CMO Today: Apple News Falls Short of Publishers' Expectations
Source: Dow Jones News
By Mike Shields
CLUELESS: Last fall, Apple rolled out a new app designed for people looking to read news on mobile. One hundred publishers, happy to find a new outlet to reach readers and sell ads, jumped on board. What could go wrong? Well for one, neither Apple nor publishers know how many people are reading articles published to the News app, reports CMO Today. In fact, Apple had recently been undercounting Apple News' audience data and passing the inaccurate info onto publishers. Not quite the start you want with a new product that many in the media business hoped would counter the rise and power of Facebook. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said the company is working on a fix and sat down with a slew of big publishers late last year to address their concerns. Even if Apple fixes its data, and it surely will, publishers are still unimpressed with whatever audience they've been getting so far from an app that was supposed to be a significant advancement in digital news.
CES POSTMORTEM: The ad industry collectively shook itself out of the post holiday season doldrums last week by heading to Las Vegas in force to attend the annual Consumer Electronics Show. And in between sushi avalanches, Lady Gaga concerts and side trips for lunch in the Grand Canyon, attendees actually hit the show floor to look at some of the technology. And unlike recent years, when many rolled their eyes at the endless seas of ultrathin TVs, many came away excited, particularly about the marketing opportunities afforded by virtual reality (especially as the devices get cheaper), Web-enabled household devices, and self-driving cars, reports CMO Today. Wait, self-driving cars are good for advertisers? Sure, said Craig Atkinson, chief investment officer at PHD: "With the driver no longer having to focus on navigating, all of a sudden their media options explode."
YAC ATTACK: Speaking of CES, NBCUniversal's chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships Linda Yaccarino, let loose on Nielsen at an event hosted by Variety. She frankly broke down what she's sees are major shortfalls in the company's ability to properly measure TV, particularly in an era where live, linear TV viewing is on the wane. Regarding the way Nielsen measures TV viewing during the "C3" three-day window of time after a show airs, Ms. Yaccarino was blunt: "It's unfair to marketers, it's unfair to content creators, and it's up to all of us in this industry to take a stand." She noted that CNBC recently stopped working with Nielsen and survived. And Ms. Yaccarino hinted other NBCU networks may follow suit. "What does a C3 rating tell you anyway? Almost nothing. Age, gender, maybe? It's practically useless. But that's TV."
LONDON CALLING: Remember a few months ago when Yahoo streamed an NFL game from London? While not that many folks watched (it was a lousy matchup that aired early in the morning in the U.S.), technically it went fairly well. Next season, another company outside the TV world may jump in to stream three such London-based games. Google and Apple are talking to the NFL, reports Reuters. The fact that two other big name digital media companies could stream games at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning won't necessarily make them any more appealing to bigger audiences than the Yahoo stream. But, the NFL working with a deep-pocketed tech company could open the door to shaking up the sports TV ecosystem. And right now, sports, particularly the NFL, is practically holding the TV business together.
Elsewhere
Huffington Post is scaling back its live streaming efforts [ CMO Today]
Yahoo may be warming to a sale of its core business [ Bloomberg]
Yahoo's video exchange has a problem with fraudulent ad inventory [ CNBC]
Upworthy let go of some staffers last week [ Politico New York]
ESPN is negotiating makegoods with advertisers following ratings drops for the recent College Football Playoff semifinals [ Broadcasting and Cable]
Former DailyMail.com exec Jon Steinberg has joined the board at Bustle, a fast-growing digital publisher aimed at women [ CMO Today]
Sean Penn met with El Chapo for a controversial interview [ Rolling Stone] Mr. Penn often mixes journalism with activism [ NYT]
Five years after signing a $1 billion distribution deal with Netflix, the CW Network may seek other streaming partners [ CMO Today]
USA's "Mr. Robot" was among the big winners at last night's Golden Globe Awards [ WSJ]
As political advertising starts to heat up, local TV stations in key states like Iowa are looking to keep their regular TV advertisers happy with digital opportunities [ WSJ]
Legendary rocker David Bowie died at age 69 [ WSJ]
About Us
Follow us on Twitter: @wsjCMO, @digitalshields, @VranicaWSJ, @JackMarshall, @nftadena, @perlberg, @srabil, @asharma
Subscribe to our morning newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox, at http://on.wsj.com/CMOTodaySignup.
Write to Mike Shields at mike.shields@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 11, 2016 07:15 ET (12:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Source: Dow Jones News
By Mike Shields
CLUELESS: Last fall, Apple rolled out a new app designed for people looking to read news on mobile. One hundred publishers, happy to find a new outlet to reach readers and sell ads, jumped on board. What could go wrong? Well for one, neither Apple nor publishers know how many people are reading articles published to the News app, reports CMO Today. In fact, Apple had recently been undercounting Apple News' audience data and passing the inaccurate info onto publishers. Not quite the start you want with a new product that many in the media business hoped would counter the rise and power of Facebook. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services, said the company is working on a fix and sat down with a slew of big publishers late last year to address their concerns. Even if Apple fixes its data, and it surely will, publishers are still unimpressed with whatever audience they've been getting so far from an app that was supposed to be a significant advancement in digital news.
CES POSTMORTEM: The ad industry collectively shook itself out of the post holiday season doldrums last week by heading to Las Vegas in force to attend the annual Consumer Electronics Show. And in between sushi avalanches, Lady Gaga concerts and side trips for lunch in the Grand Canyon, attendees actually hit the show floor to look at some of the technology. And unlike recent years, when many rolled their eyes at the endless seas of ultrathin TVs, many came away excited, particularly about the marketing opportunities afforded by virtual reality (especially as the devices get cheaper), Web-enabled household devices, and self-driving cars, reports CMO Today. Wait, self-driving cars are good for advertisers? Sure, said Craig Atkinson, chief investment officer at PHD: "With the driver no longer having to focus on navigating, all of a sudden their media options explode."
YAC ATTACK: Speaking of CES, NBCUniversal's chairman of advertising sales and client partnerships Linda Yaccarino, let loose on Nielsen at an event hosted by Variety. She frankly broke down what she's sees are major shortfalls in the company's ability to properly measure TV, particularly in an era where live, linear TV viewing is on the wane. Regarding the way Nielsen measures TV viewing during the "C3" three-day window of time after a show airs, Ms. Yaccarino was blunt: "It's unfair to marketers, it's unfair to content creators, and it's up to all of us in this industry to take a stand." She noted that CNBC recently stopped working with Nielsen and survived. And Ms. Yaccarino hinted other NBCU networks may follow suit. "What does a C3 rating tell you anyway? Almost nothing. Age, gender, maybe? It's practically useless. But that's TV."
LONDON CALLING: Remember a few months ago when Yahoo streamed an NFL game from London? While not that many folks watched (it was a lousy matchup that aired early in the morning in the U.S.), technically it went fairly well. Next season, another company outside the TV world may jump in to stream three such London-based games. Google and Apple are talking to the NFL, reports Reuters. The fact that two other big name digital media companies could stream games at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning won't necessarily make them any more appealing to bigger audiences than the Yahoo stream. But, the NFL working with a deep-pocketed tech company could open the door to shaking up the sports TV ecosystem. And right now, sports, particularly the NFL, is practically holding the TV business together.
Elsewhere
Huffington Post is scaling back its live streaming efforts [ CMO Today]
Yahoo may be warming to a sale of its core business [ Bloomberg]
Yahoo's video exchange has a problem with fraudulent ad inventory [ CNBC]
Upworthy let go of some staffers last week [ Politico New York]
ESPN is negotiating makegoods with advertisers following ratings drops for the recent College Football Playoff semifinals [ Broadcasting and Cable]
Former DailyMail.com exec Jon Steinberg has joined the board at Bustle, a fast-growing digital publisher aimed at women [ CMO Today]
Sean Penn met with El Chapo for a controversial interview [ Rolling Stone] Mr. Penn often mixes journalism with activism [ NYT]
Five years after signing a $1 billion distribution deal with Netflix, the CW Network may seek other streaming partners [ CMO Today]
USA's "Mr. Robot" was among the big winners at last night's Golden Globe Awards [ WSJ]
As political advertising starts to heat up, local TV stations in key states like Iowa are looking to keep their regular TV advertisers happy with digital opportunities [ WSJ]
Legendary rocker David Bowie died at age 69 [ WSJ]
About Us
Follow us on Twitter: @wsjCMO, @digitalshields, @VranicaWSJ, @JackMarshall, @nftadena, @perlberg, @srabil, @asharma
Subscribe to our morning newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox, at http://on.wsj.com/CMOTodaySignup.
Write to Mike Shields at mike.shields@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 11, 2016 07:15 ET (12:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
