ulive says the channel “has not only seen growth in the network and publisher partners, we’ve seen tremendous growth in our programming, with well over 100 original series, many returning from last year,” including the two it renewed this week, EstheKitchen and Sick Kitchens with Nadia G.

Owens was instrumental in the launch of ulive last October when she and Jeff Meyer, now the President of ulive, realized that they had significantly more demand than supply for Scripps’ video inventory, which boasts popular brands such as HGTV, DIY Network and the Food Network. As Owens says, “It is also hard to see hockey stick growth from established websites.” The two recognized they were “sitting on a demo where a lot of content was not available in the market.” ulive was launched to fill that gap, as well as to expand Scripps’ existing lifestyle dominion from food, home and travel to include “all those things the average female viewer is interested in” including wellness, exercise, pets, parenting and more.

The ulive network has been particularly successful with the 25-39 female demographic, which Owens describes as “both fortuitous and planned, given that this is a desirable demographic for us, but also that this type of content will naturally resonate with that audience.”

“This audience goes online to be informed, entertained, and inspired,” says Lauren McGrath, Development Coordinator at ulive, who cites recent research undertaken by ulive and POPSUGAR as confirmation. She and Owens agree that the new shows in the lineup fit the bill perfectly:

In Dear Buddha, comedian Carey Reilly explores non-traditional roads to wellness, like sound therapy, equine therapy and reiki;
5 Minute Relaxation Anywhere features fitness guru Natasha Lloyd as she helps viewers chillax, as the title promises, anywhere, anytime;
In Fit Nonstop, SoulCycle instructor and YouTuber Kym Perfetto shows viewers how to adopt her no-BS approach to fitness, no gym required.

McGrath says that “last year’s 5-minute Workout Anywhere with Craig Ramsay was a huge success,” which she attributes to the optimal content, format, and delivery—suited to the audience’s busy lifestyle. The newly announced programming will all be short-form, running three to five minutes per episode. Owens says that ulive’s research clearly shows that “for our categories, short form works best.”

According to McGrath, what also works well for this audience are hosts that both entertain and inform, “Carey perfectly encapsulates our demo. She is a real life mom that brings comedy and entertainment value, but is always striving to learn more and better herself. That authenticity makes her incredibly fun to watch.”

Given its growth trajectory, ulive is in the market to develop new programming. And this week, the company announced a partnership with the New York Television Festival as a development partner. The two have also teamed up, along with fellow Scripps Networks Interactive brand the Travel Channel, to award a digital series to an independent artist participating in this year’s New York Television Festival. Original concepts will be vetted from the NYTVF’s 2014 class of Official Artists who participate in the NYTVF Pitch this fall. “This is a great way to partner and incubate talent,” says McGrath. “We feel that the talent pool of independent artists is incredibly deep and we look at the NYTVF participants as the future of content creators in our industry—including talent, producers and production companies.”

As ulive continues to develop its programming, Owens emphasizes that it isn’t a question of volume. “We’re dedicated to creating very focused content that continues to be useful, but also entertaining and authentic.”

Research | Video

Infographic: Online Video Advertising Insights

April 24, 2014 DCN

With nearly all of our favorite websites now featuring video content, online video advertising is no longer a market for just YouTube and Hulu. The market for online video advertising, while young, is already enormous and it’s growing rapidly. Last year eMarketer forecasted that digital video ad spending will grow to $9.1 billion in 2017, and nearly one third of marketers are already shifting budget from online display and television advertising into online video ads, according to a 2013 study from Adap.tv and Digiday.

For publishers and advertisers there are still many challenges and questions about how to best capitalize on online video advertising. For example: What is the ideal duration for a video ad? What are some sophisticated ways to package video with traditional digital advertising to increase brand visibility?

To begin to answer these questions and gain insights into the online video advertising market, MediaRadar analyzed thousands of online video ads across more than 100 websites between November 2013 and January 2014. The study revealed some very interesting trends.

A few quick takeaways:

While the vast majority (79%) of online video ads are either 15 or 30 seconds long, 30 second ads are about 10 times more likely to have a skip option than 15 second ads. Perhaps counter-intuitively, shorter ads can deliver more brand messaging than longer ads.
When it comes to the high-impact packaging of online video with various forms of display and rich media ads, there are opportunities to be an early adopter within certain categories. While 52% of video ads on food websites are accompanied by display ads, just 11% of ads on tech sites also feature an accompanying display ad.

The findings are summarized in the infographic below:

Innovation | Video

Conde Nast Entertainment Tees off Sports Video with Launch of Golf Digest Channel

March 20, 2014 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Condé Nast Entertainment launched its first sports video channel yesterday with the debut of the Golf Digest Channel. According to Molly Baldwin, Director of Editorial Operations for GolfDigest.com, “We see a really big future in video—particularly when it comes to instruction,” which is something the brand has long focused on.

While Baldwin is enthusiastic about the opportunities to create more effective learning moments for the Golf Digest audience, she believes that video gives the brand ways to deepen audience relationships as well. “The fact that instruction works well in video is very natural for our brand, but any brand would be remiss to think they could only rely on print. Every brand has to evolve and go to where audiences are, which is increasingly in front of a screen.”

Not only does Golf Digest find itself with content that effectively transitions from the page to video—such as the “Hungover Caddie” column, which will become an animated series—Baldwin says they’ve got a wealth of talent that already shine on video. Among these is Ben Crane, who Baldwin describes as “a comedic genius… in addition to being on the PGA tour,” who will host #GolfSecrets with Ben Crane. This increased emphasis on video content will also afford Golf Digest a means to further develop its editorial staff on screen.

Unsurprisingly, Baldwin says “There’s been a wealth of demand for video advertising,” which is certainly a driving force behind Condé Nast Entertainment’s continued expansion in video offerings. This is its ninth digital video channel since its 2011 launch and the second this year. The Golf Digest channel launched with Callaway as its sponsor, leveraging pre-roll and in-stream video overlays. And Baldwin says that they’ve already had “great interest from both endemic and non-endemic brands” and have had early discussions around product placement and custom content. “This is a space advertisers want to play in.”

“It is still early days for this play in digital video and we are eager to learn from our audiences what they want and what works. That’s the great value digital brings,” says Baldwin, “we get immediate feedback and we can continue to learn and experiment.”