In this week’s Week in Review: Mediaocean acquires Invision to broaden sell side remit, Brexit takes toll as IPA Bellwether predicts first fall in ad spend since 2013 and major shake up at Time Inc. To receive a weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
Mediaocean Sets Sights On The TV Sell-Side Through Invision Acquisition
Mediaocean has acquired Invision, a software company that helps broadcasters and media companies manage sales workflow. The financial terms of the deal, announced Thursday, were undisclosed and Mediaocean expects to add 100-plus employees as a result of the transaction. This is Mediaocean’s first move into sell-side tools, previously focusing helping media agencies place TV orders, plan and bill.
IPA Bellwether Predicts First Fall in Ad Spend Since 2013 as Brexit Takes its Toll
For the first time since 2013, the IPA Bellwether report is predicting a fall in adspend and has significantly downgraded its forecasts for 2017 as a direct result of the wavering confidence and wider uncertainty caused by the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Before the second-quarter, Bellwether had predicted +3.3 per cent and +2.7 per cent growth for 2016 and 2017 respectively. Now, that has been revised and a fall to -0.2 per cent for 2016 and -1.3 per cent for 2017 is expected.
Time Inc. Reveals Exec Shake-Up and Acquires Collective Europe
Time Inc. has also announced its acquisition of Collective Europe, With clients including Microsoft, O2, Sky, Unilever, Disney and eBay, Collective UK specialises in creating, delivering and optimising multichannel digital campaigns.
Also, a memo from Time Inc. has revealed an executive reorganisation of the company intended to allow the publisher to unify processes and explore “advertising opportunities critical to our future”, according to chief executive Joe Ripp. Fundamental to this, the company has announced it is officially centralising its advertising sales under one executive, Mark Ford. Ford will step up as chief revenue officer, leading Time Inc.’s US ad sales team.
Warner Bros Warned for asking YouTubers to Hide Brand Ties
Warner Brothers has landed itself in trouble with consumer watchdog, the FTC for failing to disclose paid-for reviews signing up some of the world’s top YouTubers to feature its products. The entertainment company spent “hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars” to get YouTubers, including PewDiePie, to talk about its products.
YouTube Halved the Amount it Pays Musicians per Stream Between 2014 and 2015
Although music views on YouTube rose dramatically, the video streaming site essentially halved the value of a single stream from $0.002 in 2014 to $0.001 in 2015 according to Midia Research, via the Financial Times. The report claims that if the rate had remained steady at $0.002 in 2015, artists would have accumulated double the $740m they received in 2015.
Google Updates Trueview Format
Google has updated its TrueView ads to allow marketers to include a banner companion next to a video ad. Users will now be able to scroll through product images and information while a video is playing. The latest updates will also let advertisers decide which products they want to highlight as a part of the campaign. The company announced a suite of changes which include updates to their shopping search terms.
Vibrant Media Releases New Light Weight Format
Native ad company, Vibrant Media, has slashed the ad weight of its In-Text, In-Image, out-of-stream video and native ad formats by over 75 per cent to just 30.5 KB. The move means ads will load faster and supports the Internet Advertising Bureau’s LEAN initiative to tackle the rise in ad blocking.
APAC to Overtake North America as World’s Biggest Digital Ad Market
Asia-Pacific overtake North America as the world’s biggest market for digital advertising spend for the first time in 2016, according to the latest report from Strategy Analytics. Digital ad spend in Asia-Pacific will rise 18.2% in 2016 to $59.7 billion, whilst North America will rise 9.6% to $59.5bn. Asia-Pacific’s rise to the top is driven by China which will grow 25.1% to $22.4bn.
BitTorrent Launches Streaming TV News Network BitTorrent News
Peer-to-peer (P2P) company BitTorrent will release a news offering. Following the launch of its multi-channel OTT app, BitTorrent Live, the company has announced BitTorrent News, a live-streaming TV news network launching on July 18.
European Online Ad Spend Overtakes TV
Online ad expenditure has exceeded TV ad spend in 2015 for the first time, according to AdEX. European spend totalled €36.4bn (£31bn), increasing 13.0% from €32.1bn (£27.42bn) in the previous year. TV advertising expenditure in 2015 totalled €33.3bn (£28.44bn), making online advertising the biggest advertising medium in Europe. The highest growth rates within the online ad market was recorded by display.
Third of TV Watching Among Younger Viewers is Via On-Demand Services
Younger viewers have turned off live TV in droves, with a third of all TV watching among 16 to 24-year-olds now via on-demand services such as the BBC’s iPlayer and House of Cards broadcaster Netflix. Media regulator Ofcom said there was a “widening gap” between the habits of younger and older viewers with a “substantial fall” in viewing on TV sets. The report found, on average, individuals in the UK watched three hours and 36 minutes of measured broadcast TV a day last year, 26 minutes fewer than five years ago and most pronounced among 16 to 24-year-olds and children.
NetSeer Introduces In-Video Monetisation Solution for Publishers
NetSeer introduced an In-Video Image Overlay + Display ad solution for publishers this week. The ad unit offers quick load times with high viewability in a move to reduce bounce rate through reduced ad load times.
Rovi, TiVo Deal Approved
US antitrust authorities, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have all granted approval for the Rovi acquisition of TiVo to go ahead. Shareholders in the two businesses still have to give their formal approval to the deal, which is expected to close during Q3 this year.
Brexit Exposes ITV to Risk
ITV could be in the firing line post-Brexit, says a report from equity analysts at investment bank Berenberg. The report assumes that Brexit will affect consumer confidence and spending and that advertisers will respond to the less favourable environment by reducing marketing expenditure.
Virgin Media buys UTV Ireland for €10m
Despite earlier reports that Liberty Global was interested in acquiring UTV Ireland, its wholly-owned subsidiary Virgin Media has entered into an agreement with ITV plc to acquire the commercial broadcaster for a purchase price of €10 million.
Free BT Sport for EE Mobile Customers
EE, part of the BT Group, has revealed an exclusive BT Sport App offer for new and existing EE pay monthly customers. Under the new deal, users will receive six months free access to all the live sporting action available on BT Sport channels.
AAPA signs MOU with Europol
Audiovisual anti-piracy group AAPA and Europol have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which paves the way for providing further support to Europol. The MOU creates a framework for sharing intelligence, data, knowledge and expertise on online audiovisual piracy and to co-ordinate activities, where possible.
UK Lords: ‘Don’t Privatise Channel 4’
UK public service broadcaster Channel 4’s output in news, film production, and diversity could be damaged by privatisation, according to a report from a cross-bench Committee of Parliament’s upper chamber. The Committee has been examining the broadcaster’s financial sustainability as well as the implications of privatisation, in light of the Government’s ongoing review of the future of Channel 4 Corporation.
US Senators Take Notice of Digital Ad Fraud
Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have drafted a letter to the Federal Trade Committee (FTC) on Monday calling for the commission to take a closer look at the negative economic impact of digital advertising fraud on consumers and advertisers.
MultiView Rolls Out VisitorView, B2B Marketing Insights Solution
MultiView has released VisitorView, a data analytics solution designed specifically for B2B companies to the global market. The product was previously available only to MultiView programmatic advertising customers and allows detailed analysis of web traffic and performance.
APAC Pay-TV Faces Slowing Growth
The Asia-Pacific pay-TV industry will grow at a 5.8 per cent average annual rate from 2016 to 2021, according to a new report from Media Partners Asia (MPA). Sales across 18 major markets are predicted to climb to 2025. However, the pace of pay-TV subscriber and revenue growth is slowing, weakened by an economic slowdown and increasing competition from both legal and illegal alternatives.
Advertisers Wasting £700m a Year on Non-viewable Ads
Online ad viewability levels in the UK dropped from 54 per cent to 47 per cent in the second quarter of 2016, the lowest level for 18 months, according to a report from Meetrics. The last time viewability was lower was in Q4 2014, when it hit 46 per cent and means the UK trails other European countries.
Western European OTT Revenues to Double
Western European OTT TV and video revenues will more than double between 2015 and 2021. However, growth rates will vary considerably between the 17 countries covered in a new report from Digital TV Research. OTT adoption is already high in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the UK, but has been muted in other countries such as France, Spain and Portugal.
Pay-TV Penetration Increases in Spain
Convergent offers along with aggressive campaigns from pay-TV operators such as Movistar TV, Vodafone-ONO and Orange have boosted the pay-TV market in Spain, to a penetration of 26.9 per cent. Despite this growth, 70.8 per cent of Spanish viewers claim not to be interested in paying for more TV channels, according to the CNMC.
Quarter of US Users are Cable Cutters
Levels of broadcast-only reception and Internet-only video subscriptions have risen over the past year, with one quarter of all US TV households now going without cable and satellite reception, according to GfK.
Molotov Launches in France
Free OTT platform Molotov, goes ‘public’ in France today. The service claims to seek to reinvent the daily pleasure of watching television.
Maxus UK Expands to Scotland
Maxus UK has expanded into Scotland with a tech-focused media specialist division, headed up by former Mediacom Dublin chief Andrew Dunn.
This Week’s Partnerships:
Bloomberg Media Partners With Twitter for Live Streaming
Bloomberg Media is set to live stream a number of its TV programs on Twitter in a partnership that will see it “invest aggressively in innovative distribution formats” to deliver business and financial news to a wide scale global audience.
Mediacorp Signs Content Optimisation and Monetisation Deal with Outbrain
Mediacorp, Singapore government-owned terrestrial broadcaster and media business, has inked a deal with Outbrain to help it make better use of its online content.
TiVo And Cadent Dish Up Linear TV Audience Data Beyond Network Walls
Cadent, a media network and data platform for pay TV providers, has rolled out a TV targeting tool that taps into TiVo’s data sets. Available initially as a managed service, GroupM’s Modi Media is the first agency customer to sign on to use the tool.
Neustar Expands into Addressable TV Ad Targeting and Measurement with DISH Media Sales
Neustar, Inc. and DISH Media Sales have partnered. Neustar will expand its expertise in omnichannel marketing analytics and identity management and DISH will benefit from enhanced consumer profiles.
This Week’s New Hires:
Doner Names Eric Weisberg as Global Creative Chief
Detroit-based Doner, part of MDC Partners, has named Eric Weisberg as their first global chief creative officer. He will oversee creative across all Doner offices and joins them from JWT.
Facebook Appoints Leigh Thomas to Head Global Brand Partnerships Across EMEA
Facebook has appointed former Dare chief executive Leigh Thomas to director of global client partnerships for the EMEA region.
This Week on VAN:
How Marketers can Stay Afloat in the Sea of Video Ad Metrics, read more on VAN
Does Wall Street not Understand Ad Tech, or Does Ad Tech Not Understand Wall Street? Read more on VAN
European Broadcasters Discuss How They’re Cautiously Edging Towards Programmatic TV in Cannes, read more on VAN
Ad of the Week: Gillette, Perfect isn’t Pretty, Ketchum
This emotionally hard hitting video gives us a glimpse into the training regimes of Olympic athletes and reminds us that a journey to perfect isn’t always pretty.
