For the past couple of years, the top digital video initiative at Verizon was the company’s mobile video streaming app Go90. But even after spending a ton of money on Go90, Verizon hasn’t been able to drive any meaningful viewership to the app.
Now under the Oath umbrella, Go90 seems to be on its way out, and it appears -- for the time being, at least -- that Oath is pivoting back to its existing media and distribution brands, instead of trying to build a video streaming product that no one watches. At Oath’s NewFront last week, which doubled as a large outdoor concert-party hosted by Jamie Foxx at Pier 26 at Hudson River Park, multiple Oath executives told me how the focus is again on Oath’s consumer properties, including HuffPost, various Yahoo editorial verticals and even Tumblr.
“It’s no longer a platform play; we’re going back to a media and content play,” said one source.
In fact, at its NewFront, Oath was expected to announce a new vertical video streaming platform, for which the company was planning to commission original content as well as include interactive video and commerce features. But a few weeks before the event, Oath decided to shelve those plans, and the executive in charge of the product left the company, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the plans.
The Go90 team, meanwhile, is being integrated into Oath as the focus shifts back to producing original video for Oath’s various media properties. (It’s expected that Oath’s media properties will continue to commission original series where it makes sense, so the opportunity for producers, studios and other video makers is not entirely gone.)
Regardless, with Go90 gone soon, it’s safe to say whatever Verizon does next in video, it’s going to think harder about whether it should try to build another video platform -- and whether there’s actual consumer demand for such a video platform -- before making any expensive decisions.
Sahil Patel
senior reporter, Digiday
CONFESSIONAL
“[Snap] had their ‘I’m Keith Hernandez’ moment. It was arrogance; they thought they could do whatever they wanted to do because they thought they had earned a moment in time where nothing terrible could happen to them. You’re not invincible -- you’re still ruled by the laws of smart business.”
-- Snapchat Discover publisher that saw a 20 percent drop in daily users following Snap’s redesign (which didn’t help Snap’s quarterly earnings, either).
NUMBERS DON'T LIE
1.8 billion: Number of logged-in YouTube users every month.
$480,000: PopSugar’s reported annual snack budget, which it’s looking to reduce as the publisher tries to reach profitability.
DIGIDAY VIDEO SUMMITS
We have two Digiday Video Summits coming up, in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 21-23 and in Amsterdam from June 5-7. We have a great lineup of speakers for both events and would love to have you there. And if you’re from a media company, ask us about our VIP program.
WHAT WE'VE COVERED
Adidas has paused its video ad spend on Facebook
Adidas is reviewing whether to cut its spending on Facebook due to concerns that people aren’t regularly viewing its ads there.
Up to 30 percent of what Adidas spends on Facebook could be wasted.
Read more about Adidas’ Facebook ad woes here.
Snap cuts off licensing fees for Snapchat Discover publishers
Snap is no longer paying publishers that elected to take a flat, upfront licensing fee to produce daily and weekly Discover content.
Snap is trying to move all media partners to the same general ad revenue-sharing deal, though some big media giants will probably still receive favorable terms.
WHAT WE'RE READING
Let’s get real about Netflix’s numbers: 125 million subscribers, $8 billion annual content budget, 700 original projects: Those are the numbers everyone -- including us -- likes to mention when talking about how Netflix has disrupted entertainment. But here’s another that should get more attention: $28 million, which is the amount of money Netflix is on the hook for (to pay for content, repay debt and for other expenses) over the next few years. Netflix has been sheltered by investors who believe that eventually the company will grow so large that it will make enough cash to pay for its expenses. But what happens if Netflix’s growth stalls? Even at the highest levels of video, the business is risky.
Fox rethinks how to reduce prime-time TV ads: Attempts by TV networks to deflate their ad loads are admirable -- if they follow through with them. Fox has said it wants to slash the number of ads running during its Sunday night prime-time lineup by 40 percent. But now it’s saying that might have to happen on a different night, according to a Variety report. The article doesn’t say which other night the network is mulling (good guesses: Friday or Saturday) or why it’s shifting (because money, dummy). The latter conjecture is bolstered by the fact that Fox doesn’t seem that interested in actually reducing its ad load. If it were, then why would the broadcaster also now be considering adding a single commercial before or after a show that would run up to six minutes long? Six. Minutes. That’s like three Snapchat Shows.
No comments:
Post a Comment