HBO Marketer Details Culture Shift of Going OTT (Broadcasting & Cable)
Sabrina Caluori, senior VP of digital media and marketing for HBO, told an overflow audience at PromaxBDA’s New York conference that the 14 months since HBO Now launched have significantly altered the company’s culture and structure. “The launch of HBO Now was a tremendous shift,” she told the audience.
Mobile Apps Get Boost From TV Advertising (Broadcasting & Cable)
Mobile apps, among the fastest growing forms of digital media, depend on TV advertising to boost traffic, according to the Video Advertising Bureau. Apps have become a $1 billion advertising category for TV, and that spending is paying off. There is a 77% correlation between TV advertising and traffic for 60 popular mobile apps.
Eye Tracking Shows Mobile Video Ads Embedded in Articles Perform Better Than on Social (Ad Week)
A new report that used eye tracking to understand user engagement with mobile video suggests certain types of video ads on publishers’ websites perform better than those on social media. According to a study by Teads, users spent 24 percent more time watching video ads within premium content on websites.
The growing ad promise of esports (really) (Media Life)
We’re still four years away from the 2020 Summer Olympics, but just imagine this lineup on your TV: Swimming, track and field, gymnastics and then, to top off the night, a competitive game of Halo or Counter-Strike. It could happen.
Paramount Says ‘Star Trek’ Fan Film Lawsuit Lives On (Hollywood Reporter)
Despite the fact that Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin has urged Paramount to drop a lawsuit over a crowd funded Star Trek fan film, and notwithstanding comments from exec producer J.J. Abrams that an announcement would be coming, the parties involved in the fight over Axanar continue to lob court filings at each other.
Senate Advances Net Neutrality Carveout for Small Providers (Inside Sources)
Congress came one step closer to exempting small broadband providers from the Federal FCC’s net neutrality rules one day after a federal appeals court struck down providers’ attempt to declare them illegal. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act.
Why Apple’s Photos announcement should offend you (Network World- Commentary)
Apple’s research secrecy hurts industry and academic research, and it could hurt Apple. The new Apple Photos now labels photos based on facial recognition and content such as landscapes and objects so that users can search and sort photos. Apple copied what Google announced last year. This is good news for Apple users.
Small business technology challenges require greater political attention (Commentary by Stuart Brotman)
Small business often receives too little attention from federal policymakers, including those responsible for tech issues. The FCC has focused virtually all its attention on broadband network growth to residential environments. No one systematically collects data segmenting broadband availability and utilization by small businesses.
Prather: Nets Want ‘Every Penny’ Of Retrans (TV News Check- Commentary)
The Gray Television exec-turned-station-owner criticized the broadcast networks for their insatiable reverse comp demands. “At some point, we won’t have any incentive to take money from the cable guys [in retrans], if they want it all. And I think they want to get as close to all as they can, frankly.”
Paris terrorist attacks victim’s family sues Facebook, Google and Twitter (USA Today)
The family of a California college student killed in November’s terrorist attacks in Paris is suing Facebook, Google and Twitter, alleging the companies provided “material support” to the Islamic State and other extremist groups. ISIS uses popular Internet services such as Facebook, Twitter and Google’s YouTube to spread propaganda.
Silicon Valley has a chance to influence cyber security policy (USA Today- Commentary)
U.S. cybersecurity policy has followed a Jekyll-and-Hyde path lately. The mish-mash of legislation is a sign, some say, that Silicon Valley in general and the cybersecurity sector in particular need to do a better job of lobbying Washington, where the White House budgeted $14 billion in spending on cybersecurity for this fiscal year.
A GLOBAL DEBATE (CS Monitor)
The net neutrality decision issued by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirms the FCC’s rules just as Europe is finalizing net neutrality regulations of its own. “I think it’s a significant victory for net neutrality. I don’t know that other countries have been waiting for the US.”
PROVIDING INTERNET ACCESS ISN’T SPEECH (Washington Post- Commentary)
Mere transmission of speech doesn’t implicate the First Amendment, for broadband providers or FedEx. A contrary argument means that Ma Bell, with the best lawyers money could buy, missed a winning constitutional argument against its telephone networks being treated as common carriers — they were transmitting speech!