http://www.multichannel.com/news/next-tv/cable-tees-another-tv-everywhere-tilt/392344
Cable Tees Up Another TV Everywhere Tilt
CTAM confirmed that a group of MVPDs and programmers are preparing to launch
another marketing campaign aimed at amping up awareness and usage of
multiscreen TV Everywhere services.
As first reported by Reuters, Comcast, NBCUniversal, Cox Communications,
Mediacom Communications, A+E Networks, Turner, HBO and Univision are among
those that will participate in the campaign, set to run from July 26 to August
8.
The new campaign is coming online as cable operators continue to use TVE as a
weapon against increasingly popular over-the-top video services while also
trying to ensure that live and on-demand content is made available on
smartphones, tablets and other new, IP-connected platforms that are resonating
with consumers.
While authentication issues and a lack of unified offerings have played a role
in TVE’s initial struggles, recent studies show that awareness and usage are
on the upswing.
In March, Adobe said overall authenticated video usage surged 467% over a
24-month period, and that 12.5% of pay-TV subs were actively viewing TVE
content in the fourth quarter of 2014, up from just 4.4% in the first quarter
of 2013. Active viewership of 11.6% in 2014 also suggests that TVE is “only a
few quarters away from” shifting from a platform for “early adopters” to one
that is used by the “early majority,” Adobe said.
In a separate report issued May, FreeWheel, the Comcast-owned online
advertising tech company, said the majority (57%) of long-form and live
monetization came from authenticated/TV Everywhere viewing, and that overall
authenticated viewing climbed 328% year-over-year, driven by sports, and
entertainment and news programming.
In April 2014, CTAM and a coalition of operators and programmers combined on an
industry-wide marketing effort to promote the TV Everywhere term along with
recommending practices that programmers and pay TV companies should use to make
the authentication process easier and more consistent for viewers.
As of last month, a majority of cable companies and networks in the TVE sector
have adopted an average of 80% of the CTAM UX and messaging recommendations, a
CTAM official noted.
CTAM also estimates that a majority of cable companies now provide customers
access to an average of 60-plus networks on at least five devices as part of
their pay TV subscriptions. About 54% of customers say TVE significantly
enhances their perception of the TV provider, the group added.
