Analyst: Pay-TV Missing VOD Potential

Pay-TV operators should be generating significantly higher viewing and advertising revenue from their video-on-demand services. A new study suggests that video providers not reaching their VOD potential is a reflection of their platforms' "inadequate support" greatly limiting the availability of viewing ad-supported content.

New research from The Diffusion Group (TDG) says pay-TV operators are leaving major dollars on the table as a result of their "lack of attention to ad supported video-on-demand." Coupled with "awkward program guides... total VOD use is small, representing only 1% of all U.S. TV viewing."

"Operators have failed to take advantage of VOD to build subscriber satisfaction, generate ad revenues, and head off competition from over-the-top (OTT) providers like Netflix," TDG's Bill Niemeyer said. The analyst estimates in Q411 alone, Netflix U.S. subscribers watched 80% more streaming video hours than were viewed in the same period on all U.S. pay-TV video-on-demand.

"Ad-supported VOD is a significant missed opportunity for pay-TV operators," Niemeyer said. "They are investing significant resources in TV Everywhere (TVE) but have ignored the fact they have a potentially viable ad- and revenue-generating on-demand platform already in place in over 50 million U.S. homes." •

DVRs/Streaming Crown 'Modern Family'

New data from Nielsen Research suggest that DVRs and streaming content are reshaping the TV landscape. The firm says DVR viewers aged 18 to 49 years-old (the most-lucrative demographic) have made ABC's "Modern Family" the most popular show on TV by recording the show and watching it on a time-shifted basis.

According to Nielsen, new episodes of "Modern Family" have increased from a first-day average of 7.1M viewers (18-49) to 10.2M when counting the entire week after the show originally aired. The net weekly gain of 3.1M viewers makes the comedy television's most-watched program, unseating the long-time leader in Fox's "American Idol."

The data also show that primetime hit programs enjoying a "40% or higher" boost within the 18-49 demographic due to time-shifted viewing include: ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," "Private Practice" and "Revenge;" NBC's "The Office" and "Up All Night;" and Fox's "House," "Glee," "New Girl," and "Alcatraz." Nielsen said three of the four most-watched TV episodes on Hulu were of "Modern Family" as well. •

Etc.: A Mexican Netflix? - White House Rejects SECURE IT - Rupert's Twitter Account

Strategy: Carlos Slim hinted at a Netflix-like service for movies and TV shows in Mexico. Bloomberg says the billionaire is holding off on launching the service until a regulatory ruling on streaming video.

Rules & Regs: The White House called the GOP's cybersecurity bill "half measures... that rel(y) on corporations to share more information for their own benefit without strong privacy protections." A National Security Council spokeswoman said the SECURE IT bill "is not sufficient to address our nation's critical infrastructure vulnerabilities." --- NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to spend $25M to expand broadband access to rural upstate and underserved urban areas of NY. WSJ has details.

Advertising: Cablevision said its ad platform has delivered 4B impressions to date. "Even with Canoe's shift in direction, advertisers should know that the cable providers, like Cablevision, continue to offer and enhance their advanced advertising products," the company said. --- Kudelski's NAGRA-OpenTV extended its advertising partnership with Time Warner Cable Media (TWC's ad arm). Terms were undisclosed. --- Real-time video ad tech platform LiveRail took the wraps off the "Video Brand Safety Alliance," an effort to give advertisers a sense of security with in-stream video ads. Details here.

Op/Ed: Two interesting pieces from TechCrunch Monday. This one says Aereo 'actually has a shot' at beating the broadcast networks... and this one says 2012 is 'the year for change' in online sports streaming. Good stuff.

Programming: Current TV said it will soon add two radio show simulcasts to its weekday lineup. The strategy basically mirrors that of MSNBC's launch years ago.

Tech: Forbes asks: 'Will the iPad3 be the world's greatest remote control... for the Apple TV?' We'll find out tomorrow. In related news, the Business Journal says iPad usage has nearly quadrupled among the SMB market over the past year, growing from 9% in 2010 to 34% last year. --- Fiber solutions provider OFS says it set a world record with the transmission of 120 Gb/s over 100 meters of a single multimode fiber strand. --- ESPN launched its ESPN Developer Center, a website offering software engineers and developers access to the company’s API (application programming interface) Program, which provides ESPN content and data for new web and mobile apps.
 
Over, Up & Under: Ofcom is going to postpone its 600 MHz auction. --- SkyGO is now available on SkyItalia. --- AMC/Sundance Global inked a handful of deals with Liberty Global for expanded international distribution. --- Chinese webTV company Youku signed a licensing agreement with Lionsgate for access to 200 titles on Youku's Movies Channel.

People: Ever wonder who Rupert follows on Twitter? Six of his own companies... AllThingsD... Jim Carey(?) and a few more. --- Bloomberg Industry Verticals Group COO Chris Walters has been hired by The Weather Channel to be its COO in charge of technology, finance, legal and human resource.

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •