In this week’s Week in Review: Viant files for an IPO, Netflix becomes Europe’s second largest TV group, and Vizeum gets folded into iProspect. To receive an update on the industry’s top stories every Friday, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
Top Stories
Viant Files for an IPO
US ad tech company Viant, which runs demand-side platform Adelphic alongside various data tools, is filing for an initial public offering according to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filings seen by VAN don’t show how much the company expects to raise through an IPO. But they do lay out the state of Viant’s finances, showing that revenues reached $164.9 million in 2019, with a net income of $9.9 million.
The tech company’s business has shifted considerably since its founding in 1999. Viant is known in part for its acquisition of Myspace in 2011, a resource which help it build out its data capabilities. Viant was then bought by Time Inc in 2016, which was itself bought by Meredith Corp in 2018. But as Meredith Corp started trimming non-essential assets, Viant’s founders Tim and Chris Vaderhook bought Meredith out, taking full ownership of the company in 2019.
Netflix Becomes Europe’s Second Largest Television Group
Streaming giant Netflix is now Europe’s second largest television group, according to researcher Ampere Analysis, placing it just behind Comcast in terms of market share. Judging by revenues, Comcast (which owns European broadcaster Sky) has the largest market share at 12 percent, while Netflix has 6.1 percent. Next is German broadcaster ARD at 5.7 percent, followed by the BBC at 4.2 percent.
Tony Maroulis, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, said Netflix’s position is set to get stronger still. “While Netflix’s pockets are getting deeper, local entities are struggling to compete,” he said. “Over the next few years, Netflix alone is set to be better funded than many leading commercial broadcasters, and its scale means that it is able to produce quantities of high-quality content that most of its local competitors cannot match. This global vs. local imbalance will further accelerate the online viewing shift, which is now beginning to shift to older demographics as well as young.”
Vizeum to be Folded Into iProspect Globally
Dentsu this week announced its intentions to fold media agency Vizeum into fellow holding iProspect. The two media brands had already been integrated in individual markets including the UK and Australia. The move is designed to create a second major media agency within Dentsu alongside Carat.
Amanda Morrissey, who will head up the new-look iProspect as global president, explained the ethos of the combined business. “iProspect is designed for clients at the intersection of brand and performance,” she said. “We believe brand drives performance, and performance drives brand. We no longer exist in an ecosystem where these elements can be planned and bought separately. We must look at business and brand goals through a combined lens, and this will mean accelerated growth for our clients.”
The Week in Tech
Tech Firms Set to Face Wider Scrutiny in Europe
Advocate-General Michal Bobek, the advisor to the Court of Justice of the European Union, has recommended that all data protection authorities in the EU should be given power to investigate tech firms, regardless of where the tech company’s EU headquarters in based.
Currently, firms can only be investigated by the data protection authority of the market where their headquarters is set up. This leaves individual data authorities tasked with dealing with some of the world’s biggest companies. Facebook, for example can only be investigated by Ireland’s DPA, since that’s where its HQ is based. And these HQs tend to be based in the same few markets, which have purposefully set themselves up as tax havens to attract business. Again, this means data authorities are over-stretched, given their limited staff counts and budgets.
Nielsen Says Pandemic Has Disrupted Ratings Panels
US measurement company Nielsen said this week that its local ratings service has had its MRC accreditation put on hiatus, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for Nielsen to maintain its ratings panels. Nielsen usually recruits households in-person, and sends technicians to install equipment.
Integral Ad Science Acquires Amino Payments
Digital ad verification company Integral Ad Science (IAS) on Thursday announced that it has acquired Amino Payments, a specialist in programmatic advertising transparency. “Programmatic advertising continues to grow at a tremendous pace, and with this acquisition we’re bringing comprehensive transparency to the entire industry,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO at IAS. “By welcoming Amino Payments to IAS, we will unleash the full potential of programmatic advertising for marketers who need their campaigns to be highly effective and cost-efficient.”
Google Pauses Political Advertising
Amid political turmoil in the US over the upcoming transition of power from President Trump to President Elect Biden, Google has paused political advertising on its platforms. The move is part of an effort to help stem the spread of misinformation.
You & Mr Jones Raises $260 Million
‘Brandtech’ group You & Mr Jones announced this week it has raised $260 million in Series B funding, bringing its total valuation to $1.36 billion according to Campaign. The company will use the funds to expand further globally, particularly in Asian and Latin America.
DoubleVerify Earns MRC Accreditation for CTV Measurement
DoubleVerify this week announced that it has received MRC accreditation for display and video rendered ad impression measurement and sophisticated invalid traffic (SIVT) filtration, including app fraud, in the Connected TV (CTV) media environment. “As more audiences flock to CTV and OTT, advertiser demand for greater transparency in these channels continues to accelerate,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “Our mission is to give our clients the clarity they need to be confident in their media investments so they can take advantage of the opportunity CTV presents.”
Amazon Forecasted to Claim 11 Percent of US Digital Ad Spend This Year
Amazon is forecasted to take 11 percent of total digital ad dollars spent in the US next year, according to a survey from investment bank Cowen. This is up from around seven percent last year.
Innovid Adds Display MRC Certification to OTT and Video
Innovid this week announced it has been granted accreditation by the MRC for its measurement of rendered display ad impressions, expanding the omni-channel ad server’s existing accreditations in video and OTT. Innovid says this makes it the first ad server to have MRC accreditation covering display, video and OTT.
TCL to Release Google-Powered TVs
Chinese tech manufacturer TCL has said it will release smart TVs powered by Google TV, Google’s successor to Android TV, later this year.
The Week in TV
France’s Molotov Begins International Expansion
French over-the-top (OTT) service Molotov announced this week it is kicking off an international expansion, rolling out in seven French-speaking countries in Africa: Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Guinea, and the DRC. The company will launch local versions of its OTT live TV product in these markets, as well as launching its ad-supported video on-demand product Mango in these new territories too. Molotov says it is also in conversations with local players in Europe, South America and Asia to explore launching regional versions of its product in these markets as well.
ITV Reports 11 Percent Growth in Hub Viewing During Festive Period
ITV has reported that viewing on on-demand service ITV Hub was up 11 percent year-on-year during the festive period, from December 21st to January 3rd. Total streams for the month of December meanwhile were up five percent year-on-year, to 81 million.
OpenAP Launches an SSP
OpenAP, a TV network consortium whose members include NBCUniversal, Fox, and ViacomCBS, has launched an SSP giving buyers insight into inventory availability on members’ linear channels. “Agencies have been investing in data products and optimization tools but those tools lack transparency from the sell side,” David Levy, chief executive at OpenAP, told the Wall Street Journal. “It gets us to a lot more efficient buys so you have less waste.”
Roku Completes Deal for Quibi Content
OTT software and hardware maker Roku has completed a deal to acquire content commissioned for Quibi, the mobile-first streaming service which both launched and shut down last year. The content will be available on Roku’s own ad-supported streaming service, The Roku Channel.
FuboTV Agrees Deal for Betting Company Vigtory
Sports streaming specialist FuboTV has agreed a deal for sportsbook Vigtory. FuboTV plans to launch a sportsbook integrated into its own service later this year.
The Week in Publishing
More Social Platforms Ban Trump
More social platforms suspended President Trump’s accounts, either temporarily or permanently, this week following the President’s incitement of violence at the Capitol last week. YouTube, Snapchat and Twitch have all joined Facebook and Twitter in suspending Trump’s personal accounts. Twitter meanwhile upgraded its ban to a permanent suspension.
I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter, or how we got here. After a clear warning we’d take this action, we made a decision with the best information we had based on threats to physical safety both on and off Twitter. Was this correct?
— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021
YouTube Rival Rumble Sues Google
Video-sharing website Rumble is suing Google, according to the Wall Street Journal, alleging that Google abuses its dominance of the search market to funnel traffic away from Rumble and towards YouTube. The suit also says Google’s decision to pre-install YouTube on Android phones deprives Rumble of views.
Streamer Breaks Twitch Record with 2 Million Concurrent Viewers
Fortnite streamer TheGrefg, real name David Martínez, this week smashed the record for most concurrent views on a live stream surpassing two million. The previous record of 667,000 was held by Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, perhaps Twitch’s best-known streamer.
Reach Expects 2020 Profits to Beat Expectations
UK publishing group Reach said last Friday that it expects 2020 operating profits to exceed £130 million, beating previous forecasts, after a strong Q4. Reach also said it achieved its goal of registering five million users, part of an effort to help marketers better target Reach’s customers.
BuzzFeed Reportedly Explores Going Public via SPAC
Social publisher BuzzFeed is reportedly exploring a move to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Supernova Partners Acquisition. The move would give BuzzFeed investors an exit, and provide an injection of cash to help spur further growth.
TikTok Adds New Privacy Controls for Under 16s
TikTok this week placing stricter privacy settings on accounts owned by users under 16, meaning only approved followers will be able to view those users’ videos. TikTok is also tightening rules around commenting on and ‘duetting’ with videos created by younger users.
Facebook Gaming Passed 1 Billion Hours Watched in Q3 Last Year
Facebook Gaming released its Games Marketing Insights report this week, finding that viewing hours on Facebook Gaming surpassed one billion for the first time in Q3 last year.
The Week for Agencies
S4 Acquires Creative Agency Tomorrow
S4 Capital this week announced it has acquired Shanghai-based creative shop Tomorrow, and plans to fold the agency into MediaMonks. S4 Capital said earlier this year it is ramping up expansion plans now that a post-Brexit trade deal has been agreed, allowing more business clarity.
Cannes Plans In-Person Festival This Year
Despite continued uncertainty around when global COVID restrictions will be lifted, the organisers of the Cannes Lions festival are planning for an in-person event this year. Awards will be handed out at this year’s event for both 2020 and 2021, after last year’s event was postponed.
Publicis Denies M&A Talks
A spokesperson for Publicis this week denied rumours that the holding group is exploring merger options, prompted by a Campaign report that Publicis had held talks with a potential private equity investor.
T-Mobile Awards $2 Billion US Media Account to Initiative
IPG-owned agency Initiative has won T-Mobile’s US media account, worth around $2 billion, beating out Essence, Horizon Media, and Publicis Media according to AdAge.
NatWest Reviews UK Media Account
UK bank NatWest is placing its media planning and buying account under review, according to Campaign. The account has been held by Publicis Groupe’s Zenith for ten years.
Unilever Expects Depressed Global Consumption in H1
FMCG giant Unilever has said it expects global consumption to be depressed during the first half of 2021 as the world economy continues to grapple with the COVID-19 crisis.
Hires of the Week
WPP Choose Rob Reilly as Global CCO
WPP has picked Rob Reilly as global chief creative officer, joining from McCann Worldgroup where he’s been global creative chairman for seven years.
Guardian Media Group Hires Claire Blunt to Head Up Advertising
Guardian Media Group has taken on Claire Blunt, previously of Hearst, as chief advertising officer and chief executive of international.
Jungle Creations Appoints Joint CEOs
Social publisher Jungle Creations has chosen Melissa Chapman and Nat Poulter as co-CEOs, taking over from Jamie Bolding.
Tim Pearson to Lead Sky Media UK
Tim Pearson has been appointed MD of Sky Media UK, replacing John Litster who steps down from the role after eight years.
This Week on VAN
Digital Native Brands are Investing in CTV Ahead of Google’s Cookie Changes, read more on VAN
The CTV Fraud Arms Race is Escalating, read more on VAN
One Year Gone, One Year to Go: Will Google’s Privacy Sandbox Be Ready in Time? read more on VAN
VideoWeek Podcast #21, Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy, listen on VAN
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