This episode offers a deep dive into the murky waters of ad fraud, detailing the allegations against YouTube. Dr. Fou, an expert in ad fraud, joins me as we head straight into the eye of the storm, exploring the latest report alleging Google's TrueView ads appear muted and on autoplay on third-party websites. Discover how these misrepresentations are impacting advertisers' trust, why YouTube's reply to the allegations ignored the issues, and what this could mean for YouTube's revenue.

We also detail challenges in the overall video advertising industry when it comes to detecting ad fraud, why advertisers don’t have much incentive to fix it, the lack of clear measurement, methodology, and transparency in reporting and the impact of AI on the market.

If you're interested in understanding the complexities of ad fraud in the online video advertising market and the challenges and trust issues that plague the industry, or if you're an advertiser wanting to ensure your campaigns are not misrepresented, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

Research report and data from Adalytics: https://adalytics.io/blog/invalid-google-video-partner-trueview-ads

Google's reply to the data: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/transparency-and-brand-safety-on-google-video-partners/

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss FAST and how, as an industry, we have almost no details on revenue growth across FAST platforms. With Plex’s recent round of layoffs and too many FAST channels in the market, we argue that popularity without profitability is a problem for FAST operators. We also discuss YouTube TV's business, including its outage during the NBA playoffs, its decision to drop SNY and MLB Network, and YouTube's experiments with ad blockers. Finally, we break down why Microsoft announced it will shut down Azure Media Services in 2024 and exit the video workflow business.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we peel back the layers of the NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, dissecting the potential implications and benefits for the streaming media industry. We discuss the criticality of promptly addressing technical glitches before mainstream media taints the image of streaming technology. Learn how YouTube TV's new 'multiview' feature could amp up the NFL Sunday Ticket experience, or just add another layer of complexity.

We also scrutinize Netflix's future advertising plans and its proposed creation of a new ad format, similar to a half-hour commercial stretched out over days. Also covered is the rollout of YES Network's single-screen interactive stats on connected devices in partnership with Ease Live. Tune in as we delve into the fiery debate in Europe, with ISPs suggesting that content providers, including Netflix, Apple, and Google, should pay ISPs to carry their video traffic. 

I also call out Sandvine for continuing to publish garbage data on the topic, stating opinions as facts, using high-level marketing terms with no definitions, and using the debate to push the need for companies to pay them to use their platform - a severe conflict of interest.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

What do TikTok's video lengths and user engagement tell us about the future of content consumption? Join us this week as we uncover the surprising data behind this social media giant and its innovative audience. We'll also dive into the growing trend of long-form content, including movies and TV shows, being chopped up into bite-sized pieces for a more interactive and engaging viewing experience.

As the demand to achieve profitability with DTC services grows, content owners are slashing millions in infrastructure costs by optimizing their video workflows, especially in encoding, storage and delivery. We discuss how advanced codecs and content-adaptive technologies are enabling lower bit rates without sacrificing quality. You will also learn about Netflix's multi-year technology and workflow transformation and the increasing importance of purpose-built silicon in the race for 4K streaming.

Lastly, we tackle media inaccuracies and AI hype within the industry. From the sensationalized reporting surrounding Disney's CFO's leave of absence to Microsoft's questionable AI claims, we emphasize the importance of accurate information and transparency. Discover the potential impact of AI on the streaming industry and Microsoft's relationship with OpenAI – all in this eye-opening episode.

Articles mentioned in the podcast:

TikTok's becoming a TV platform. One pirated clip at a time
https://www-cbc-ca.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6874102

With Streaming Services Cutting Bitrates to Save Money, Vendors That Bet on 4K for Revenue Growth Have Lost
https://www.streamingmediablog.com/2023/06/cutting-bitrates-4k.html

MSVP: Meta’s first ASIC for video transcoding
https://ai.facebook.com/blog/meta-scalable-video-processor-MSVP/

Questions or feedback? Contact: [email protected]

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we discuss the recent increase in Netflix's stock price, which hit a 52-week high, all based on "assumptions" about new sign-ups, drawn from four days’ worth of data from the third-party firm Antenna. We also question whether YouTube TV is cracking down on password sharing ahead of the NFL Sunday Ticket, with more users reporting pop-up messages reminding them to return to their home location. We discuss how Telly, the company that plans to give away a dual-screen TV for free, can deactivate the TV if consumers don't use it as they want them to. Finally, we detail the launch of a new commercial CDN offering from Orange, specifically for CDN services within France.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Orange, IPL, Antenna, YouTube TV, NFL Sunday Ticket, Telly, Vizio, Vimeo, Edgio.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we discuss the Netflix password-sharing notifications that have started rolling out in 103 countries and territories, and the challenges users are having understanding how Netflix will enforce the rules and what exactly constitutes a violation. We also detail the rollout of Max, with less than 0.1% of HBO Max accounts experiencing technical issues and highlight new details from YouTube TV regarding NFL Sunday Ticket, including simultaneous stream counts, multiview and video quality. We also break down the laughable comments from Elon Musk and others on Twitter who suggested they "broke the internet" and "melted their servers" due to 600,000 users trying to stream live audio of Ron DeSantis announcing his 2024 presidential bid on Twitter Spaces.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, Disney, Twitter, Max, YouTube TV, Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO Max, AOM, Beamr.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, I discuss the technical issues that YouTube TV, Apple TV and Netflix all had during a live event/stream on their platforms in the past 30 days. I also break down all the key numbers from Disney’s earnings, including the 3.8 million sequential decline of Disney+ Hotstar subs, their comments that the price increase for Disney+ without ads had no meaningful negative impact on churn, and the latest non-news on ESPN going DTC. Also highlighted are comments from FOX’s CEO on why they don’t have a D2C sports offering and Netflix’s announcement that their ad-supported plan has nearly 5M monthly active users globally.

Companies and services mentioned: Netflix, Disney, ESPN, Hulu, Peacock, NFL, IPL, FOX, Apple TV, YouTube TV, MLS Season Pass.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week we highlight the Q1 earnings news from Brightcove (will lay off 10% of company), Vimeo (CEO could get $800,000 bonus), Paramount (+  added 4.1M subs), Comcast (Peacock subs up 2M), Warner Bros. Discovery (expects DTC business to be profitable this year) and the latest cord cutting numbers with over 1M pay TV losses in Q1.

We also discuss problems we are seeing with many resumes and LinkedIn pages by those looking for new jobs in the industry. We share feedback on what you should do if you are looking for a new job and how you should set yourself up for success.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we highlight some of the news from the NAB Show and detail the technologies and business models we heard discussed most. We also discuss the trends we saw at the show, vendor messaging, specific data shared from speakers and what impressed us. We also cover some numbers you need to know about cord cutting, P&L and ARPU from earnings reports for Roku, Comcast (Peacock), Amazon, Verizon, Meta, Netflix and others.

Companies and services mentioned: Roku, Netflix, Amazon, Verizon, Peacock, HBO Max, Comcast, Brightcove, Harmonic, Haivision, Amagi, IMAX, Bitmovin.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media

This week, we break down Viacom18's 16 million concurrent streams for the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Jio Cinema, noting that the bitrate was around 1 Mbps, making comparisons to other events difficult. We also discuss potential new DTC streaming strategies that the WWE and UFC could pursue, since their rights deals with ESPN, FOX and NBCUniversal all expire by 2026. We recap some industry news that Apple has acquired Wave One, a startup specializing in AI-based video compression with a method for analyzing video files and learning the best way to compress them. And the news from AMD is a new media acceleration solution targeting video streaming applications that are highly personalized and interactive by nature, demanding low-to-ultra-low latency.

Companies and services mentioned: Viacom18, Jio Cinema, Endeavor, UFC, WWE, NBC Universal, Peacock, FOX, Disney, MLB, WWE, CBS, Pac-12, Roku, Apple TV, Netflix, Wave One, Apple, AMD, IMAX.

Podcast produced by Security Halt Media