Yuticha

Internet Video comes to your TV

In the two years since it was uploaded to the Web site YouTube, a short video of comedian Judson Laipply performing a series of goofy dances has been watched almost 80-million times.

Exposure like that is a far cry from the days when watching Internet video meant a frustrating combination of grainy images and lengthy download times.

In an attempt to capitalize on the proliferation of both amateur and professional video made specifically for the Web, TiVo Inc. introduced computer software last week that allows people to watch such content on their television sets.

TiVo began selling its boxes in the United States about eight years ago. It changed viewing habits by allowing users to automatically record their favourite programs and watch them whenever they want. Now the company is aggressively chasing what some observers see as a holy grail: bringing the Internet to the television set.

"You look at YouTube and you get 200-million video views a day, if you were to put advertisements next to even a fourth of those, you're talking about 50-million advertisements a day you could be making money from," said Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey.
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TV: Begining of the slide?

Though there have been cries from many experts over the last few years about the imminent death of the 30s TVC, the earliest 'solid' indications of the slide seems to have begun .. thanks to the Writers' Guild Strike in the US.

The fact that there was nothing on TV made viewers look at the web for video content and by the looks of it this 'trial' seems to have worked in favor of the Internet.

Now, the media buyers have begun stating their reservations about 'increasing back' the spends on TV in favor of the Internet.

What's interesting is the fact that this time around, the buyers are eager to find alternatives.

Ad Age reports,

The Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research's fourth biennial TV and Technology survey shows a dramatic loss of confidence in the medium as the industry gears up to explore new ad formats and forms of video commercials.

Indeed, two thirds of the C-level-executive respondents said they are watching the medium closely, up from just half two years ago, and 87% of respondents said they were going to be spending more on web ads in the coming year. The study was conducted in January and is based on a survey of 78 leading advertisers across all major industries and categories.

Sixty-two percent of marketers believe traditional TV ads have become less effective during the last two years.

Reports SFN Blog,

According to Parks Associates, the spending on "new multimedia" platforms will increase to US$12.6 billion over the next five years, which includes broadband multimedia advertising, estimated to be more than $6 billion, and embedded video advertising, which will account for over one-third of the total

This was based on a Media Post report that came out during the WGA strike, which was finally resolved last week. An interesting observation was made by an analyst. Considering that the dispute mainly focused on dividing the spoils from these new ad revenue streams, he warned that "there must be interest alignment among major stakeholders to avoid frictions like the Writers Guild strike that hinder content flow to these new platforms" in the future.

As for India, I believe that this trend is a clear direction for brands targeting the higher SECs to focus on newer media than stick to the oft-beaten 'high-reach' options like mass TV channels and newspapers.

2008: The Year of iPTV?

Things are looking good for IPTV in 2008, according to predictions from BitBand.
The company, which delivers content over IP broadband networks, says emerging markets, user-generated content, and advertising will drive IPTV growth in 2008.

PREDICTIONS

The company said HDTV's popularity among mainstream consumers will increase demand for high-quality viewing.

• Home networking and home servers will deliver content to a variety of personal electronic devices via wired and wireless networks.
• User-generated content will continue to grow in popularity and users will want it incorporated into their traditional television experiences.
• The drive to turn the TV into an Internet-capable device is likely to continue, despite failed attempts so far, and targeted advertising holds potential for revenue and subscriber growth for IPTV.
• On-demand television will grow thanks to new methods for time shifting and increased bandwidth availability in next-generation networks.
• Finally, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will drive adoption of IPTV in China. The government wants the event to draw worldwide attention, while service providers in other countries will want to deliver the events to subscribers in all forms and across all devices, BitBand said.
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The 'Calm Mind' TVC ..

A great ad that I caught on TV after a long time ..the guys at Ogilvy are back to great work on this brand.

What will drive Online video?

That online video will take off is not something many doubt today.

But, the 'why', 'what' and 'when' are questions everyone is looking to be answered. Every bit of insight that emerges on these front can spawn opportunities to develop/package online video products in a more relevant & hence profitable manner.

My two-bit ..

WHY
Convenience.
Time-shifted viewing (watching an show at a time that suits me and not as per the broadcaster's generalised assumption of 'mass viewership') coupled with the facility to pause, resume or even skip section just like one does in a DVD/VCD.

Freedom from 'ad-breaks'.
Contextual or not, the ads that online viewers do not resist are the ones which do not intrude (and hence irritate). Most importantly, online ads co-exist with the content ..and still do not intrude. The choice to pay attention (or for that matter, click) is with the viewer.

WHEN
Contrary to popular perception, studies seem to indicate that online video is viewed most during weekdays between 10AM-5PM; which seems to suggest that online content supplements TV rather than eat too much into it. Infact it could open up opportunities for broadcasters to juggle their content timings in such a manner that they can supplement.

WHAT
What will constitute ideal/optimal video content is something that will go through many iterations - the format, ideal durations etc. But this is one point which will depend on the network infrastructure too ..so it will not be dependent on human factors alone. Initial indicators seem to suggest that what viewers expect from online video (so far) is probably similar to what they are delivered through TV & Cinema.

iPlayer and others in UK

The BBC will launch their long-awaited iPlayer this Friday, which has the potential to change the way television is watched by the masses. Kevin Jarrett examines what the iPlayer is promising, the BBC’s future developments for TV over the internet, and how rival networks are competing for bandwidth.

Good review of the iPlayer (from BBC) and offerings from other players in UK by Ryan Jarrett. He reviews offerings from BBC, iTV, Channel 4, Five and Sky.

Key concluding notes:

The major UK TV networks are making good ground with TV on the net. Of the dedicated applications on offer, Sky’s seem to be the best overall (at the moment) with its clean look, and responsive and intuitive interface.

The range of content across the board is growing, with Channel 4 and the BBC ahead — and as advertising and other revenue streams for internet TV are realized, the content from commercial networks will likely increase in quantity, as market forces demand it.

All of the UK networks employ techniques to prevent non-UK viewers from accessing their Internet TV offerings, such as geo-blocking, where the user’s IP address is used to establish their location.

This is, in-part, a world-wide licensing issue (which in the BBC’s case is made more complicated by its state-funding), but also protects potential revenue from overseas sales.

However, with many popular UK programs appearing illegally online, and the fact that geo-blocking can be circumvented — moving forward, I think we’re likely to see the networks take a more global approach to Internet TV programming, especially with regards to older content.

BitTorrent: Now, a great marketing tool for TV?

From loathing and resisting BitTorrent and the illegal distribution of their  shows to encouraging downloading and leaking pilots, TV studios have a come a long way.

An unusually large number of pre-air TV shows have been appearing on BitTorrent sites months and, in some cases, several months before their scheduled air dates. Many of those leaks appear to be inside jobs, and TV executives are starting to realise that leaking shows to BitTorrent can help promote them.

It seems like TV executives and writers are purposefully leaking their yet-to-air shows to BitTorrent to build up hype and an audience. Further, these audience pass the material (with reviews) to online communities and enable a great viral push ..hopefully transalting to a good 'initial'.
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Now, Measure Audience Viewing Second-by-Second

Viacom is looking seriously at the ways it organizes its commercial breaks, and MTV Networks, its main cable unit, is the first to take concrete steps to do so.

MTV Networks has signed a deal to start using second-by-second audience data from TNS Media Research, which will help executives monitor viewer behavior during specific moments within ad breaks

"There is more than one way to present commercials to an audience," said Colleen Fahey Rush, MTV Networks' exec VP- research. "We're really interested to see if commercial viewing is different in, say, prime time vs. late night, or if ... certain types of commercials at the beginning of a break create a higher-rated break."

Viacom has good reason to explore audience behavior. Many of its channels, which include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Spike and Logo, draw younger viewers, who are notorious for splitting their attention between various media tasks -- TV watching and instant messaging, for example. MTV Networks is also under scrutiny by media buyers, who believe that commercial ratings on its channels are bound to show audience erosion.
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TV: Now, place your ads in Real Time

o It's been long proclaimed that mass media is passive and that only online campaigns provide the opportunity to be truly contextual & interactive.

MTV Networks seems to have taken the first step of making ads on TV contextual and interactive. And, we are not talking about fixing ads of relevant brands during a particular show genre.

MTV Networks now offers the freedom for advertisers to tweak Spots in Real Time... and to choose the approriate moment (in a dynamic show) to place your ad.

Ad Age reports "This week, MTV Networks (including MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land and Spike) becomes the first national network group to partner on a continuing basis with Visible World, a New York direct-response company that allows advertisers to update their campaigns in real time on linear TV and online.

So when the first campaigns from the partnership air in September -- likely during the MTV Video Music Awards -- a marketer such as Subaru can congratulate Beyonce on winning her award for Best Dance Video in the first on-air commercial break following her win."