Few key things that happened around the Ad Tech & Media Tech world this week.
NBC’s new Peacock streaming service will take flight on July 15
The more streaming services the better, right? Well, regardless of the answer to that question, NBCUniversal has been prepping its new Peacock video streaming platform for a while now. With content including *ahem* classic shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Battlestar Galactica, plenty of viewers will probably find something interesting on Peacock. Today, the company has announced that the service will be going nationwide on July 15, with some introductory perks. In April, Peacock rolled out in early preview mode for certain Comcast customers, but now it’s nearly ready to officially launch nationwide. When the service goes live on July 15, it will be available on Android, Android TV, Chromecast, and Chromecast built-in devices like TVs. Peacock will have both a free tier and a premium plan, with roughly twice as much content. The company says that Android and Android TV users will receive complimentary access to Peacock Premium through October 15. Once the promotion ends, Peacock’s Premium plan will be available for about $5 a month. Viewers can further opt to upgrade to an ad-free tier for an additional $5 per month. It’s kind of a neat idea to split the ad-free subscription into a separate purchase, since it makes the premium plan seem much cheaper than offerings like Netflix, while letting customers still test drive all the content on the service…More
Tencent Expands Video Streaming in Asia With Iflix Acquisition
Chinese internet giant Tencent said Thursday it had bought some assets of struggling Asian streaming service Iflix, in a major expansion of its online video presence in the region. Western firms, led by Netflix, dominate streaming globally but companies from the world’s number two economy have been taking tentative steps outside their home market recently. Tencent said it had purchased the “content, technology and resources” of Malaysia-headquartered Iflix, which operates in 13 markets in South and Southeast Asia. “This is in line with our strategy to expand our international streaming platform, WeTV, across Southeast Asia and provide users with international, local and original high-quality content,” the company said in a statement. The company did not reveal the value of the deal but entertainment outlet Variety said it was worth “several tens of millions of dollars”, citing sources familiar with the agreement. The range of content on Iflix includes many original shows catered for local audiences. It gives away some content for free while making money from ads, while also offering a subscription-based premium service. The company, launched in 2015, was reportedly poised for an IPO in Australia but ditched the plans after the coronavirus pandemic sparked turmoil in stock markets across the world. It was then forced to seek bids from other companies, Variety reported. Tencent is one of the world’s biggest online gaming companies, but has been seeking to expand into new areas…More
Microsoft shuts down streaming service Mixer to team up with Facebook
Mixer, the video game streaming site acquired by Microsoft in 2016 to expand its digital footprint, will be shutting down, transitioning its community of streamers to Facebook Gaming, a rival platform, instead. This is unsurprising news to watchers of the streaming industry. Of the four big streaming services available, Mixer only saw 0.2 percent growth in viewership year-over-year as of April this year, according to StreamElements, a site that analyzes streaming trends. Facebook Gaming, YouTube and Twitch viewership all saw substantial increases in traffic. (Twitch is owned by Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos also owns The Washington Post.) But it’s still a shock, particularly since Mixer was the service that kick-started last year’s trend of signing video game streamers to lucrative exclusivity deals. Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, once the most popular Twitch streamer, signed an exclusive deal with Mixer in August 2019. This led to a host of other sites and influencers making similar moves. Ninja reportedly received up to $30 million for the contract. Now, it’s being reported that Ninja and other streamers and esports athletes signed to Mixer are free to stream on any platform, The Verge reports Monday. In a tweet posted after Microsoft’s announcement, Ninja commented that he has “some decisions to make.”…More
Streaming Is Now More Popular Than Linear on Samsung Smart TVs
Streaming accounts for the majority of consumption across Samsung’s U.S. footprint of over 50 million smart TVs, according to the company at today’s NewFronts panel. By the end of Q1 2020, streaming took up 58% of time spent on Samsung smart TVs. The rest was spent watching linear programming or content delivered via set-top box or satellite. Samsung, the largest maker of smart TVs in America, took the virtual stage today during the IAB’s 2020 NewFronts show. Instead of pushing its ad offerings, like native ad units on its home screen or the inventory it controls through streaming service Samsung TV Plus, the company laid out how TV viewership is moving online more quickly. “I like to say that advertisers come for the data and then stay for the media and inventory. Once they figure out how they can activate and it’s meeting their KPIs, we keep these customers long-term,” Tom Fochetta, vp of Samsung Ads, told Adweek prior to the company’s NewFronts presentation. The uptick in streaming seems to have been accelerated by the novel coronavirus pandemic. From January to mid-March, linear TV viewing grew 70% and streaming grew 132%. From March 15 to May 10, streaming enjoyed a steady increase in viewership at 127%, but linear’s growth rate fell to 47%. Justin Evans, global head of analytics and insights at Samsung Ads, told Adweek audiences are bifurcating, prior to the NewFronts panel. Only 26% of Samsung’s viewers account for 86% of total linear viewership…More
Video Streaming Market to Hit USD 842.93 Billion by 2027
The global video streaming market size is anticipated to exhibit remarkable growth owing to the advent and increasing popularity of digital video streaming worldwide. Video streaming, in simple terms, means the running of continuous media in a compressed audio and video form without waiting to download the content from the internet. A recently published report by Fortune Business Insights, titled, “Video Streaming Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Component (Hardware, Software, Content Delivery Services), By Streaming Type (Live Video Streaming, On-demand Video Streaming), By Streaming Model (Advertisement-based, Subscription-based, Transactional-based/Rental), By Deployment (On-Premise, Cloud), By End-Use (Commercial, Residential), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027,” predicts that the value of the market was USD 342.44 billion in 2019 and is expected to rise at 12.0% CAGR between 2020 to 2027. It is set to reach USD 842.93 billion by 2027. Most of the industries today are at a standstill and are facing huge losses owing to the current outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, every cloud has a silver lining. With the help of government support, it is possible to fight the contagious disease and we all hope to come out of this situation at the earliest possible…More
