In November, Netflix unveiled its long-anticipated ad-supported tier which offers customers in select markets, including the U.S., the ability to offset the cost of a Netflix subscription by allowing their viewing to be interrupted with ad breaks. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Netflix President of Worldwide Advertising, Jeremi Gorman, offered some initial insight into how the product has been performing as well as the streamer’s future plans.
During an interview at Variety’s Entertainment Summit at CES, the exec said the company has been happy with the debut selection of advertisers and their diversity.
“It’s really across the board,” said Gorman, of the variety of brands participating. “We’re seeing CPG companies, luxury companies, automotive companies…[and] retail. We’re seeing a broad swath.” This is also good for the consumer experience, she noted, as it means viewers won’t be bored by one car ad after another. “There’s a wide variety of advertising types, and I think we’ll continue to see that,” Gorman predicted.
The interview also touched on some of the early complaints and concerns about Netflix’s foray into ads.
Among them is the key pushback the company has been receiving over its high ad prices, asking for what one industry exec dubbed “Super Bowl CPMs.” Gorman, however, justified the pricing but admitted the market will ultimately dictate what sort of pricing Netflix will be able to get.
“From a supply-demand perspective, the premium CPMs are reflective of two things: one is that we just couldn’t take that many advertisers. We certainly didn’t want to disappoint anybody. Then secondarily, the premium content environment in which the ads run I think warrants a high CPM.”
Whether Netflix constitutes a “premium environment” is up for debate, of course. But Netflix seems to be adjusting its expectations.
“I think we’re certainly humble enough to very much understand we’re top of market, and in addition to that, the market will more or less dictate to us what are reasonable CPMs,” Gorman said.
Another concern about Netflix’s ad-supported service has to do with which content can include ads. As the streamer wasn’t set up as an ad-supported service to begin with, many of its content deals didn’t include AVOD rights (advertising video on demand). That means Netflix has limited ad inventory, and couldn’t even run ads against some of its own “Netflix Originals” if the deals didn’t include the proper rights.
Gorman addressed this as well, saying Netflix was actively working on the licensing issues.
“That’s progressing, as we speak, day by day. We’re renegotiating deals we made a long time ago,” she said, adding that the “vast majority” of content that people watch regularly is available in the ad tier surface. In the meantime, Netflix has about 85% to 95% of its content available on the ad tier, Gorman said.
Then there’s the real concern that, from a business perspective, offering a lower-cost tier has the potential to cannibalize Netflix’s existing subscriptions as customers drop to cheaper tiers at a quicker rate that’s not offset by growth in the ads tier. Gorman, though, downplayed those concerns saying Netflix customers historically have remained on the plan they’re currently on.
The exec, unfortunately, couldn’t speak to the uptake of the ads-supported product, as Netflix is poised to announce earnings, but said “we’re pleased with the growth we’re seeing.”
At present, Netflix’s ad tier is available in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico. The company has no immediate plans to expand, but longer-term would aim to target any larger ad market. In addition to ads, subscribers on the Basic with Ads plan have to deal with lower video quality (720p HD) and are limited to streaming from one device. They also can’t download content to their devices for offline viewing.
Going forward, Netflix aims to do a bit more than just running typical ads, including things like dynamic insertion of ads near moments that are relevant to marketers, single-show sponsorships, and more. It will also later allow marketers to target ads by age and gender.
Despite challenges, Netflix says its ad tier is doing well by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
Despite challenges, Netflix says its ad tier is doing well
Архив рубрики: CES
Camera maker Canon leans into software at CES
Depending on whether you spend most of your time in hospitals, offices or in the great outdoors, when you hear “Canon,” your mind will likely go to medical scanning equipment, high-end printers or cameras. At CES this year, the 85-year-old company is leaning in a new direction, with an interesting focus on software applications.
At the show, the imaging giant showed off a direction it has been hinting at before, but this time relying far less on its own hardware, and more on the software the company has developed, in part as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic casting a shadow over people’s ability to connect. To the chorus of “meaningful communication” and “powerful collaboration,” the Japanese imaging giant appears to be plotting out a new course for what’s next.
I guess you can (officially) use your fancy Canon camera as a webcam studio now
“Canon is creating ground-breaking solutions that help people connect in more ways than we ever could have imagined, redefining how they work and live at a time when many of them are embracing a hybrid lifestyle,» said Kazuto Ogawa, president and CEO, Canon U.S.A., Inc, in a press briefing at CES 2023. “Canon’s ultimate role is to bring people closer together by revealing endless opportunities for creators. Under our theme of ‘Limitless Is More,’ we will show CES 2023 attendees what we are creating as a company focused on innovation and a world without limits.”
Among other things, Canon showed off a somewhat gimmicky immersive experience tied in with M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming thriller movie, “Knock at the Cabin.” The very Shyamalanesque movie trailer will give you a taster of the vibe. At the heart of things, however, Canon is tapping into a base desire in humanity; to feel connected to one another. The company is desperate to show off how its solutions can “remove the limits humanity faces to create more meaningful communication,” through four technologies it is showing off at the trade show this year.
Canon U.S.A. CEO Kevin Ogawa on stage at CES 2023 along with M. Night Shyamalan. Image Credits: Haje Kamps/TechCrunch
3D calling: Kokomo
The flagship solution Canon is showing off is Kokomo, which the company describes as a first-of-its-kind immersive VR software package. It is designed to combine VR with an immersive calling experience. The solution is pretty elegant: Using a VR headset and a smartphone, the Kokomo software enables users to see and hear one another in real time with their live appearance and expression in a photo-real environment.
The Kokomo solution brings 3D video calling to a home near you. Image Credits: Canon
In effect, the software package scans your face to learn what you look like, then turns you into a photo-realistic avatar. The person you are in a call with can see you — sans VR headset — showing your physical appearance and facial expressions. The effect is to experience a 3D video call. At the show, Canon is demoing the tech by letting visitors step into a 1×1 conversation with the “Knock at the Cabin” characters.
We spoke with the team behind Kokomo to figure out how the project came about, why Canon is dipping its toe in standalone software, what the future of this technology is, and how it is going to make money.
With Kokomo VR meeting software, Canon takes a step away from its hardware roots
Realtime 3D video: Free Viewpoint
Aimed at the sports market, Free Viewpoint is a solution that combines more than 100 high-end cameras with a cloud-based solution that makes it possible to move a virtual camera to any location. The software takes all the video feeds, creating a point-cloud-based 3D model that enables a virtual camera operator to create a number of angles that would otherwise have been impossible: Drone-like replay footage, swooping into the action, for example, or detailed in-the-thick-of-things-type footage, enabling viewers to see plays from the virtual perspective of one of the players.
In the U.S., the system has already been installed at two NBA arenas (including at the home of the Cavaliers and the Nets). The video can be broadcast live or compiled into replay clips. Canon also points out that the system enables “virtual advertising and other opportunities for monetization,” so I suppose we have that to look forward to as well.
Canon takes tentative step towards eliminating photographers with robotic PICK camera
Returning to the “Knock at the Cabin” theme, at CES, Canon showed off a virtual action scene captured with the Free Viewpoint video system, captured at Canon’s Volumetric Video Studio in Kawasaki, Japan. The effect of watching an action scene “through the eyes” of various characters was a wonderfully immersive experience.
Augmented reality tech: MREAL
Canon also showed off some earlier-stage tech that isn’t quite ready for prime-time viewing yet, including MREAL. This is tech that helps integrated simulation-like immersive worlds, merging the real and the virtual worlds. Use cases might include pre-visualization for movies, training scenarios and interactive mixed-reality entertainment. The company tells TechCrunch that the technology is in the market research phase.
The company is trying to figure out what to develop further and how to market the product. In other words: Who would use this, what would they use it for and what would they be willing to pay for it.
Augmented reality’s half-decade of stagnation
Remote presence: AMLOS
Activate My Line of Sight (AMLOS) is what Canon is calling its solution for hybrid meeting environments, where some participants are in person, while others are off-site. If you’ve ever been in a meeting in that configuration, you’ll often find that attending remotely is a deeply frustrating experience, as the in-person meeting participants are engaging with each other while the remote attendees are off on a screen somewhere.
Canon hopes that AMLOS can help solve that; it’s a software-and-camera set of products aiming to improve the level of engagement. It adds panning, tilting and zooming capabilities to remote camera systems, giving remote users the ability to customize their viewing and participation experience. So far, the solution is not quite intuitive enough to overcome the barrier of not being in the room, but it’s certainly better than being a disembodied wall of heads on a screen.
Camera maker Canon leans into software at CES by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch
Camera maker Canon leans into software at CES
Rollables are the new foldables
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Smartphone sales are bad — and have been for a couple of years now. Certainly this ongoing pandemic hasn’t helped. All the talk about how 5G and new form factors were going to cause a kind of bounce-back all fell by the wayside, as people put a pause on unnecessary luxuries.
Samsung is the only company that’s seen some success with the foldable form factor, and that whole thing got off to a…rough start. There were plenty of technical issues at first, leading to a less than auspicious first impression. These days, price continues to be a major hurdle — especially during a time when paying $1,000 and up on a phone is a major red flag for many.
In the world of phone form factors, two is, at the very least, the start of a trend. And on day one of CES both LG and TCL have offered their take on yet another form factor designed to offer more screen real estate in pocketable devices.
Image Credits: TCL
LG’s product is — for the moment — the more notable of the two, largely because the company plans to actually release the thing. In an interview published this morning, spokesperson Ken Hong told Nikkei, “As it is released at CES 2021, I can tell that it will be launched this year.”
And, indeed, LG’s a company not afraid to take chances with a wacky form factor. There are a number of examples of the phenomenon in recent years, most notably the swiveling screen on the LG Wing.
Still, the product didn’t amount to much more than a brief tease during a press conference (an excuse to transition between scenes, really), so you’d be forgiven for assuming that the tech still has a long way to go.
TCL, meanwhile, noted up front that the product is still firmly in the concept phase, but managed to give us a better look. I suppose it’s easier to parade concept than an unfinished real-world product. Details are still slim, but the company says the device is capable of expanding from 6.7 to 7.8 inches.
One imagines — or, at least, hopes — that the industry has learned from the issues stemming from the first batch of foldables. Sometimes the race to bring technology to market results in delivering something half-baked, an issue that came back to bite companies like Samsung and Motorola. Lab testing is one thing — the real world is a different thing entirely.