Issue 121  14th July 2017

The real fight in the TV streaming wars is not over you. It’s over your kids.

There is a progressive shift occurring in children's television. The new generation of young viewers from the age of 5 to 15 now spend more time on the internet than they do watching TV on a regular TV set, according to a recent report by Ofcom. This means that young viewers are more likely to watch TV shows and movies on a tablet or smartphone, than on aTV.

For the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO and the BBC capturing this audience will be essential to guarantee the future and prominence of their platforms. As a result each platform is now providing additional funds for kids programming and content. At Rerun, we think kids TV is a key battle ground for content makers and platforms; shows that capture young audiences can help guarantee future nostalgia viewership as audiences age.

Rahul Chopra, Storyful: Cannes 2017 interview

Our Dermot McCormack sat down with Storyful CEO and News Corp's Global Head of Video Rahul Chopra to discuss the future of the video industry, the importance of data in storytelling and of course, how amazing and innovative the startup scene is in Dublin - Woo hoo!

Here are some of the key insights:

• If your business is not 50% video in the next 2 years, you are seriously challenged. Visual storytelling is where content is headed, and also where ad dollars are flowing.
• How do you compete if you’re not Facebook or Google? The pie has gotten a lot smaller for everyone else - but that pie is still billions of dollars.

Disney Invests in 11 tech and media companies for 2017 accelerator program

In its 4th annual incubator program, Disney has announced investment and support for 11 technology and media companies. Disney will invest in a diverse range of companies that are shaping not just future of content , gaming and VR, but companies shaping the wider digital future.

Some of The Disney Accelerator 2017 companies are:

• Ambidio: a company that developed a technology for creating a continuous sound field with a sense of depth and dimension through any device with stereo speakers.
• Samba TV: a data and analytics company that measures real-time viewership data across broadcast, cable TV, over-the-top and digital media.
• ProductionPro: develops a tool for storytellers and creators focused on improving creative collaboration in film, TV, and theater production, by pulling scripts, research, designs, and continuity together to empower creative decision-making

‘Views can happen by accident’: Publishers are thinking more about watch time — and YouTube

Publishers on social platforms are finally realising that video views are not the most important metric (especially when a 'view' is 3 seconds of an auto-playing silent thumbnail). What's really important is watch time, as that signifies content that actually resonated with its audience.

“Views can happen by accident,” said Uyen Tieu, gm of CNN’s Great Big Story, which is averaging seven minutes per session on its mobile app and 35 minutes per session on Apple TV. Similarly, completion rates for Great Big Story on YouTube are between 70 and 80 percent, Tieu said. “That does not come by accident; that’s content that is actually connecting with an audience.”

This is good news for YouTube, as the most popular social platform where users go to engage with video for long amounts of time. Youtube’s algorithm already uses these stats to promote video that will create a ‘satisfying experience’ for the user. As watch time is becoming increasingly more important this will mean a rise in investment for premium, longer form content on social networks that care about engagement.

Jon Skogmo, Jukin Media: Cannes 2017 interview

Our friend Jocelyn from VideoInk found a lovely yacht in Cannes to chat with Jukin Media Founder and CEO Jon Skogmo to talk about the value of user generated content for brands and Jukin's plans for scaling globally.

Here are some of the key insights:

• Brands are finally opening up to UGC because it is authentic and organic and these real moments can't be remanufactured.
• Jukin currently has 4 brands with 60m subscribers and 1.5 billion views per month. Their objective for the next 18 months is to build more IP and scale to 12 brands as well as continue building out a global presence.

Premier League edges closer to pulling live-streaming switch

This article by Digiday citing "sources with knowledge of the matter" states that Premier League bosses are weighing up the pros and cons of live streaming directly to customers.

While the move would certainly be welcomed by fans, the end of the ballooning TV broadcast fees could drastically affect the league itself, especially now that clubs have become accustomed to the revenue. This summer so far sees Premier League clubs paying a £10m-£20m premium on players, as foreign clubs know that the money is there. Of course, it's equally possible that a smart streaming model could see the reverse happen, with the league's revenue increasing further. No doubt that's the only scenario which would see the Premier League pursue live streaming anyway.

In any case, most of the current set of major broadcast deals are set to expire in 2020, so we don't expect anything more than rumours like this for the near future.