BBC America tweeted Thursday night that it partnered with Twitter to launch the first “in-Tweet branded video” that occurs at the same time as a scripted television series. Twitter hasn’t shared additional details beyond the tweet, and BBC America has been mum as well. But previous partnerships between Twitter and other TV networks point to how this partnership might function. For instance, Twitter’s work with Turner Broadcasting to distribute video clips of instant replays from March Madness basketball games revolved around advertising in these videos, and Twitter’s promotion of these branded highlights. Turner expanded its reach, and Twitter generated much more revenue. As well, Twitter, ESPN, and Ford partnered during the College Football season, to similar ends. This BBC deal, though, represents a move into scripted television, and it seems likely that instead of replays, branded videos will feature Previews and perhaps recaps of shows recently aired.
Tag: television
The Future of TV is Cobbling Together Digital Services
Chet Kanojia had a great line in his talk at SXSW about users “rebuilding the stack” of cable using less expensive individual parts. I really liked [what I assumed was] the computer science analogy to the IP stack.
OTA TV Viewership Increases To 54 Million
Research released by GfK Media suggests that over-the-air (OTA) TV viewership drastically increased, to 54 million American viewers, up from 46 million a year ago. According to the report, minorities and younger consumers are at this point more likely to rely on the broadcasting, with 17.8% of American homes exclusively OTA reliant, as compared to 15.0% last year. In total, GfK Media estimates that more than 20.7 million households – or 53.8 million consumers – receive television exclusively through broadcast signals. At the same time, the survey found that a small, but increasing, number of households canceled their paying TV service at their current home. In 2012, 6.9 million households eliminated pay-TV service and now rely on over-the-air reception. In addition, homes headed by younger adults – with a head household age of 18-34 – are more likely to have switched to OTA broadcasting in the last year. Lower-income households similarly trend towards broadcast-only television; 26% of homes with an annual income under $30,000 receive TV signals solely over-the-air. By comparison, 11% of homes with incomes $75,000 or greater rely exclusively on broadcast signals.
American Express Turns E-Commerce Into TV Commerce
In an attempt to monetize the “Second Screen” phenomenon, American Express is making the marketing dream of “buying Rachel Green’s sweater” a reality. AmEx partnered with NBC Universal and News Corp and has already tested plans to let people purchase items “inspired by” NBC Universal outfits while the programs are airing. At Fox, the new Fox Now iPad app allows users to shop in real time while watching “New Girl” for an item on the show made available for sale. AmEx cardholders would receive $35 back when using their cards synced with Facebook and Twitter as part of the initiative.
The program works through an App called Zeebox, a social-TV app that lets users converse in real time with friends watching the same show, or follow related Twitter and Facebook feeds, and aims to start, much like the “New Girl” specials, with specific, novelty items displayed on air. This is but one part of television’s attempt to keep pace with shifting demographics and technology’s rapidly-expanding influence on the entertainment industry – expect efforts of this nature to continue to take effect as the second-screen phenomenon becomes more widespread.
Fox Sues Dish – Again
And again, Fox is suing Dish over the Hopper. After a failed lawsuit over the Hopper DVR’s ability to skip commercials, Fox is going after the network for delivering live and recorded TV to computers, phones, and tablets through the Internet. Fox argues that this feature breaches Fox’s licence agreement with Dish because Dish doesn’t have rights to Fox’s content on the Internet, unlike providers like iTunes and Amazon, who currently pay to offer commercial-free, on-demand versions of Fox programming over the Internet. This is just a battle in the ongoing war over how viewers will be able to access content in the age of readily accessible streaming – and the success or failure of the Hooper, as well as the legal battles surrounding it, could determine how this conflict resolves more broadly.
Intel Announces Streaming TV Box
Prepare to be watched while you watch. Intel Media GM, Erik Huggers, has revealed that Intel will launch a set-top box this year to power an Internet television service including live television, on-demand, catch-up television, and apps. Hopes are high for the quality of the service, but concerns over privacy have already been voiced, as the box will feature a camera, which is rumored to be used to target advertisements to users. Advertisers have been excited for some time about this type of targeting technology, and this box could be a strong first step towards integrating it into home TV setups.
DirecTV Invests in FreeWheel, Monetizes Online Content
DirecTV is making big moves towards the standardization of monetized online video content. This week they announced their strategic investment in video ad company FreeWheel in an effort to improve monetization of its new digital platforms. FreeWheel dynamically inserts ads in on-demand and live video streams, and has already been used by such big names as AOL, ESPN, FOX, NBC and VEVO. They also provide monetization rights management technology, ensuring the right content providers are paid for the monetization of their streamed shows.
Gracenote’s TV Ad of the Future
Gracenote, the service best known for being the recognition and recommendation technology used in iTunes, has now expanded its technology to ID video sources as well – now it’s ready to branch into TV. The Sony subsidiary hopes to capitalize on second-screen TV viewing by offering advertisers the opportunity to target the masses with precision similar to that available with web-based ads. Their algorithm dynamically inserts ads based on what is playing on the screen and demographic data about the viewer.
Cable MSOs To Re-Negotiation With Underperforming Channels
The Corporate Intelligence/WSJ blog has an interesting report about Time Warner Cable’s opinion of the carriage costs associated with underperforming cable channels. TWC has pledged to renegotiate these deals versus passing along the the costs to it’s subscribers. In addition, the WSJ provides an estimate of TWC’s costs for the top cable networks.
