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The Frenemy Report: Stream On

Annie Edwards

If last week was Shark Week, this is Stream Week. GenZTV and TV really are continuing to look like one in the same. Check out all of this living room movement:

Of note: so many streaming news services, and the flip-flop of disruptors like Netflix and Cheddar heading to traditional TV.Yes, this all sounds like a streaming overload. It just might be. But with the depart of go90, there's a bit of white room. Good timing for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s NewTV to raise $1 billion. And for AT&T to lean into content while Verizon's feels out 5G instead. And what about go90's content creators? Being single ain't so bad-- now Oath's RYOT is teaming up with Vice for documentaries that aren't platform-exclusive.Viacom continues its foray into the youth demo with its acquisition of Awesomeness TV and saying 'hey," literally, to new ways to converse with Gen Z -- her name's Alexa, and for the first time she's accepting TV award show votes (for the MTV Music Video Awards).And ICYMI, anything -- especially burritos and/or a TV network investing in social good -- is better than Alex Jones. U.K. Report Calls for More Oversight of Tech Companies Such as Facebook [WSJ]The report warns of a ‘democratic crisis’ being created by the spread of misinformation.Facebook Updates Its Ad Measurement Arsenal With New And Revised Video Metrics [AdExchanger]Facebook is introducing a metric that separates video plays from ad impressions. Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify are already in place to measure video plays, with a solution from Moat coming soon.Vine Community Is The 6-Second Ad Creative Answer ‘Facebook Stories’ Needs [TVREV]It’s worth noting that while Facebook adopting unskippable Stories ads is up for debate, Sheryl Sandberg confirmed this week the company is working with some of its advertisers to develop video ads as short as 6 seconds.When Is a Burrito More Than Just a Burrito? When It's a Lifestyle [New York Times]Now, all kinds of companies are trying the strategy of using emotion and “shared values” to build relationships with consumers — and to sell them more stuff.Viacom announces it's buying Awesomeness [CNBC]"With a network of more than 158 million subscribers, the addition of Awesomeness will strengthen Viacom's dominance among coveted youth audiences and accelerate the company's push to produce original premium digital programming," Viacom said in a statement.The Hidden Language of Hands Videos [New York Times]Hey: Before this was an episode of “Internetting,” it was an article in The New York Times. I’m indebted to Mr. Loitsch, a producer for Tasty, and Andrew Gauthier, BuzzFeed’s head of video, for speaking to me about how they work with their hands, and to Tubular Labs for providing stats on hands-only videos. Also to James Leo Cahill, a cinema studies professor at the University of Toronto, who put all this hand business in world-historical context: “We’ve seen a re-enchantment of the hand,” he told me. “It’s finally getting its due as an onscreen organ.”Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Netflix-meets-YouTube video service raises $1 billion [Fast Co]The latest investment round, led by media companies like Warner Bros. and Disney, gets NewTV closer to the starting gate.Cheddar, a TV Disruptor, Launches a Traditional Cable Channel [Wall Street Journal]The company behind a financial news-focused streaming network for millennials is cutting deals with small cable operatorsBeyond YouTube and Facebook, CollegeHumor pursues over-the-top distribution [Digiday]CollegeHumor Media, which includes CollegeHumor and other channels including Dorkly, generated 102 million video views on YouTube and 119 million video views on Facebook in June, according to Tubular Labs. Growing consumer adoption of OTT devices has driven other publishers to chase distribution on these screens. Condé Nast Entertainment is launching streaming channels for some of its publishing properties, starting with Wired.Why Tiger Woods, Blanca, Elektra and James Graham Are TV’s Social Media MVPs of the Week [The Wrap]The Wrap has partnered with Canvs, the emotion measurement AI company, for a weekly look at some of the characters and personalities that have TV viewers the most worked up on social media. The final round of the 2018 Open Championship on NBC generated 29,926 Emotional Reactions (ERs) with Tiger Woods prompting much of the emotional conversation. Although he didn’t end up winning (Italian Francesco Molinari took first place), discussion heated up around Woods especially during his brief lead. Many fans declared that he is officially back and they can’t wait to see him play again.Facebook launches the group watching feature Netflix needs to add [The Verge]Their streams will be synced so they can comment and react while the host adds videos to the watch queue and controls playback.YouTube Premium Cracks Open Its Paywall [MediaPost]Daniels said that the premium, paid nature of the service means that consumers increasingly expect longer-form content, so going forward more YouTube originals will be 20 minutes or longer in length.Streaming TV services hope that better ad targeting will lead to profits [Digiday]YouTube TV, meanwhile, will package its TV inventory inside the top tier in Google Preferred, which includes the top 5 percent of channels on regular YouTube.YouTube plans original programming in India, Japan and other markets [CNBC]It will be produced in local languages and subtitled or dubbed for other markets.Twitter Names New Heads of U.S. News, Sports Content Partnerships [Variety]With the reorg, global video-partnerships head Todd Swidler and global head of news Peter Greenberger left Twitter. Laura Froelich — formerly global director of sports content partnerships — was moved into the new role of head of U.S. partnerships, while David Grossman, formerly Twitter’s global head of entertainment, is now head of U.S. entertainment (reporting to Froelich).Snapchat 'Storytellers' finally pairs creators with advertisers [TechCrunch]Today Snap Inc. launches its “Snapchat Storytellers” pilot program that will introduce brands to five of the app’s most popular content makers, including Mplatco, Cyrene Q and Shonduras.AT&T Proclaims Itself a ‘Modern Media Company’ as Verizon Retreats From Content [Adweek]Verizon is focused on the opportunities 5G will bring in the form of increased access, internet-of-things services and wireless services to fixed locations like homes and offices. Dinged by the recent failure of its Go90 video platform, Verizon is sticking to content partnerships with other companies for now—although it did attempt to dispel rumors about a potential spinoff of Oath.Influencers and Consumer Trust on Social Media [Adotas]Study conducted by Fullscreen and Shareablee. More than one-third of those engaging with Influencers trust what an Influencer says about the brand more so than what the brand says about itself.Facebook's Next Privacy Challenge: Less Data to Target Ads [WSJ]Q&A: TBS/TNT CMO Michael Engleman on Doing Good And Well With ‘The Last O.G.’ [TVREV]Refinery29 makes first foray into long-form feature films [Axios]RYOT Partners With Vice to Fund Documentary Film [Variety]Yahoo Finance launching live video streaming network this year [Axios] Vizio launches its own streaming service powered by Pluto TV [TechCrunch]Walmart Explores Its Own Streaming Service [WSJ]Discovery may launch its own streaming service, too [Tech Crunch]YouTube Premium’s Fall Slate To Feature Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Kirsten Dunst [Tubefilter]Facebook & YouTube Affording Growth Of Alex Jones’ Media Empire [TVREV]CBS Announces Plans For 24/7 Streaming Local News Services, Launching First In New York [Tubefilter]NBC News Unveils Some of Its Streaming-Video Plans and Hosts [Variety]Snapchat Sets New Partnerships With NFL And NBC For Premier League [Deadline]Netflix cuts first original series syndication deal to cable TV - could more follow? [SYFY Wire]Amazon Orders ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ Series Adaptation With Reese Witherspoon Producing [Variety]‘Queen America’: Judith Light To Recur In Facebook Watch Series [Deadline]Snapchat quietly launched sticker packs to win over creators [Digiday]You Can Now Use Alexa to Vote for the MTV Video Music Awards [Adweek]