How to Harness the Media Evolution -The Big TV Conference

The first Big TV Conference, held in NYC in September, focused on a range of issues in the TV ecosystem from a variety of perspectives. But the Leit motif of the two day event revolved around data and its impact on the business. To buyers and sellers, data is as vital as ever. To content creators, data plays a greater role in understanding what is resonating with viewers, becoming, by extension, a crucial part of the creative process.

Framing the Issues

With radical transformation impacting traditional business models, how can companies manage the future? Domenic Dimeglio, Senior Vice President Distribution and Operations, CBS Interactive, framed the discussion by asking, “what is the business model that fills in the white space with consumers?” while Robert Weisbord, Chief Revenue Officer, Sinclair Broadcast Group, noted, “There has to be something unique about the offering.”

Executives can no longer complacently work towards simply meeting short term goals. Annual revenue budgets are only the start. “We have to prepare for a different marketplace with streaming cord cutting and much more data,” stated Jon Steinlauf, Chief U.S. Advertising Sales Officer, Discovery. It often requires creating internal teams focused strictly on the future. “We have a team within Discovery that was further along than we were to position better for the future,” Steinlauf added.

For Krishan Bhatia, Executive Vice President, Business Operations and Strategy, NBCUniversal, “Because we are a global distribution and content company, we spent two to three years integrating our portfolio to create value together.” This macro level approach could not be achieved unless there is internal cooperation and buy-in. “Culture is a driver of success,” he concluded.

Audiences

Kathleen Finch, Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer, Discovery, when asked how she would reach audiences of the future noted that it will be, “hard to know what the market will bear,” in terms of costs. “I don’t know what I am spending,” she added. The real challenge is measurement which, as Adam Rattner, Executive Vice President, Managing Director, Samsung, Starcom, explained, “Until we get great measurement it will be hard to monetize.”

For Lisa Heimann, Executive Vice President, Corporate Research and Strategy, NBCUniversal, “No one data source is good for anything. Which data is good at answering what questions?” She added, “Sometimes we need a census data set, sometimes we need to connect to viewing using panel data. The key is how we are looking at and using that data. Sometimes we look at specific sources and other times we rely on data science group using machine learning and AI.” For her it is essentially comes down to a mix of all data sources.

“We have to go beyond looking at overnight ratings,” she warned, but added, “Well, maybe for sports or news but it is dangerously unreliable. Not all viewing is captured by Nielsen,” because content across platforms, “need to have the same ad load.”

Advertisers

Advertisers are demanding two things from content providers; “Transparency of data for cross platform measurement and the creation of really compelling content. These are CEO-level questions,” stated Rattner.  For Sam Armando, Senior Vice President National Video Intelligence and Investment, Spark Foundry, there are measurement challenges that need to be addressed. “Clients want single source measurement to capture viewers across all screens,” he stated, “We have a lot more (data) pieces but the pieces don’t fit together.”

Researchers are stepping up to meet advertiser needs. Tom Ziangus, Senior Vice President, Research, AMC Networks is committed to, “Closing the loop,” in the consumer journey and, “Working closely with agency partners,” on addressing this challenge. “It is all about collaboration,” as he added, “We must figure it out together. What are the best practices and learning from our mistakes.” Don Robert, Executive Vice President, A+E Networks, confirmed that approach. “We take a consultative approach to try and figure it out. We are very committed and believe in the power of TV.”

Content Creators

There is considerable work being done to track and quantify how people discover and sample shows, “how they catch up and which programs they stick with and which ones they don’t,” noted Heimann.  “Content is forever now. How can we optimize it? Sometimes it is more down the road.”

For Courtney Thomasma, Executive Director, BBC America, AMC Networks, “We have more data than we know what to do it. We have ten times the amount of data than we had ten years ago. There is the danger of getting lost in the noise and quantity of data. How do we fuse? Who has access?” she asked.  Her solution is, “more experienced research minds to strategize the data,” which I heartily support.

And the numbers don’t have to be big for a show to be considered a success. Passion for a show counts which requires a, “Holistic sense of who our audiences are and weighting which audiences are most valuable for us,’ she added. Using research insights from one passionate show can often lead to the next. Using data insights, BBCA realized that Killing Eve was a good replacement when Orphan Black, with a passionate fan base, ended its run.

For Donna D’Alessandro, Senior Vice President, Programming and Strategy Insights, Discovery,  who started her career in Research, the challenge is the, “need to look fresh and real in speaking to a consumer right now”  because programmers only have a short window to engage the viewer. “If a viewer turns it on and thinks, it’s not for me, they will turn it off and never come back.”

Conclusion

With all of the challenges and opportunities in this Brave New World of Media, Ziangus summed it up rather succinctly. “We are a lot smarter and a lot dumber,” he quipped. That rings true to me. For all of the data acumen and insights we harvest, sometimes it seems as if we have more questions than answers. And that is perhaps the biggest challenge of all.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

CIMM Continues to Pave the Way for Cross Platform Measurement

CIMM, The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement, hosted its 5^th Annual Cross Platform Media Measurement and Data Summit last week. The organization has accomplished a lot in the past five years. 

Jane Clarke, CEO and Managing Director, outlined CIMM’s mission which is to “foster innovation in cross platform measurement, bring more granular measurement to TV and look at measurement in new ways. We pilot test new measurement tools to meet the needs of users. It has been a multi-year effort of working together to drive change in media measurement.” 

Goals and Actions For Cross Platform Measurement

CIMM seeks to establish a clear understanding of consumer centric usage across all platforms, to measure exposure by pilot testing touchpoints and to evaluate the results. “Enriching media data quality is the key to ROI and data quality is increasingly important for enhancing the buying currency. CIMM is advocating for more passive measurement at scale, linking census based with shopping behavior,” Clarke stated as she announced a Measurement Manifesto that has three goals and eight actions.

The “must haves” for cross platform media measurement are:

      

       --Accurate representation of cross device universe at scale to use advanced audience segments.

Ø        --An efficient supply chain to real time, with timing comparable to digital.

Ø        --Comparable metrics across platforms with a standard video to average minute to measure ads.

The Actions taken to achieve these goals are:

Ø        -- Embrace competition.

Ø       --  MRC standards.

Ø       --    Move beyond panels, embrace big data and move to census measurements in TV and digital.

Ø       --  Bring more return path data to market for planning. Nationally represent SmartTV and STB data.

Ø       --Measure Out of Home in the ratings. Measure across all possible media points.

Ø       --  Measure both households and individuals.

Ø        -- Implement standardized metadata for content and ads.

Ø       --Demand transparency from 3rd party data companies, linking IDs across devices and channels.

The Impact of Data

Artie Bulgrin, SVP Global Research & Analytics, ESPN, moderated the first panel on Cross Media and Data and asked his panel whether we will see a move away from age and gender demos in buying and selling media across platforms. Michael Strober, in a new role as EVP Client Strategy and Ad Innovation, Turner, replied, “Currently there is too much of the business activating on age and gender.” But, he added, “We are working towards a variety of measurements.” Michael Piner, SVP Investment, MAGNA GLOBAL, was more open to change and said, “We are working towards it. If we can use and overlay third party data, then we don't need (to buy on) age and gender.”

Data rules, according to the panel, whether first or third party. Benjamin Jankowski, Group Head, Global Media, MasterCard, explained, “We have our own data which drives quantitative actions. We can create segments - not individuals because of privacy. The qualitative side is more ahead of the curve. We use social listening to know people's interests.” Piner said, “We use a tremendous amount of big data, are incorporating it into the data stack and ingesting it into our planning system.”

Progress on Cross Platform Measurement

Alan Wurtzel, President, Research & Media Development moderated a panel of end users. When asked how they were using the data to facilitate cross platform measurement, Don Robert, EVP Research and Analytics, A+E Networks spoke of his company’s recent efforts. “We are monetizing cross platform effectively by examining how each platform looks when you take out the commercial units. We are looking at program impressions by duration using currency data based on impressions,” he explained.

However, data delivery lag is a challenge for an industry used to overnight ratings. Ed Gaffney, Managing Partner, Director of Tactical Planning, GroupM explained, “While problems can be solved by research and good quality data, there also needs to be good velocity. The data can’t be six months old. We need it now so we can see what lift we get.”  This means that, for the foreseeable future, the industry is expected to stick with the usual data suspects for upfront buying.  “Nielsen is currency,” Gaffney said, “That is where we are going to do business. We work with comScore (for digital) and Nielsen (for TV).” And yet it is still an open field for more competition In the future. “No one can crack it to everyone's satisfaction,” stated Gaffney, “We will spend the money (for more services). We won’t be happy about it but we will spend the money.”

Participate!

Collaboration is key and George Ivie, Executive Director and CEO, Media Ratings Council is leading the charge. “Accreditation is a difficult road,” he admits, “but we hope to be done with a cross media standard by the end of 2016.” The MRC standard to follow is the duration-weighted viewable impression filtered for non-fraudulent, valid, human traffic.

The most important thing is for all of us in all areas of the industry is to get involved and help facilitate standardize-able measurement solutions. Ivie concluded with a plea. “Participate!” he said.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

The Future of TV is “Content Everywhere”

The future of Television is a hot topic today and there are many experts offering compelling insights. And so it was at the Cynopsis Future of TV conference in NYC. Conclusions from this conference indicated to me that we will be working in a very different type of television space where the core business of TV is shifting and the business concerns and financial projections must adapt. Here are the major themes as I saw them at the conference:

Business Stresses on MVPDs

There are business stresses that will impact a range of media companies, starting with MVPDs. According to Richard Greenfield of BTIG, cord cutting is here to stay. That is because there are alternatives to cable and that are acceptable to customers - even if that content is available a day later via a la carte.  Younger viewers in particular find their entertainment beyond the TV from options such as Netflix. And young people often share accounts with their friends or from their family (as some admitted on a panel).

Business Stresses on Content Providers

For content providers it is the best of times … and the worst of times. Greenfield says that “there is a lack of urgency to watch live television because alternatives are always available. Competition is reaching new levels when you can rent a series on Netflix as easily as watching it live on a network. And because Netflix uses algorithms to recommend content choices to subscribers, certain pieces of content may never hit their radar.”

Business Stresses for Marketers

The competitive set of programming options continues to expand and now new TV content is directly competing against the best TV ever created. “My daughter is just starting to watch Full House” explains Greenfield “Why should I watch live tonight when I can pull up any great show on Netflix?” New content has its digitally personalized advantages, however. A&Es Don Robert believes that good current content drives viewing across platforms. "What is relationship audiences want with our content? Do they want to be able to engage in real time like on Project Runway? Or is it binge viewing?” But it seems to be all program based. What does all of this digital fragmentation do to network branding?

Business Shifts and Opportunities

There are some major themes that could provide great opportunity, if we can embrace the change.  Innovation can provide new revenue streams on the multi-platforms. Sean Atkins of Discovery spoke about how integrated commerce and advertising into programs and wraps help create greater authenticity.

There is also true one-to-one marketing. There is a personalization of video providing a more one-to-one entertainment experience. But at the same time, the experience of television content can be shared immediately and globally. “Twitter has become the new water-cooler for the video world,” according to Greenfield.

The World of TV Is Shifting On Its Axis

It’s An App

Greenfield sees TV as just another app. “We have so many personal devices from tablets to laptops to mobile phones that TV is fast becoming just another app which totally changes what TV is. Instead of it being “the Box” it is now defined as just another form of entertainment.”

What Do We Mean By Attention?

There are many cures for boredom with content choices ranging from traditional programming to social media sites. And this may improve audience retention. According to Neela Sakaria of Latitiude, “There is not only a second screen. With a third screen you are less likely to skip through ads and you are also less likely to leave the room.”

New MVPDs

There is more choice through more competition. New MVPDs are created with the rapid proliferation of new platforms and the layering on video as an app.  There are also more buyers of original programming where quality and originality are at a premium. The general agreement was that the overall experience of TV in an IP world will notably improve.

Measurement!

We need a “holistic measurement” that takes into account all cross platform, says ABC’s Justin Fromm. Some companies are very pro-active in this area: Danielle Seth of Comcast uses “watermarking to get TV more census-like and use clickstream data.” As an MVPD, “Comcast is able to leverage content and technology. We can identify all devices and platforms and we have created an audience interconnected database.” Starcom’s Jackie Kulesza says that she is a “big believer in convergence modeling. What is that messaging driving? How did data affect sales? We are pushing forward in this area and need better measurement and data.”

Implications for Other Industry Sectors

Producer Warren Weideman says that this is a golden age of TV drama that is placing pressure on the movie industry because potential moviegoers can now stay home and binge view a hot series. And Greenfield believes that “Having access to content takes the safety net away from the movie business. Right now, 30 million homes have Netflix which is half of U.S. households. What does that do to going out to movies at the theater if two-thirds of all moviegoers are casual goers? What is the future of movies when you can stream a movie at your home theater the day after it comes out in theaters?” Obviously the television digital evolution is not occurring in a bubble. The impact on a range of entertainment sectors is great and transformative.  Stay tuned….