It can be easy to get caught up in the latest news feeds and aggregation apps and forget about how the average American still accesses their news: through TV. A new Gallup poll shows that a little more than half of the US still stays informed through TV, compared to 27% who consume news online. Not surprisingly, print has plummeted to just 6-8% of those 64 or younger. Check out the full report for the comprehensive statistics.
Tag: tv
The End Of 3D? ESPN Drops 3D Channel
ESPN has decided to drop its dedicated 3D channel which launched in 2010, based on high costs, low consumer demand and lack of adoption from cable companies. Sports programming was the catalyst for HD adoption so the flagship sports channel’s decision to no longer support 3D may mark the end of the medium. Likely to supersede HD will be 4K (4x resolution of HD) which had a huge presence at this year’s CES.
Amazon Aims For Appointment Online TV
Although Netflix is out to the early lead in the original streaming content category, Amazon is quickly becoming its leading competitor. Its show, Alpha House, debuts soon, but with one important distinction: you won’t be able to binge-watch the entire series in one sitting. Though the details haven’t been ironed out entirely as of yet, Amazon confirmed that the show will be released through Amazon Prime, and the goal for Amazon is to learn from Netflix’s mistakes with the all-at-once release strategy, which reduces the theorizing, buzz, and conversation around the one-episode-per-week show form.
Millennials And Cord Cutting: TV Everywhere A Must
With the rise of Over-the-Top providers, cutting the cord has never been easier according to a new study from Miner & Co Studio. The report states that 13% of 18-34 year olds (8.6 million) who already have broadband service are committed to a broadband-only existence with Pay TV and broadband crossovers moving away from the cable model. The key driver appears to be consumer demand for VOD and live streaming TV everywhere. Also interesting is the lack of desire for offline content, saving shows to watch during periods without connectivity.
Zeebox Launches TV Rooms
Zeebox has just updated their second screen app to include a host of new features including TV Rooms which are like chat rooms around particular topics from shows to actors and more. Rooms can be public or private and are aimed at increasing social chatter aside from trivia and other contextual information. Thus far, the major second screen providers hover around a million active users depending on the app and are starting to gain major interest from advertisers. In fact, Shell just signed onboard to deliver a Zeebox experience on “Meet The Press” that will provide even more content and an ad sync feature that delivers a mobile and TV Shell spot simultaneously.
Amazon Likely To Create Set-Top Box
Amazon is rumored to be launching a set-top box this fall, bringing their content into the living room. Amazon has already had quite a bit of success with their Instant Video service so it makes sense to expand their distribution platforms. While Amazon Instant Video can be accessed via other over-the-top services like Roku, their dedicated device would allow them to feature their services more prominently. Time will tell if they decide to include other competitive content providers like Netflix within their ecosystem.
TheBlaze Tests Live Commercials
TV advertisers are constantly battling for consumer attention so it’s no surprise networks have begun offering differentiated ad products to drive engagement. Take for instance, Glen Beck’s cable network, TheBlaze, which is testing four live 90 seconds commercials which look more like content than ad spots. Native ads and real-time creative have proven effective in the online space, so expect similar results for TV but will the improved metrics justify the ad spend?
The Future Of TV Starts With A Name Change
There comes a time where naming conventions seem to hold back progress.
If we still called music “cassettes” it would be hard to imagine the effect this would have had on the way products like iTunes or services like Spotify would have been developed and marketed.
It strikes me that the future of TV , in terms of how content is searched for, found and viewed and how TV advertising manifests, is being hampered by the concept of TV and it’s antiquated name.
TV’s used to be large boxes in the home that you watched TV shows on, that were broadcast by TV companies on TV Channels.
Especially in the UK and Europe, you were quite likely to sit down at watch Channel Number X for the evening.
Increasingly these separate TV based units are becoming meaningless, the notion of a TV channel seems rather strange, even the idea of a “show” made for TV seems a little odd in an era of long and short form content on Vimeo, Youtube, News Websites etc.
A new name is required and with it a new way of thinking.
Much like we used to talk about records then cassettes, then CD’s and then MP3’s, each with their own cassette player, discman etc, we now just talk about music.
We now need to think not about DVD’s and TV Channels and Set top boxes, but about what it is Video.
Our TV’s are on the edge of being nothing to do with TV. They are merely large screen through which to play video.
We no longer sit down and “tune in” to see what is “on”, increasingly we sit down and think about specific content we watch. Smart TV’s like Samsung with their S- Recommendation engines now surface content based on our behavior and regardless of the format of content and the pipeline that brought it. Your thirst for soccer could be quenched by Live Soccer on Fox Soccer, a match on your DVR, an iTunes hosted video of the top goals ever, or highlights for free on Youtube.
Thinking of the TV as large screen for video allows the imagination to rethink other aspects. As an agency that seeks to serve the needs of brands, why are we now bound by the limitations and expense ofTV advertising.
TV Advertising can be done more accurately.
Digital TV’s can record data about your behavior and can work at an individual level, you now no longer need to buy a show, you can buy a individual house at a specific moment in time.
TV Advertising can be linked to an action.
You are now showing video to people on a large connected screen. Opportunities to buy products featured in shows will soon become common, as will click to find out more, or click to enter competitions
TV Advertising can be done more creatively.
With targeting down to a household ads can be served sequentially to build a narrative and ads can now be based on real time context or other data to make ads richer. They could pull in your feeds from you social graph, show what your friends think of the products etc.
TV Advertising can be done more measurably.
Any action based creative can be used to measure response in real time, thus providing ways for advertisers to test creative.
Even more than this advertising can now be served more quickly and much more cheaply/
So my only question remains, with this new world of the large screen and richer ad experiences, what does the TV’s new name become?
Time Warner Medialab Releases Study on Second Screen Viewing
Multi-screen viewing is a buzzy topic for marketers and in an attempt to quantify its impacts, Time Warner Medialab conducted a series of studies on this multitasking behavior. In almost any case, owners of combinations of TVs, smartphones and computers are likely to multitask while using them, incorporating social media into their viewing experience. Digital natives have been shown to switch platforms almost 30 times per hour, and this multitasking behavior has been shown to increase emotional engagement and favorability of the advertiser. The full report is certainly worth a look for marketers interested in second screen viewing and its implications.
FX Announces FXX and FXNow to Target Millennials
FX Networks is aiming to compete with large broadcast networks for ad buys by splitting their audiences and offering competitive CPMs. The newest network, FXX, aimed at the valuable 18-34 demographic, will launch September 2 and become the new home for such favorites as “The League” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” This announcement follows the launch of FXM, which airs movies, and will soon be home to original miniseries much like competitor HBO. The company also intends to launch FXNow this fall, offering on-demand streaming aimed to reduce DVR usage. The service will include FX original series as well as a rotating set of movies. Now that FX has clearly set its sights on such varied competitors as ABC, NBC, HBO, and Netflix, will other networks follow suit and diversify?
