In an interview with CNBC, Hulu CEO Randy Freer revealed that his company’s $40 per month Internet streaming service, Hulu with Live TV, which launched a little more than one year ago, has surpassed 800,000 subscribers. Dish Network’s Sling TV reached 2.3 million customers at the end of Q1, and AT&T’s DirecTV Now has about 1.46 million subscribers. Other competitors in this space include Google’s YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue from Sony, and the sports-focused fuboTV. In total, Hulu has more than 20 million paying customers (half subscribe to the ad-free $11.99 monthly package). Continue reading Hulu Draws 800,000+ Subscribers to its New Live TV Service

CBS and Nielsen are joining forces to deliver dynamic ad insertion (DAI) into linear national television programming that is viewed via connected devices. This will enable advertisers to better target individual viewers with more relevant commercials. The collaboration will use Gracenote’s Automatic Content Recognition software, which is already installed in millions of smart TVs. “Nielsen, through its acquisition of Gracenote, will leverage patented technology to replace linear ad spots on individual smart TV sets to offer more advanced advertising capabilities to brands,” said Nielsen exec Peter Bradbury. Continue reading CBS and Nielsen to Serve Dynamic Ads for Live TV Broadcasts

Led by tech titans Facebook and Microsoft, more than 30 tech companies have signed a Cybersecurity Tech Accord as part of their efforts to protect customers from cyberattacks and “the misuse of their technology.” According to the agreement, tech companies pledge not to assist governments that initiate attacks against “innocent civilians and enterprises.” Among the signatories are companies that power Internet technology and information infrastructure, including Cisco, Cloudflare, Dell, HP, LinkedIn, Nielsen, Nokia, Oracle, Symantec and VMware. Continue reading Tech Firms Sign a Cybersecurity Pledge to Protect Customers

Fox News is reportedly planning to launch a standalone subscription service by the end of this year, as more viewers abandon their cable and satellite TV packages. Despite a record 2017 for Fox News, its highest-rated year in terms of television audience, the network is expected to announce Fox Nation today, which will feature original programming. The new digital venture enters a growing field of web-only streaming TV offerings from the likes of HBO, Cinemax, CBS and Showtime. Additionally, CBS is planning CBS Sports HQ and ESPN is launching its ESPN Plus service this spring. Continue reading Fox News Ready to Announce Streaming Subscription Service

Apple is preparing for a major iPhone operating system update, iOS 11.3, and it will include some important new features. Chief among those is Business Chat, which lets users communicate directly with businesses via the iMessage app. At launch, Business Chat will allow communications with a select group of companies including Wells Fargo, Lowe’s, Hilton and Discover. Also new with iOS 11.3 is version 1.5 of the company’s virtual reality developers’ kit ARKit, four Animoji, and new features that display battery health. Continue reading Apple Includes New Business Chat Feature in Next iOS Update

Facebook has again tweaked its News Feed, this time in a major way. The social media giant will now prioritize what a member’s friends and family share and comment on, rather than content from publishers and brands. The change, meant to maximize what chief executive Mark Zuckerberg calls “meaningful interaction,” will take place over the next few weeks. Likewise, Facebook wants to diminish “passive content,” which is defined as that which requires nothing of the viewer than to sit back and watch or read. Continue reading Facebook News Feed Algorithm Tweak Favors Family, Friends

Nielsen is introducing “smart TV viewership data from Gracenote,” reports TechCrunch, so that “advertisers using the Nielsen Marketing Cloud will be able to take advantage of detailed, real-time information about who was watching what.” Nielsen exec Kelly Abcarian said the goal is to deliver “person-level television data” to digital marketing and “bring the scale to a whole new level.” This will enable advertisers to target consumers who watched a TV spot by following up with a direct response mobile ad. Nielsen has expanded its ad targeting and digital ad business efforts with the purchase of eXelate in 2015 and Gracenote earlier this year. Gracenote’s Video Automatic Content Recognition tech can be found in 27 million smart TVs today. Continue reading Nielsen Expands Marketing Cloud With Gracenote’s TV Data

Nielsen has begun collecting Netflix viewership data via audio recognition software in 44,000 U.S. households, part of its planned initiative to measure TV audiences of subscription video on-demand services. So far, A&E Networks, Disney ABC Television Group, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. have subscribed to the service. Nielsen clients can opt to release the data publicly. By adding SVOD measurements, Nielsen continues efforts to capture viewing behaviors that have changed with the emergence of mobile and streaming video.  Continue reading Nielsen Begins to Measure Audience Data of SVOD Services

Just in advance of Advertising Week, YouTube is debuting new advertising tools based on Ipsos research that people who watch online video ads are four times more likely to pay attention than to TV ads. The research also showed that promos played on YouTube garner twice as much attention as other social platforms. YouTube added new targeting options to its Custom Affinity Audiences tool, introduced in January. The targeting options, in addition to search, include downloaded apps or real locations customers have visited. Continue reading YouTube Unveils Tools to Create Hundreds of Ads From One

Advertisers will be able to improve their marketing campaigns with two new tools for measuring Facebook and TV metrics both separately and together. The new Facebook Cross-Platform Brand Lift, which will debut in 2018, and the Nielsen Total Brand Effect with Lift, already available in the U.S. and U.K., are particularly aimed at marketers moving from digital to cross-media advertising. The platform also allows Facebook to compete with Google’s Brand Lift for TV, which debuted a number of years ago. Continue reading Facebook Debuts Cross-Platform Metrics Tools for Marketers

Short video ads are common on Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms, whereas 15-second and 30-second ads dominate on broadcast TV. Fox Sports is now bringing the six-second TV commercial to NFL games and other programming. After testing it during its August broadcast of the Teen Choice Awards, Fox now hopes to make the six-second ad an industry standard. The reason is that the younger demographic, more accustomed to abbreviated video ads on social media, is pushing back against broadcast TV’s long ad breaks. Continue reading Fox Sports Plans to Air Six-Second Ads During NFL Games

According to a new study from measurement firm Nielsen, the lack of brand loyalty among 18- to 34-year-olds is reflected in their consumption of digital services such as communication apps and streaming music. Perhaps not surprisingly, Nielsen found that the demographic consumes a great deal of digital media but tends to use multiple services across categories, rather than focus on one service for a specific segment. For example, while only 39 percent of consumers over 35 use two or more apps to stream music, almost 60 percent of millennials will commonly do so on a regular basis. Continue reading Millennials Regularly Use Variety of Apps for Digital Services

Nielsen will expand its Digital Content Ratings to credit video distributed via Facebook, Hulu and YouTube. According to Jessica Hogue, SVP of product leadership at Nielsen, “These are three of the biggest and most meaningful platforms for media companies and advertisers.” The move “will allow TV network and digital publishers to capture incremental viewing of video on the three digital outlets,” reports Variety, and extends the measurement firm’s push into new media viewership. “Nielsen’s announcement comes as more digital companies are placing new emphasis and added resources on creating video content, rather than pieces of simple text.” Continue reading Nielsen Includes Facebook, Hulu, YouTube in Digital Ratings

Television measurement leader Nielsen is adding Hulu and YouTube TV to its ratings, the company’s next step toward including more streaming data. So far, Nielsen’s coverage of streaming viewership has largely involved data from TV networks distributing content via digital platforms, such as CBS shows made available on CBS All Access. “This is the first time the biggest digital-first, TV streaming companies have come into the fold in terms of being included in TV ratings,” said Nielsen president of product leadership Megan Clarken. Continue reading Hulu and YouTube TV Data Now Included in Nielsen Ratings

Facebook is developing a metered paywall to drive viewers to subscribe to source publications of stories posted on Instant Articles. The move is in response to the social media platform’s tense relationship with publishers, who are losing viewership of stories on their own websites, as well as revenue. While sources say that discussions about the paywall are in the early stages, and testing won’t begin until October, Facebook is currently introducing a new analytics tool for publishers. Meanwhile, Amazon is now paying publishers and digital influencers to post to its new commerce-centric social network Spark. Continue reading Facebook Develops Metered Paywall, Debuts Analytics Tool