Joshua Lowcock writes a regular newsletter called Last Week in Digital Media or as it’s sometimes affectionately called “Joshua Lowcock’s Newsletter”. It is a summary of the week’s news in digital media, marketing, and technology. It is currently closed to new subscribers.
Subscribers include people from companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Snap, Twitter, the World Federation of Advertisers, and more. So, as a reader, you’re in good company.
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The biggest news of the week was on Tuesday, when twitter announced it had secured the rights (rumored $10MM license cost) to Thursday Night NFL games and would be the official OTT provider (they explicitly mentioned connected TVs). What stands out in this deal is it will be free, worldwide, whether you are logged into twitter or not (detailed in the press release). Making NFL games free regardless of login state is not in the best interests of stopping the decline in twitter user numbers. This, coupled with the fact twitter will only having access to 2-3minutes of local inventory video spots to sell in the ...
Transparency is a hot topic in digital media, especially when it comes to programmatic. To help the programmatic industry be more transparent, the IAB published a Programmatic Fees Calculator. This is useful for a number of reasons. It will help encourage conversations about what makes up the cost of media, it's educational (showing just how complex programmatic can be), and of course, it brings greater transparency. The IAB also has a good PDF report that deconstructs the cost of a programmatic buy and explains who pays for what. Both the calculator and the PDF are useful reference points for programmatic conversations ...
twitter turned 10 this week. If that seems amazing, keep in mind that Facebook is 12 and Google is 18. Or as I like to remind clients, for those turning 18 this year, they have have never known a world without Google. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released their 2015 year end report last week (PDF link). Streaming services now account for 34.3% of revenue (surpassing digital downloads). Paid subscriptions are actually higher than ad supported revenues. The full report is only 3 pages and is a quick, easy read. As you think about streaming audio services, worth keeping ...
SXSW wrapped up last week. Outside of the VR and content conversations, the highlight was President Obama's keynote conversation which touched on the topic of encryption. Given a few days later the Guardian reported that Facebook, Google and Snapchat were working to extend encryption within apps/services, it seems the speech didn't drive the desired outcome. It's going to be challenging for citizens, industry and government to align on a unified position around this topic. Just over a month ago there was a meltdown by twitter users about the rumored introduction of an algorithmic timeline. Last week, Instagram made the switch to show "moments you ...
SXSW is underway. Early SXSW reports coming back are that VR is EVERYWHERE. With the Oculus release date inching ever close (March 28th), Samsung giving out Gear VR's to people who order a Samsung S7, and excitement growing around companies like Magic Leap the VR hype machine is going to be continue for a while. The only confirmed VR news this week was that (no surprises) social experiences will be integrated into Oculus. Is Google+ set for a revival? That's the current theory after they hired 4Chan founder Chris Poole. This was seen as a smart but surprise move given 4Chan's ...
