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As part of a companywide effort to up its digital ad game, ESPN is looking to innovate in an area often shunned by tech advancements: radio.
For the sports giant, the online radio and podcasting arms of the business are surprisingly robust. The ESPN Radio mobile app has registered over 3 million downloads while popular podcast titles like Bill Simmons' B.S. Report have attracted tens of millions of downloads over the years. To take advantage of this audience, ESPN digital audio is unveiling a dynamic cloud-based ad insertion program with the hope of targeting listeners by device, location, age and gender in real time across live national broadcasts. The new technology, developed with online radio provider Abacast, is a departure from the standard, static ad insertion platforms available to online radio providers where ads must undergo somewhat cumbersome coding and delivery processes. Essentially, this means that during large radio broadcast events like last month's BCS Championship game, during which ESPN Radio hosted nearly 110,000 mobile audio streams, ESPN will be able to serve individual ads to each one of those listeners during live breaks. While it may sounds obvious, for online radio it is a first-of-its-kind technology for an industry largely behind the times in digital ad technology.
ESPN Is Now Targeting You Via Online Radio
Several of the 50 top shows on cable and broadcast networks receive more DVR and video-on-demand viewers in the 28 days after air than they do live, according to audience-measurement firm Rentrak.
Rentrak’s initial Total Audience Viewing Report, which combines live TV audience with DVR and VOD viewership data, found that TNT’s Rizzoli and Isles and FX’s Sons of Anarchy have DVR and VOD playback viewership that comprises more than 60% of the audience for the 28-day total. Cable shows that saw more than half of their total audience after 28 days come from DVR and VOD included Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, Syfy’s Haven, MTV’s Teen Mom 2, USA’s Burn Notice, A&E’s Duck Dynasty and TLC’s Sister Wives. The Rentrak report covered primetime programs that initially aired between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2, 2012.
Time-Shifted Viewing Can Be Bulk of Audience Within 28 Days: Study
New TV shows' social media metrics still aren't witnessing comparably strong initial traditional TV viewership.
The best social-ranking new show, ABC's "Zero Hour," is now at a 6.1 "involvement score," according to social media watcher General Sentiment, for the week ending Feb. 17. This is up nearly 20% from the previous week. General Sentiment factors involvement in looking at news, social and Twitter social-media areas. But "Zero Hour" didn't light the world on fire -- at least from its Nielsen initial live plus same day numbers. It posted a Nielsen 6.4 million viewers and a 1.4 rating/4 share among 18-49 viewers for its premiere. Two CW shows came next: "The Carrie Diaries," down 3.8%, to a 6.0 'involvement" score, and as-yet-to-premiere (as of press time) "Cult," up 2% to a 5.9 number. "Diaries" was at Nielsen 1.2 million total viewers and a 0.4 rating/1 share among 18-49ers. NBC's "Do Not Harm" was quickly cancelled after two episodes -- but had high online buzz numbers: 5.0. Its last Nielsen reading for Feb. 7 was at 2.2 million viewers and a 0.7/2 among 18-49 viewers.
Social Media Buzz Doesn't Rocket TV Numbers
The Internet plays an important role in influencing new product purchases, especially in categories like consumer electronics and appliances.
Overall, people were most likely to make a purchase based on the advice of family and friends (77%), followed by seeing a product in the store (72%), receiving a free sample (70%), searching the Web (67%), expert/word-of-mouth advice (66%) and watching TV ads (59%), per a new global survey by Nielsen. Besides actively searching online, people were also influenced via the Internet were through brand or manufacturer Web page (55%), articles (53%), forums and message boards (43%), social media (43%), banner ads (42%) and video-sharing sites (37%). Does that mean people are paying more attention to banner ads than we think? On the mobile front, 27% said they were more likely to buy a new product based on information gained through a text message. Looking at product categories, consumers said the Internet is very or somewhat important when making purchase decisions for electronics (81%), appliances (77%), books (70%), music and clothing (each 69%) and cars (68%). At least 60% said it also influenced buying in relation to food and beverages, personal hygiene, personal over-the-counter medicines and hair care. While social media is mainly a way to connect with friends, the Nielsen study found about one-third of U.S. consumers are actively researching products via social sites.
Internet Key Influence On Purchases
Utah lawmakers will consider a bill that would make it impossible for the financially troubled UTOPIA fiber-optic network to use money from the future sale of bonds to fund its day-to-day operations.
SB 172 would prohibit cities and counties from selling bonds after May 14 to build projects and then use any of that money to operate them more than one year after the debt was issued. It also would prevent money from the bonds to be used to pay off interest more than five years after the bonds are issued. UTOPIA, a consortium of 11 cities from Brigham City to Payson that are building the high-speed Internet network, has been doing just that. The bill’s provisions would not affect the bond money UTOPIA is using at present.
Bill would halt further bonding for UTOPIA operations
A week after President Barack Obama unveiled an executive order aimed at protecting the country from cyberattacks, attention is turning to Congress, where Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is taking the lead on crafting broad legislation to fight cybercrimes and combat threats to critical infrastructure such as power grids and water supplies.
Late last month, Sen Rockefeller introduced a bill laying out areas of focus for proposed cyber-related legislation. Among the priorities it identifies: better training for America's cyberwarriors, protections against online identity theft and crime, and, most important, building out a system for public-private information sharing that isn't too controversial. Sen Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has long championed of such a measure. He was one of four cosponsors last year on a Senate cybersecurity bill—the Cybersecurity Act of 2012—that ultimately was rejected by Republicans, business groups, and privacy advocates. Chairman Rockefeller was so frustrated by the legislative defeat that he began writing letters to Fortune 500 CEOs, asking them to describe their companies' state of cyberattack readiness. Six other Democrats have already signed on to Rockefeller's cause this year: Thomas Carper and Christopher Coons of Delaware; Dianne Feinstein of California; Carl Levin of Michigan; Barbara Mikulski of Maryland; and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Chairman Rockefeller, Lead Senate Player on Cyber, Seeks to Win Over Business
President Barack Obama issued his long-awaited executive order authorizing new policies to improve critical infrastructure and cybersecurity. But surprisingly, the order makes little mention of one issue that’s at the core of protecting our cyber networks: the workforce.
Hord Tipton, executive director of (ISC)2, said that while the executive order demonstrates that the president is on the right track by trying to get the “most mileage out of existing cyber regulations,” it is lacking in its requirements for organizations to meet security standards and hire qualified cybersecurity personnel.
Cybersecurity Order Neglects the Workforce
The Commerce Department has an important role to play when it comes to strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity. In accordance with the President’s Executive Order, Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will be leading the development of one of the Executive Order’s principle outcomes: a voluntary Cybersecurity Framework to reduce cyber risks. NIST will work collaboratively with industry to develop a framework of voluntary standards, relying on existing international standards, practices, and procedures that have proven to be effective. On February 13, NIST announced that it would issue a Request for Information from critical infrastructure owners and operators, federal agencies, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, standards-setting organizations, other industries, consumers, solution providers and other stakeholders.
The Department of Commerce's Role in Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
As chief technology officer for President Obama's reelection effort, Harper Reed oversaw the development of projects such as Narwhal, an intricate platform that linked the campaign's myriad databases and allowed officials to plot strategy with new precision. The heady and exhausting 19-month gig convinced Reed, former technology officer for the online T-shirt retailer Threadless, that he should launch his own venture.
"When you go from building T-shirts to software for a presidential campaign used by a cast of millions, it's pretty easy to think, 'OK, we can build something pretty big,'" Reed said. He and his business partner, Dylan Richard, the campaign's former director of engineering, now are "looking to do something large" with their new business software start-up, he said. They're not the only ones. Obama's 50,000-square-foot campaign headquarters on the sixth floor of a Chicago office tower also served during the campaign as a business incubator, which now is generating new ventures that seek to parlay its innovations into private-sector enterprises. Some are classically political.
Former Obama campaign staffers parlay innovations into start-ups
White House press secretary Jay Carney said he is sympathetic to growing concerns about press access to President Barack Obama. “Having been where you are, I understand,” said Carney, a former reporter for Time magazine. While he said he also understood why “there was a desire” to have a photo of Obama hitting the links with golf pro Tiger Woods, he explained, “The president had some down time. He was playing golf.” Carney said the White House is “making an effort to provide access” and that no one received more favorable treatment with the Obama-Woods golf outing. Carney came to the briefing armed with statistics. He said Obama has had 35 press conferences while former President George W. Bush had only 19 press conferences at this point in his presidency.
White House says it makes effort to grant press access to President Obama