Why Advertisers Like Contextual Targeting

One of the arguments in favor of contextual advertising is that it makes it easier to match the tone and sentiment of the content it accompanies instead of thoughtlessly throwing an ad for a dating app into the middle of a tragic news report. What are its other advantages that draw advertisers to it? How does the current state of contextual ads deliver on its promise and where does it fall short? TVREV's Alan Wolk, Vevo's Julie Triolo, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno discuss in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Is Contextual Advertising and How Is it Changing TV?

"Contextual advertising is a really hot topic in TV advertising right now," declared TVREV's Alan Wolk at Streaming Media Connect 2024. But what exactly is it, and how is its growing presence in CTV and streaming changing the TV experience and particularly the way advertisers buy media? Wolk, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, and Mad Leo Consulting's C.J. Leonard explore these issues in this clip from their panel at Streaming Media Connect.

Streaming’s Great Rebundling and the Fight Against Churn

Preventing subscriber churn is the oldest problem in the streaming subscription business, and bundling is hardly a new solution, as analyst Paul Erickson points out in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024. So with a purported "Great Rebundling" upon us—and with tiered offerings, hybrid ad models, and other revenue-generating approaches increasingly holding sway—how do contemporary bundling/rebundling strategies differ from old ones and offer greater avenues to success? Ampere Analysis' Guy Bisson, Hub's Jon Giegengack, and Antenna's Rameez Tase offer their takes on current bundling and aggregation strategies and which ones are working in 2024.

How to Control Cloud Streaming CapEx and OpEx

What are the best strategies streamers can follow to manage the costs of cloud streaming architecture and production and maximize efficiencies in their workflows? AWS' John Barber, IMAX's Abdul Rehman, Zixi's Eric Bolten, and SVTA's Jason Thibeault discuss cloud streaming cost management in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

What Are Walled Gardens in CTV Advertising?

Future Today Marketplace VP Tim Ware goes 'round the horn with Roku's Charlie Goodman, Streaming Made Easy's Marion Ranchet, TVREV's Alan Wolk, and IAB Tech Lab's Anthony Katsur on the definition of walled gardens in the CTV advertising marketplace in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How Can Publishers and Advertisers Monetize Roku’s Platform?

Head of Roku Exchange Charlie Goodman and Future Today Marketplace VP Tim Ware discuss the opportunities and the challenges of monetizing the Roku Channel and Exchange for programmers, distributors, and advertisers alike in this clip from their panel at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How to Plan for Live Streams at Scale

When it comes to scaling live streams for hundreds of thousands or millions of global viewers, planning is paramount, from meeting the demands of content distribution to monetization to optimizing viewer experiences. When delivering massive sports streams for Prime and NBCU and 24/7 news programming, AWS Global Leader, Solutions Architecture Steph Lone emphasizes registration systems, security, monitoring, redundancy, and failover, while adtech expert C.J. Leonard of Mad Leo Consulting highlights tactical elements like orchestration with content partners on tech and personnel and knowing the types of ads coming through in this discussion with Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How Bloomberg Transitioned to FAST Free Streaming News

How does a multiplatform news media organization bring free streaming content distribution into its portfolio? What are the digital transformation, architectural, content strategy, and adtech challenges? Bloomberg Media GM of Video & Audio Travis Winkler explains Bloomberg's journey to FAST news in this discussion with The Local Act's Marion Ranchet at Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How to Improve Fan Engagement for Live Sports Streams

Keeping users engaged in between main events and enhancing overall fan experiences is a challenge for all sports streamers. It means giving fans new chances to interact with the content, developing second screen experiences, bringing in influencers, addressing accessibility concerns, and more, according to Joe Caporoso, President of DAZN's Team Whistle, in this conversation with Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Where Streaming Measurement Isn’t Measuring Up

The lack of consistent measurement tools, metrics, and standards across multiple platforms continues to limit the success of streaming ads and frustrate content publishers looking to deliver optimal experiences to advertisers and end users. TVREV's Alan Wolk, Vevo's Julie Triolo, Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, Advertiser Perceptions' Erin Firneno, and Mad Leo Consulting's C.J. Leonard discuss the current challenges facing OTT and CTV publishers and advertisers alike in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Who’s Watching? How CTV Publishers Measure Viewership for Buyers

How do CTV publishers deliver credible and actionable performance metrics to the buy-side brands that support them? Estrella MediaCo's Christina Chung, Vevo's Julie Triolo, and TVREV's Alan Wolk discuss the current challenges publishers face in measuring and communicating CTV performance to buyers in a clear and common language and the growing role of metadata in delivering usable metrics in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

Why CTV OEMs Like LG and Samsung Own Their OS

Building, owning, and operating a Connected TV operating system is a complicated strategic and business decision for TV manufacturers whose traditional role was to build and sell boxes. Some CTV OEMs haven't gone the OS route, while others like LG and Samsung have. LG's Matthew Durgin and Samsung Ads' Justin Fromm discuss why some CTVs OEMs run their own OSes and others don't in this candid discussion with TVREV's Alan Wolk from Streaming Media NYC.

How Bundling Streaming Services Can Challenge Churn in 2024

In 2024, consumer behavior arguably remains the most vexing impediment to succeeding with subscription media, and the prevalence of churn and the abundance of competition for subscription dollars have compelled many providers of subscription services to bolster their revenue with ad-supported tiers. However, creative bundling strategies provide another effective means of keeping subscription services afloat, to the degree that the industry might be developing "bundle-itis." Experts from Roku, Philo, Bango, Hub Entertainment Research, and Lightswitch discuss the mechanics and benefits of bundling in this clip from Streaming Media NYC.

Why Didn’t Mobile Displace TV as Apple and Others Predicted?

Not too many years ago, Apple and others predicted that TV's days were numbered and that we'd all be consuming content on mobile, solo, and on-the-go, and traditional TV viewing would fade. At best, these soothsayers got it half-right, and CTV continues to evolve and thrive. TVREV's Alan Wolk asks why in this clip from Streaming Media NYC. Samsung Ads' Justin Fromm, Streaming Made Easy's Marion Ranchet, and TVision's Yan Liu explain why media viewing behavior has evolved along different lines and what drives mobile and CTV consumption among different demographics in 2024.

The State of Ad-ID in CTV and Streaming

Launched by the IAB Tech Lab's Advanced Television Systems Committee and designed to "provide standardized identity management for ad creatives" through metadata, Ad-ID is designed to bring streaming ad insertion—particularly for live events—out of "the Wild West," according to Paramount's Jarred Wilichinsky, and to stop, among other things, the mindless repetition of ads that drags down so many streaming experiences. Wilichinsky, Roku's Charlie Goodman, JWP's David Palomento, Akamai's Peter Chave, and Infinitive's C.J. Leonard weigh in on Ad-ID's progress and its potential impact on the streaming ecosystem in this discussion with Reality Software's Nadine Krefetz at Streaming Media NYC.

What Makes Streaming Bundles Work

When it comes to bundling streaming services, there are other factors to consider beyond the price point, product differentiation, and the content offering the bundle will deliver. According to Roku's Anastasia Pronin, Philo's Adam Salmons, and Bango's Giles Tongue, the key to an effective and profitable streaming bundle is identifying consumer needs and pain points and delivering a bundle that addresses those needs, and they explain how to do it in this clip from Streaming Media NYC.

FAST Company: How to Compete in a Crowded FAST Landscape

As more premium content studios start taking FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) seriously, and the number of channels continues to grow, how can independent streamers compete with their more limited budgets and content offerings? Is it more than finding and focusing on a niche? Independent Streaming Alliance co-founders Floris Bauer from Gunpowder & Sky and Tim Ware from Crackle Connex discuss both their individual and collective strategies for surviving, thriving, and monetizing with Streaming Made Easy's Marion Ranchet in this clip from Streaming Media NYC.

The Netflix Culture Memo and Diversity in the Digital Age

Praised at the time for focusing on "values and performance over rules and controls," Netflix's initial 2009 "Culture Memo" had a sizeable impact on the streaming behemoth's internal culture and across the industry as well, but it had some significant blind spots, virtually ignoring diversity and inclusion through multiple iterations over its first decade, as former Netflix Global Education Manager Lori Greene recounts in this clip from Streaming Media NYC. Weber Shandwick Chief DEI Officer Judith Harrison affirms that the Netflix Culture Memo's glaring omissions reflect a broader myopia across the media and entertainment industry, where notions of "cultural fit" that drive employment decisions rarely account for what a candidate might add to the culture of an organization. Greene, Harrison, and McCann DEI Chief Singleton Beato discuss these and other issues surrounding what the FCC defined in 2004 as "Diversity and Communications in the Digital Age" and our progress toward equity or lack thereof.

What DEI Means in the Streaming Industry

One essential step toward bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to a new level in streaming, when it comes not just to opportunity but to transforming workplace culture, hiring, promotion, conditions, and compensation, is defining terms. This, in turn, means reaching a better understanding of what DEI means and whose job it is to recognize disparities and work to remedy them. (Spoiler alert: It's everyone's.) In this candid and revealing clip from Streaming Media NYC, two Global Chief DEI Officers—McCann Worldgroup's Singleton Beato and Weber Shandwick's Judith Harrison—along with ThinqShift Talent Champion Jennifer Randolph and LPG edu CEO Lori Greene discuss what DEI means today and how a deeper understanding of it can provide a working blueprint for action.

Client-Side vs. Server-Side Ad Insertion: Which is Winning in 2024 and Why

Client-side or server-side? Ask 5 streaming adtech experts and you'll get 6 opinions. Streaming Media's Nadine Krefetz asks execs from Roku, Paramount, JWP, Akamai, and Infinitive which they prefer and why in this clip from Streaming Media NYC. Tune in and watch the feathers fly.