#NABshow: Future of Broadcast TV

FOBTV is an initiative started in November 2011 in a Shanghai to select major technologies to be used as the basis for new standards - it is not a standards initiative but a search for new common technologies and an effort to standardize. Mark Richer (ATSC) is the chairman of FOBTV and Phil Laven of DVB is the Vice Chairman. The committee has been tasked to develop use cases, develop technical requirements based on the use cases, issue RFPs and recommend major technologies to be used as the basis for new standards

The importance of FOBTV is in the fragmented nature of standards: DVBT, DVBT2, ATSC exemplified by the  map of current standards you can see here.

The technical committee:

• Wenjun Zhang (NERC-DTV)
• Yiyan Wu (CRC)
• Namho Hur (ETRI, Korea)
• Dr. Toru Kuroda (NHK, Japan)

Use Cases
By Peter Siebert and Jim Kutzner - DTV  (Presented by Peter Siebert, from Geneva)

The following use cases were gathered by the FOBTV comittee:

1. DVB Scenarios: Harmonized world standard

Have a worldwide harmonized terrestrial broadcast standard

Support for mobile reception

Integration with mobile broadband and wifi services

Support of hybrid services, whjite space and dynamic broadcast

2. Immersive experience and new services

Resolution beyond HD

Higher dynamic range video

Improved 3D experience

More realistic audio

Companion devices such as tablets and smart phones (second screen)

Multiview presentation and screen subdivisions (e.g. with screen size getting larger imagine two people watching two different movies on the same screen via split-screen)

3. More efficient use of spectrum

FOBTV to be the most efficient standard

Support of White Space scenarios

Hybrid broadband/broaddcast scenario including including local storage

Cooperation/integration with 3GPP/LTE mobile networks

4. Smart interaction and personalization

Messenger type applications

Support of social services

Targeted advertisement

Standardized interactivity supporting a wide range of applications

Integration with other devices

5. Accessibility

Support of special services (e.g. Braille, clean audio, etc)

Delivery of accessibility content to second screen

Dialogue enhancement (ability to remove background noise to focus on the dialogue for hearing impaired)

The technical committee was formalized in 2012 and will issue RFPs by the end of 2013. They analyzed 61 use cases and the 12 Scenario categories based on the use cases. The technical aspects of mobile broadcasting, spectrum utilization, network interoperability and bi-directional communication under urban-rural dual structure.  This last piece is about the ability for dynamic TV and broadcast for internet to have bi-directional capabilities.

HitBliss: a game changer in advertising sponsored content

HitBliss is coming out of stealth mode four years into its development. HitBliss carries premium content from NBCU and Warner bros (to begin with) and offers an alternative to Netflix and Hulu that completely separates content viewing from advertising: rather than interrupting content play with pre-rolls or mid rolls, users can view ads when they want to accrue credits that can be applied to uninterrupted content viewing.

This is a significant game changer for a few reasons: 1) users voluntarily view ads and can select which ads to view (the company has spent a considerable amount if time in testing with 159 alpha testers to address any gaming of the ad viewing including software hooks). So I can watch ads on the way to work on my spare time and then view the content at home uninterrupted. 2) because users are "paying" to watch content studios consider this transactional viewing and are more apt to give fresh and Newley released content.

What do you think about HitBliss? Will it be the Hulu killer?


Original post on fast company: HitBliss launches Hulu competitor that turns ads into currency

The great debate: consumer data privacy

Is one of the thorniest issues in public policy today and is too sensitive to be left in the hands of any one particular entity (publisher, marketer or otherwise). In the closing session at the IAB ALM, the traditional debate-style panel tackled this hot button issue

Moderated by Kate Kaye of AdAge

Panel members:
Tom Chavez - CEO Krux
Pam Dixon, Exec Director, World Privacy Forum
Marc Groman, Exec Dir and GC, NAI (Network Advertising Initiative)
John Simpson, Consumer Advocate, Consumer Watchdog
Mark Zagorski, CEO, eXelate


"Do not track initiative" is at a standstill and Microsoft's DNT tool by default has be ignored by the industry. If the industry does not want DNT, what are the options we are offering consumers?

Marc: industry is not opposed to additional mechanisms or browser based mechanisms. Notice, choice and enhanced controls are welcome. The proposals on the table and the framework that has been set is troubling. We haven't identified the problem we are seeking to solve and did not think through unintended consequences such as disproportionate advantages to some competitors in the market. So - what is the solution? self regulation with high standards and serious reinforcement. The FTC should play an important role in this. Industry needs more education for consumers and adopt/develop more enhancing technologies. We need scalable solutions that are practical and important to the issues we are seeking to address.

In a recent Evidon study it was reported that there has been a significant growth in tags/cookies tracking users. Many companies have partnerships that require cookie syncing and publishers may not be aware of the tag complexities this creates for publishers even potentially impacting site performance

MarkZ: we need more transparency on the state of tagging and cookies. The number of cookies and pixels growing should not be something people are concerned about. Cookies are growing because of the additional data used to benefit consumers and publishers. Pixels for content optimization, pixels for better data analytics; site metrics, etc. All this new information is enriched with these additional cookies/pixels.

There have been recent example in which PII was leaked through AOL and Netflix data breaches. The Ad and Online industry are do not have standards for anonymization. Why?

Mark: Data security is fundamental to the NAI code just like we look at reliable sources requirements and data retention requirements. NAI does not allow members to join prior to agreeing with privacy compliance and controls.

Better data is the new currency - Scott Howe, CEO ACXIOM

In this session at the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting" Scott shared how much of a central role data has played throughout his career.

In the late 90s he joined Avenue A/Razorfish and much of his time there was spent figuring out how to use data to enhance running campaigns. He then joined Atlas and used the data they were collecting to launch an advertising network - with only $100k investment they launched a $100M business.

Every day we face campaign performance issues with our clients who ask for adjustments to the campaign to compensate for shortage in its success.

Note all data is created equal
In a study of conversion performance (lifet vs. untargeted media) a consistent pattern emerges: contextual advertising best in breed yields 132% lift. Best demographic targeting: 550% and Best behavioral: 1235% (!). These lifts demonstrate the yield improvements if you launch data into your campaigns.

Realistically: if remenant price is $0.50 this isn't such a large impact but it has the potential to be lucrative:

The economics of ad nets and exchanges:

AdNets buys ads for ~$0.5 to sell it for $5 to $8.

Applying the model to a publisher ecosystem can yield the same economics. In a recent partnership with large data providers, ACXIOM was able to leverage behavioral targeting to yield the following:

What should you do about data?

1. Enhance your data with client and 3rd-part information

2. Treat data as an enterprise function. The folks in your company looking at (advertising) data should include the folks who work with remenant advertising, feedback loop to the CMS for improvement to the user experience,

3. Seek partners with data breadth and scale

Scott claims the multi-variate data lift represents a 5,450% lift (!). Multi variate models generate breakthrough results and can become potential rainmaking opportunities, e.g.

brand affinity model
auto country of origin
defector models
mini defector models
ownership models
conquest models
auto consumer dynamics

An example of a integrated data campaign was for a CPG that ACXIOM enhance with their data to better message to their CRM list and determine in0store impact of multi-channel messages. In this example advertiser CRM data was layered with publisher data and other 3rd party data. There was a $20m in store sales lift and 11% share of wallet with a 4% ROI on the campaign

Pitfalls

Tunnel vision (e.g. just remnant inventory, just social, just mobil)
Operational costs: don't try to hire PHd in data or you will hurt the economics in your organization
Partner selection: make sure you are aligning with real companies vs. innovative features. That your partners can handle the data scale, privacy and security of your data.
Privacy: as the world moves toward increased privacy controls over consumer data - consumers become an underrepresented constituency

Susan Wojcicki - SVP Advertising Google

Susan has been working at Google for the last decade on advertising. To susan the importance of online advertising is its role:
funding content (games, videos, etc) that all the world can see
Enabling business driving new business and driving consumers to the products companies sell

More importantly is the cultural impact online advertising has. She shared a personal photo from a recent trip to a desolate island. She was struck by the presence of billboards posted to buildings and on the streets. In the context of the sea change our industry is going we need to explore where our users are going. Advertising is a B2B business but it needs to follow lockstep with the consumers' trends

Susan paints a picture of "a day in the life" in our digital future. She describes an environment where our daily interactions are all digital (a self driving car, personalized virtual displays, etc) and presents her view how the ad world will look in the future

The future of advertising (according to Susan)
Susan presents her four "C" in her vision of the future of advertising

1. Choice: Ad views will be voluntary
A trivial example is YouTube videos in which there is a fair exchange of content for advertising. YouTube's statistics are showing 70% of ads are true-view ads: users are willingly watching ads and advertisers are creating ads users who are the target of their campaigns will want to see.

Example: Nike Golf: o Cup Is Safe
This ad is so compelling (9.5 views) that when she paused it in the middle of the ad, the audience was at suspense... In fact the ad is so successful that YouTube now has advertising against the ad...

Another example is the Samsung "next big thing" campaign

Youtube will be extending TrueView to Apps and to Games. TV will now be shown against non-video inventory

2. Control: Users will participate if we provide enough value and control

Users do not have a clear mechanism to "raise their hand" in what they are interested in.

3. Charm: Ads will be more interactive and beautiful - at scale. New ad creative and formats need to work well across all ads. Example of a rising star ad, winner of the rising star IAB competition: Cadillac (ATS) . You can change the color, rotate the vehicle, etc.

4. Connected: Ads will help people connect with brands and each other
Google has been rethinking "how to figure into the new connected world?". They launched the "enhanced campaign" in which advertiser provides the creatives and Google adjusts targeting and platform. I have to note that this is a high touch proposition that many publishers struggle with because it is becoming an expectation that they build creatives for digital campaigns

Susa then poses an interesting example where our current advertising model is lacking. Though the entire audience at IAB works in advertising and "likes" advertising and travels a lot - none of us received any advertising from the hotel where the conference takes place (the Biltmore hotel). It is not due to lake of desire by the hotel but because there is no current model that would allow them to connect with their visitor/guests and provide compelling offers to attract them back.

5. Calibration All ads will be measured. Clicks will only be one measurement type. We know advertisers care about Reach (Google has the brand activate suite which offers GRP measurement). We also know advertisers are looking for impact. Similarly to how CPC helped display advertising, Google is now integrating consumer surveys into their AdWords. Anyone can set up a survey to run across the web and get feedback and the survey can be attached to a campaign with no additional tagging and fees

Big Data Big Ideas: Tim Armstrong CEO of AOL

Tim is a seasoned veteran of the digital industry. He frequently gets asked "are you media or technology?" and feels they are one and the same. Tim points to the fact that we have reams of data. You just have to find the relevant data. Big data is still an infant ad every second AOL produces 3x the amount of data in the congressional library. 90% of the knowledge in the world was created in the last two years.

Traversing the auto industry's timeline helps understand where the online industry is right now.The first 20 years of the auto industry saw a great deal of adoption but without massive changes to physical environment (trains transportation). in the next 20 years car transportation changed commerce. The first 20 years were game changing in terms of perception and the next 20 were game changing in terms of people's habits.

His point is that the internet is very similar. It is in the first 20 years and those are just the beginning. By 2020 there will be 50b connected devices. Add to that an explosion in connection speeds and we are facing a torrent of data that these devices will produce.

Tim claims today is the lowest in competition and highest in opportunity in our industry. He is excited about the end of mail delivery on saturdays. This is the first physical change affected by an online economy and confirms we are at the beginning of the physical impacts of the new economy.

AOL's largest partner is Verizon which does a great deal of CPA based advertising. Tim is a big believer connected the online world with the physical world and points to this relationship as case in point.