Flypaper.tv

Admittedly we have been a bit silent lately, mostly attributed to international business travel and some very exciting developments at Flypaper.tv that we hope to announce very soon!! We are working hard at growing the business and getting involved in truly exciting projects. Stay Tuned.

In the meantime, below are a few of the news pieces we have been following.

How big US TV networks are reacting to the Recession, by Variety

• Fourth quarter of 2008 statistics:
• 18-24 demographic watch average 5hrs per month of online video (Nielsen), and average 5hrs per month watching TV via DVR playback
• Despite growth of time spent online, 18-24 year olds spend majority of time watching regular TV: 118hrs per month
• Ad revenue for ‘Big Four’ US Networks and CW will drop to $17.2 billion, thats 5%-10% from 2008 (decline attributed to lower ratings in major networks)
• Basic Cable will flatline - at $18.3 billion (Myers)
• Local Broadcast TV drops by 20%, to $20.4 billion (Myers)
• Digital Ad Spend will grow by 2.9%, to about $25.4 billion (still slower growth rate than expected)
• Hulu leads the way, with 300 million videos streamed in February alone (Nielsen) - with a 30% year-to-year traffic growth, ranking second after YouTube — see AdAge analysis of Hulu
• Ad market for online video will reach  $850 million in 2009 (eMarketer)
• “But at the moment, it appears that major advertisers are too busy worrying about the fate of their bottom dollar to focus on keeping up with the cutting edge online “

Greece Launches new IPTV Service

• The Greek broadband provider Hellas online (HOL) is launching a new IPTV service. It features access to the main Greek free-to-air channels, news, information, music, children’s and sports drawn from around the world and – for the first time in Greece – HD content. The company says its VOD offer features hundreds of titles. There is also a significant amount of entertainment and sports content available free of charge.
• PPV prices: starting at €0.99 for a 24 hour viewing window
• Hellas has chosen the Microsoft Mediaroom middleware to drive its functionality that includes automatic recordings from the 14-day electronic programme guide. The IPTV decoder is manufactured by Motorola.
• HOL, which is part of the Intracom Holdings group, is one of the largest providers of fixed telephony services in Greece.

Research and Markets: A new Report

• A new report by firm Research and Markets, entitled ‘IPTV Business Models: Profit and Loss in the telco TV space’, announces that there will be over 22mn European homes receiving IPTV services by 2012, compared to in excess of 8mn by the end of 2007 .  IPTV services are “rapidly becoming commonplace” across much of Europe. The report cautions that many are struggling to generate subscriber revenues at sustainable levels.
• The report categorises IPTV services as falling into three rough tranches: TV bundled free with broadband, basic pay (or ‘amenity IPTV’) and premium IPTV.  The report suggests that offering free bundled IPTV solely for the sake of churn reduction cannot be justified from a financial perspective - IPTV must generate increased net additions to the broadband business or TV ARPUs must be boosted to compensate. IPTV is mainly seen as a “catch-up solution”, with telcos running to keep pace with cable competitors.
• Premium content is described as a double-edged sword for IPTV operators, as while high-level content is important in attracting subscribers and differentiating from the competition, subscribers to the platforms are too low to allow short-mid term profitability from the move.

Google Rolls out Targeted Ads

• Google is trialling targeted ads, allowing advertisers to deliver web ads based on a user’s browsing history. The system is an extension of Google’s contextual AdSense programme, which currently serves display ads based on the content of a site or specific search words.
• “By making ads more relevant, and improving the connection between advertisers and our users, we can create more value for everyone,” says Google’s VP of product management, Susan Wojcicki. “Users get more useful ads, and these more relevant ads generate higher returns for advertisers and publishers.”
• See a summary by our friends at StrategyEye

Digital Music News, courtesy of PaidContent

• YouTube decides to pull most of its “premium” videos from its UK site after discussions with PRS hit an impasse. YouTube claims it would lose money on every play if it meets the PRS price for a license renewal, while PRS For Music says YouTube wants to pay less. The article includes reactions to this news from Last.fm co-founder Marting Stiksel, We7 CEO Steve Purdham, MUZU tv MD Mark French and more.
• We7 CEO Steve Purdham: “YouTube highlights the single common fact that the minima/fixed rates defined by the (PRS’) joint online license doe not reflect the economical world out there. Put anyone from any legal music services together in a corner and the message is consistent, we want to pay but the rates make no economical sense. Minima rates are the biggest single threat to a healthy legal digital society. The facts are simple if legal entities cannot make money then its better to give in and let the pirates have total control. We have seen this many times already.”
• MuZu.tv MD Mark French: “It’s not the music industry’s fault that YouTube’s business model doesn’t stack up. The model doesn’t support paying the current PRS rates, let alone the payment to artists, because they cannot command high enough advertising rates. While the industry needs to look at the minimum stream rates to make new business models viable and sustainable, it should not let YouTube hold it to ransom.”

Netlog and Joost Partner Up

• Joost is working on strategic deals that will help boost its traffic, now allowing Netlog’s 40 million users to access to its video library. Netlog is an extremely attractive social network for Joost, as it boasts a growing fanbase of much desired youth demographic — about 60% of Netlog’s members are between the ages of 14 and 24.
• Joost’s library contains about 57,000 videos, including 400 TV series, 1,200 movies and short film titles, and 18,000 music videos. Its content suppliers include CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Sony Pictures Television, and Warner Bros.
• More from Techcrunch and Joost press release

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