Volume 004, here’s your rundown. Netflix has an SXSW activation for an upcoming film. YouTube has a pedophilia problem and apparently advertisers are jumping ship. In related news, YouTube is killing the comments section on videos that feature kids and even demonetizing anti-vaccine videos. Even though the video game industry is booming, the Washington Post says this is why it can’t curb the toxicity. Nokia’s new phone looks to be a camera challenger, take a look.
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Tracking video earnings in Q4 2018
With earnings season in full swing, results from media companies, programmers, pay TV operators and broadcasters have been hitting our desk. Here’s the ones we’re paying attention to in the media and TV space.
Jan. 17
Netflix
Netflix added 1.5 million paid subscribers in the U.S. during the fourth quarter, right in line with its estimates. But the company exceeded expectations globally.
- visit Netflix's investor relations page
Jan. 23
Comcast/NBCUniversal
Comcast slowed its video subscriber losses to 29,000 (19,000 residential and 10,000 business video customers) during the fourth quarter, a small improvement over the 33,000 it lost one year ago.
- visit Comcast's investor relations page
Jan. 29
Verizon
Verizon widened its pay TV subscriber losses during the fourth quarter of 2018 even as the company is rolling out a new updated pay TV service platform.
- visit Verizon's investor relations page
Jan. 30
AT&T/Warner Media
AT&T’s vow to focus more on profitability, partly by cutting back on pricing promos, has led its streaming TV service DirecTV Now to lose 267,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter.
- visit Warner Media's investor relations page
Facebook
- visit Facebook's investor relations page
Jan. 31
Charter
Charter Communications lost 36,000 residential video customers during the fourth quarter but still managed to increase video revenues.
- visit Charter's investor relations page
Feb. 5
Viacom
Viacom’s consolidated revenues for the quarter approached $3.1 billion, up just 1% year over year. Operating income dropped 16% to $602 million.
- visit Viacom's investor relations page
The Walt Disney Company/ABC
Disney today announced fiscal first-quarter results showing $15.3 billion in consolidated revenue, which stayed mostly flat year over year despite growth in media networks.
- visit Disney's investor relations page
Feb. 6
21st Century Fox
21st Century Fox turned in fiscal second-quarter earnings marked by higher revenue and profit as the company neared the finish line of its $71.3 billion acquisition deal with Disney.
- visit Fox's investor relations page
Feb. 7
Twitter
- visit Twitter's investor relations page
Feb. 12
Akamai
Akamai on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter revenue totaling $713 million, up 8% over the $658 million it reported for the year-ago quarter.
- visit Akamai's investor relations page
Feb. 13
Dish Network
Dish Network’s core satellite distribution business continued to see precipitous drops in subscriber totals during the fourth quarter, offset slightly by growth at Sling TV.
- visit Dish's investor relations page
Feb. 14
CBS Corporation
CBS has done a lot of shifting around with subscriber growth targets for its streaming platforms. Now the company’s doing it again, projecting All Access and Showtime OTT will have 25 million combined subscribers by 2022.
- visit CBS' investor relations page
Feb. 21
Altice USA
Altice USA today reported fourth-quarter earnings marked by a loss of 15,000 video subscribers, an improvement over the 25,000 the company lost in the year-ago quarter.
- visit Altice USA's investor relations page
Roku
Roku’s focus shift toward its platform business is continuing to pay off as the company’s fourth-quarter results were marked by a 46% increase in revenue.
- visit Roku's investor relations page
Learn
Shoot Better Video with Your Mobile Phone
Euronews met up with smartphone video specialist Mark Egan on the sidelines of the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona to get some quick tips on how to instantly improve your videos.
Find the right light
Make sure you're filming with the sun shining on the face of the person you're filming.
If the sun is behind them, your phone will focus on the light and their face will look dark, like it's in the shade.
...and if you can't, cheat
Filming inside? Use an LED light to give a quality finish to your shots and illuminate the face of your subject.
"This will give whoever you're filming a glint in their eyes," explained Egan.
Shining a light on their face will also even out their flaws, trust us — they'll thank you!
Plug in an external mic
Don't rely on your phone's microphone if you want to hear what someone is saying, for example, if you're filming a speech at a wedding.
You can pick up an external microphone very cheaply and this will mean you can record clearly what your friends and family are saying and won't miss any memorable lines.
...while you're at it, get a tripod
A tripod and mount to hold your phone can instantly make your video look more professional.
If you use these supports, your images will be less wobbly and it will be easier to frame what you're filming.
While your tripod is taking care of holding your phone steady, you can concentrate on making sure your video is in focus and looking the way you want it to.
Zoom with your feet
It's tempting to stay in one place and use the zoom on your phone camera to get closeup shots, but this will reduce the quality of your image and lead to them looking pixellated.
"By doing this you're digitally zooming," explained Egan. Instead, you should physically move closer to your subject, which will result in a cleaner image.
Using Repurposed Brand Film Audio and Video for New Content
Creating a brand film or video does not have to be a one-off thing. You have probably spent loads of effort, money, and time to create your video production to get as many viewers as possible. What many brands don’t take into consideration is that they can utilize the audio, video, and unused topics by turning them into new content.
In fact, repurposing your video content and utilizing it in other mediums can increase your return on the investment. You can even base an entire content marketing strategy around a single brand film. The key is to create new content from the old content, not just duplicate it.
Why Should I Repurpose My Brand Films?
There are many benefits to repurposing your brand films so that you can tell the same story in new, creative ways. Some of the biggest benefits include:
Improving your website’s SEO rankings
Distributing your content across more channels
Increasing your video and page views
Stretching out the life of old content
However, the most important reason to repurpose your video and audio content is to improve the ROI on every video you make. You may have one video that you post to YouTube and your website, and it does moderately well. If you repurpose the video into 10 other forms of media and distribute that content across multiple channels, your ROI has huge potential to expand if you execute a good repurposing strategy.
The point of repurposing your film content is to increase your brand awareness and save your business time and money. It’s much easier to build your brand name and save time with multiple pieces of content, like blogs, social media posts, and short video promotions. You may even discover new ideas that emerge from the original film content.
Ideas for Repurposing Film Content
Still Images
Video is just a series of still images pieced together, which means your video likely contains some good images you can use for your brand’s marketing. You can use these images for social media posts, your brand’s website, print media, and a whole host of other picture-related content.
Depending on the product, still images can be more effective than video. Even a few pictures can spice up blog posts or other videos.
Audio/Voice
The audio you produce from a brand film is often overlooked as a potential source of new content. Consider using the audio for voiceovers or taking quotes from interviews using them in your marketing.
One of the most fruitful ways to capitalize on your audio content is to transform it into a podcast. Podcasts’ popularity has grown steadily in the past decade, increasing 180 percent in total US listeners since 2009. Roughly 25 percent of the US population listens to podcasts, and the strongest penetration is in the 18 to 34 age demographic.
People love podcasts, so why not give them what they want? Repurpose your film content into podcast segments with your own spin or additional content.
Not only will you build brand awareness, but you may also generate some revenue from the repurposed audio content. Ad revenue for podcasts is growing rapidly, with an 80 percent increase from 2017 to 2018 and a 50 percent expected increase going into 2019. Podcast revenues are estimated to surpass $1 billion by 2020. Repurposed audio content may be a great way to get your feet wet in the podcast industry.
Adjust Video Length
A simple way to extend the life of your brand films is to chop them up into smaller, bite-sized videos. Movies do this all the time. In order to market the movie, the production companies will cut small clips and distribute them as trailers or advertisements.
Smaller videos tend to be easier to distribute across many channels that support different types and lengths of content. Longer lengths are great for movies or YouTube, but social media sites are not so welcoming.
Facebook users watch videos with an average length of 1.3 minutes. Instagram and Twitter are not much better, coming in around 30 and 45 seconds respectively. Today’s technology has shaved our attention spans to eight seconds, so shorter videos may capture your audience’s attention easier.
Consider cutting the original brand film into small clips and releasing them on social media websites as a series. Whatever you choose to do, this approach is almost guaranteed to garner more views and better engagement than releasing one brand film.
Utilize Other Media Formats
Aside from podcasts and smaller videos, your brand film can be repurposed into other media formats that supplement your brand marketing. Some of those formats include:
Blog Posts: By far the easiest way to repurpose your video content is by transcribing it and turning it into blog posts. You can also post the transcript on your video channels like YouTube. A disadvantage of video is that Google cannot find keywords without some help, so this makes it easier for Google’s algorithm to find your content.
Social Teasers: Use short clips to create social media teasers for your services, products, or even the brand film itself. You can also use these shorter videos at company events in order to add more professionalism and flare to your presentations.
New Types of Videos: If you have a brand film that serves up educational content, turn that into a how-to or explainer video. Just like podcasts, you can add extra elements that spice up the video. You could even splice old films into your new brand film and create a whole new film or short video.
The point of repurposing content is to create more content without the extra effort required to create something new. Repurposing audio and video content is a proven method for increasing your viewership and brand awareness.
Ask yourself, “Where does my audience hang out the most?” Are they socializing on social media sites? Do they browse YouTube or Vimeo? Are they ravenous readers or podcasters? Find out where your audience is, and repurpose your brand film to cater to them!
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Win Free Wine
Do you like wine? My buddy, Gary Vaynerchuk, just started his own winery called Empathy Wines in an effort to deliver $40+ wine at half the price.
I spoke to the team at Empathy Wines on my podcast and we’re offering listeners the opportunity to win a free 3-pack by following the instructions provided in the episode.
Listen here. Cheers!
Network + Collab
This section is going to be dedicated to you. If you have a project where you need creators, or you’re a creator wanting to work with other creators, brands or agencies, either tweet me @vincenzolandino or shoot me an email and let me know. I’ll look through responses and drop them in this spot each edition.