Navigating The Fog

Charlie Muirhead

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 20.09.2013

1) Rightster acquires Mediasyndicator sports portfolio

Rightster helps publishers and rights owners monetise video content by distributing it across a large network of third party websites and 450 YouTube channels. It also offers an outsourced ad sales, sponsorship and licensing service.

http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1211874/rightster-acquires-mediasyndicator-sports-portfolio MediaWeek

2) Content marketing: 6 categories VCs are betting on right now

“Almost every brand or company is becoming a publisher of these days and shifting budgets from ‘traditional’ online advertising into content marketing in order to attract leads.”

http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/16/content-marketing-6-categories-vcs-are-betting-on-right-now/ Venturebeat

3) Soon you could watch YouTube even when you're OFFLINE: Video giant announces plans to let people view clips anywhere

YouTube is working on plans to let people view videos through its mobile app even when they don't have an internet connection.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2424419/Youtube-offline-video-plans-let-people-download-view-clips-anywhere.html DailyMail

4) Dailymotion Launches Matchbox Curation Tool For Publisher

Dailymotion, one of the world's leading video portals with over 2.5 Billion video views per month, are launching their newest media tool for online publishers, the Matchbox Widget.

http://www.reelseo.com/dailymotion-matchbox/# ReelSEO

5) China online video advertising marketgets a boost from smart TVs

The growing demand for internet-linked "smart" television on the mainland is poised to help drive greater advertising spending in the country's online video market, analysts say.

http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1311937/china-online-video-advertising-market-gets-boost-smart-tvs

Fun stuff:

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Infographic-Is-Over-the-Top-Video-a-Major-Game-Changer-for-Pay-TV-91934.aspx

http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/10-social-media-engagement-tips-from-the-financial-times/s2/a553845/

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 06.09.2013

The announcement of an IPO this autumn by Rightster, one of the new-style web video content distributors and marketers, has caused only a ripple in the world of UK television, but I think it’s one of the most interesting stories in recent months.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/comment/comment/catching-the-rightster-wave/5059961.article

1) Microsoft buys Nokia smartphones, services in $7.8B deal

"Microsoft Corp. is buying Nokia Corp.'s lineup of smartphones and a portfolio of patents and services in an attempt to mount a more formidable challenge to Apple Inc. and Google Inc., as more technological tasks get done on mobile devices instead of personal computers."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/microsoft-buys-nokia-smartphones-services-in-7-6b-deal-1.1306183 CBC News

Here's where you can read a piece by piece account of the deal: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/the-long-road-to-nokia-deal-a-bloody-ballmer-stalled-discussions/?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=10%20Things%20In%20Tech%20You%20Need%20To%20Know&utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28sai%29%3A%2010%20Tech%20Things%20You%20Need%20To%20Know%20This%20Morning&_r=0

2) Video: The next battleground for China's Internet giants

“Most people should know by now that China is the world’s largest smartphone market. What is more interesting is how the Chinese have been using their smartphones as an all-in-one entertainment tool: with the long hours spent traveling to and fro work, many of them end up playing games and watching plenty of videos on their mobile devices.”

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/09/05/video-the-next-battleground-for-chinas-internet-giants/ The Next Web

3) Surge in Online Video Advertising Across Europe

“Research has revealed that online video advertising among Europe’s big five, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, is growing at an incredible rate.”

http://performancein.com/news/2013/09/05/surge-online-video-advertising-across-europe/ PerformanceIN

4) Online Video is Changing the Meaning of Mainstream

“Instead of working against TV, the web is supplementing it by providing viewers with the bonus content, experimental formats, and filter-free programming they cannot find on the small screen.f”

http://digiday.com/publishers/bloombergs-online-video-success/

5)  Whisper, a private social platform gets $21 million from Sequoia Capital, others

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/04/whisper-a-private-social-platform-gets-21-million-from-sequoia-capital-others/?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=10%20Things%20In%20Tech%20You%20Need%20To%20Know&utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28sai%29%3A%2010%20Tech%20Things%20You%20Need%20To%20Know%20This%20Morning

 Fun Stuff:

All The COol Things The Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch Can Do http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-gear-hands-on-photos-2013-9?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=10%20Things%20In%20Tech%20You%20Need%20To%20Know&utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28sai%29%3A%2010%20Tech%20Things%20You%20Need%20To%20Know%20This%20Morning

Google named the next Android KitKat  http://www.android.com/kitkat/?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=10%20Things%20In%20Tech%20You%20Need%20To%20Know&utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28sai%29%3A%2010%20Tech%20Things%20You%20Need%20To%20Know%20This%20Morning

[navigatingthefog]

The IPO Tech Special 30.08.2013

As you may have seen, this week at Rightster we have announced our Intention to Float, so I thought I'd write about a few other big movements in the world of technology over recent weeks:

1) Sorry Twitter: Your IPO won't be 'low profile'

In talks about its inevitable IPO, the 7-year-old San Francisco tech company wants an offering that's "low profile," one source said.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/08/21/sorry-twitter-your-ipo-wont-be-low-profile/?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=10%20Things%20In%20Tech%20You%20Need%20To%20Know&utm_campaign=Post%20Blast%20%28sai%29%3A%2010%20Tech%20Things%20You%20Need%20To%20Know%20This%20Morning CNN Money

2) 21st Century Fox pays $70m for 5% stake in Vice

Shane Smith, Vice's founder and chief executive, said the deal will help Vice become the "next global media brand" as he plans to take on major video networks like CNN and MTV.

http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1207841/21st-century-fox-pays-70m-5-stake-vice?DCMP=EMC-CONMediaAMBulletin&preferredformat=mobile MediaWeek

3) YuMe IPO Start Start Stronger Than Expected

The company's chief marketing officer Ed Haslam told Adweek today that the IPO route offered YuMe some distinct advantages.

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/yume-ipo-start-stronger-expected-151753 Adweek

4) Facebook's value climbs above $100bn for first time

One year on from its record low, the company closed at $41.34, bringing its value by market capitalisation to $100.6bn

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/27/facebook-stock-price-record-high The Guardian

In other news:

No lack of young tech startups in London, but the issue is growth

5 Tech Lessons We Learned From The City This Summer

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 23.08.2013

1) Rightster announces the appointment of digital media veteran, Simon Walker, as Cheif Commercial Officer and President, Rightster Studios

"Simon is an accomplished media innovator with twenty years’ experience in the digital and creative industries. As leader of the global strategy & business development functions at the BBC, EMI Music and EMAP plc, Simon has been at the heart of the media and entertainment business’s transformation to digital, from writing the BBC’s first ever video-on-demand strategy in 1997, to helping develop YouView, the latest incarnation of that thinking in 2012."

http://goo.gl/qoRZzj

2) Consumers Now Spend 22% of Time Online Watching Video

Wave 11 of the LMX study, conducted in Q2 2013, found that 22% of a consumer’s total time online is now spent watching video, up from 15% one year ago.

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=6225 Ipsos

3) How Will Tomorrow's YouTube MegaStars Rule youTube? 

"YouTube has come a long way since the days of accidental-viral videos of cats and babies. As the ecosystem continues to develop, being a full-time content creator on YouTube has now become a viable profession."

http://www.reelseo.com/tomorrows-youtube-megastars/ Reel SEO

4) Online Video Jumps on the Big Data Bandwagon "The breakout term of 2013 is Big Data, which comes at us streaming types from the far reaches of the often esoteric world of databases...every 10 days there are almost 500 articles written on this one topic alone."

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Online-Video-Jumps-on-the-Big-Data-Bandwagon-91353.aspx Streaming Media

5) Video ads: Focus on the audience, not the channel

"However, we’re not seeing a proportionally large bump in online video ad revenue despite the changing times. Marketers keep running back to their first love, TV, even as viewership dips while online video watching soars. It’s a perplexing situation considering online video’s steady upward growth. The problem lies with the perception of online video viewership..."

http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/24/video-ads-focus-on-the-audience-not-the-channel/#DjH82W6isp2qTZgv.99 Venture Beat

Fun Stuff:

Video of girl playing wit gorilla through glass becomes online hit

Discovery Bringing Facebook's I F***ing Love Science to Online Video and Science Channel"

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 16.08.2013

1) Apple Acquires second screen TV startup Matcha.tv "Matcha.tv was an iOS app that provided a comprehensive overview of everything that’s available to watch via cable TV providers (Comcast), streaming video services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), and digital video stores (iTunes, Amazon)." 

http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/13/apple-acquires-matchatv/#RYl7yp3Z437Od5jK.99 VentureBeat

2) Can Online Video Save the Newspaper Industry? "Greg Jarboe: If you do a SWOT analysis of newspapers, their strengths are in print, their weaknesses are online, but their opportunities are in online video, and their threats are legion. That’s why newspaper executives should read this report today, not tomorrow.” 

http://www.reelseo.com/video-seo-save-newspaper-industry/ ReelSEO

3) Online Video Forces Change on TV Industry Just one day after the previous story, this article was published: "Having turned print media upside down, the Internet now is disrupting television, forcing broadcasters to adapt to tablets and video-on-demand to hold onto views and advertisers."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130813/online-video-forces-change-tv-industry

4) In Online Video, Brands Get More than Ads for Their Money "Corporate branding has been a part of original online video creation since the beginning. Is the purity of online video in jeopardy?"

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/In-Online-Video-Brands-Get-More-than-Ads-for-Their-Money-91355.aspx Streaming Media

5) Why Social Media Is Driving Massive Online Video Growth "Social" video  is video that is influenced — in any part of the pipeline, from production to distribution — by social media. For audiences, discovery is no longer about flipping through channels or a TV guide, it's about listening to friends' recommendations and glancing at social media feeds."

And a bit of fun:

London's New Recycling Bins Will Watch Every Step You Take

Maybe you've heard that Google is trying to bring the Internet to Africa via balloon. Wired's Steven Levy has all the details in a magazine story

DRONES DELIVER BEER

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 09.08.2013

1. "Blinkx announces acquisition of Grab Media"

Blinkx, the internet media platform which connects digital consumers with advertisers, bought the online video content syndication and advertising platform to add incremental audience and augment its relationships with advertisers, publishers and content providers.

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/08/05/blinkx-announces-acquisition-grab-media#0JRL8IL430hudWyc.99 The Drum

2. "Washington Post to be sold to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon" Bezos, whose entrepreneurship has made him one of the world’s richest men, will pay $250 million in cash for The Post..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/washington-post-to-be-sold-to-jeff-bezos/2013/08/05/ca537c9e-fe0c-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html Washington Post

3. "Facebook Moves Cautiously on Video Ads"

Facebook Inc. has been planning for months to dive into the lucrative market for online video ads. The holdup: CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn't want to annoy its 1.1 billion members.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323838204578654684050767080.html Wall Street Journal

4. AOL bets on ad shift to online TV with takeover of Adap.tv

"High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. AOL is paying $405m for a digital video advertising platform in a bet that marketers will transfer tens of billions of dollars from traditional television commercials to digital video ads in the coming years."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ff48e8f0-ff77-11e2-b990-00144feab7de.html#axzz2bUd7BkeN Financial Times

5. Betting on Branded Online Video

"A European marketer friend has been taking bets that brand-owned online video channels will be the future of marketing...."

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2286490/betting-on-branded-online-video ClickZ

  Fun stuff...

YouTube's "Fan Friday Highlights with Felicia Day from Geek &Sundry (YouTube Geek Week)"

 Instagram Now Allows Videos to Be Uploaded From Your Phone's Gallery

Windows Phone App Studio Sees 30,000 Projects Created In 48 Hours

One of Rightster's first ever developers wrote this interesting blog piece this week about "Raising the Next Generation of Computing Pioneers"

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 02.08.2013

1. “YouTube is making it easier for video makers to get in touch with people who like watching their videos...adding a “Top Fans” feature that will let video makers message some of their viewers, using the “Circles” feature from Google+."

http://allthingsd.com/20130802/youtube-throws-video-makers-some-bones/ All Things D

2. "With Lovvvit, Fans Create Online Videos for Shops They Love...With Lovvvit, customers shoot videos of the stores and other establishments they love, then post them to the Lovvvit site. Each video is a testimonial showing what the customer loves about that place: it might be a specific dish, the outdoor patio, or a great deal. Once the video is posted, the establishment’s owner can review the it. The owner can then reward the customer with a special deal."- Online Video continuing to take the world by storm!

http://www.onlinevideo.net/2013/08/with-lovvvit-fans-create-online-videos-for-shops-they-love/ OnlineVideo.net

3. "Video is No Longer an Option, It's Go**amn Mandatory...Video is more of a social game, it requires a representative of the company to engage in comments, getting a conversation started around the video, winning advocates--it's an entirely new way of gaining fans and driving business."

http://www.reelseo.com/video-is-mandatory/ Reel SEO

4. "It makes sense to outsource encoding of videos"

http://www.onlinevideo.net/2013/08/should-your-company-encode-videos-in-the-cloud/ OnlineVideo.net

5. Social Vicdeo Site Turns to YouTube Stars for First Feature Film

"For the first time this year, the amount of time Americans spend consuming digital media is set to eclipse the amount of time spent watching TV. So it only makes sense that entertainment companies are releasing more content specifically for digital platforms.

The social video discovery site Chill.com announced the release of its first feature film Camp Takota on Friday at VidCon"

http://mashable.com/2013/08/02/chill-film/ Mashable

  And a bit of fun:

Brands Find the Link Between Viral Videos and Vending Machines

This Dine-and-Dasher got busted thanks to going Viral on Facebook

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend 19.07.2013

Top 5 stories this weekend:

1. "It isn't what you’d think of as a traditional TV network. It has no linear programming, and all shows are distributed in an on-demand fashion. Most importantly, Netflix isn't broadcast over the air, nor is it piped into your house via coax or beamed via satellite the way HBO and all the other cable networks are. Instead, it’s transmitted digitally — and not just to your TV, but to your computer, to your tablet, to your mobile phone."

http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/18/when-tv-isnt-just-tv-anymore/ Techcrunch

2."More than 44 billion video content views occurred during the month [June. Time spent watching video ads totalled 7.5 billion minutes.."

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/204772/consumers-viewed-20-billion-video-ads-in-june.html#axzz2ZVB8BMnZ MediaPost

3. The Art And Science Of YouTube Networks

"We’re at an inflection point in the future of video, in which the next generation of big media companies are being born on YouTube."

http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/14/the-art-and-science-of-youtube-networks/

4. The Premier League has won a court order forcing UK internet service providers to block a popular football streaming website.

"FirstRow1.eu, operated from Sweden, links to various video streams showing football from around the world - a breach of copyright, the High Court ruled.It will be blocked ahead of the new season, which begins next month.It is the first time a sport-related website has been blocked in the UK."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23342349 BBC

5. AFL lines up digital goal

"The AFL is investigating the feasibility of launching its own digital television network or broadcasting some matches itself as part of its next ­broadcast deal as its website continues to grow strongly."

http://www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/afl_lines_up_digital_goal_O5ODD3eG3UWPYxfiYvUIGN

  And a bit of fun: "What Some Of The Biggest Names In Silicon Valley Wish They Had Known At Age 20" 

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-we-wish-we-knew-at-age-20-2013-7#more-tech-22

[navigatingthefog]

Top 5 stories this weekend

1. "The media is going through turbulent times, but Shane Smith makes it look like a joyride" The Engagement Project: The VICE Guide to Engagement Google Think

2. "£30m deal is struck. The Sun now has the rights to all 380 Premier League matches a season - the deal formed the basis of building a strategy to make the Sun a compelling enough digital product to erect a paywall. Darcey outbid his former employer, BSkyB, and easily outbid previous rights holders ESPN and Yahoo, which controlled parts of the digital rights that were previously split into different packages"  Sun paywall set at £2 with access to Premier League football highlights The Guardian

3. "The film is something of an experiment, from its direct-to-digital release to its marketing campaign, which will be managed strictly through College Humor’s social media channels. The idea is to prove what it can accomplish by targeting its core demographic, the younger, digital native audiences that Hollywood would like to court so badly." College Humor’s First Feature-Length Film Coming To iTunes And Other Digital Media Stores July 9 Tech Crunch

4. "Sellers must clean up their acts for the sake of the industry, and they must reveal to advertisers the content and environment (player size, format, viewability) around the ad" Online Video's Growing Pains Media Post

4. "It’s a process of tempting, of teasing, of creating desire" Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky': How to Build the Song of the Summer Business Week

[navigatingthefog]

Latest Rightster news

Rightster recently launched a new pricing model for our Youtube MCN.

We are responding to client feedback - many asked, “Why should I share revenue that I believe I would have got anyway from YouTube?” We listened and have responded by devising a new service with a ground breaking pricing model. At a time when video is exploding, we wanted to give content owners control and more revenue. Rightster uses a full range of YouTube expertise and the content partner keeps all YouTube-sold revenue, we only take a fee on Rightster-sold inventory whether advertising, sponsorship or affiliate

[navigatingthefog]

Interview with The Guardian