Happy Friday! Welcome to Issue 87 of Rerun by Axonista!
And what a week it was! - We're all looking forward to a relaxing weekend, and, to make yours a little bit more special, we've put together a collection of our favourite stories from this week in TV.
Our Top Pick this week is the spectacular Alibaba's 11.11 Countdown Gala Celebration in which interactive video was used to shift $US21 billion worth of sales by 40,000 merchants in just 24 hours to an audience of approximately 150m people in China! Just mind boggling!
We look at the future of 5G, the past and future of VR, how publishers are using and abusing Facebook Live, and we have a heartwarming personal VR experience specially created for a WW2 war veteran.
"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen
Top Pick
Alibaba's 11.11 Countdown Gala is the future of TV
In what is undoubtedly the biggest interactive TV production ever, an estimated 150m viewers were watching Alibaba's 11.11 Countdown Gala Celebration. It kicks off a yearly Chinese shopping event bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, with $US21 billion worth of sales by 40,000 merchants in just 24 hours. While most viewers were watching on TV or streaming online, it was the mobile stream that really offered a glimpse at the future of TV.
Viewers were able to win clothing worn by the stars on their screens, vote to direct how the show plays out and collect âred packets,â a traditional Chinese way of giving away moneyâall via their smartphones while they watched. Most importantly for Alibaba, they could also buy practically everything that came on screen!
Tech in Asia have published this live blog with plenty of screenshots, well worth checking out (don't let their headline fool you).
Features
Does the future of 5G need to incorporate broadcast capabilities?
Video is now more than TV and film, it includes social media, live sports and ads. With the breath of such content and emerging video experiences like 360, more and more strain is being placed on current 4G networks. With consumers demanding higher quality, fewer delays and no buffer screens, it's clear 5G will need to bridge the gap between these needs and current 4G shortcomings. 5G, as Adrian Pennington investigates, will have the power to deliver video experiences on mobile like never before.
The broad outlines for 5G have been agreed by organisations like the EU 5G Public Private Partnership, initiated by the European Commission in consultation with researchers and service providers. The initial specifications include things like 'regular mobile data speeds surpassing 1Gbps, peaks of 10Gbps and a latency below 1 millisecond'.
The likes of Vodafone, Nokia, and Telefonica plan to begin large scale tests of 5G by 2018 with a launch to occur in at least one EU city by 2020. BT in the UK with Nokia plan to jointly develop 5G standards and equipment.
Get ready. 5G, with its superior ability to deliver video is on the way.
Want to know what VR might become? Look to the past.
Lately, weâve all been learning about the future of VR, but what about itâs past? Well, New York Times feature writer Steven Johnson has traced VRâs origins right back to the work of illusion artists as early as the 18th century.
Johnson identifies Irish painter Robert Barkerâs innovative panoramic painting of Edinburgh, shown on a cylindrical surface known as âThe Panoramaâ in 1792, as one of the first key developments. Later, in 1801, Sir David Brewsterâs Phantasmagoria, a West End show that ârelied heavily on the ghostly magic-lantern projectionsâ took illusionary art to the next level. Dubbed the âFather of modern experimental opticsâ, Brewster also invented the kaleidoscope, which Johnson calls âthe PlayStation of the Georgian era.â
Perhaps most pertinently, Johnson draws parallels between the stereoscope and VR headsets: both play optical tricks on the brain with using unique, three dimensional content.
Future of TV
Facebook Live is becoming a shitstorm of epic proportions
Some interesting uses of Facebook Live streaming this year include - Mr Robot's Season 2 premiere, and Buzzfeed's exploding watermelon.
As with any experimentation phase of a new medium, this is accompanied by those trying to hack the system for better stats.
As this post from TNW points out,
Facebook makes the rules. The rules currently favor those âcreatingâ original content, and especially those utilizing live video.
Some interesting Facebook Live hacks we've seen include pre-recorded 'live' video, still images with fake play buttons designed to trick, and live poll counters which ask people to vote with their hearts or their thumbs...
Facebook wants to start selling TV ads â on TVs â via Apple TV and Roku boxes
From next week, Facebook will start an experiment using its Audience Network ad platform to sell super targeted ads on OTT platforms. This has the potential to be huge and places Facebook firmly at the heart of the future TV advertising market.
Using IP addresses, Facebook will be able to tell that the Apple TV in your basement is used by the same person â or at least the same family â that logs into Facebook accounts at the same place, and will use that data to deliver relevant ads.
Samsung patent suggests roll-up TVs are on the cards
A recent patent filing from Samsung suggests the technology might be closer than you think.
The patent, which has been filed with both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Korean Intellectual Property Office, states that itâs for a ârollable display device can be used for TVs, monitors, game devices, multimedia devices and so onâ.
Apparently this technology could be used for either LCD or LED displays, and interestingly Samsung has also indicated that it might want to use it for OLED displays, despite its repeated assurances that it has no interest in the technology.
YouTube debate viewership proves the power of digital
"Sunday nightâs debate attracted 63 million TV viewers, a 20 percent decline from the first. But on YouTube, debate contentâincluding all videos related to the debateâgarnered 124 million views, a 40 percent spike compared with the first. And thatâs just on YouTube. Another 3.2 million tuned into Twitterâs livestream, and Facebookâs Live broadcast partnership with ABC News now has 7.4 million views."
Interactive Media
How publishers are trying to monetize Instagram
Instagram is becoming increasingly useful as a sales and engagement tool for brands and publishers. Through the platform publishers leverage audiences through tactics like product placement, employing key influencers to market products and associating links and blogs with published images. These tactics have been successful for the likes of Goop, Mindbodygreen and Barstool Sports. Instagram are also developing new tools like shoppable tags on photos to help brands sell. Currently this tool is being trailed by 20 brands for iOS users in the US.
Storytelling
WWE's storytelling formula
Speaking at this year's ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer of WWE, details that WWE's is a story that cares for its viewers. This story is created organically by a cast of wrestlers with bombastic personalities and sustained by the conflict arising in the ring. WWE then deliver the story through a plethora of digital platforms, meaning the narrative can develop and seamlessly track the characters as they move from event to event. This keeps the audience truly invested over time.
Virtual Reality
PlayStation Pro goes on sale as Sony predicts bolstered VR gaming in 2 years
Sony is unsure what genre will be the biggest hit for VR gaming, a company executive admitted, but said new experiences will be developed over the next two years for the PlayStation VR.
Released last month, the $399 PS VR is a headset that connects to existing PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles or the company's new beefed-up PS4 Pro which was released on Thursday.
The technology, which has taken off this year, is nonetheless still at the early stages with products from Facebook's Oculus Rift to the HTC Vive all competing to win consumers over.
Esports
Ted Leonsis on Team Liquid purchase and the future of esports
âI do believe this will be as mainstream as Hollywood and the NBA.â
The NBA has always been technology-savvy, and in the past year we've seen it pay particular attention to esports. In September an investment group led by Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics owner Ted Leonsis and Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber bought a controlling interest in Team Liquid, one of the USA's premier esports teams. That came just one day after the Philadelphia 76ers purchased Team Dignitas and Apex Gaming.
So why all this interest? Pete Volk of The Rift Herald interviewed Ted Leonsis to find out why, and what makes the NBA and its players particularly suited to getting involved in the flourishing esports industry.
Briefs
- The average American will waste more than a year over a lifetime looking for something to watch on TV
- The NFL is launching a VR series on YouTube & Daydream
- Get closer to âPlanet Earth 2â with new 360 degree mini-series
- Liberty Global: Quadplay is key
- Twitter is reportedly in talks to sell Vine
- Snapchat are now an AR-first company
- YouTube finally justifies your HDR TV purchase
- Apple is bringing in NBCUniversal to sell ads in Apple News
WW2 veteran returns, through VR, to a French town he helped liberate from Nazis in 1944
Frank Mouque, 91, was a corporal in the 263 Field Company of the British Royal Engineers that liberated the town of Armentieres from Nazi occupation.
Frank, now Chelsea Pensioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, was shown a VR experience (created by Twine) that brought him to present-day Armentieres. He received messages of thanks from residents who were there when Allied forces showed up, local schoolchildren sang the town song for him and the town's Mayor presented him with the medal of the town. Really touching stuff.