3SixtyReach

Study: Most location-based ad spending is wasted on bad targeting

2019-09-21T12:42:00.000-05:00

Analysis completed by Location Sciences found that up to $65K of every $100K spent on location advertising fell outside of the targeted area or is based on signals of insufficient quality to deliver targeting requirements. According to the report, 29% percent of location-based media spending went to delivering ad impressions outside of the geotargeted area, while 36% was wasted because of a lack of quality location signals.

Reaching consumers with location-based ads is considered one of the most powerful promotional strategies, underpinning the increased spending on mobile, out-of-home (OOH) and experiential marketing. The ability to connect with on-the-go customers when they're ready to shop, or to direct them to nearby stores, restaurants and entertainment venues is a key advantage for mobile platforms. However, those capabilities are undermined when location-based ads are misdirected because of poor-quality data or signals. Read more here in this short article in Mobile Marketer: https://www.mobilemarketer.com/news/study-most-location-based-ad-spending-is-wasted-on-bad-targeting/561908/

Out-of-Home Advertising - Isn't that sooo Yesterday?

2019-08-15T17:02:00.000-05:00

Outdoor advertising has been around for hundreds of years because it’s a proven method of reaching a wide audience. Even in today’s digital world, outdoor advertising is gaining new momentum. According to Nielsen, one in four Americans has posted an image of a billboard ad on Instagram, delivering double exposure for the businesses involved. In the past decade technological advancements that have incorporated digital technology has helped OOH advertising become more versatile than ever before. Digital Billboards can change the ads they show based on the time of day, the weather or just about any data set that you like. This has dramatically improved their ability to have greater relevancy and be more engaging.

What are the benefits of Out of Home Advertising?

At this stage you’re probably thinking that Out of Home sounds interesting, but why should you choose it above any other form of advertising? How will it ensure that your business gets the best bang for your buck?

Good question. If you haven’t run a campaign before (or even if you have!), the world of Out of Home Advertising can be very overwhelming, and no one wants to jump into a marketing platform that you don’t understand and might not suit you. However, there is a reason (several) OOH has remained relevant and is the only legacy ad medium that is still growing….

Here are the main ones:

People see them!

We’re always on the move. So, one of the biggest advantages of Out of Home Advertising is that more audiences will see them when they’re out and about. Billboards and other forms of OOH ads have also become a natural and accepted part of most landscapes; they can’t be avoided with ad blockers!

It is cost effective

Although OOH is used a lot by big B2C brands, the increased flexibility of ad placements and the reduced cost of putting them up due to the invention of digital billboards has lowered the barriers of entry meaning lower costs and more effectiveness.

It can create a lasting impression

Billboards create a lasting impression on those that see them. From brand awareness to response marketing OOH works on both the conscious and subconscious levels. Their huge reach also makes them the perfect tool for mass marketing.

This is perhaps best explained by Bob, who is a Marketer and the Writer of the D Connector Blog. In a piece published on the Future of Outdoor Advertising, he writes: “There is a piece of research that has always stayed with me. In focus groups, people will remember seeing a brand’s new television ad, even though no such ad has been on air. It turns out that what people are recalling is the billboards they pass each and every day. People don’t forget billboards. Although they sometimes mislabel them.”

How digital has changed Out of Home Advertising

As statistics show, Out of Home Advertising is only going to get bigger and better. According to Magna, Out of Home holds around 6% of global ad spend (which totals a not-too-shabby $500 billion), and its market share has remained stable for the past 5 years. However, its growth is being propelled by the emergence of Digital Out of Home (DOOH).

Why DOOH is an affordable form of advertising

Although OOH has always brought many benefits to advertisers & brands in terms of raising awareness, these have only been amplified by digitalization. This is one of the key reasons for its continued growth and dominance. Previously, Out of Home was costly, competitive, and difficult to do. However, DOOH is solving many of these problems.

Firstly, let’s look at cost. DOOH is far more flexible in terms of placement than traditional OOH. They do not require installation, there is greater flexibility on the minimum periods assisting marketers in delivering campaigns that are both contextually relevant and timely.

Production costs are significantly lower. Static bulletins & posters needs to be printed and distributed. Digital formats just need to be resized to a few variants.

Other advantages of DOOH include the fact that your creative can be live within hours, incorporate video as well as animation plus you can choose exactly when your campaign ends.

DOOH is encouraging user engagement

Advances in DOOH technology is helping it to have a bigger and longer lasting impact on consumers. After Porsche unveiled their first interactive billboard in 2015, many brands are now adding interactive elements to their ads by making them tappable and/or interactive. One example of how the former is being used is by Warner Bros. “The Dark Knight Rises" campaign. You can check it out here - https://youtu.be/2pnr_nP-Ek0

All’s good, but what’s in it for me?

This form of advertising has many benefits, and with the help of digital, it’s safe to say that it’s here to stay. Marketers are certainly noticing the opportunities it holds in terms of targeting audiences at various touch points throughout the day, ensuring they get the best results. With OOH becoming more flexible and affordable, it’s something that all businesses should be considering. And if your competitors aren’t using OOH, then you’ll have an edge on them if you do.

At 3sixtyReach, we’re making this even better by ensuring that our clients get the right exposure by leveraging the benefits of multiple advertising platforms. OOH/DOOH is one of the many ways we can help you with your business or brand’s Marketing Strategies. Please feel free to contact us to find out more…

How Technology is Propelling the Billboard Industry Forward

2019-07-23T17:54:00.000-05:00

When you think about it, OOH advertising is the one platform that can trace its lineage back to the earliest civilizations. Fast forward to 2005 (according to the OAAA) the industry installed its first digital billboards that not only changed how billboard content is displayed but how the medium is bought and sold. Technology changes shift every industry, and the billboard industry is no exception. Here is a short read by Blip CEO Brent Thomson that discusses the ways technology has changed billboards and how it will continue to drive billboard advertising forward: https://www.digitalsignageconnection.com/how-technology-is-propelling-the-billboard-industry-forward

US Online and Traditional Media Advertising Outlook, 2019-2023

2019-06-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

PricewaterhouseCoopers has issued its latest annual Global Entertainment & Media Outlook report, a comprehensive study that contains projections for online and offline media advertising markets through 2023. Take a look at some of the highlights for major media markets covered by PwC, ordered by projected size in 2023, and specific to the US.

Online advertising dwarfs TV advertising in terms of spend. PwC predicts a strong 8.4% compound annual growth rate CAGR 2018-2023
As expected, mobile will grow faster than the online advertising market boasting a CAGR of 13.1% TV is only projected to have slight growth which they estimate to be a paltry 0.3%
Radio will increase from $17.9 billion in 2019 to $18.4 billion in 2023. The CAGR from 2018-2023 is expected to be 0.7% Magazine ad market is expected to be worth $15.6 billion this year but fall to $13.9 billion in 2023. As such, the annual decline is 2.8%
Newspaper advertising continues to decline from $14.8 billion in 2019 to $12.3 billion in 2023 -4.7% OOH has the strongest outlook among traditional media, buoyed almost entirely by growth in DOOH, CAGR estimated at an impressive 29%

https://www.marketingcharts.com/advertising-trends-108995

Dish Unveils Sling TV Internet Pay-TV Service

2015-01-06T17:36:00.000-05:00

The OTT video landscape changed significantly this week when DISH finally unveiled their long talked about OTT offer, Sling TV. The new service targets cord cutters and cord neverers with a new video product that is helping shape a rapidly changing video business marketplace. It’s interesting that this new twist on TV is coming from a traditional pay-TV operator which appears to be the first to be breaking from the standard industry bundling status quo. Sling TV's lineup will include ESPN and ESPN 2, but it doesn’t include any broadcast networks. They will feature networks from Disney/ESPN, Turner Broadcasting and Scripps Networks Interactive. The stripped-down bundle is targeted at price-sensitive and Internet-savvy millennials who don’t currently subscribe to a pay-TV service. MORE: Telecompetitor.com 01/06/15 - DISH OTT Offer, Sling TV, Uses Sports for Cord Cutter Bait and GIGIOM 01/05/15 - Dish’s new Sling TV service liberates ESPN from the cable bundle

TV Binge and Time shifting Update

2014-12-19T17:55:00.000-05:00

The first “TiVo State of TV Report,” offering insights into viewing habits, as well as the top-streamed and time-shifted programs, was released on Thursday. In general the research indicates that Television viewers prefer to watch sports events and animated cartoons in real time, while saving dramas and sci-fi shows for later. Not surprisingly, they also prefer shorter commercials and tend to hit the fast-forward button quite a bit. These were just a few of the findings. Here are some other highlights:

Drama and science-fiction genres deliver the highest percentage of time-shifted viewing on prime-time cable and broadcast networks.
Crime dramas ranked third in the prime-time genre, with 59 percent of crime dramas watched on a time-shifted basis.
“Scorpion" and "How to Get Away with Murder" ranked as the hottest new programs on the TiVo Commitment Chart, which tracks the volume of Season Passes set for new programming.
On average, TiVo subscribers pause their favorite shows 8.03 times, hit rewind 7.83 times and press the fast-forward button 25.11 times in one day.

TiVo said its viewing analysis was collected from an anonymous daily sample of 350,000 active TiVo DVRs. The streaming analysis is based on viewing data from the third quarter of 2014, collected from an anonymous sample of 25,000 households with the company’s streaming services. More: Advanced Television 12/19/14 - TiVo: Time-shift and binging proliferate and Investor.com 12/19/14 - Time-Shifted TV Viewing Now The Norm, Study Shows

ABC News GoStream Launches

2014-12-02T16:24:00.000-05:00

Where do you go to get the news of the day? Well many of us now find it 24/7 from mobile and other digital properties. Well add one more resource to your content arsenal as another News organization just made it even easier to find the news you want whenever and wherever you want. Today ABC announced the launch of their new online video initiative called GoStream.

According to the network, they are putting more power in the hands of their reporters as the new service allows any of ABC's field journalists to fire up an app and begin sending raw video to ABC News, which will then disseminate the streams to ABC News via the LiveU streaming platforms. ABC News will then disseminate on its ABCNews.com/live platform – which will undergo a redesign as well as its mobile apps and Apple TV. Viewers will be able to choose from any number of feeds during major events, which will not air with a delay. The program could be broadened to include civilians that live stream as well. More: Mashable.com 12/02/14 - Live from everywhere: ABC News journalists will stream video to your screen

Have something to add to this story? Please share it with us in the comments.

Aereo's final chapter - Broadcasters Picking its Bones

2014-11-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

Aereo is the undisputed leader when it come to my favorite company to write about over the past couple of years. You will remember them as the ambitious startup that aimed to stream live broadcast television and offered cloud based DVR services to subscribers for a small monthly fee. Roll forward to this past Friday, months after the devastating loss they suffered in the Supreme Court, they filed for bankruptcy. Although this seemed to be the final chapter in their short lived history, it doesn’t have to end this way. While the courts ruled that Aereo’s business model ran afoul of copyright law, the underlying technology, which uses tiny antennas to stream video to subscribers, could still be very valuable. The reality is that Aereo only foreshadowed a massive industry shakeup that is changing everything about television. As more people cut the cord and switch to on-demand services like Netflix and HBO Go, cable television (as we now know it) will slowly die out as will the lucrative retransmission fees they pay the broadcasters. Apparently I'm in good company with my prediction as Reed Hastings CEO Netflix has thrown down the gauntlet to the traditional television business, declaring it will be dead by 2030.

The latest news that has peaked my interest is this weeks comment from their Lawyers stating that there is "plenty of interest in the company’s assets" and asked the bankruptcy judge for an auction to be scheduled for Feb. 17. More: Bloomberg 11/24/14 - Aereo’s Assets Eyed by Possible Bidders, Lawyer Says

Amazon Launches Fire TV Stick

2014-10-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

In the growing competitive field of Streaming Sticks, Amazon introduced the Fire TV Stick today. Designed to take on challengers like the Roku Streaming sticks and Chromecast dongle, Amazon’s HDMI-based media adapter represents a smaller, less expensive complement to their $99 Fire TV box. The new smaller and even more affordable device sells for $39 and features access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, Twitch, WatchESPN and a variety of other services right out of the box. Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO, said in announcing the new product, “The team has packed an unbelievable amount of power and selection into an incredible price point.”

The company said the Fire TV Stick has 50 percent more processing power and 2x the memory of Chromecast, and 6x the processing power, 2x the memory, and 32x the storage of Roku Streaming Stick It supporting standards like DIAL allowing users to fling shows from services like YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix (coming soon) from an Android phone or iPhone. They began to take pre-orders today and will start shipping the new product on 19th of November.

Overall the specs look good and based on Amazon great success with the Fire TV Box, which launched a little more than six months ago and quickly became the best-selling streaming media box on the e-retailer, the Fire TV Stick might be the first product that will be a serious challenger to Chromecast in terms of both features and value. Obviously Mr. Bezos believes he has a winner, the rest of us will have to wait and see how it performs in the real world to be sure. More: TechCrunch.com 10/27/14 - Amazon’s New Fire TV Stick Is A $39 Chromecast Competitor With A Hardware Remote and Variety.com 10/27/14 - Amazon Whips Out TV Stick Against Google’s Chromecast and Roku and/or Twice.com 10/27/14 - Amazon Unveils Fire TV Stick

TV Everywhere Growth Surges 388%

2014-10-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

Television is changing and viewers are embracing and personalizing it as they're consumption habits morph. According to Adobe's bi-annual Video Benchmark Report, authenticated TV Everywhere viewing surged 388% in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year. Indicating that more people watched more TV online than ever before while programmers witnessed broader use as unique monthly viewers increased by 146 per cent across browsers and TV apps. Although online TV consumption still remains fragmented across platforms, gaming consoles and OTT devices gained the largest percentage of market share and Android apps surpassed desktop browsers as access points for watching TV online.

The findings from Adobe’s Report are based on aggregated and anonymous data from more than 1,300 media and entertainment properties using Adobe Marketing Cloud and Adobe Primetime. They noted that a series of major global sports events buoyed results, including the Sochi Winter Olympics, March's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and the summer's World Cup. The report includes 165 billion total online video starts and 1.53 billion TV Everywhere authentications across 250 pay-TV service providers covering 99 per cent of pay-TV households in the US. The analysis also examined TV Everywhere content from 105 TV channels and more than 300 TV apps and sites. More: 10/21/14 FierceCable.com - TV Everywhere use surges: authenticated viewing jumped 388% in Q2, Adobe says Also MediaPost.com 10/21/14 - Devices And OTT Lead Video Consumption Growth

The “a la carte” TV model... Not If but When!

2014-10-18T08:46:00.000-05:00

The pace of industry consolidation as well as the businesses general move towards IP distribution models were never more evident than they were this past week. On the heels of HBO's announcement of a plan to offer a Web-based service that doesn’t require a cable or satellite TV subscription, CBS announced that it will launch an All Access video-on-demand service that comes with a $5.99-per-month subscriber fee and has current and past seasons available for viewing. Local CBS television station streams will also be available through the subscription in 14 markets. "It seems pretty apparent that every media company in America is thinking about direct-to-consumer, mobile, digital" said Les Moonves after the announcement. ReCode also reported that CBS is considering an HBO-like service for its premium network Showtime. “We are always looking at ways of expanding our audience and it is certainly something that we have been examining for some time” said Moonves.

What HBO and CBS have done suggests the future of TV will be messier and more confusing in the near-term but ultimately consumers will have more choice of what they watch and how much they pay for it. No doubt this weeks developments suggests an avalanche of television networks and studios moving quickly to announce online apps and services. Sony, Dish and ABC all have been developing streaming strategies. And in the way that chattering about changing technology helps propel that change, the HBO and CBS announcements, separated by one day, creates a new momentum. Things are going to change even faster now. It’s a sign that the content business is suddenly racing into the broadband space. MORE: ReCode.net 10/16/14 - Now CBS Is Selling Web Subscriptions to Its Shows, Too

OTT gains on traditional TV particularly among Millennials.

2014-10-15T16:28:00.002-05:00

Late yesterday, measurement specialist comScore, issued a research paper titled "The U.S. Total Video Report" that looks at shifting TV viewing habits in the digital age. There's little doubt that American's viewing patterns are quickly changing, and our youth are leading the way. The study – The U.S. Total Video Report, which tabulated results from 1,159 respondents in August – found that Millennials (adults 18 -34), watch original TV shows on digital platforms one-third of the time. ComScore notes that the older the viewer, the more likely to watch on a TV set. In other bad news for TV broadcasters, comScore found that 1 in 6 millennials hadn't watched an original series on a TV set in the past month. Instead, they're getting their video from set-top boxes such as Roku and Apple TV, and game consoles.

Unsurprisingly, Millennials are also more likely to be cord-nevers or cord-cutters and they are more likely to time-shift their viewing: 46 percent of them time-shift shows, while only 35 percent of those 35 to 54 do so. Among other findings, consumers who subscribe to paid digital video services are more likely to binge-view TV shows over a monthly period – 87% vs. 69%. TV via the DVR (43%) is the preferred binge-viewing platform, followed by the TV via VOD (19%); Internet connected TV devices (12%); live TV – a category that includes reruns or marathons from MVPDs – (11%); tablets (4%), desktops/laptops (3%); and smartphones (2%).

While comScore's results are interesting, their methodology and approach called Total Video to track unduplicated audience metrics across platforms has some flaws. ComScore surveyed 1,159 viewers with an online questionnaire, so those surveyed are all active internet users. The report is available for free download (registration required). MORE: TechCrunch 10/14/14 - Netflix Leads In U.S. Digital Video Subscriptions In Home And Among Millennials by Ingrid Lunden

Roku enables screen mirroring for Android and Windows devices

2014-10-03T15:46:00.000-05:00

In what seems like an effort to catch up with Apple's Airplay and Google's Chromecast, Roku, the leading OTT device manufacture unveiled their screen mirroring feature yesterday. Launching in beta, This should work with anything that supports Miracast screen mirroring, but so far Roku has only tested a handful of devices to ensure a stable connection.

In the companies blog they state: "Screen mirroring is one of the simplest ways to share any type of content with those around you, and you won't need additional apps or software. All you'll need is a compatible device with mirroring capabilities. Once you turn on mirroring for your phone, tablet or laptop, you can pair with your compatible Roku player (presently Roku 3 or the Roku Streaming Stick) and whatever you see on your mobile device is exactly what will be displayed on your TV."

In full disclosure we use their streaming HDMI stick at home and it packs a lot of punch for the dollar. I believe this is a great first step for Roku, as it takes their inexpensive streaming hardware and opens up a whole new world of opportunities. This isn’t likely to be used by the casual user, which is Roku’s target market, but it makes this hardware a lot more compelling to a wider audience now. More: engadget.com 10/03/14 - Roku tries out screen mirroring from phones and PCs

Is the FCC Redefining Television

2014-09-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

The Federal Communications Commission is preparing a proposal which could help the fledgling OTT industry by treating certain online video services like cable and satellite TV providers. The move would help the online services gain cheaper access to major network programming and could allow them to become stronger competitors to the dominant pay-TV providers like Comcast. Gaining rights to popular channels has been a major hurdle for online TV services. Sony Corp. and Dish Network (as previously reported here) are among the companies considering Web-based services to compete with traditional cable and satellite operators. The big issue and cause for some OTT failures like Intel’s exit from its “OnCue” service, is in securing highly coveted programming from ESPN, NBCU, AMC and others is that the networks typically are owned/controlled by the larger MVPD’s (Comcast, Time Warner, Cablevision).

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was asked about the matter yesterday and stated that a proposal is circulating among commissioners “is probably a bit of an overstatement.” Nonetheless the industry analysts are buzzing. “This is a very big deal,” said Richard Greenfield, an analyst for BTIG. “It could pose very significant challenges to the traditional cable TV bundle.” Paul Gallant, with Guggenheim Securities, said in a note today, that broadcasters such as CBS Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. would potentially benefit from having more buyers for their programming.

According to an unknown source by Bloomberg, the change would affect online video providers that offer a cable-like programming service on a schedule, and not on-demand services like Netflix, which allows subscribers to watch videos whenever they want. But it could revive the controversial online video service Aereo, which allowed subscribers to watch broadcast TV channels on their computers and Internet connected-TVs.

Although for now this may just be chalked up as a rumor, it is one that would have a broad impact on the business as it is today, a move which could significantly broaden competition in the MVPD market. More: FierceCable 09/30/14 - Rumor mill:Aereo-like platforms may be given program licensing rights by FCC and/or Variety.com09/29/14 - FCC Wants Some Online Providers to be Treated as Cable Operators

Sony Goes Over the Top with Viacom Deal

2014-09-11T09:43:00.000-05:00

Sony, like Dish Network and others that we've reported on recently, is developing a broadband-fed services and they took a step closer to reality yesterday as they announced that they had completed a distribution deal that covers 22 Viacom cable channels at launch, as well as access the Viacom's full on-demand package. In addition to popular services, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon, Sony will be able to offer customers access to Viacom’s TV Everywhere websites and apps as well as its full VOD package. The company first announced its plans to offer pay TV channels over the Internet by the end of this year, and this is a big step in delivering on that promise. More: Bloomberg.com 09/10/14 - Sony Recruits 22 ViacomNetworks for Internet TV

Dish Digital prepares to Launch Nutv

2014-09-03T08:40:00.000-05:00

In what appears to be a common theme trending in the industry today, Dish’s internet TV service, Nutv, plans to launch before the end of the year. Dish Digital, the satellite operator’s online business subsidiary that is going to be in charge of the new service, has filed a number of trademarks for the brand, including one with a logo that could be used at launch.

The Nutv brand has also surfaced in conjunction with one of Dish Digital’s existing apps, suggesting that the app may be used for the new service as well. Dish has secured digital licensing deals with The Walt Disney Company and A+E Networks so far to program the service. It's unclear at this point if it will make more content deals, given that obtaining a low under $30 price point is key to the new offering. A Dish executive recently said that the company plans to target “cord cutters, cord nevers and… cord haters” with the service. Dish chairman Charlie Ergen said during the company's second quarter earnings call in August, "We'd like to get them started on pay-TV. We'd like to get them started on ESPN. My concern is that we're missing a while generation of customers."

Shomi - A New Kind of Video Streaming Service

2014-08-26T18:29:00.000-05:00

Shomi is a future Canadian video streaming service owned jointly by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, tentatively planned to launch in November 2014. According to the companies press release, the new subscription-based service that provides access to shows on-demand, with apps for tablets, phones, web, Xbox 360 and set-top boxes at launch. The shomi service will be available only to Rogers and Shaw Internet or TV subscribers n its beta form, and it’ll be available beginning in November for $8.99 per month price tag, the same, as Netflix.

Shomi’s entire launch document for this service is an obvious attack on Netflix, with the inference being that for Canadians, at least, it’ll provide a much better content library, offer over 11,000 hours of programming. The focus seems to be especially on TV shows, though in addition to 14,000 episodes and TV titles spanning 340 series, shomi will have 1,200 movies. In keeping with Canadian content regulations imposed on broadcasters in the country, 30 percent of the content is Canadian.

As for other advantages, shomi offers trailers to preview its content, as well as “factoids for movie titles,” whatever the hell that means. Surprisingly, given this is coming from cable companies, shomi isn’t being stingy with viewing permissions, allowing up to six profiles per account and simultaneous viewing on two devices as well as their set top boxes. Netflix, which doesn’t make a big deal about shared accounts, still allows simultaneous streaming on only two screens at a time with its basic account. Plus, this will presumably work on user’s existing cable boxes in the country, which could drive adoption based just on convenience.

Nielsen - Live TV Viewing Still Dominates

2014-08-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

No surprise that Nielsen recently reported that live viewing continues to dominate overall TV consumption, but there are pronounced differences between individual markets. Their Local Watch Report released Thursday which focuses on device penetration and consumption habits, found that throughout the U.S. daily live-viewing still heavily out ranks time-shifted viewing for adults 25-54.

Interesting fact from the report reflect that viewers in Pittsburgh watch the most live TV daily, coming in at 5 hours and 19 minutes, while San Francisco watches the least: 3 hours and 27 minutes. Most cities averaged between 27 and 49 minutes of time-shifted viewing daily, and 3 minutes to 15 minutes of OTT viewing. In primetime, the numbers begin to even-out between live-viewing and 7 day time-shifted viewing. Cities including Houston (47% vs. 44%) and Los Angeles (49% vs. 44%) almost split equally. In Dallas, time-shifted viewing is higher, at 47%, than live-viewership, 44%. Pittsburgh continues to prefer live TV, at 68% in-the-moment viewership versus 22% time-shifted viewing.

As smart technology continues to influence how and when viewers watch television, 72% of Americans own a smart phone while 41% owns a tablet. Eighty-two-percent of Orlando residents own a smartphone, the most in the country, while D.C. out-performs in tablet usage with 56% of the nation’s capital residents owning one.

Nielsen has tied this information, along with a case study comparing the media habits of San Franciscans and Cincinnati residents, to the upcoming mid-term election. They believe the localized information will help broadcasters “tailor their messages in just the right way." More: Nielsen.com 08/14/14 - Local Watch: Where You Live and its Impact on Your Choices

Cord Cutting Slowing

2014-08-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

Recent reports state that connected devices have exceeded 1 billion home makes one wonder where the "cord cutters" really are when new data from analysts MoffettNathanson shows that the pay-TV business only lost about 300,000 subscribers in Q2. But that’s basically flat compared to a year ago, and that’s a change from the year-on-year declines of the previous few quarters.
And after factoring in the housing market a key driver for pay TV the research firm concludes that “it appears that cord cutting slowed to an annualized rate of 400k homes, a meaningful deceleration and well below the peak rates of cord cutting seen in 2012.” More: Recode.net 08/07/14 - "What Happened to all the Cord Cutters?"

Connected TV Device Market to Grow 100% by 2017

2014-07-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

If you don't have a streaming media player (we have two and I'm considering a third already!) by now, it's likely you will in the next few years. According to the NPD Group, the number of streaming media devices in the U.S. will reach 204 million with in the next three years, an increase of 100% and a total that will be more than double the number of projected households connected to the Internet.
The connection rate is also projected to increase. While 60% of Internet-capable devices are currently connected, NPD projects that 76% of installed units will be connected by 2017. The evolution of hardware and digital content distribution is constantly changing the TV viewing experience," said Buffone, executive director of NPD Connected Intelligence, “The hardware is able to engage with consumers in ways that it hadn’t before. Over the coming years, the consumer’s preferred device for apps on TV will be shaped by the next generation of video game consoles, Smart TVs, and a new wave of streaming media players.” MORE: RapidTVNews.com 07/23/2014 - Connected TV device market to skyrocket in US or MediaPost 07/22/14 - Connected TV Device Market Set To Explode

Cable Companies High Speed Data Subscribers soon to surpass video customers

2014-07-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

Signaling a major shift in priorities for cable customers, a Moody's Investor Service report says cable operators will, beginning in 2015, start serving more broadband subscribers than video subscribers. The company estimates that subscribers to cable broadband and video services pulled even at about 50 million apiece at the beginning of 2014. As more and more customers consider broadband service an must-have product – a Pew Research Center study showed that 53% of adults said it would be “very hard or impossible” to give up their broadband service while just 35% said the same for TV – Moody’s predicts that cable operators will make it easier to unbundle broadband offerings. MORE: Multichannel News 07/24/14 - Moody’s: Broadband Subs To Surpass Video in 2015

Connected TV Devices Exceed 1 Billion

2014-07-10T18:01:00.000-05:00

New research from Parks Associates and also from Strategy Analyticsputs the number of connected TV devices, which includes set-top boxes, smart televisions, game consoles and more, now exceeds 1 billion installed units, and are on pace to hit the 2 billion mark by 2018. No surprise that Roku is now the most widely used streaming media player in 44 percent of American homes that watch online video through their living room TV.

The studies verify that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of pay-TV subscribers have at least one device connected to their TV, according to Parks, an increase from 53 percent in 2013. Roku devices and Apple TVs account for 72 percent of streaming media device sales in the U.S. in 2013. Up and coming Google’s Android TV/Chromecast and Amazon's new entry, FireTV could both prove to be strong future competitors, the report notes, while also pointing out Apple TV as a "sleeping giant." MORE: 07/10/14 - techcrunch.com - Connected TV Market Crosses 1B Devices As Google Pins Its Hopes On Android TV or ParksAssociates - The Evolving Market for Streaming Media Devices (sub. req.) or 07/09/14 FierceCable - Parks: Roku owns 44% of the U.S. OTT device market

Netflix Maintains Lead over Amazon for Top Movies, TV Shows

2014-07-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson opened the book on his findings of how Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, and Redbox Instant compare in their offerings of top 50 movies available for streaming over the past three years and top 75 TV shows available from the past four years. The report revealed that Netflix continues to outpace Amazon.com’s subscription-video service in terms of content-licensing, delivering substantially more of the top movies and TV shows from the last few years. There’s no question that Netflix, by stocking more hit shows and movies, would to some degree appeal to a wider base of consumers than Amazon’s service. But Netflix hasn’t decisively won the SVOD war: Amazon remains aggressive in looking for exclusive TV licensing deals to expand its 40,000-plus title Prime Instant Video service. More: Deadline 07/03/14 - Amazon Narrows Gap with Netflix in Hit TV Shows but not Movies

Aereo - SCOTUS rules in favor of the Broadcasters

2014-06-25T16:21:00.001-05:00

Aereo - Time to modify the business plan?

After my recent post about Aereo & the NFL, I felt it was worthy of a follow up on today's Supreme Court decision. I've always seen Aereo is an industry disruptor but the question remained, was it legal or were they skirting the law? The verdict is in and the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, has ruled that Aereo's technology is indistinguishable from cable systems and publicly performs copyrighted content and that Aereo violated those copyrights by delivering broadcast programming without permission. Barry Diller, whose IAC/InterActiveCorp was the principal financial backer of Aereo, said in a statement that ruling was not a “big (financial) loss for us,” adding, “but I do believe blocking this technology is a big loss for consumers, and beyond that I only salute Chet Kanojia and his band of Aereo’lers for fighting the good fight.” Stock prices for CBS, 21st Century Fox, Disney and Comcast rose on the news of the ruling. MORE: The Los Angeles Times 06/25/14 -Supreme Court rules against upstart Aereo TV service in copyright case and USA Today 06/25/14 - Supreme Court rules against Aereo in Internet TV fight or The New York Times 06/25/14 - Supreme Court Rules Against Aereo in Broadcasters’ Challenge

Aereo Disrupts NFL's TV Business Model with a favorable Supreme Court Decision

2014-06-19T10:09:00.000-05:00

Aereo, the Barry Diller backed company that I've written about in numerous posts on SMM is certainly a hot topic these days. Since it launched, it has been embroiled in legal battles which have pushed their way through the court system where as early as today the Supreme Court could issue a ruling in the dispute between the broadcast networks and the startup streaming service. Although it more than likely will be some time before the courts ruling may actually come down, the media is a "buzz" about the topic. Yesterday, the Washington Post published an article that claimed that, if Aereo wins, “the foundation of the NFL’s television business could crumble” because “a thriving Aereo could help fans bypass the broadcasters, devaluing their expensive contracts with the NFL.” In my opinion this claim is bias and full of false statements but I am not the final judge that will determine the faith of this industry disrupter. Truth be told, I honestly hope that Aereo if not some spin on it's technology will prevail however, I'm acutely aware of what a big stakes game this is.

The Little Antenna that could
change the broadcasting industry

Read up on it at: The Washington Post - Cecilia Kang's 06/17/14 - How the Supreme Court’s ruling on Aereo could change how we watch football and also review a good contrasting perspective with Chris Morran' 06/18/14 piece on Consumerist - No, A Supreme Court Victory By Aereo Would Not Crush The NFL. I'll be interested to read your feedback as well as watch how this all plays out.