Issue 69  8th July 2016

Exploring the spectrum of automation in programmatic video

This thought provoking article serves as the backdrop to a much further reaching whitepaper which discusses programmatic video in terms of advertising: what that meant in the past, what it means now, and where it's headed.

Both the article and whitepaper were written by the IAB, a research organisation comprised of over 650 media and technology companies.

"'There is nothing so stable as change.' In the world of advertising, change has certainly been a constant, especially in the realm of programmatic, where evolution and complexity seem to go hand in hand..."

Comcast will let customers get Netflix on its set-top box (which is a very big deal)

It has not been the best of relationships to date, but now it seems both Netflix and Comcast are ready to put aside their differences having agreed to a deal that will see Netflix available on Comcast’s X1 box.

Netflix has made other such deals with Roku and Apple TV, but this would be the largest and most significant to date. Why? Well, Netflix provides a subscription package and content that effectively competes with Comcast’s own. But Comcast is one of the main broadband providers that Netflix depends upon for distribution.

But, with Netflix concerned about throttling and Comcast concerned about FCC attempts to limit cable providers' control of set-top boxes, it’s perhaps a good time for them to play nice with each other.

From 360-degree to Snapchat: How Huffington Post UK is using video

“Probably the biggest challenge we and the industry face is developing journalists who can write great stories into video producers” - Stephen Hull, editor-in-chief

Like most publishers, Huffington Post UK is seeing explosive growth in video. Since the start of the year it has built up a seven-person video team who are already averaging 70 million views a month on Facebook alone. It's also on Snapchat and experimenting with VR and 360 video.

“We owe it to readers to be publishing in all these different ways.”

Apple patents technology to disable iPhones from taking videos at concerts

It's probably no surprise that as soon as video becomes pervasive, we see attempts to curtail or control video recording. Artists have already complained about the invasion of smartphone video recordings that interfere with their performances. This latest news sees Apple receiving a patent to enable video disabling on smartphones using infrared signals.

This makes sense for places like museums, or for private property, but it could also be used to interfere with ordinary people's attempts to record and share video. There's no word yet on how Apple plans to use it and who it will be made available to.

Insights: four sales later, is the ‘For Sale’ sign down at AwesomenessTV?

In its four year history AwesomenessTV has been sold four times, to some of the world’s biggest media companies. Here AwesomenessTV co-founder Brian Robbins suggests that the multiple sales have only helped strengthen the company and that AwesomenessTV has retained its independence, despite fears of over-valuation and the constant change of ownership.

Among Robbins’ claims are:

• AwesomenessTV never had ambitions to be an MCN
• It’s focused on brand loyalty
• Like the early Studio System, it’s building stars and influencers as marketing machines.

Robbins pulls out his smartphone and, waving it around, says, “This…has changed everything.”