TVREV Week In Review: Hulu Launches A Streaming Service, VR and Live Streaming Are What’s New About The NewFronts

1. Could Hulu’s New Streaming Service Be The Meteor?

For years, we’ve talked about the coming of the meteor, the thing that would kill off the dinosaurs of the television industry and usher in a whole new era. A complex web of legal and business arrangements made that meteor unlikely, but if Hulu’s new streaming service, announced Wednesday at their Upfront event, takes off, the dinosaurs’ days may indeed be numbered.

Hulu already has Disney (ABC) and Fox on board and negotiations are in place for Comcast (NBCU), the third owner of the current Hulu service. All they need to do now is bring CBS on board and they’re golden. (Viacom, Discovery and Time Warner are nice-to-haves, but not must-haves at launch.)

Why It Matters

Why is this streaming service different from all other streaming services? Because this streaming service is owned by the networks themselves. It gives them control of both content and distribution, something they do not currently have, but which all their competitors, from Google and Facebook to Amazon and Netflix currently do.

And there’s one big reason why that matters: data, which continues to be the dominant theme of both the Upfronts and NewFronts.

The networks need data about their viewers and at present they can only get that data from third parties, many of whom (the MVPDs, Facebook, Google) they don’t particularly trust to have their best interests at heart.

Audience Parting

A Hulu-based service will also allow the networks to make use of “audience-parting” or addressable advertising. Right now, addressable is only available through the MVPDs, on the two or three minutes per hour they get from the networks.
That’s a tech issue—the MVPDs control delivery and so addressable ads need to go through their set top boxes and TVE apps.

But a Hulu-owned delivery system would be owned by the networks and would be delivered via whatever Hulu app the viewer was using. And since Hulu also used their Upfront to announce that 70% of viewing now took place on a TV set, that app is likely attached to a Roku, Apple TV, Xbox or PlayStation.

The networks could, if they wanted, to get even more granular with Hulu, instituting the sort of “who’s watching” home screen Netflix currently uses. That would allow them to deliver ads on an individual basis rather than via household, giving advertisers the ability to really target their audiences. (Don’t discount biometric applications for this from the likes of Roku and Apple either.)

A Farewell To DVRs

Because Hulu was originally designed to be a catch-up service, every show would be available on VOD as soon as it aired, thus putting an end to the need for DVRs. That means no more ad-skipping and a much wider inventory for all those addressable ads. That’s particularly notable as a recent study from Nielsen revealed that DVR usage drops off perceptibly after 7 days as viewers turn to VOD. While an all-VOD system would encourage more viewers to time-shift, it would also provide more advertising opportunities and quite possibly encourage more viewing (no need to remember to program all those DVRs.)

The all-VOD system in combination with a data-driven, recommendation-based interface would also drive viewing, particularly of long-tail content, as viewers were able to discover shows they’d missed the first time out.

What You Need To Do About It

Everyone—networks, brands, MVPDs and agencies—need to keep an eye on how this plays out. Bear in mind that even the best designed “skinny bundle” will have a limited audience—most people still want lots of options. Watch the skirmishing between the networks and MVPDs intensify if this does take off. And understand what your advertising plan would look like in an addressable/time-shifted/All VOD world.

PS: There are multiple reports that Google would like to launch a pay-TV streaming service via YouTube. Good luck with that—as we told the LA Times, there is no way the networks are going to give Google all that data. CYA!

2. Live Streaming and VR Are What’s New About The NewFronts

If you’ve been paying attention to the NewFronts, you’ve probably noticed that everyone seems to have a VR app and a Live Stream plan in place. Because, you know, media companies, they’ve got this stuff down cold and they’re pretty good at identifying trends when they’ve got a full year’s lead time.

Why It Matters

Because someone’s going to ask you what you think of them. We’ve been impressed with the New York Times use of VR: they were early pioneers and they’ve done a good job of combining their top-notch newsgathering resources with the power of VR.

Ditto LiveNation (via NextVR), who are planning to make hundreds of live concerts available via VR. Concerts seem like a better-than-porn-even way to showcase VR’s capabilities, particularly around audio. VR technology allows for sound to be captured in 350 degrees so that the sound changes as you move around, which really helps to recreates the live experience.

In terms of live streaming, we’re intrigued by Hearst, whose Facebook Live content plays, including a new Magic Mike series with Channing Tatum, seem likely to draw a broader audience. Live events have an urgency to them and using a celebrity like Tatum, with a large audience (he’s got almost 20 million fans) will help to make Facebook Live broadcasts more mainstream. Consistency helps too, and by planning on over 200 live stream broadcasts, Hearst is also helping to fuel acceptance.

What You Need To Do About It

Check out the aforementioned examples. Think about how and more importantly if live streaming or VR would work for you. If “yes”, then think about what your plan is. If “no” don’t stress—there will be other trends along soon enough. Quite possibly in the upcoming upfronts.

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