July 08, 2021 GLOBAL NEWS

July 08, 2021

GLOBAL NEWS

Roku Claims Viewership Success With Quibi-Acquired ‘Originals’ 06/21/2021 (mediapost.com)
A record number of accounts streamed The Roku Channel in the two weeks following the launch of Roku Originals, according to Roku, which did not release specific numbers. The free channel launched its first “originals” — 30 of the 75 original programs it acquired in January from the now-defunct short-form video streamer Quibi for $100 million — on May 20.
Note: Ex-Quibi shows are also getting numerous and positive reviews now that they are on Roku.

Why Did Mobile Usage Grow During Last Year’s Lockdown? 06/17/2021 (mediapost.com)
Mobile usage keeps ticking up, now representing 32% of our total daily media time — this in the wake of all video streaming and other media gains in 2020. Should we be surprised? Last year, time with mobile grew 14%, to average 4 hours/16 minutes of daily use versus 2019. That growth rate was almost double that of 2019 over 2018. EMarketer projects that by the end of 2023, the number will grow to 4 hours/35 minutes — comprising a 35% share of all daily media time.

Roku’s content budget will top $1B next year: report | FierceVideo
Roku plans to spend more than $1 billion on content in 2022. That’s still well behind the $17 billion that streaming giant Netflix intends to spend this year but it demonstrates how serious Roku is in building the audience for the Roku Channel, its free, ad-supported streaming service.

India’s SonyLIV Sets Global Expansion Plans With 40 Strong Slate – Variety
In the last four weeks, the service has been given a soft launch across 28 global territories including the European Union, U.K., the Middle East and North Africa, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S. SonyLIV was launched on Sling TV.

Streaming Services Per User Fall – The Hollywood Reporter
“In the past, many have posited an ultimate limit to the number of services a consumer will be able to manage,” Omdia highlighted. “With U.S. growth stumbling, many will be asking if seven is the new ceiling for video streaming video services (pay and free).”

AVOD consumption down 10% in less than six months in US – Digital TV Europe
“After the 2020 explosion of VOD growth, we’re seeing a cooling of the market, partially driven by viewing habits normalising, and industry consolidation, but also from a wealth of new SVOD and studio services”

US adults will consume almost as much media in 2021, but TV viewing will backslide – Insider Intelligence Trends, Forecasts & Statistics (emarketer.com)
Very informative infographic about recent media consumption evolution in the US
Global Streaming Content Spending Leapt 16% to $220B+ In 2020, Disney Led At $28.6B 06/29/2021 (mediapost.com)

The combined $76.3 billion content spend of the 3 top four U.S.-headquartered entities nearly equals the entire worldwide spending outside of North America — at $77.3 billion, the report points out.

How Much Money YouTube Creators Earn: Real Examples (businessinsider.com)
When it comes to a viral video, how much money a YouTube creator makes can vary wildly. We spoke with half a dozen creators who broke down how much they’d made on videos with 1 million views, and their answers ranged from about $3,400 to $40,000, depending on the type of content and viewer demographics.

Spanish surprise for Netflix, HBO and YouTube (broadbandtvnews.com)
Foreign audiovisual services such as Netflix, HBO and YouTube face the prospect of having to allocate 1.5% of their income in Spain to help fund the public broadcaster RTVE.

Russia preparing “sensational” new OTT legislation (broadbandtvnews.com)
Foreign OTT services operating in Russia are soon likely to find themselves in a very different regulatory environment than at present.

WEB SERIES TO WATCH
Two documentaries produced the same year in Brazil. Both are about women empowerment, but with two different angles and style. They have English subtitles and quite powerful.

Nova Redencao
: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9T90yDNdxIzFuM6FTsZ9NHxZKUeK0vIO

Atunko Ilu Oba de Min
The channel is a mess with episodes everywhere.
Start with this one and explore the channel if you like it.

June 14, 2021 WEB SERIES WORLD CUP NEWS

June 14, 2021

WEB SERIES WORLD CUP NEWS

London Short Series Festival is officially canceled.

The 7th edition of the Web Series world cup has a circuit of 22 confirmed festivals so far.

The two first stages (DC Webfest and Die Seriale) are complete.
DC Webfest selection & winners : https://dcwebfest.org/official-selections
Die Seriale selection : https://die-seriale.de/official-selection-2021/

GLOBAL NEWS

Report: Social Video Generates 70% As Much Reach As Linear TV, Fills In Demo ‘Gaps’ 06/04/2021 (mediapost.com)
For most traditional linear TV companies, social video generates about 70% as much reach as linear TV — and for Disney, the reach is nearly the same. The 18-to-34 age segment generates more than half of social video consumption, versus just 10% of linear TV consumption. Those 55 and older now make up more than 60% of linear TV’s audience, but just 13% of social video’s audience.

ShortsTV Teams With SeriesFest To Present ‘Best of SeriesFest’ | Broadcasting+Cable (nexttv.com)
ShortsTV, a worldwide channel dedicated to short films, said it made a deal with SeriesFest to present “Best of SeriesFest,” which will curate five award-winning pilots.

1 Question Netflix Has to Answer | The Motley Fool
investors are wondering, “How will Netflix continue to add subscribers?”

Convergence Says OTT Revenue Rose 35% in 2020, Linear TV Revenue Fell 6% | Multichannel News (nexttv.com)
Revenue from over-the-top streaming TV providers like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max rose 35% to $29.6 billion in 2020, and could double to nearly $60 billion by 2023. At the same time, linear revenue from cable, telco TV and satellite TV dipped 6% to $94.7 billion

Netflix Launches E-commerce Platform, Netflix.shop | Next TV
It makes sense, considering Disney Consumer Products generated around $16.5 billion in revenue in 2020 selling things like Baby Yoda dolls–a down year for the division, with outlets like theme parks shuttered.
Is Android TV Growing Much Faster Than Roku and Amazon Fire TV? | Next TV
According to data revealed by the Google Play Store, the YouTube app for Android TV has now been downloaded more than 100 million times. That’s double the 50 million Google reported in early June 2020.

Buoyed by Pandemic Boom, Russian VODs Stake Claims to Crowded Market – Variety
According to TMT Consulting, the Russian VOD market grew by 66% in 2020 to reach a value of 27.8 billion rubles ($384 million), with revenue from subscriptions rising by 87%. This comes as a growing number of media holdings, telecoms, and financial giants enter the streaming fray.

Instagram Unravels The Mysteries Of How Its Algorithms Work 06/09/2021 (mediapost.com)
A blog post explains how content in a variety of Instagram platforms is ranked. In Explore, for example, the most important signals are information about the post, history of interacting with the person who posted, activity, and information about the person who posted. In Reels, it’s all about the person’s activity, history of interacting with the person who posts, and information about the reel.

US adults will consume almost as much media in 2021, but TV viewing will backslide – Insider Intelligence Trends, Forecasts & Statistics (emarketer.com)
Last year, the average US adult spent more time per day with most media formats and devices, including TV. Although adults will spend nearly as much time with media this year, their TV viewing time will drop below pre-pandemic levels.

WEB SERIES TO WATCH
After the two first stages of the 2021 WSWC, the Australian web series “Love, guns and Level ups” is leading the ranking. Here is the link to the episodes playlist

late Jan 2021

Shift from cable TV to cheaper streaming continues

More than a quarter of Americans plan to cut out cable in 2021, according to Digital TV Europe. The greater affordability of streaming services is regarded as a significant factor driving the trend. Over 50 per cent of consumers said that they would not be willing to spend over US$20 in total per month on streaming services. Viewers were more than five times more likely to prefer free or low-cost streaming TV on advertiser-supported (AVOD) services.

Older Americans are increasingly cutting the cord | FierceVideo

The 60+ age cohort is showing steady meaningful increases in OTT-only subscriptions, reports Fierce Video. The age group represents 17 per cent of all OTT-only subscribers, but represents almost a third (28 per cent) of the US adult population.

OTT-only subscription adoption has moderated across the 18-29 age cohorts over the past year, the research firm said. The survey claims 62 per cent of Apple TV+ subscribers are on a free trial as Apple builds its content catalog – 9to5Mac

Potential Apple TV+ subscribers on free trials are reportedly ambivalent about the streaming service offered by the world’s largest consumer technology, and most valuable company, according to 9to5Mac. Some 29 per cent of those Apple TV+ users said they would not choose to continue their subscriptions after the free trial ended; 30 per cent said they would; while the remaining are undecided about paying US$5 per month for Apple TV+.

American adults digital media up an hour on average in 2020

Among the largest SVODs and AVODs, Netflix’s average time rose from 26 to 31 minutes; YouTube’s was up from 25 to 27 minutes; Hulu’s from 13 to 17 minutes; and Amazon Prime Video’s from 7 to 9 minutes, reports mediapost.com.

YouTube is predominantly an AVOD, but has been trying to build a SVOD arm, associated with YouTube TV, for many years.  Despite the rise in paid subscriptions, consumers are also increasingly turning to free AVOD services for viewing.

OTT market nascent in Africa

The market is set for an explosion of growth, with revenues increasing over US$1 billion from 2020, reports Digital TV Europe.  The continent’s collective OTT revenues were just US$392 million at the end of 2020.

More than a quarter of Americans plan to cut out cable in 2021, according to Digital TV Europe.

The greater affordability of streaming services is a significant factor driving the trend. Over 50 per cent of consumers said that they would not spend over US$20 per month on streaming services. Viewers were more than five times more likely to prefer free or low-cost streaming TV on advertiser-supported (AVOD) services.

In the news | 27 January 2021

Quibi wind-up continues

Quibi, which raised $1.75 billion in venture investment, is expected to return about $350 million to investors. Quibi sold many of its original shows to Roku, which developed digital media players with Netflix, for what is believed to be less than $100 million.

The series acquired by Roku will not be aided by the innovative Turnstyle technology which switches from portrait to landscape viewing, depending upon how the smartphone is held. The Turnstyle technology is reportedly subject to legal dispute.

Fragmentation to standalone streaming properties continues

African-American TV network Revolt joined the streaming push by TV conglomerates, Discovery, NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia. Revolt plans to launch a free, ad-supported direct-to-consumer streaming app on connected TV platforms, including those of Apple and Roku. The shift beyond traditional TV is aimed at reducing its reliance on pay-TV providers, the businesses of which face uncertainty as the pay-TV subscriber base shrinks, digiday reported.

Revolt’s linear TV channel launched in October 2013 as a music-oriented network, but since the killing of George Floyd, has pivoted to social justice in its editorial strategy.

Motley Fool backs Netflix investment

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) spent around $15 billion on content in 2019, with the bulk of it on original programs. Netflix has been spending more than the online video streaming pioneer earned over the past few years. While the company needs to spend up front during the content creation process, in the long run, creating its own content is less expensive, as the company works directly with the creators and saves on overhead.

Netflix mainly owns the rights to the content produced. However, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Disney (NYSE: DIS) now pose a serious challenge. Motley Fool, reporting on the NASDAQ, asserts Netflix’s big and growing subscriber base should continue to help it in improving revenues as well as margins.

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In the news 25 Nov, 2020

YouTube
YouTube TV, Google’s live streaming TV service, finished the third quarter with over 3 million subscribers. The new total suggests that YouTube TV added 500,000 subscribers during the quarter, Fierce Video reports.

Quibi
Quibi is an expensive outlier, not the norm, according to research by Parks Associates. Over-the-top video services in the U.S. now number nearly 300, with those platforms shuttering actually declining.

The narrative for why Quibi failed from founder Jeffrey Katzenberg was that the shortform platform was designed for an on-the-go mobile market, which plummeted during pandemic characterized by shelter-in-place at home. Indeed, Quibi launched on the back of a robust national advertising campaign, including a multi-million-dollar Super Bowl commercial, and record-high audience levels for streaming video, Next TV reports.

Streaming Wars
Major subscription VOD services now number seven, counting the rebranding of ViacomCBS’s CBS All Access into Paramount+ early next year. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu represent the established streamers with healthy track records and steady growth. Disney+, which launched in November 2019, leads four newcomers, Apple TV+, HBO Max, NBCUniversal’s Peacock and soon Paramount+, all contending for a share of the attention and revenue from the streaming wars. Source: Media Play News.

Word-of-mouth still rules
Word-of-mouth and advertising dominate the mechanisms used to attract and retain the attention of streaming viewers to shows, Media Play News reports. When asked how they first found out about their favorite online show, the largest percentage of respondents, 33 per cent, said they heard through word-of-mouth. For favorites watched through pay-TV, advertising was the top discovery source at 30 per cent.

Physical formats continue sharp decline
Streaming is becoming so dominant a viewing mechanism that it has undermined the disc business. Disc sales declined 34.3% in the quarter to $434 million, while DVD and Blu-ray rentals fell 34.4% to $225 million, Next TV reports.

 

 

In the news (25 October)

#hulu #disney
Disney has apparently scaled back its plans for Hulu to avoid raising the value of the company and incurring a larger buyout payment to Comcast.
https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/disney-sandbags-hulu-s-global-hopes-to-avoid-big-comcast-bill-report

#algorithms
https://thenextweb.com/syndication/2020/10/17/you-influence-recommendation-algorithms-just-as-much-as-they-influence-you-heres-how/

#hbomax #netflix
Reelgood evaluated its 2 million users’ activity and determined the top five SVoD platforms for the third quarter of 2020.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2020/10/16/yes-netflix-is-the-1-streaming-platform-but-that-is-changing-quickly-thanks-to-this-new-player/

#video
YouTube is the top platform for user generated content, with 50% of those surveyed using it, followed by 22% for Facebook. TikTok was preferred by 13% of viewers 18 to 25 years old, but just 8% overall.
https://www.nexttv.com/news/viewers-streaming-more-user-generated-content-bingeing

#Avod
Boosted by cord-cutting and the growth of premium video streaming, advertising-supported video-on-demand networks (AVOD) are estimated to climb 32% to $898 million in advertising revenues — largely attributable to Hulu, with growth of 15% to $592 million, and Roku, expected to rise 40% to $138 million in the period.
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/356966/tv-networks-cut-losses-down-6-in-q3-avod-to-sur.html

#marketing
Sharply higher overall TV and media marketing spend for premium streaming video services shows Amazon Prime Video placing the most TV commercials of all platforms in the first half of the year — $169.8 million, according to eMarketer. Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+ were right behind Prime Video at $144.6 million, $135.3 million and $104.7 million, respectively. By contrast, Quibi — which just pulled the plug on its operations, was sharply lower — at $40.8 million.
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/357094/amazon-prime-video-is-h1-top-streamer-marketer-at.html

#quibi
https://www.nexttv.com/news/quibi-lament-how-did-jeffrey-katzenberg-not-succeed-with-record-high-pandemic-audience-levels-and-dollar18-billion