Ikea has been the big winner on social media during the final season of Game of Thrones so far, achieving the greatest social lift of the brands advertising during the show’s ad breaks on Sky Atlantic.

According to 4C Insights, the Swedish furniture store has achieved a 495 per cent TV social lift this season, thanks to its three TV spots. The data science firm based its findings on the brand’s social media engagement in the five-minute period after the start of a TV ad, compared to the engagement rate in the five minutes prior.

O2 sits in second place in the rankings, achieving a 335.5 per cent social lift on the back of its one ad. This is followed by BT’s 242 per cent from eight spots, BMW’s 185.6 per cent from two spots, and Iceland’s 158.6 per cent from 11 spots.

“In todays cross-channel media world, these figures represent a more holistic view of advertisings net effect than just counting views or viewers,” said Aaron Goldman, CMO at 4C Insights. “With multi-tasking and multi-screening, it’s not enough for brands to put out an advert on television and expect it to reach their key audiences. Marketers must close the loop by creating a presence across platforms with timely messaging that captures the moment.”

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Edo was founded in 2015 by Daniel Nadler and actor Edward Norton, with Kevin Krim, former head of digital at CNBC, serving as CEO for the firm. The companys offering centres on the fact that, while linear TV still commands the majority of ad budgets, its effectiveness still tends to be measured using old-fashioned survey-based methodologies, especially when it comes to brand perception.

Edo pulls data from sources including search engines and sites where consumers research purchases, and uses data science the measure the change in consumer engagement, focusing on behaviours that are indicative of intent.

Since it began operations, Edo has built up a database of 47m ad airings, and enables brands to not only measure their own ad performance, but compare it to competitors. According to Krim, in the past, advertisers have received overnight data from the firm and adjusted their ad rotation for that very night.

Edo is already working with ESPN, Turner, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros, and is looking to expand to additional broadcasters. The funding round was led by Breyer Capital, with participation from WGI Group and Vista Equity co-founders Robert Smith and Brian Sheth.

“For more than a decade Ive watched the data science talent arbitrage transform industries from finance to defence, from transportation to commerce,” said Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital. “We needed someone to bring these capabilities to bear on the systemic inefficiencies and methodological shortcomings of measurement and analytics in media and advertising.”

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According to Variety, Greenberg is working with Walmart to explore the possibility of the retailer operating a video-on-demand service that could compete with Netflix and Amazon Prime, offering a lineup of content and lower price point designed to appeal to its core base of Middle America customers.

Walmart has increasingly been competing with Amazon over the past few years, with the online retailer moving into Walmarts traditional market of grocery shopping. Amazons acquisition of Whole Foods placed the two in more direct competition, and in response, Walmart has been strengthening its online capabilities, signing a five-year partnership with Microsoft to accelerate digital transformation and even acquiring a VR startup to explore producing virtual reality content.

Rumours have long circulated that the company was seeking to enter the streaming video market, and in fact the firm acquired streaming service Vudu back in 2010, but that brand has remained relatively disconnected from Walmart. According to reports, the new streaming service would be separate from Vudu, which currently offers over 15,000 movies and 5,000 television shows to rent or buy digitally.

Greenberg left Epix last autumn after nearly a decade as the premium TV firms CEO. He was a co-founder in the company, which was formed by MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount, although MGM bought out the two other partners back in April 2017. Prior to Epix, Greenberg ran a consulting company working with broadcasters including HBO and Showtime, as well as Lionsgate and Comcast.

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The figures, which come from a new report by Ofcom, mark the first time pay TV revenues have declined after a period of sustained growth, and also show that while broadcast TV remains popular, viewing among 16 to 34-year-olds is moving online.

Q1 2018 saw subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime and Now TV, the three most popular online streaming services, hit 15.4m, overtaking pay TV subscriptions at 15.1m. This growth in subscriptions contributed to a 25 per cent increasing in online audio-visual revenues, taking them to £2.3bn in 2017, while pay TV revenues fell by 2.7 per cent to £6.4bn.

Average daily broadcast viewing on the television set fell by nine minutes in 2017 and is down 38 minutes since 2012, leading to a drop in television advertising income by seven per cent year-on-year, to £3.9bn. This also resulted in the UKs main broadcast channels (the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) cutting spending on original UK-made programming, which fell to a 20-year-low of £2.5bn, a 28 per cent drop from the 2004 peak of £3.4bn. An increase in funding from third parties towards the cost of programme-making (from £147m in 2008 to £338m in 2017 across the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5) has partly helped to mitigate this decline.

Viewing habits continue to shift online, especially among children and younger viewers. While the average UK viewer spends three hours 22 minutes a day watching broadcast television, over-65s watch four times as much broadcast television as children in 2017.

Total daily viewing time across all devices stands at five hours and one minute, with 71 per cent spent on broadcast content. However, among 16-34-year-olds, total viewing falls to four hours 48 minutes, of which less than half is spent on broadcast content, while just under an hour a day was spent watching content on YouTube.

“Todays research finds that what we watch and how we watch it are changing rapidly, which has profound implications for UK television,” said Sharon White, chief executive of Ofcom. “We have seen a decline in revenues for pay TV, a fall in spending on new programmes by our public service broadcasters, and the growth of global video streaming giants. These challenges cannot be underestimated.

“But UK broadcasters have a history of adapting to change. By making the best British programmes and working together to reach people who are turning away from TV, our broadcasters can compete in the digital age.”

The Ofcom report also found that, for the first time, music industry revenues from online streaming subscriptions exceeded physical sales in 2017. Total retail music sales grew by six per cent in real terms between 2016 and 22017, driven by a 38 per cent increase in online streaming service subscriptions to £577m.

In contrast, overall sales of physical music formats fell to £470m, while music downloads dropped by 25 per cent as consumers shifted away from music ownership towards streaming models. Almost a quarter of all adults listen to music via streaming services each week, increasing to 51 per cent of those aged 15-24.

Radio listening also reached a significant milestone in the first quarter of 2018, as, for the first time, more than half of all listening hours were through a digital platform – online, through digital TV, or via a DAB radio. 64 per cent of adults now have a DAB set.

“Todays figures from Ofcom are a landmark on the road we have been walking down for a long time,” said Chris Anderson, head of film & TV at Muso, a global authority on digital piracy. “Technology has completely transformed the way people are able to watch TV and the days of being tied to a TV schedule are well and truly behind us, with streaming services now officially the preference for the majority of viewers.

“The word officially is key – because what these figures from Ofcom dont take into account is the many hundreds of thousands of people who are streaming TV in the UK through unlicensed services nad sites. In reality, with piracy figures considered, streaming probably overtook traditional TV long ago – but piracy audiences are overlooked by TV broadcasters, streaming services and regulators to their detriment.

“The idea that services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have eradicated piracy is a fallacy. Our figures show that global piracy has increased year-on-year, in spite of the rise of streaming services. The UK had 4.8bn total visits to film and TV piracy sites in 2017 alone.”

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The report, which is Zeniths fourth annual look at online video consumption, covers 59 key markets, and includes all video content viewed over an internet connection, including broadcaster-owned platforms like Hulu, over-the-top subscription services like Netflix, video-sharing platforms like YouTube, and videos viewed on social media.

Global online video consumption grew by 11 minutes a day from 2017 to 2018, and is projects to grow by an average of nine minutes a day each year to 2020. It accounts for almost all of the growth in total internet use, and is growing faster than media consumption overall. In 2020, China is expected to have the keenest viewers, with the average person spending 105 minutes a day watching online video, followed by Russia (102 minutes) and the UK (101 minutes).

Online video adspend is estimated to have grown 20 per cent in 2017, reaching $27bn (£20.3bn). Growth peaked in 2014 at 36 per cent, and has fallen steadily since then, but remains high, with Zenith forecasting 19 per cent growth this year, and an average of 17 per cent annual growth until 2020, when it will reach $43bn. Videos share of online display advertising is also rising steadily, accounting for 27 per cent of display adspend in 2017, and expected to account for as much as 30 per cent by 2020.

“Online video is driving growth in global media consumption, as smartphones with high-speed data connections make high-quality video available to people on the move, and smart TV sets give viewers unparalleled choice in the living room,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting and director of global intelligence at Zenith. “The rapid rise in video viewing makes online video the worlds fastest-growing advertising format, creating new strategic and creative opportunities. Brands that do not currently have a strategy for online video need to think about getting one.”

The supply of online video audiences has been growing ahead of demand in recent years, with online video viewing growing 91 per cent between 2015 and 2017, while adspend grew online 52 per cent. This has driven the cost of online video advertising down substantially, although prices are expected to stabilise soon.

While online video advertising is still only a fraction of the size of television advertising, televisions viewership is largely stagnant, growing between zero and two per cent annually. The online video ad market was 10 per cent the size of the television ad market in 2015, and 14 per cent in 2017. By 2020, its expected to be 23 per cent of the size of television adspend.

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Presented by Adam Smith from Sky Sports and Joe Thomlinson from Football Daily, the six-part series features fans from rival teams from both the English Football League and the Scottish Premiership League going head-to-head in driving challenges using the Isuzu D-Max.

The multiplatform campaign integrates broadcast, digital and social content from Sky Sports Soccer AM and Diagonal Views Football Daily, with a bespoke ad targeted at millions of men across a range of Sky Medias channel. The ads include a red button activation, enabling viewers to immediately access the three-minute long episodes.

The series will also be available via On Demand in the Sky Sports section, and will be shared to Sky Sports and Football Dailys social channels, which include 5.5m Facebook followers and over 2m YouTube subscribers. Skys AdVance technology will then be used to re-target users who have seen the ad with click-through display ads, taking consumers to a branded Isuzu content hub on the Sky Sports website.

“Were always looking to push boundaries and thing of new and exciting ways to help our clients engage their target audiences,” said Rachel Bristow, director of partnerships at Sky. “In a Sky first, were using a unique mix of both our TV and social channels to ensure Isuzu engages sports in a fun, compelling way.”

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According to a survey of 2,0000 UK adults, conducted by Mortar London on behalf of price comparison site Finder.com, more than 17m Brits – or 41.1 per cent of the population – are subscribed to at least one streaming service. On average, people are paying an estimated £17.17 each month on streaming services.

“TV streaming is becoming the norm for many households across the UK. But with seemingly cheap monthly costs, it can be easy to spend more than you realise if you sign up to several providers,” said Jon Ostler, CEO of Finder.com.

The research also found that millennials are the ‘most addicted’ generation with 11.8 per cent subscribing to over three streaming services, costing them more than £20 a month on average. Furthermore, men were found to spend more than women.

59.7 per cent of Brits choose Netflix, followed by 47.5 per cent subscribing to Amazon Prime. 69.4 per cent of millennials are believed to have Netflix subscription.

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DisneyNow brings the three previously separate ‘Watch’ apps – which have been downloaded more than 40m times since 2012 – together to create a hub for all of Disney’s on-demand programming, as well as live streaming.

“The decision to consolidate our Disney Channel Watch apps into the new DisneyNow app was driven by what kids told us they want in a video experience,” said Kimberly Hicks, VP of digital media at Disney Channels. “The upgraded app enables us to showcase great stories and characters, and bring the magic of Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior to their daily lives.”

The home to TV series, TV movies and other content from the Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior and Radio Disney is available now on iOS, tvOS, Android/Kindle and Roku. Fire TV, Android TV and the Web will receive the app in 2018.

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Finecast enables advertisers to precision-target viewers across on demand, linear and live streaming TV environments. It is said to help advertisers reach ‘hard-to-reach’ TV viewers, with over 180 targeting segments, via a single access point with standardised measurement. In addition, it has been integrated with [m]Platform to active campaign targeting at the household level using [m]Platform’s audience segments.

“Finecast is built to strengthen the TV ecosystem for advertisers and media partners alike. By unlocking the ability to be targeted in TV campaigns, Finecast opens the door for new advertisers who haven’t used TV before, and it gives traditional TV advertisers new ways to use the medium. This represents tremendous upside for TV broadcasters,” said Kelly Clark, global CEO at GroupM. “Through partnerships and joint investment, Finecast will also provide a platform for industry collaboration on new products and measurement standards.”

Finecast will be led Jakob Nielsen, former UK managing director at GroupM Digital, who has been named CEO of the company. Nielsen, who joined GroupM from Microsoft in 20009, will be supported by CPO Rich Astley.

The TV targeting company is live and running campaigns in the UK across TV channel brands, pay-TV platforms and set top boxes, video on demand and catch up TV services, over-the-top providers, and games consoles. This includes distribution across Sky, Virgin Media, Samsung, YouView, Amazon Fire, Roku, and gaming consoles such as Xbox.

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According to an international study from On Device Research, 47 per cent of people said they choose on-demand TV over traditional TV due to fewer ads, while 87 per cent of respondents said they use mobile apps for more than two hours a day. These figures show that consumers are less mentally available for brands, as they are moving away from the fixed advertising of traditional media.

The study also revealed that there is a growing connection between mobile devices and TVs, with 51 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have controlled their TV via mobile in the last three months. This figure rises, as you’d expect, to 61 per cent among 18 to 34-year olds

“Consumers are clearly moving their attention from linear TV to on-demand TV, which often includes no advertising,” said Alistair Hill, co-founder and CEO of On Device Research. “This presents huge challenges for brands attempting to engage consumers, and drive that much needed mental availability. Eye balls have moved to mobile, which our effectiveness research shows is proven to help build brands.”

In addition, the research found that consumer habits are having a knock-on effect to physical availability – relating to the point of purchase – as there has been a seven per cent decline in shopping centre visits, and 75 per cent of respondents claimed to shop online at least once a month.

Elsewhere, the report showed evidence that it is important that brands get into the thinking of consumers to show off their quality and authenticity. 64 per cent of respondents said quality is the most important thing to consider when shopping. This was followed by 26 per cent saying brand authenticity, and only 20 per cent saying well-known brands were the most important to them.

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