In this week’s Week in Review: ProSiebenSat.1 reports ad growth at start of Q2, Sky makes its VOD inventory available programmatically, and an NAB report shows the financial impact of Facebook and Google on US broadcaster.
Top Stories
ProSieben Raises Outlook for 2021 as Ad Revenues Rebound
German broadcaster, ProSiebensat.1 Media raised its outlook for revenue and profit this year, after it achieved better-than-expected Q1 results. The results come as ProSieben diversifies away from relying on television advertising.
The Q1 2020 results beat market expectations slightly, with revenue growing by one percent and core profit declining by 9 percent. The results were boosted by ProSieben’s ecommerce, productions and sales outfits.
But while advertising revenues were down year-on-year in Q1, CEO Rainer Beaujean said Q2 looks to be much stronger. “Already in April, we increased our advertising revenues by around 40 percent and we are clearly more optimistic for May,” he said. As a result of this expected growth, ProSieben raised its forecast for revenue growth this year to 5 percent – 10 percent, up from a previous range of 2 percent – 7 percent.
Sky Media VOD Inventory Available Programmatically for The First Time
The Trade Desk have signed a partnership with Sky Media that will make its VOD inventory available programmatically for the first time. Those using The Trade Desk’s DSP will be able to access Sky Media’s premium BVOD inventory including Sky Sports, Movies and Entertainment. Sky Media has over 23 million subscribers across over 300 channels.
The Trade Desk already has a programmatic deal with Channel 4, and now adds Sky to its BVOD roster. ITV has built its own ad buying Platform, Planet V.
“Connected TV is widely recognised as one of the most exciting developments in advertising today – now supercharged by the power of programmatic data. We are thrilled to be able to announce our latest partnership with Sky Media,” said Phil Duffield, UK vice president at The Trade Desk.
Facebook and Google Cost US Broadcasters Nearly $2 Billion Per Year
Television and radio stations who provide news content are not fairly compensated for this content online because of the power that large technology companies hold, according to research commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters and conducted by BIA Advisory Services.
The study found that local news providers are not adequately compensated for their content due to the market power held by large tech companies. The study focused on Google Search and Facebook and found that local broadcasters suffer an estimated total annual loss of $1.873 billion by providing their content to tech platforms.
“Even though we focused our quantitative analysis on Google and Facebook, the market power of other platforms and services, such as Amazon and Apple, were cited as increasingly undermining the viability of local news media,” said Rick Ducey, managing director at BIA Advisory Services. “The growth of these platforms presents the potential for substantial future harm to the industry if not constrained by government action.”
The Week in Tech
CTV Continues to Drive Growth for PubMatic
Supply-side platform PubMatic’s quarterly revenues reached $43.6 million in Q1 this year, up 54 percent year-on-year. “Our omnichannel platform fuelled growth across all segments of our customer base and all formats we serve, particularly in video and OTT/CTV,” said Rajeev Goel, PubMatic’s CEO. “Our execution, combined with the economic re-opening and expected acceleration of digital advertising, gives us confidence to raise our full year outlook for 2021.”
Google Will Force Android Apps to Inform Users About Data Collection
Google has said that it will make Android apps tell users about data collected. It will do this by introducing a new section in the Play app store that informs users about what data apps collect and share. Android app developers have until Q2 2022 to declare this information, Google said.
The Trade Desk Stock Drops By 25 Percent
The Trade Desk saw its stock plummet by more than 25 percent after it reported its Q1 earnings earlier this week. The Trade Desk beat its own predictions with its Q1 earnings, but it still managed to disappoint Wall Street. Recently, tech company stocks have been on something of a down after a period of enthusiasm from Wall Street.
TiVo To Acquire MobiTV Bankruptcy Assets
TiVo’s parent company, Xperi, is to acquire the assets of pay TV video delivery solutions provider MobiTV following its bankruptcy. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by MobiTV in March, it reported $10-50 million in assets and $50-100 million in liabilities. Reportedly, the auction was hotly contested with interested parties including Roku. TiVo’s winning bid stood at a reported $18.5 million.
Apple Says ‘Chaos Monkeys’ Author Has Left Ads Business Following Staff Petition
On Wednesday, Apple said that Antonio García Martínez, who had been hired to the tech giant’s ads business was no longer in employment with the company. Antonio García Martínez is the author of ‘Chaos Monkey’ and was previously employed at Facebook Ads before the company went public. The Verge reported that 2,000 Apple employees had signed a petition in concern at what they say are the racist and sexist views Martínez expressed in his book. Apple said on Wednesday that Antonio García Martínez is no longer employed at the company but gave no further details.
UK to Ban Default Passwords for Smart TVs and Speakers to Boost Security
The UK Government will seek to boost security on devices like smart TVs and speakers by banning default passwords, which are easy to hack. The move was announced in the Queen’s Speech briefing document. The government has also said it will introduce legislation to ban high-risk providers like Huawei from providing communications infrastructure.
CTV Brings In the Revenue for Magnite, as It Reports Q1 Results
Magnite reported its Q1 2021 result this week, reporting $60.7 million in revenue, up 67 percent from Q1 2020 on an as reported basis. Including SpotX, CTV accounted for 35 percent of revenue.
ID5 Partners With Italiaonline
ID5 announced yesterday that it has partnered with Italy’s biggest online publisher, Italiaonline. The partnership will enable Italiaonline to prepare for the deprecation of third-party cookies through ID5’s identity solution. Italiaonline will be able to identify Safari and Firefox traffic in a privacy-compliant way.
Zefr Launches Brand Suitability Suite for Video
Zefr, a data company for brand suitability in video, this week announced the release of its Brand Suitability Suite, software that enables brands and agencies to apply the industry leading GARM framework to their video advertising. The self-service product will be available for global brands, allowing them to easily incorporate standards from the GARM framework, which has been widely adopted by the world’s largest agencies, brands and platforms to create a consistent framework for brand safety and brand suitability.
IAB Tech Lab CEO Resigning
Dennis Buchheim is resigning as CEO of the IAB Tech Lab. Buchheim only took up the role of CEO in February. It is not clear exactly what he’ll be doing after he leaves the company, although a blog post announcing his departure says that it is “an opportunity to collaborate with the industry from a different, and important, perspective”.
The Week in TV
Roku to Debut Thirty Originals on Streaming Day
Roku announced yesterday that it would be debuting its “Roku Originals” on Streaming Day, which takes place on 20 May. The Roku Originals lineup features 30 titles including scripted series, documentaries and reality programming. This content will be available exclusively on The Roku Channel.
SVOD Subscriptions to Reach 1.5 Billion Within Five Years
SVOD subscriptions will more than double within the next five years, according to Digital TV Research. The research suggests that subscriptions will increase by 591 million to 1.495 billion by 2026. This represents a 65 percent increase. The report also predicts that the number of SVOD subscriptions will surpass the number of SVOD subscribers, meaning that the average consumer will have more than one SVOD subscription.
Premier League Rolls Over Existing Broadcast Deal
The Premier League has agreed to roll over its existing deal with broadcasters for another three years. The new deal with Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video and BBC Sport will run from 2022 to 2025. The UK government has approved the deal “in principle” with an “exclusion order” under the competition act, which allows the league to renew without its normal tender process.
FuboTV Shares Rise After Better Than Expected Q1 Results
FuboTV saw its shares rise by 23 percent this week, after it reported better-than-expected revenue and subscriber growth. It reported record revenue of $119.7M revenue, and added 43,000 subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total subscribers to 590,000. Ad revenue also reached $12.6 million, up 206 percent year-over-year, making up 11 percent of total company revenue in Q1 2021.
Mediaset’s Profit Rises Thanks to Domestic Advertising Sales
Italian broadcaster Mediaset posted a 63 percent rise in operating profit in Q1 2021. Mediaset reported a group operating profit of 67.9 million euros in Q1 2021 compared with 41.6 million euros last year. The group saw a rebound in domestic advertising sales, they rose six percent to 453.5 million euros this quarter.
The Week in Publishing
Vice Targets $3 Billion IPO via SPAC
Digital media company Vice is seeking a valuation of around $3 billion as it plans to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) 7GC & Co Holdings. The IPO would give existing investors majority control of the company, and relieve it of its current heavy financial obligations to private equity firm TPG, according to the Wall Street Journal.
BuzzFeed in Talks to Buy Complex Networks
BuzzFeed has started talks with fellow digital native publication Complex Networks over a possible acquisition, according to The Information. The proposal is linked to BuzzFeed’s planned IPO via a merger with special purpose acquisition company 890 Fifth Avenue, since acquiring Complex could potentially make BuzzFeed more attractive to investors.
Reddit Launches In-House Creative Agency KarmaLab
Social sharing platform Reddit this week announced the launch of an in-house creative agency for advertisers, KarmaLab. Reddit says KarmaLab’s offering includes social listening and trends reports, step-by-step community management, creative workshops, and bespoke 360 campaign development. “Our mission is to help every brand discover how to contribute authentically, meaningfully and effectively to the communities that matter most to them and their audiences — we turn curiosity into understanding, and signals into strategies,” said Will Cady, global director of KarmaLab.
LA Times Owner Calls for Government Aid for Journalism
Patrick Soon-Shiong, the biotech billionaire who bought the LA Times in 2018, has called on the US government to do more to support journalism, specifically to help protect revenues siphoned off by big tech companies. “I’m not asking the government to do anything drastic, but they have to step in and find a way to support the viability of this whole industry,” he told Bloomberg. “There has to be a resolution to this inequality of usurping information and destroying, frankly, democracy, in the long run.”
YouTube Sets Aside $100 Million for Shorts Creators
YouTube has allocated $100 million to pay popular creators on YouTube Shorts, its TikTok competitor, which will be spent across 2021-2022. YouTube says the fund will be distributed while it figures out monetisation of the new feature, part of which will involve testing and iterating on ad formats.
Twitch Downloads Surge in Q1
Amazon’s gaming-focused live streaming platform Twitch saw app download surge in Q1 this year, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Twitch’s mobile app was downloaded 22 million times in the first quarter, marking 62 percent growth from Q1 2020.
TikTok Trials Shoppable Ads
TikTok has begun testing a shoppable ad unit with a select number of brands, according to Bloomberg, as a precursor to a wider offering which would let brands sell their products within the app.
Attorneys General Urge Facebook to Abandon Plans for Instagram Kids
Forty state attorneys general in the US, plus AGs from District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, have signed a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to back down from plans to launch a version of Instagram aimed at children. “Use of social media can be detrimental to the health and well-being of children, who are not equipped to navigate the challenges of having a social media account,” said the letter.
The Week for Agencies
IPG Mediabrands to Commit Five Percent of Spend to Black-Owned Media by 2023
Following increased scrutiny around a lack of diversity in the types of media companies which brands and agencies allocate budgets to, IPG Mediabrands committed this week to invest at least five percent of spending across all of its agencies into Black-owned media companies by 2023. “The time is past due to embrace the opportunities to connect with influential audiences through Black-owned media,” said Daryl Lee, global CEO at Mediabrands.
Dentsu Posts Organic Revenue Decline in Q1
Japanese agency holding group Dentsu posted its Q1 financial results this week, with group organic revenues down 2.4 percent year-on-year. Japanese holdings were down 0.9 percent overall, while Dentsu’s international businesses saw a 3.5 percent drop in organic revenues. But Dentsu said results improved as the quarter progressed – March was up 2.5 percent across the group.
UK Government to Introduce Total Ban on Online Ads for Unhealthy Foods
The UK Government confirmed in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech that it will introduce a total ban on online ads for products high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) by the end of 2022, as well as a ban on TV ads for HFSS foods before 9:00pm. The move, designed to help tackle obesity in the UK, has come under criticism from industry groups including the IAB and ISBA, who say the ban is overly restrictive and likely to be ineffective. Read the full story on VideoWeek.
GroupM Launches Media Inclusion Initiative
Following IPG’s announcement earlier in the week (see above), WPP’s GroupM announced the launch of its own Media Inclusion Initiative, aimed at promoting and supporting Black-owned media companies around the world. The initiative includes a commitment to invest at least two percent of media budgets in Black-owned media, starting immediately, as well as a fund to invest in writers, producers, directors, talent and production companies.
US Advertising Employment Rose by Nearly 2,000 Jobs in April
New figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics this week found that employment in advertising, public relations and related services rose by 1,900 jobs in April, with digital media-related jobs providing the majority of the growth.
Cannes Lions Picks Microsoft as Creative Marketer of the Year
Cannes Lions this week announced that Microsoft has been picked as its ‘Creative Marketer of the Year’, a award given to “an advertiser that has amassed a body of creative and Lion-winning work over a sustained period of time and has established a reputation for producing brave creative and innovative marketing solutions”.
Dentsu Launches ‘Economic Empowerment’ to Champion Media Diversity
Dentsu this week launched a new unit, ‘Economic Empowerment’, which will consult with minority ethnicity-owned media businesses and help connect them with more ad buyers. The unit, run by adland veteran Mark Prince, says it will work with around 500 different media companies. Similar to the new initiatives from IPG and GroupM (see above), the move comes as Black-owned media companies have increasingly been calling out ad buyers for not investing enough in Black-owed media.
IPG’s Jed Hallam Launches Forum for Working Class Ad Industry Workers
Jed Hallam, who heads up IPG’s Mediabrands Content Studio, has launched a new industry forum called ‘Common People’, aimed at lowering the barriers to entry for working class people getting into creative industries and assisting with career progression. “We want creatives to share their stories and keep the ladder down,” Hallam told Campaign.
If you’re working class or from a working class background and reading this and thinking ‘great, but I’m ok, I don’t need a network any more’, then this is *absolutely* for you – it’s an opportunity to share your experiences, advice and guidance, and keep the ladder down.
— Jed Hallam (@jedhallam) May 9, 2021
Hires of the Week
Stephen DiMarco Joins Tubular as CSO
Tubular Labs, a social video content and audience measurement company, this week announced the appointment of Stephen DiMarco, former chief digital officer at Kantar, as its new chief strategy officer. As the company furthers its efforts to be the de facto ratings service for comparing TV with premium social video, DiMarco will lead product and the execution of Tubular’s go-to-market strategy selling to brands and agencies.
Chris Kief Hired as WPP’s First Chief Technology Officer
Chris Kief has been hired as WPP’s first chief technology officer. Kief joins from Droga5, where he held the role of head of technology.
Javier Campopiano Promoted to be Grey’s First Global Creative Partner
Javier Campopiano has been promoted to become the first global creative partner at WPP’s Grey. Campopiano previously held the positions of chief creative officer Europe and creative chairman UK at the company.
Hulu Promotes Scott Donaton to Head of Marketing
Hulu has promoted Scott Donaton to head of marketing. Donaton was previously head of creative at Hulu, having joined the company in December 2019.
Stuart Keith Joins IRIS.TV as Vice President of Publisher Partnerships, EMEA
IRIS.TV, a video data platform, has announced the appointment of Stuart Keith as VP of publisher partnerships for the EMEA region. Stuart Keith previously worked for BT, most recently in the role of commercial director for its data an AI solutions division.
This Week on VideoWeek
BT Sport is On the Block: A Look at the Likely Suitors, read on VideoWeek
Is SVOD’s Pandemic Boom Sustainable? read on VideoWeek
UK Government to Introduce Total Ban on Online Ads for Unhealthy Foods, read on VideoWeek
How Victor Orbán is Using Advertising, Regulation and Buyouts to Control Hungary’s Media, read on VideoWeek
Ad of the Week
Verizon, The Reset, Madwell
