A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM PREMION

PREMION

Viewers are as Dynamic as the Content they Watch
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The Twitter board is in advanced talks to sell the company to Elon Musk, reports The New York Times. Musk’s offer for the company initially prompted Twitter to enact an anti-takeover measure known as a poison pill, but after Musk presented an updated offer on Thursday that included $46.5 billion in financing from institutions including Morgan Stanley, the board said it was “committed to conducting a careful, comprehensive and deliberate review.” Now, the two sides are talking details, with Bloomberg reporting a deal could be struck as soon as today.

Interactive add-ons, a way to engage users with popups, stickers and other visual elements, are now available globally for in-feed ads on TikTok, “Interactive add-ons drive engagement by catching the attention of audiences in a uniquely innovative and exciting way,” said TikTok in a blog post. “Our research shows that 57% of viewers are more likely to search for brand information online when they connect with businesses on TikTok. Acting as an extension of your creative idea, Interactive Add-Ons offer flexible formats that encourage consumers to join in the fun when they see your ad.”

Instagram is tweaking its ranking algorithm to prioritize the distribution of original content. “This is specifically focused on the idea of originality,” said Instagram head Adam Mosseri. “If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you are resharing something that you found from someone else. We’re going to do more to try and value original content more, particularly compared to reposted content.”

The Google Play Store will block third-party call recording apps starting May 11. The policy is aimed at third-party apps where call recording is taking place without the other user’s knowledge.

Apple is replacing its Fleetsmith device management service with its new Apple Business Service, which has expanded capabilities. Apple, which acquired Fleetsmith in 2020, will fully shut down the service in October.

Attention little princes and princesses: An AR Cinderella Castle mural at Disney World allows visitors at the park to add to the mural by selecting “Mural of Memories” from the home screen, then holding their phone up to Cinderella Castle. The feature uses Snap’s CameraKit, which allows users to see pinned photos in an AR view.

The Media Rating Council is in the process of monitoring the performance of eight major markets for which Nielsen has been accredited for audio measurement. The markets – Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, and Nassau-Suffolk – utilize portable people meter technology. The enhanced monitoring program “involves detailed and frequent monitoring and verification of key PPM panel performance metrics,” said the MRC. “These metrics will be compared against commitments Nielsen has made to MRC as part of a PPM panel improvement program that is designed to improve panel performances in these and other PPM markets.”

Performance marketing Tinuiti struck an agreement with Snap to become a strategic partner in the company’s growing work with independent agencies. Tinuiti will gain early and increased access to Snap Inc. tools, teams, and resources for clients, including early access and testing of new products, exclusive trading agreements, incentives and pricing reductions on new products and account activations, education and training opportunities for Tinuti’s integrated teams. “Brands are increasingly looking to diversify their audience reach and spend across platforms, and Snap has been a critical partner in doing so,” said Obele Brown-West, Tinuiti chief solutions officer. “This Snap partnership ensures we are delivering more first-to-market competitive advantages across our clients’ entire media approach with the freshest levers at their disposal.”

Alphabet subsidiary Intrinsic has agreed to acquire the business of Vicarious, another AI/robotic intelligence company. “We believe that combining our efforts will help us solve industry problems faster and accelerate our shared mission,” wrote Wendy Tan White, Intrinsic CEO, in a blog post. Scott Phoenix, Vicarious CEO, and a team of Vicarious engineers, roboticists and business professionals will be joining the Intrinsic team.

Uberall is partnering with Google to implement the new Recycling Attribute on their Google Business Profile that allows local businesses to promote their recycling-related services and initiatives. “Consumers are increasingly looking to make environmentally conscious choices and location-based businesses are extremely well-positioned to meet these needs, as many brands already offer in-store recycling services,” said Laurence Capdeville, Vice President Customer Success at Uberall. “By activating the Recycling Attribute, businesses can empower consumers to easily find recycling points close to them and, at the same time, enjoy greater visibility and drive more footfall to their stores.”

Fidelity Investments became the first leading brokerage firm to offer an educational metaverse experience with the opening of The Fidelity Stack, built in Decentraland, featuring a multi-level design complete with a lobby, dance floor, and rooftop sky garden for users to explore on foot – or through teleport. In the Invest Quest at The Fidelity Stack, users are challenged to traverse the building learning the basics of ETF investing while gathering “orbs” along the way. “Fidelity is constantly innovating as we re-imagine what it looks like to engage with customers as a trusted financial services company in the future,” said Kathryn Condon, Head of Marketing Channels and Emerging Platforms at Fidelity. “As Web 3.0 takes shape, Fidelity is excited to bring our expertise in financial education to this new virtual space.”

Prime Focus Technologies announced that its Artificial Intelligence platform, CLEAR Vision Cloud, now runs on Amazon Web Services. “CLEAR Vision Cloud’s availability on the scalable and secure AWS offers never-before-seen advantages to media and entertainment businesses storing their content on AWS, as they can now process their content from Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) locations using CLEAR Vision Cloud,” said Muralidhar Sridhar, Vice President, AI/ML and Global Head of Product Management at PFT. “This offers immense business benefits in terms of time, effort, cost savings, and the accuracy of outcomes.”

Good news for gamers: Comcast has announced it is deploying advanced hollowcore fiber to serve as the foundation for its 10G network. Hollowcore fiber is able to achieve much faster speeds and lower latency than traditional fiber optics. The faster speed can be used to double the reach for latency critical applications and speed up the transaction rates by around 47%, according to Comcast. “Hollowcore fiber is a leap forward in how we deliver ultra-fast, ultra-low latency and ultra-reliable services to customers,” said Elad Nafshi, EVP and Chief Network Officer at Comcast Cable. “As we continue to develop and deploy technology to deliver 10G, multigigabit performance to tens of millions of homes, hollowcore fiber will help to ensure that the network powering those experiences is among the most advanced and highest performing in the world.”

AI-powered consumer intelligence technology and insights firm Converseon has launched a suite of subscription based “Decision Intelligence” solutions designed to leverage conversation data to not only predict business outcomes, but to also quantify the likely impact of specific actions before they are taken, at the “speed of social.” Powered by a combination of real time social and conversation data streams, applied AI technologies and business decision simulation tools, the solutions have successfully been in beta for the past year.

OpenVault has been awarded a patent for techniques that enable faster retrieval and processing of data. U.S. Patent No. 11,275,594, “Intelligent data storage and processing using FPGA devices,” is intended to remove bottlenecks that increasingly are occurring as the amount of data moving through systems overwhelms available processing power. “Broadband providers are dealing with technological shifts towards more flexible, but also more complex, networks to stay competitive,” said Joe Lancaster, Chief Strategy Officer for OpenVault. “This technology gives providers instant insights into network health and powers seamless network automation at any scale.”

Dynamic location intelligence Nrby and Service Electric Cable TV & Communications announced that the Nrby location intelligence platform has been deployed in Service Electric systems in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. Service Electric is using Nrby’s Nrby VU business intelligence tools and app-based SmartPin geolocation technology to gain visibility into status and performance of plant assets, and replace paper-based workflows with digital processes.

Technology ecosystem Iteris and Total Traffic & Weather Network, the iHeartMedia-owned provider of traffic, transit and weather information, have expanded their partnership to deliver mobility intelligence solutions to public-sector and commercial enterprise customers throughout the US. As part of the expanded multi-year partnership, TTWN will broaden its coverage of real-time traffic incident data provided to Iteris. TTWN’s traffic incident data will be integrated in Iteris’ ClearMobility Cloud.

Disney and Lumen are teaming to produce standardized configuration metadata for content delivery networks (CDNs). “Hundreds of millions of subscribers already engage with Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and Star+, and as demand increases for our direct-to-consumer platforms, we believe standardization will be a key driver in maintaining our reputation in delivering a high-quality viewing experience for subscribers at scale,” said Michael Fay, VP of software engineering at Disney Streaming.

Thomson Broadcast will acquire GatesAir, provider of radio and TV transmission systems. The transaction is subject to regulatory filings and is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Thomson Broadcast announced in 2019 that it was expanding its focus in the US, anticipating a strong market for the spectrum repack and ATSC 3.0 transmission systems. “GatesAir is already an undisputed leader in the broadcast industry, and our combination with Thomson Broadcast will create a combined company of larger scale even better suited to meet the ever-evolving needs of our customers all over the globe,” said Bruce D. Swail, CEO of GatesAir.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM PREMION

PREMION

Viewers are as Dynamic as the Content they Watch
AUDIENCE FIRST

LEADING THE EVOLUTION
IN LOCAL OTT & CTV ADVERTISING

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ADVERTISING

Xandr unveiled a new standardized data framework that enables customers using Xandr’s buy and sell-side advanced TV platforms, Invest TV and Monetize TV, to seamlessly activate their preferred viewership or engagement data currency for data-driven linear TV campaigns. “Activating these data sets for trial and evaluation, especially as we approach the 2022-23 upfronts, must be made easier,” said Mark Mitchell, VP of business development at Xandr. “Xandr is making investments to power the adoption of new currencies and propel the industry forward.” Xandr has struck deals with Comscore, EDO, Samba TV, TVision, VideoAmp, and 605 to work with Invest TV and Monetize TV.

Imagine Communications announced the addition of SureFire video ad server to its suite of monetization solutions, addressing gaps in the cost, yield, and quality of advertising on digital video streams. “Digital video advertising is growing rapidly, by as much as 50% according to some sources,” said Brad Herman, SVP, Product, at Imagine Communications. “But we don’t think that the monetization is as effective or safe as it has been for linear TV.”

DoubleVerify has earned accreditation by the Media Rating Council for its independent, third-party calculation and reporting of YouTube video viewability for desktop and mobile using Google’s Ads Data Hub. “Marketers place high importance on independent third-party reporting concerning their ad investments,” said George W. Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of the MRC. “This accreditation is a result of MRC auditing at both DoubleVerify, for its calculation and reporting based on YouTube data accessed from Google’s Ads Data Hub, and of Google’s own first-party collection and processing of this data. We congratulate DV for earning this industry recognition for serving a key marketplace need.”

CTV ad platform tvScientific has raised $20 million in Series A funding in a round led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from strategic partners NBCUniversal and Hearst Ventures. “Advertisers have always coveted the reach and engagement of television, but the medium’s immeasurability has made it inaccessible to all but the biggest brands,” said Jason Fairchild, Co-founder and CEO of tvScientific. “We’ve unlocked the awesome power of television for all types of advertisers by simplifying and automating CTV buying and optimization while leveraging massive data to prove the value of TV advertising.”

The first quarter of 2022 has been the best Q1 on record for ad spend, according to Standard Media Index data going back to 2017, rising +13% above 1Q21. Digital has expanded from a 48% share of dollars in January to representing a 59% share of dollars in March. Linear TV spend was flat in Q1, as gains in Broadcast TV (+9%) were unable to curtail reductions across Cable TV (-8%) and other linear channels. OOH had the greatest percentage growth in the quarter. Year-over-year, Entertainment & Media more than doubled (+108%) and Technology surged (+61%), becoming the top two streams of ad revenue for Out-of-Home media.

Ninety-two percent of marketers plan to boost their OOH budget in 2022, according to research from OneScreen.ai conducted by Kickstand Communications. While 98% of survey respondents said they invest in digital advertising, 97% are looking to alternative channels with 67% saying digital returns have diminished even after scaling up programs. Marketers who responded to the survey agreed that OOH placements are essential for reinforcing brand message (93%) and standing apart from competitors (76%). Sixty-one percent of survey respondents say the challenges of competing with massive brands for search position are partly to blame for declining digital ad returns, while 60% say growing consumer digital fatigue and distrust of digital ads are factors. Increased online focus during the COVID-19 pandemic made SEO competition even tougher, cited by 77%. As a result, approximately one-third of marketers are testing OOH placements as an alternative channel to bolster lackluster digital ROI.

ID5, the identity solution provider, announced that it is the first identity provider in the industry to receive certification from Neutronian. “Our certification from Neutronian is a strong, third-party endorsement of our capabilities and further validates our mission to provide an efficient and comprehensive identity solution that supports the entire ecosystem while keeping users’ consent at the forefront,” said Mathieu Roche, Co-founder and CEO, ID5. “Now, we can demonstrate to all industry players that we have a deep commitment to a high-quality, transparent, and privacy-first identity framework.”
 

STREAMING

CNN+ will shut down on April 30, one month after its launch and thirteen days after the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery. “As we become Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN will be strongest as part of WBD’s streaming strategy which envisions news as an important part of a compelling broader offering along with sports, entertainment, and nonfiction content,” said Chris Licht, Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. “We have therefore made the decision to cease operations of CNN+ and focus our investment on CNN’s core news-gathering operations and in further building CNN Digital.” Andrew Morse, EVP, Chief Digital Officer of CNN Worldwide and Head of CNN+, has decided to leave the company after a transition period; Alex MacCallum, CNN Worldwide, Head of Product/General Manager CNN+ will step in to lead CNN Digital.

Disney+ is 30 percent more valuable than the average streaming service, according to Fandom’s new “State of Streaming” report, which notes Disney’s focus on genre fans and programming gives it a strong leg up. Fandom was founded in 2004 by Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley Starling and says it receives more than 300 million unique visitors per month. Conducted in January, the streaming study took the temperature of 5,500 global Fandom users.
Among other key takeaways:
* 61 percent of consumers believe their streaming services are too expensive
* 32 percent of fans are looking for bundles with gaming subscriptions services
* 74 percent of consumers are willing to wait until they can see the movie for free as part of one of their subscription plans
* 45 percent claim streaming services that establish partnerships, ie, offering packages with food delivery services, would enhance their viewing experience and drive loyalty

Netflix stock took a nosedive after the streamer reported its first subscriber loss in a decade. The subscriber tally fell to 221.64 million globally, down 200,000 from the end of Q4 2021, an unexpected report. Netflix also fell short of revenue predictions, reporting $7.868 billion, up less than 10 percent from a year ago, with earnings per share falling 6 percent from a year ago to $3.53. “Our revenue growth has slowed considerably as our results and forecast below show,” Netflix wrote in its quarterly letter to shareholders. “Streaming is winning over linear, as we predicted, and Netflix titles are very popular globally. However, our relatively high household penetration—when including the large number of households sharing accounts—combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds.”

Video solutions company Wowza Media Systems has introduced Wowza Video, an integrated video platform for building business-critical applications. The solution powers live streaming and video on demand for organizations looking to enhance their products and services with video. Wowza Video delivers a single, seamless platform with a full suite of new and enhanced functionality. “The release of Wowza Video exemplifies our transformation from self-service streaming components to full-service video solutions,” said David Stubenvoll, co-founder and CEO of Wowza. “We’ve always been an innovator in video and this investment into cloud-based SaaS technology was driven by a commitment to being the partner organizations scale with. For that reason, the new functionality released today was directly informed by customer feedback.”

VIZIO has expanded its slate of on demand entertainment available on WatchFree+ to include TV shows and movies from more than 17 studios, including Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution (“Need for Speed”); Sony Pictures (“Death at a Funeral,” “Guess Who”); and Warner Bros. (“Gossip,” “Pay it Forward,” “Knockaround Guys,” “Veronica Mars”).

TV One Networks’ Cleo TV is now available in fuboTV’s “Pro” package. “The ability to access Cleo TV on the fuboTV platform continues to position the channel as a go-to destination for diverse viewers to watch programs that represent their cultures – both in front of and behind the cameras,” said Michelle L. Rice, President of TV One and CLEO TV.
 

Cynopsis Team