Tag: tv

CBS Gets Serious About Its OTT Streaming Service

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Yesterday, CBS Broadcasting Inc. surprised the “trekkies” with the announcement of a new Star Trek TV series. More surprisingly, however, is how the broadcaster plans to distribute the long-awaited TV reboot. Reportedly, CBS is set to air the premiere episode on TV in early 2017 but will be putting all remaining episodes exclusively on CBS All Access, the subscription-based OTT streaming service it launched last fall.

Market Impact
Covering all CBS’ current content and back catalogue, All Access currently has about 100,000 subscribers, a number that pales in comparison to the likes of Netflix (69 million subs worldwide) and Hulu (9 million). As a longstanding Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek has built up a sizable number of devoted fans over the decades, a fanbase that CBS is clearly betting on to fuel the growth of its fledgling streaming service.

With more and more attention shifting from linear TV viewing to on-demand streaming, it makes sense for CBS to take proactive measures and leverage the enduring popularity of Star Trek franchise to raise the profile of its streaming service. Whether other networks will follow suit and start developing high-profile content exclusively for streaming platforms remains to be seen, but in the long run, this will likely prove to be a smart move for CBS.

 

Source: The Verge

Amazon To Launch Shopping Channel On Fire TV

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon has been the undisputed leader in ecommerce, but can it conquer TV shopping as well? After quietly rolling out buyable banner ads on the homepage of its Fire TV set-top box in the past few weeks, the Seattle-based company announced on Wednesday its plan to launch a QVC-style home shopping channel exclusively on Fire TV. Expected to roll out sometime next year, the channel will allow viewers to purchase products directly from the screen.

What Brands Need To Do
Amazon enjoys some unique advantages in transforming TV into a direct sales channel, given that it can seamlessly integrate ecommerce functionality into the Fire TV devices by syncing up users’ Amazon accounts and enabling one-click purchases. The new Apple TV, which hits retail this Friday, allows ecommerce brands to reach viewers via dedicated apps. For brands that are currently selling on Amazon, it may be worthwhile to tap into these new TV shopping initiatives to get a better understanding of the emerging shoppable TV experience.

   

Source: GeekWire

Time Warner Cable To Introduce OTT TV Packages

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Time Warner Cable (TWC) is set to test a new Internet TV service in New York City this week in a bid to stop hemorrhaging cable subscribers. Designed for users who only signed up for Internet service, TWC will be offering a “Starter” package at an additional $10 per month that covers all broadcast channels. Interestingly, TWC will also be giving out Roku 3 boxes for free to these customers, truly bringing TV into the OTT era.

Market Impact
In August, the cable industry suffered a massive stock sell-off triggered by the increasing momentum of cord-cutting. In addition, a new report from Forrester Research found that cord-nevers – people who have never subscribed to a traditional pay-TV service – now make up 18% of the U.S. population. The study also estimates that by 2025, half of all TV viewers under age 32 will not be paying for cable TV subscriptions. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for TWC to start experimenting with selling TV packages as an add-on to its internet services in order to adapt to changing viewer behavior.

Currently, Dish Network’s Sling TV remains the only widely-available Internet TV service on the market. Comcast recently launched its OTT service Stream, which allows subscribers to stream select TV content on mobile devices only, while Cablevision started selling “cord-cutter” internet packages that come with antennas and subscriptions to Hulu and HBO. But with Apple’s TV subscription service set to launch in 2016 and now TWC jumping onboard, the battle for retaining TV subscribers and, more importantly, selling TV packages to cord-cutters and cord-nevers, has just begun.

 

Source: Engadget

Comcast To Harness Audience Data From Set-Top Boxes

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Comcast is reportedly in talks with some TV networks and measurement firms to license audience viewing data gathered from the set-top boxes and streaming apps used by its millions of cable subscribers. As the nation’s largest cable service provider, Comcast says it believes licensing its data could help bolster the TV ad market with improved targeting capabilities.

What Brands Need To Do
As TV advertising continues to be eroded by the rapidly growing spend on digital ads, Comcast is hoping that its viewing data can help media owners gain further insights into audience behaviors and better compete with their data-rich digital rivals such as Google and Facebook. Therefore, brands should keep an eye out for the new types of viewer data and resulting targeting options that may soon become available.

 

Source: Wall Street Journal

Amazon Reportedly To Create A Live Online TV Service

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon is exploring the possibility of creating a live online TV service and has been in talks with major media companies including CBS Corp. and NBCUniversal to discuss carrying their channels, according to Bloomberg. No further details are available at the moment, but it seems very likely that the service will be tied into the existing Amazon Prime Instant Video service and likely to be subscription-based, and not ad-supported. However, if Amazon does manage to strike a deal with the broadcasters to carry their live programming, it would have commercial spots available to brands.

Market Impact
A live service would expand Amazon’s involvement in the OTT video space and bring it into direct competition with pay-TV providers like Comcast and AT&T Inc. Meanwhile, Apple has long been reportedly working on the creation of a live online TV service, which was expected to launch in September along with the new Apple TV, but was delayed into 2016 due to alleged difficulty in negotiating with content owners. Only time will tell if Amazon can pull it off before Apple.

As the digital transition of the TV industry continues, we expect to see more twists and turns in the changing TV landscape that all brands and media owners need to be aware of, so as to keep up with the shifting audience behavior.

 

Source: Bloomberg Business

Facebook Lures Live TV Viewers With New Features

Posted on by Richard Yao

What Happened
To better compete with Twitter as the go-to second-screen platform for live TV viewers, Facebook has announced several new features that media owners can use to better engage with fans. Included in the announcement are new voting features – either through hashtags or native polls embedded in posts – and a new UGC curation tool that allows producers to review audience-contributed content and share them via Pages. Plus, Facebook is introducing custom icons that denote partner shows, clearly taking a page out of Twitter’s emoji playbook.

What Brands Need To Do
Continuing to court brands with new tools and high-performing ad units, Facebook is quickly becoming a brand-friendly platform for media owners to connect with their audience. With second-screen viewing, audiences tend to tune out during commercial breaks and turn to their mobile devices, therefore rendering TV ads ineffective. Therefore, brands should consider cross-screen targeting on popular second-screen platforms like Twitter and Facebook with sponsored posts or branded content.

 

Source: The Verge

POV: Apps in the Living Room – Opportunities in Apple’s New TV Platform

Posted on by Lab Team

On Wednesday, the Lab attended the 2015 OMMA Programmatic Video event, where our Director of Strategy Adam Simon delivered an in-depth presentation on the emerging opportunities for brands and advertisers on the new Apple TV.

Starting with a brief recap of the ongoing transition from linear TV viewing to OTT streaming, Simon quickly moved on to the significance of the new Apple TV, how Apple’s ecosystem plays into the future, and the transition to apps. Calling it “a collaboration between Hollywood and Silicon Valley,” he deftly pointed out how Apple TV offers media owners and brands with video content new ways of delivering engaging content. Also, retailers can benefit from the closed attribution loop consisting of iTunes Store, iAd, and Apple Pay delivered through new apps.

After explaining the potential social utilities and interactive, blended content on Apple TV with Airbnb and MLB TV as examples, respectively, Simon offered a few insights for brand integration and on how to reach audiences on streaming services without ads such as Netflix. He closed out his insightful presentation with two main takeaways for brands: start optimizing and experimenting with Apple’s New TV platform and adjust your ad buying and targeting strategy accordingly.

The Lab has extensive experience working with brands to reach their audiences in the OTT and digital video space. Earlier this year, we led our parent company Interpublic Group to invest in Samba TV, a startup that specializes in advanced real-time TV analytics and cross device retargeting. For more details on how brands can utilize the new Apple TV, read our Fast Forward analysis here.

You can go through the presentation embedded below.

 

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Why Brands Need To Heed eSports

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following DraftKings’ announcement of extending its fantasy sports platform into esports, rival platform FanDuel unveiled a similar plan to enter competitive video gaming with its acquisition of AlphaDraft, an esports site that offers fantasy contests.

In related news, TBS announced today that it’s teaming up with WME-IMG to air 20  live programs of professional gamers playing the popular video game “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” beginning next year in prime time.

What Brands Need To Do
Over the past few years, esports have grown into a massive media platform that attracts hundreds of millions of spectators and generates billions of dollars.The TBS deal marks a significant milestone for the competitive gaming industry, as the show holds a primetime slot on a widely distributed basic cable network. Previously, brands were only able to reach its highly coveted young male audience by sponsoring esports events, and this new TBS show, along with the new esports fantasy sports platforms, offer new places to reach millennial men.

    

Source: Recode and Digiday

The Future Of TV Is Apps, According to Apple

Posted on by Lab Team

During Wednesday’s press event, Apple finally debuted a new Apple TV set-top box that aims to transform the way people watches TV. Equipped with a brand-new iOS 9-based operating system dubbed “tvOS,” the new Apple TV comes with App Store and Siri-enabled universal search across content platforms. Apple also debuted a new touchpad remote that doubles as a video game controller, further pushing Apple TV into the gaming market. The addition of App Store offers brands a gateway to infiltrate the living room space via branded TV app. Apple demoed several brands already developing their TV apps, including fashion e-retailer Gilt, Twitter’s livestreaming app Periscope, accommodation-booking app Airbnb, as well as media content providers like MLB.

Stay tuned for the Lab’s in-depth Fast Forward feature on the brand implications of the new Apple TV platform.

CBS To Live Stream The Super Bowl And More For Free

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
CBS has announced that it will be live streaming next-year’s Super Bowl for free, along with two more regular-season NFL games. The games will be available via CBSSports.com, in addition to a wide range of OTT devices including Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One, and Chromecast. Moreover, the live streams will be free to watch, with no cable authentication required, which makes perfect sense given the broadcaster’s plan to bundle national Super Bowl ad spots with its corresponding streaming ad units, as making the livestreams more accessible would no doubt help CBS upsell those bundled ad units.

What Brands Should Do
As time-shifted viewing continues to erode live viewerships, big sport events has long been the last bastion that still consistently post huge ratings. As more and more people choose to cut the cord, media owners need to realize the importance of making content accessible on streaming platforms that audience has migrated to. CBS says it is trying to “experiment and gauge what the audience appetite is for live sports on digital platforms” with the aforementioned new initiatives, and the same holds true for all brands that seek to reach their audience with branded content.

 

Source: Digiday