One space that has benefitted greatly during these COVID-19 times, as you’d expect, is the video-on-demand (VOD) space. With this growth, there has been a shift back to families sitting down in front of the TV and enjoying shows and movies together.

On YouTube, for instance, mobile viewership decreased by nine per cent between Q4 2019 and Q3 2020, but their TV app viewership increased by seven per cent in the same period.

“We saw that increase pretty significantly across our network too,” says Charles Gabriel, Head of Advertising US at WildBrain Spark. “We provide a lot of kids and family content and a lot of full episode content, so it made a lot of sense that you started to see that that shift. Consumers tend to get the larger screen in the living room and sit back and watch longer, more episodic content.

“For us, with the type of programming that we offer, we saw a lot more co-viewing. I think parents of kids under the age of 13 probably tried to make efforts to curate some of the watching, as opposed to their kids being left to their own devices for a significant amount of time during the pandemic.”

WildBrain Spark (WBS) is the Advertising-based video-on-demand (AVOD) division of WildBrain, a Canadian media and production company with the largest independent library of children’s TV programming. The company has produced content for Mattel properties including Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, and Polly Pocket, while owning the IP of classic children’s programming such as Teletubbies, Peanuts, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Strawberry Shortcake, Inspector Gadget, and many more.

WBS conducted research at the end of 2020 and found that – amongst 2,500 parents with kids under 13 – parents believe that co-viewing sessions will continue as a way for them to spend time with their families beyond the pandemic. In fact, 83 per cent of parents said they thought their overall viewing would remain above pre-pandemic levels.

“The data overwhelmingly suggested that co-viewing would continue at some of these levels just because people found it to be a nice activity to get together again and choose content to watch,” explains Gabriel. “And I think that often is driven by the programming thats available that can appeal to kids and their parents in that scenario.

“You see teens and other audiences co-viewing as well now but whether that remains the same, Im not sure,” continues Gabriel. “I think levels of viewing probably will normalise as activities increase around the world and people are moving about more. I certainly think that will shift back to some individual watch time and mobile usage. I always like to say a ‘screen is a screen’. So, it really is about what people are watching, where theyre watching, and when theyre watching.”

As consumers continue to watch more and more content and the number of platforms available for them to watch this content continues to grow, they are increasingly being forced to consider where they find their content.

Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms like Netflix offer consumers an alternative to AVOD, enabling them to pay a fee in order to watch content without ads. However, there are now so many SVOD platforms to choose from.

“Youre also starting to see, as each individual service opens up, that a premium AVOD offering is becoming more and more important,” says Gabriel. “Certainly, in the kids and family sector, but in other categories as well, youre starting to see more premium content being placed on YouTube. Sometimes it’s in clip form, but were definitely seeing more and more longer form content. And I think that, from an AVOD perspective, is likely due to the device access and the fact that people are watching longer content on mobile devices many times, as well as the connected TV.

“The major difference between AVOD and SVOD is the overall need for the accessibility to content for families that cant afford every single SVOD subscription thats out there, as things start to break apart and have all the individual services,” continues Gabriel. “There’s also the fact that cost is going up on some other services as well. Netflix Premium is $17.99 in the US now. Most consumers have to think about what they’re paying between their internet access and your SVOD services. At some point, they have to make choices, which makes AVOD really important for families that cannot afford every premium choice thats out there.”

With the reliance on AVOD as an alternative to SVOD – and the fact that the largest AVOD platform, YouTube, for obvious reasons, is way ahead of the largest SVOD platform, Netflix, in terms of users and time spent, particularly on mobile – AVOD still provides a good opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers. And, in the case of WBS’ content, a chance for children-focused brands to reach both kids and their parents.

Of course, there are an array of issues that advertisers have to contend with when advertising to kids. Most notably on the issues of brand safety and ethics.

Brands will be looking to guarantee that their ads are running against “quality, produced content” that shows awareness, a positive message, and has a big reach, according to Gabriel.

“Most brands today need to be pretty sensitive to their own message to consumers and to how they are being viewed by consumers finding out where their ad is being placed,” he says. “Thats still going to hold true, no matter whether people consume more on a mobile or CTV or in a continued fragmented environment. That brand safety piece is always going to be first and foremost for brands that want to reach kids.”

When it comes to ethics, the US has the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to ensure that anything directed at children on the internet is properly regulated. And then there’s YouTube’s ‘Made for Kids’ initiative, which makes sure content on its platform meets COPPA standards.

The measures in place ensure that no data is used to target children through ads so, in some ways, “it goes back to the former TV model predating user data usage” and places the emphasis on contextual alignment, states Gabriel.

Nonetheless, Gabriel still concedes that there is a grey area that exists when it comes to advertising to children in the form of branded content and through influencer marketing.

“On YouTube, for instance, you cant run a McDonalds ad and show food and you cant run a General Mills cereal ad in front of kids content, but a kid influencer can be seen interacting with that type of product or even eating that product in their content,” Gabriel points out. “I think that’s an area that likely needs some more oversight. It just seems to be a little bit odd that the brand cant run a message in front of content, but their food can be inserted into programming.”

With or without that grey area, advertisers still need to understand that attempting to influence children isn’t quite how it used to be, as children are not being brought up in the same way as they have in the past. And this presents further challenges.

“Modern day parenting has changed significantly, and kids have a much louder voice in the world than theyve ever had. You see kids at an early age being activists,” says Gabriel. “From our perspective, kids are incredibly important in the home for decision-making. Weve seen research around that. And I think brands need to make sure that they pay attention to that, so that they dont miss an entire generation that grow up not knowing their brands and wind-up choosing challenger brands that are across every single category that exist.”

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The linear channel, named ‘Netflix Direct’, will air French and international films and TV series that are available via Netflix’s traditional streaming platform. Though the channel will feature scheduled content, it will be streamed on the company’s web browser-based site, which can be found on set-top boxes through deals with the likes of Orange, Canal Plus, and SFR in France.

Netflix said (via Variety) it chose France because “many viewers like the idea of programming that doesn’t require them to choose what they are going to watch”.

The has launched in select areas of France, with plans to rollout the service to more places in the country in early December.

The streaming giant previously tested out a ‘Shuffle Play’ option, which streamed recommended programming on a per user basis. On the other hand, in a more similar vein to traditional TV, Netflix Direct features a fixed programming schedule for everyone who tunes in.

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Planet V, originally penned for release in February 2020, is an entirely self-service solution that provides advertisers and agencies with control over the planning, purchasing, and reporting of their campaigns across the ITV Hub, ITV’s video-on-demand service.

The platform, developed by Amobee, took nearly 50,000 hours of development work and has been operating internally as an in-house ‘concierge’ solution, fulfilling almost 500m ITV Hub impressions. ITV entered into a licensing and innovation partnership with Amobee back in April 2019.

Planet V’s products and features are built on ITV’s first-party data and ‘select’ data partners. ITV promises to continuously update the platform over the next year with inventory from other broadcasters and video publishers, as well as improved features and capabilities.

“Over the course of the next few years, the rate of change in the way content is produced, distributed and consumed to enable addressable advertising is only going to continue to accelerate. To ensure that we are at the forefront of driving change that works for both ITV and our customers, we have created Planet V,” said Rhys McLachlan, Director of Advanced Advertising at ITV. “This continuously evolving platform is designed to provide clients and advertisers with an unrivalled combination of access to premium video content, and programmatically enabled targeted advertising, whilst continuously operating at ITV’s gold standard level.”

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The Trade Desk will offer access to Channel 4’s inventory programmatically, giving advertisers the means to target 23m viewers across connected TV (CTV) and other devices.

“We’re delighted to be integrated with The Trade Desk,” said David Amodio, Deputy Head of Digital and Innovation at Channel 4. “The partnership enables our advertisers an important choice when buying brand safe broadcaster video programmatically across multiple platforms.”

In order meet regulatory rules, The Trade Desk will transfer a Clearcast clock number through the bidstream, meaning the origins of each ad will be clearly identifiable.

“As advertisers recognise the data-driven potential of CTV advertising to maximise ad relevance and improve the viewer experience, this partnership with Channel 4 represents a further boost in their ability to execute,” said Patrick Morrell, Director of Partnerships EMEA at The Trade Desk. “Broadening access to Channel 4’s inventory for brands across the open internet means better targeting for brands and greater revenue for broadcasters.”

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2020 has so far been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. People’s lives across the world have been transformed seemingly overnight and we’re having to find different ways to do our jobs and occupy our free time. The decisions of governments around the globe to either encourage or force people to stay at home as much as possible has meant that major changes are also being seen in the world of technology.

To see the impact the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is having on technology usage and habits, as well as other areas of life, AdColony surveyed hundreds of people aged between 14 and 75 across the US, EMEA, and LATAM.

The US research, conducted on 10 March, found that 21 per cent of respondents were playing new games on their smartphones, while 26 per cent were playing mobile games they already enjoy more often. This has seen classic games like Fruit Ninja and Crossy Road see a resurgence in downloads, perhaps showing that casual mobile gamers are returning to the games that interested them when they first took up mobile gaming.

Alongside the resurgence of classic mobile games, Plague Inc has, funnily enough, seen an explosion in downloads – something that has led to it being banned in China.

While it’s important to take into account that many more restrictions and recommendations have been put in place by the government since the survey of 150 people, one of the surprising things we  found was that just 25 per cent of respondents said they were watching more streaming entertainment.

Away from the technology, 50 per cent of respondents also said they are doing more household chores – so, it’s not all just staring at screens.

When we compare the US results to those in EMEA, things aren’t too dissimilar. Of the 250 people across Turkey, Greece, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the UK, 47 per cent said they are playing mobile games every day, while 32 per cent are playing new games on their smartphones and 85 per cent are turning to mobile games for relief.

Elsewhere, streaming is up for just 16 per cent of people. And 23 per cent of users prefer ads that help them notice products they might need, with the most positively perceived ad format is user-initiated advertising.

54 per cent of respondent’s in EMEA are taking their time away from technology to do more housework.

As we travel to another part of the world (in spirit), namely Latin America, we see that 44 per cent of the 100 respondents are playing mobile games on their smartphones every day, with 26 per cent playing new games and 79 per cent choosing games for relief. Streaming here is only up for 21 per cent.

On the advertising front, 26 per cent prefer ads that help them notice products they might need, and user-initiated ads also have the most positive perception. Meanwhile, 52 per cent have upped the amount of housework they’re doing.

Of course, the coronavirus pandemic is continually changing the lives of people around the world and it’s very likely that most, if not all, of the numbers shared here would be higher if the survey was done today.

As more and more countries go into lockdown, we can only expect that app downloads and usage will continue to climb, as will the use of technology as a whole.

The world may be in crisis and we are all likely to have several more months like this but at least many of us have the means to keep ourselves (somewhat) entertained during these times and we really can’t take that for granted.

The post Stay home, play games, save lives appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

New Year’s Day was BBC iPlayer’s best-ever day, with 17.9m requests, also up by well over a third on the previous year, as viewers sank their teeth into new series Dracula and stepped back into the Tardis with the new series of Doctor Who.

Over the whole holiday period, the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special was the top episode, with 4.6m requests. The three original series also fared well over Christmas, as iPlayer viewers revisited their favourite moments from the show, with 6.8m requests for episodes from the original series.

Dramatic events in Albert Square helped EastEnders dominate the iPlayer top 20 over the holidays, making up nine of the top 20 episodes on iPlayer. There were 15.6m requests for EastEnders over the fortnight, with the Christmas Day episode topping the pile with 2.2m requests.

Other strong performers include the Call the Midwife Christmas special with 1.8m requests, and the new drama, A Christmas Carol with 1.6m requests.

Christmas week also saw a record 10.7m BBC account holders sign in to watch programmes on iPlayer, with a record 3.6m of them aged under 35.

Dan McGolpin, controller of iPlayer and programming at the BBC, said: “It was a cracking Christmas for BBC iPlayer, with more people than ever enjoying a huge range of great shows. The Gavin and Stacey Christmas special was the icing on the cake, generating a ground-breaking number of requests, plus fan favourites like EastEnders and Call the Midwife and new series His Dark Materials and A Christmas Carol were also top performers.

“2019 was iPlayer’s best ever year and 2020 got off to the perfect start with the New Year’s Day Doctor Who and Dracula both helping to deliver the highest number of requests in a single day. Millions of people are enjoying iPlayer’s expanded box-set offer and new series being made available for longer.”

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All 42 NBC and Telemundo-owned stations, as well as nine NBC Sports Regional Networks (RSNs), will provide a local TV attribution solution powered by TVSquared’s analytics platform. This platform provides ‘real-time’ analytics, which advertisers can use to create a link between TV and OTT ad exposure and real-world business outcomes.

“In the past 12 months, we’ve made several enhancements to the way our sales teams do business to help us showcase the power and reach of local TV. From measuring ad campaigns through impressions and through multiple currencies, to now providing our clients with same-day attribution, the tools at our disposal will help our ad sales teams better serve advertisers/clients, while allowing us to stay on the vanguard of our rapidly changing media industry,” said Frank Comerford, chief revenue officer for NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations.

Jo Kinsella, chief revenue officer and executive vice president at TVSquared, added: “This initiative is monumental for the local media space because, not only does it provide transparent proof of performance to advertisers, but it also unifies the measurement of linear and OTT buys in a single platform. Brands and agencies working with NBC/Telemundo-owned stations and RSNs have the timely, actionable performance insights needed to maximise the business impact of campaigns across both linear and digital TV.”

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Viu users will now have access to content from Discovery Networks Asia Pacific channels on an on-demand basis, with shows from channels including Discovery, Discovery Asia, Animal Planet, Food Network, Asian Food Network, TLC, and HGTV. Some of the popular shows coming from these channels includes Deadliest Catch, Dr. Pimple Popper, Cake Boss, 90 Day Fiancé, and Cooking for Love.

The content will be available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, but HGTV will not be available in Hong Kong. Shows can be viewed with English, Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia, Traditional Chinese, and Thai subtitles, should they be available on that specific show.

“Having firmly established a highly engaged user base in the past few years, our collaboration with Discovery marks a further step in the continual expansion of our offerings to enrich the content experience for our viewers through international and regional collaborations as well as through the development of Viu Original,” said Janice Lee, chief executive officer at Viu. “With Discovery we see the opportunity to offer top quality factual and lifestyle entertainment, including travel, lifestyle and living, that resonates with a broad spectrum of our audience on the Viu platform.”

Viu currently has more than 36m monthly active users across 17 markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South Africa.

The service, which has a free ad-supported version and a premium subscription, is available via the Viu app on smartphones, tablets, and selected smart TVs. It can also be accessed through the Viu website.

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61 per cent of UK households currently watch streaming services, with just 21 per cent of viewers sticking to free services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, and All4, according to a survey of 2,005 UK adults commissioned by uSwitch.com. On average, viewers make use of streaming services more than five times a week, watching 7.8 hours of TV and films.

The average TV streaming consumer pays £12.50 a month and nine per cent pay £31 or more. The average is set to increase to £15.50 once the new streaming services land on UK shores. Perhaps more significant is that just four per cent of people will stick to free channels once the UK streaming service market gets more crowded.

There is also a level of savviness amongst Brits when it comes to keeping their TV streaming costs down. 22 per cent of respondents said they would sign up for a free trial, binge-watch the shows they want to, and then cancel before having to pay for a subscription. The same number would also borrow a friend’s login.

Netflix, as you’d expect, is the most-watched service, with 67 per cent of people using the platform. This is followed by BBC iPlayer (58 per cent) and Amazon Prime (44 per cent). Among the new entrants, nine per cent are set to pay for Disney+, six per cent like the look of Apple TV+, and five per cent are interested in BritBox.

The growing number of subscriptions services on offer is a cause for concern for Brits, however. 74 per cent are worried about it getting more expensive to view their favourite shows, and 19 per cent think they will miss out on their favourite shows as a result of that.

“Some telly addicts might feel like a kid in a sweet shop at the thought of all the streaming services that will soon be available to them,” said Dani Warner, streaming expert at uSwitch.com. “But the increase in competition created by the Streaming Wars may have a downside for consumers, who could find their favourite shows are scattered across countless subscriptions that, once combined, may cost far more than people are willing to pay.

“In a few years, we may look back fondly on a time when we could watch Friends, The Avengers films, The Office and much more with just one Netflix subscription fee.

“Binge watchers need to get savvy and no longer just sign up to a service for life, but instead embrace streaming switching: sign up to a service and then, once you have watched the shows you want to see, end your subscription until you need it again.”

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The survey of 953 UK adults found that 60 per cent of UK consumers won’t pay more than £20 a month for TV streaming services, with the maximum monthly amount being just £10 for 26 per cent.

Interestingly, this follows research from AudienceProject which found that a number of people would cancel their other TV streaming services when Disney+ arrives in the UK in March 2020 – and, according to The Trade Desk’s research, 90 per cent of Brits currently subscribe to at least one streaming service.

In order to experience the content across multiple streaming services without breaking the bank, 59 per cent of people would be open to there being advertising in exchange for a free subscription, while 47 per cent would be fine with advertising if it gave them content at a cheaper price. However, the timing of these ads is important, with 87 per cent happy to see ads at least sometimes if it meant they could watch a whole show afterwards with no interruption.

“As a nation of boxset lovers and binge-watchers, it’s no surprise that so many Brits have signed up to streaming services – a move that has further bolstered the UK’s position as one of the leading TV industries globally. But while people want to access premium content, there’s a limit to how much they’re willing to spend on it.” said Dave Castell, GM of inventory and partnerships at The Trade Desk. “With numerous new services set to enter an already-saturated market over the coming months, I believe that the ad-free subscription model currently favoured by many of the big players simply won’t generate the capital needed to create the content viewers crave.”

“Combined with increasing pressure over rights to popular back-catalogues of shows, advertising is likely the only viable option for streaming services to raise revenue for funding new premium content. I think consumers are clearly turned off by traditional methods of serving ads, so companies must be creative and innovative in how they incorporate advertising into the digital viewing experience. That means new approaches to relevance and timing which improve the consumer experience and increase advertising value, which will help fund the amazing premium content we all enjoy.”

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