 Great to see some recovered MBAs are getting out of their own way here, finally modernizing programs to include rapid prototyping!
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 WITH TV CHANNELS NOW OFFERING thousands of apps where consumers can view TV programming, developers will be flocking to the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from Jan. 5-9 to survey the newest devices and features in app development.
WHY THIS MATTERS With TV ratings down, networks need to boost multiplatform consumption by improving apps and digital products. To better engage consumers that frequently have scores of apps on their phones, developers working at programmers and operators say they are focusing on personalization, social media tools, improved TV Everywhere offerings and tools to help with better understanding of how consumers use various devices. “Every platform is slightly different,” says David Wertheimer, president of digital at Fox Broadcasting. “The Xbox viewer watches a different mix than the iOS tablet user. It creates a great opportunity to think about how we can better program, promote and design those products.” That makes tools to understand consumer behavior increasingly important. “Better measurement is at the top of our list as well as improved video content discovery, personalization and the ability to improve engagement by allowing users to interact and share content,” says Tamara Franklin, executive VP, digital, Scripps Networks Interactive. These tools are also crucial for the ongoing attempts to boost digital ad revenues. “Mobile is a big driver for growing consumption of video because everyone has a smartphone and a lot of people have a tablet,” says Colleen Fahey Rush, executive VP, chief research officer, Viacom Media Networks. “But as you’ve seen on the earnings calls this fall, a lot of people are frustrated that Nielsen is not keeping up with measuring how consumers are watching TV programming.” “There really is a need to get a good currency in place,” adds Ashley Still, senior director of product management, Adobe Primetime. She notes that Adobe recently formed an alliance with Nielsen to offer cross-platform measurement. “The intention is to provide publishers with the flexibility to use C3 or dynamic ad insertion or a mix of them,” she says. Beyond the Second Screen In developing new products for digital platforms, some of the hype around second-screen experiences synced to live television has dissipated. “A lot of the attempts have been forced or manufactured, and haven’t really added value in terms of the consumer experience,” says Franklin. But others stress the importance of second-screen efforts, at least for some types of programming, particularly sports and reality. “We haven’t really changed our strategy for second screen,” says Wertheimer. “We continue to believe it is a great place for supporting content in the digital space and continue to invest heavily around our unscripted shows like American Idol that we will be bringing back in a big way in January.” FIVE PRE-CES APP TAKEAWAYS During CES, TV app developers will be paying particularly close attention to these tech trends: The Mobile Hub. Programmers and operators are looking at mobile devices less as a second screen and more as a hub for a much wider array of activities, and are placing more emphasis on smart-phones, which are becoming increasingly important. Personalization. As more content becomes available on apps, personalization tools will play a key role in helping consum ers quickly access the content they want. Social Media. Programmers are finding more sophisticated ways to use social media to boost engagement and drive view-ership in an increasingly competitive landscape. Measurement. With TV viewing on mobile devices still not measured, technologies for tracking that viewing are a top priority. Upgraded TV Everywhere Apps. The industry is making a major push to improve TV Everywhere apps with more live content, easier authentication and other features. —GW Adds Ryan Spoon, senior VP of digital product development at ESPN: “Fantasy football is probably the largest second-screen experience,” and the growing popularity of connected televisions will allow them to further improve. Much of the focus on second-screen continues to revolve around mobile and social media. “Second-screen and social are really growing areas,” says Jonathan Weitz, partner at IBB Consulting, which works with a number of major companies on their apps. “Programmers are making a much bigger effort to integrate social conversations into their apps and to offer shareable content on the second screen that will help activate the first screen so that the mobile app will help drive engagement and tune-in on the TV set.” Social at the Hub Given the widespread availability of mobile devices, a number of companies are placing mobile at the center of their efforts. “I have a sign in my office that says there are 1.4 billion smartphones in the world,” says Josh Cogswell, Viacom senior VP of multiplatform product. “Mobile devices are really at the core of what our consumers and fans are doing. They have really become the digital hub of their lives.” App Developers Are Geting Personal; WILL FOCUS MULTIPLATFORM STRATEGIES ON CHOOSY CONSUMERS12/15/2014  With TV channels now ofering thousands of apps where consumers can view TV programming, developers will be focking to the International CES in Las Vegas from Jan. 5-9 to survey the newest devices and features in app development.
TAKEAWAY With tv ratings down, networks must boost multiplatform usage by improving apps and digital products. To better engage consumers that frequently have scores of apps on their phones, developers working for programmers and operators said they are focusing on personalization, social-media tools, improved TV everywhere oferings and tools to help with better understanding of how consumers use various devices. “Every platform is slightly diferent,” David Wertheimer, president of digital at Fox Broadcasting, said. “The Xbox viewer watches a different mix than the iOS tablet user. It creates a great opportunity to think about how we can better program, promote and design those products.” “Every platform is slightly different. … It creates a great opportunity to think about how we can better program, promote and design those products.” DAVID WERTHEIMER, FOX That makes tools to understand consumer behavior increasingly important. “Better measurement is at the top of our list, as well as improved video-content discovery, personalization and the ability to improve engagement by allowing users to interact and share content,” Tamara Franklin, executive vice president of digital, Scripps Networks Interactive, said. These tools are also crucial for the ongoing attempts to boost digital ad revenues. “Mobile is a big driver for growing consumption of video because everyone has a smartphone and a lot of people have a tablet,” Colleen Fahey Rush, executive vice president and chief research officer, Viacom Media Networks, said. “But as you’ve seen on the earnings calls this fall, a lot of people are frustrated that Nielsen is not keeping up with measuring how consumers are watching TV programming.” Ashley Stull, senior director of product management, Adobe Primetime, added: “There really is a need to get a good currency in place.” Adobe recently formed an alliance with Nielsen to offer cross-platform measurement, she noted. “The intention is to provide publishers with the flexibility to use C3 or dynamic ad insertion or a mix of them.” BEYOND THE SECOND SCREEN In developing new products for digital platforms, some of the hype around second-screen experiences synced to live television has dissipated. “A lot of the attempts have been forced or manufactured, and haven’t really added value in terms of the consumer experience,” Franklin said. But others stress the importance of second-screen efforts, at least for some types of programming, particularly sports and reality. “We haven’t really changed our strategy for second screen,” Wertheimer said. “We continue to believe it is a great place for supporting content in the digital space and continue to invest heavily around our unscripted shows like American Idol that we will be bringing back in a big way in January.” Added Ryan Spoon, senior vice president of digital product development at ESPN: “Fantasy football is probably the largest second-screen experience,” and the growing popularity of connected televisions will allow them to further improve. Much of the focus on second-screen continues to revolve around mobile and social media. “Programmers are making a much bigger efort to integrate social conversations into their apps and to ofer shareable content on the second screen that will help activate the frst screen so that the mobile app will help drive engagement and tune-in on the TV set,” said Jonathan Weitz, partner at IBB Consulting, which works with a number of major companies on their apps. SOCIAL AT THE HUB Given the widespread availability of mobile devices, a number of companies are placing mobile at the center of their eforts. “I have a sign in my ofce that says there are 1.4 billion smartphones in the world,” Josh Cogswell, Viacom senior vice president of multiplatform product, said. “Mobile devices are really at the core of what our consumers and fans are doing. They have really become the digital hub of their lives.”  AFTER A SLUGGISH START, the multichannel TV industry has been aggressively working to improve user adoption of its TV Everywhere apps, with more aggressive marketing campaigns to boost awareness, greatly expanded content, and newer technologies to improve the user experience.
Many of these efforts, which are expected to pick up more speed in 2015, reflect jitters about the future of the multichannel TV industry. With rapidly growing use of video on mobile devices by younger viewers, the research company SNL Kagan is reporting that the number of homes that use over-the-top (OTT) services as their primary way of accessing video has jumped from 2.5 million in 2010 to 6.8 million in 2014. To lure cord cutters back into the fold and keep existing subscribers happy, operators began trialing TV Everywhere (TVE) offerings in 2009, with the idea that they would eventually make all the content in the typical cable, satellite or telco multichannel bouquet available on PCs, smartphones, tablets and other digital devices. WHY THIS MATTERS The industry needs to make significant improvements in TV Everywhere offerings if it hopes to effectively compete with over-the-top services. But problems with the user experience, limited marketing and delays in negotiating programming rights significantly hampered consumer interest. “A year ago, only 20% of people were aware that they had the capabilities of TV Everywhere as part of their cable subscription,” says John Lansing, president and CEO of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM). “So we kicked off a major effort to change that.” What’s In a Name? As programmers and operators worked with CTAM to improve the user experience and marketing for TVE, the industry also made signifcant progress in expanding its offerings. “If you look across the industry, every programmer has really embraced some form of TV Everywhere,” says Matthew Strauss, senior VP/ GM of video services for Comcast Cable. “We now have about 30% penetration of our video base [of subscribers] using TV Everywhere on a monthly basis. The average viewer is spending close to 7 hours a month, which is up 45% from a year ago and is continuing to grow.” High-profle events such as the Olympics and the World Cup have helped, but other usage has been climbing as well. “After the record numbers in June ESPN had with the World Cup, we were wishing things like that would happen more often,” says Ryan Spoon, ESPN senior VP of digital product development. “But we’ve been very pleased to see that we’ve managed to carry those people from June and July into September with football, which was another record month by a significant margin.” Several outside studies detail similar progress. Ad technology provider FreeWheel offers in its latest Video Monetization Report that authenticated ad viewing jumped 368% in the frst half of 2014 compared to 2013. Data from Adobe shows video starts of authenticated content jumped 388% in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier. “Both awareness and usage are increasing,” says Kelash Kumar, group product manager, Adobe Primetime. But much more work remains to be done, particularly in the area of authentication. Josh Cogswell, senior VP of multiplatform product at Viacom, says they hope to see widespread adoption of a system that would allow subscribers to view TV Everywhere content inside their homes without having to log in. “It is so easy to sign into Netflix and Amazon,” he says. “The industry is really doing itself a disservice if we can’t make it just easy to sign into your cable or satellite provider.” |
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