Dear TV, Don’t Make The Same Mistakes Digital Did.
When it comes to TV, one thing is clear: the OTT market is exploding. In 2018, OTT services raked in more than $28B in revenue, and that number is expected... Read More
Four Lessons from the Demise of MoviePass, Part 2
In my last article, I described two of the four biggest lessons to be learned from MoviePass’s demise. Here are the final two lessons. Lesson 3: Beware the hidden (or... Read More
Who Won Audiences in the Super Bowl?
The Sleeper Bowl this year didn’t exactly draw a crowd, with one of the smallest audiences in more than a decade. Only 16% of American households watched the Rams vs.... Read More
How Does Digital Compete with TV-Like Numbers?
We may all be addicted to our phones, and we surely have NO IDEA how that is changing our cognitive functions, our relationship to our community, let alone how it... Read More
Jeep, In-Game TV Ads Dominate Super Bowl Social Video
Jeep didn’t have a Super Bowl ad, but social video results show the car brand’s “spot” earned enough impact that it may as well have.... Read More
Streaming Services Came Out to Play During Super Bowl LIII
Competing with TV doesn’t mean streaming services can ignore TV completely (especially when it comes to ads), as the Super Bowl proved again on Sunday.... Read More
From Big Celebs to Mommy Bloggers: How Creators and Brands Worked Together on Social for the Super Bowl
The Big Game has come and gone, and with it another championship for the New England Patriots. Football aside, Super Bowl advertising — both on TV and social media —... Read More
Week In Review: The Rise Of Local Streaming Apps, The Fall Of DirecTV Now Subscriber Numbers
1. The Rise Of Local Streaming Apps It’s been a big week for local broadcast networks and OTT. Sinclair launched STIRR, their new app that combines their local broadcast channels... Read More
How The Great Cord Cutting Myth Gets Spread, Part 2
Another day, another “study” on cord cutting that gets repeated as fact by the tech press. Hat tip to TV Answerman Phillip Swann for bringing this to our attention. This... Read More
Roku’s Extreme Walled Garden Is A Bold But Risky Move
Roku announced an even more extreme version of the so-called “walled garden” today, in a press release that outlined how Roku’s version of Amazon’s Channel Store concept would work. Viewers... Read More
Week In Review: Hulu Raises/Lowers Prices, Viacom Buys Pluto
1.Hulu Raises/Lowers Prices Busy week for the TV industry, made all the more notable by the series of layoffs at digital companies that were once considered threats. Meanwhile, Hulu lowered... Read More
Viacom Building Formidable Ad-Supported Alternative For Hollywood’s Digital Future
With its $340 million acquisition of ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV, Viacom has added another important piece to its transformation as a player in the digital world. Importantly, the company... Read More
Maybe It’s Not The Algorithm
There’s been a lot of talk about how Netflix’s amazingly awesome algorithms were responsible for taking the show You from purgatory on Lifetime and turning it into a streaming hit. ... Read More
Remind Us – Why Does Hulu Exist, Exactly?
Are we all still clear on Hulu’s reason for being? I’m not sure I am anymore. The more streaming services the various media titans roll out or announce for the... Read More
The Ad Champs of the Championship Games
Mama Meme Me This year’s Super Bowl advertisers seem a little slow to the punch compared to years past with only 17 pre-teasers designated through Sunday, down dramatically from years... Read More
WEEK IN REVIEW: Netflix Raises Prices, NBCU Launches An OTT App
1. Netflix Raises Prices Netflix raised prices again this week, taking its most popular package, the one that allows for two simultaneous streams (aka the family package) from $11/month to... Read More
Netflix Turns Up Heat In Online Video’s Shark Pool As Three More Services Jump In
As if the pool of big fish in on-demand video wasn’t already stuffed full, this past week saw three more sharks dive in, just to make it interesting, along with... Read More
Could An Amazon With Sports Be Pay TV’s Waterloo?
For a long time, we’ve been rolling our eyes at the whole cord cutting myth, at the gullibility of mainstream journalists who insist on repeating the canard about the “tidal... Read More
Are We So Sure That Roku, Amazon Fire And Other Sticks Are Long For This TV World?
Have you bought a new TV recently? My family had been seriously overdue for a larger, smarter set, so we recently took advantage of the post holiday sales and snatched... Read More
WEEK IN REVIEW: Amazon Launches Its Own FAST, Hulu, AT&T Get Attributable.
1. Amazon Launches Its Own FAST Happy 2019. While rumors of Amazon launching its own FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV Service) have been swirling about for a few months now,... Read More
Questions (and Opportunities) Around ESPN’s College Football Megacast
ESPN’s latest megacast opened up some questions — and great opportunities — for the network to explore for OTT advertising.... Read More
2018 Advertising Review: Top Brands By Spend, Impressions and More
Before we get too far into 2019, we thought we’d take a look back at the last year in television advertising — based on complete data (vs. the full-year projections... Read More