Hulu

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Jonah Rappaport

hulu company logo [1]

Founded: March 2007 by Beth Comstock & Jason Kilar

Jason Kilar [3]

Beth Comstock [2]

CEO: Mike Hopkins

Mike Hopkins [19]

SVP, Head of Distribution: Tim Connolly

Tim Connolly [19]

SVP, Head of Content: Craig Erwich

Craig Erwich [19]

SVP, General Counsel: Chadwick Ho

Chadwick Ho [19]

About

Hulu is an OTT (over the top) streaming service launched in 2008 to provide users with “hundreds of thousands of hours of the best of the best television programming and movies to subscribers with limited commercials” [4]. Hulu offers its services in both the United States and Japan on two pay scales: “with limited commercials for $7.99 per month or with no commercials for $11.99 per month” [4]. New users can also try Hulu for a 30-day free trial.

Compared to other OTT streaming services like Netflix and HBO Go, Hulu has the benefit of being owned by three of the largest programming distributors: NBCUniversal, Fox, and Disney-ABC. In total, Hulu has over 500 content partners [4], providing them a great advantage in programming over their competitors. On the advertising side, Hulu has partnerships with over 2,000 brand and companies, helping it gain recognition as one of “the top ad-supported online video sites” [4]. Hulu boasts a subscriber base of 9 Million users whose viewership trends are tracked by ComScore, Nielson, and Quantcast.

Background

Hulu was first announced during the Super Bowl XLII broadcast via an Alec Baldwin-starring commercial. Initially, the platform was available for free via an ad-supported system and at a premium level called “Hulu Plus” without ads. Archived content from its three powerhouse distributors (NBC/Fox/Disney) could be viewed in on an unlimited basis on both platforms. In 2011; however, Hulu announced that content would be available on the service the day after premiering once users authenticated their service-providers [5]. Later that year, the company struck a deal with the CW Network to also premiere their content next-day [6]. Two years later, Hulu signed on with BBC Worldwide North America to “bring as many as 2,000 episodes from 144 different BBC titles to a wider American audience” [7].

In Early 2015, AT&T struck a deal with Hulu to allow for streaming on “the telecom company’s websites and mobile apps” [11]. In June of 2015, Showtime became “the first premium service to be offered by Hulu” [8], in a monumental deal that allowed the company to effectively compete HBO Go by offering the addition of Showtime‘s premium content at only an additional $8.99/month as compared to HBO Go‘s $11.99/month charge [8]. This deal also showcased the Hulu platform’s ability to support premium add-ons, highlighting them as a powerful distribution tool for premium content providers. In

Original Programming

In 2011, Hulu partnered with documentary film-maker, Morgan Spurlock, on a 6-episode series titled, “A Day In The Life” [9]. The show was available to both free and premium subscribers and chronicled Spurlock as he followed a famous individual around for a day. In 2013, the company ramped up it’s original content by premiering “three original series and seven exclusive shows” [10]. As of April, 2016, the platform boasts 23 original titles, ranging from shows like The Awesomes to Deadbeat.

Exclusive Rights Deals

Currently, Hulu is focussed on acquiring rights to exclusive content and original series in order to lure potential users. This January, the company gained exclusive rights to stream “Lifetime’s critically acclaimed drama series from A+E Studios, UnREAL” [11] This move, which gambled on the success of a critically acclaimed show after it’s first season, highlights the mindset of much of the company’s moves thus far in 2016. In addition to UnReal, Hulu also picked up the rights to Chance, “a provocative psychological thriller that focuses on a forensic neuropsychiatrist who reluctantly gets sucked into a violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness” [12].

On January 27, Hulu announced a “landmark output deal” with IFC Films that makes “Hulu the exclusive streaming home for all future documentary releases from IFC Films, which will include all documentaries from the brands IFC Films, Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight” [15]. In a first-of-its-kind deal, all IFC films will now go directly from theaters to the Hulu platform in the first “one-window” agreement of its kind [15].

Curious George [17]

In March, Hulu and Universal announced a deal that gives the platform exclusive rights to the Curious George series for past and future releases within the window of a three-year deal [16]. In total, Hulu users “gain access to all nine seasons – over 100 episodes – of CURIOUS GEORGE^® TV series”. Additionally, Hulu will be the home to all Curious George feature-length films and the destination of “direct-to-TV specials” [16].

Content Creator

Aside from picking up the rights to existing content, Hulu sees itself as a platform for content creators to flex their muscles. Speaking at the Code/Media conference, CEO Mike Hopkins said, “What we’re trying to do is give creators the resources they need … and go for it” [14]. While the company is “lacking a defining show like “Orange Is the New Black” or “Transparent,” [14] Hulu is confident in its ability to win bidding wars for broadcast smash-hits, something apparent in the company’s success at beating out Netflix and HBO Go for the rights to Fox‘s Empire.

Virtual Reality

On March 24, Hulu announced the launch of it’s virtual reality application. Available on Samsung’s Gear VR platform, Hulu says that it will be bringing all current content to the app and will be “augmenting the experience with some of the very best 360-degree video content available” [18]. Additionally, the company states that users will be able to “watch the entire Hulu 2D library in immersive 360-degree environments” [18].

Overview

With the competitive world of OTT streaming as fiery a battle as ever, Hulu sees to distance itself from the competition by providing its users with innovative, exclusive content. To reel in new customers, the company hopes to be the first to strike gold in new ventures such as virtual reality and will continue to hope that its licensing deals continue to drive revenues.

Sources

[1] http://www.freelogovectors.net/hulu-logo-eps-file/

[2] Dan, Avi. “GE’s CMO Beth Comstock Inspires Innovation Through Instigating.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/avidan/2012/04/19/ges-cmo-beth-comstock-inspires-innovation-through-instigating/#61e6696d3de4>.

[3] Jason Kilar, Chief Executive Officer of Hulu LLC, Speaks during A…” Getty Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jason-kilar-chief-executive-officer-of-hulu-llc-speaks-news-photo/123197454>.

[4] About Hulu.” Watch TV and Movies on Xbox, PS3, Apple TV, and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hulu.com/press/about>.

[5] Stelter, Brian. “Fox to Limit Next-Day Streaming on Hulu to Paying Cable Customers.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 July 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/business/media/fox-to-limit-next-day-streaming-on-hulu.html>.

[6] Wasserman, Todd. “Hulu to Get Current Season of Gossip Girl and Other CW Content.” Mashable. N.p., 28 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://mashable.com/2011/10/28/hulu-gossip-girl-cw/#0f8HZKPPEsqq>.

[7] Hulu BBC Deal: A Positive Step After Some Cloudy Times » CEOWORLD Magazine.” CEOWORLD Magazine. N.p., 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://ceoworld.biz/2013/09/18/hulu-bbc-deal-a-positive-step-after-some-cloudy-times>.

[8] Perez, Sarah. “Showtime Becomes The First Premium Service To Be Offered By Hulu.” TechCrunch. N.p., 23 June 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/23/showtime-becomes-the-first-premium-service-to-be-offered-by-hulu/>.

[9] Emami, Gazelle. “Morgan Spurlock ‘A Day In The Life’: Original Series Premieres On Hulu (VIDEO).” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/17/morgan-spurlock-a-day-in-the-life_n_929008.html>.

[10] Gates, Sara. “Hulu Expands Original Content, Announces Three Series And Seven Exclusive Shows (VIDEO).” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/hulu-expands-original-content_n_1532718.html>.

[11] Smiley, Minda. “AT&T Strikes Deal with Hulu to Offer Subscription Service to Its Customers.” The Drum. N.p., 25 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/05/14/att-strikes-deal-hulu-offer-subscription-service-its-customers>.

[12] News.” TV Shows and Movies. Ed. Press Admin. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hulu.com/press/posts/hulu-acquires-exclusive-svod-rights-to-unreal>.

[13] News.” Watch TV and Movies on Xbox, PS3, Apple TV, and More. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hulu.com/press/posts/hulu-picks-up-chance>.

[14] CHMIELEWSKI, Dawn. “Hulu Finally Gets Serious With Original TV Series — But Is It Too Little, Too Late?” Recode. N.p., 18 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://recode.net/2016/02/18/hulu-finally-gets-serious-with-original-tv-series-but-is-it-too-little-too-late/>.

[15] Press Admin. “HULU STRIKES FIRST EVER DEAL FOR PAY ONE WINDOW RIGHTS WITH IFC FILMS.” Hulu.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hulu.com/press/posts/hulu-strikes-first-ever-deal-for-pay-one-window-rights-with-ifc-films>.

[16] Press Admin. “HULU and UNIVERSAL INK GROUNDBREAKING DEAL FOR CURIOUS GEORGE® TV.” Hulu News. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. <http://www.hulu.com/press/news>.

[17] http://www.rivercenter.org/event/curious-george-2/

[18] Press Admin. “Hulu Launches Virtual Reality Application.” Hulu News. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hulu.com/press/posts/hulu-launches-virtual-reality-application>.

[19] Press Admin. “Executives.” Hulu Executives. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. <http://www.hulu.com/press/executives>.

CBS Corp. (TV broadcast & cable properties only)

Link

by Mike Liebenson

[1] CBS Logo

CBS Headquarters
51 W. 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019-6188
1-212-975-4321 [1.5]

KEY EXECUTIVES

[2] Leslie Moonves- President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation

[3] Sumner M Redstone- Executive Chairman

[4] Joseph Ianniello- Chief Operating Officer

[5] Anthony G. Ambrosio, Senior Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, CBS Corporation.

OVERVIEW

CBS Corporation is an industry-leading mass media company that creates and distributes content across a multiple platforms to audiences worldwide. Spanning virtually every field of media and entertainment, CBS’s operations include cable, film, radio, publishing, local TV, and interactive/social media. [6]

Network Portfolio

[7] All of CBS’s Assets

CBS is home to one of the world’s largest libraries of media content, making it one of the most recognized brands in business. Specific to television, CBS’s businesses include CBS Television Network, The CW, Showtime Networks, TVGN, CBS Sports Network, Smithsonian Networks, CBS Television Studios, and CBS Television Stations [6].

CBS CURRENT FALL SEASON

[8] One of the Thursday Night Football games featuring San Diego at Denver.

The 2015 season has been kind to “The Big Eye,” with the network averaging 12.2 million viewers daily. This puts the network ahead of every other network, with NBC trailing behind at 9.8 million [9]. Part of this is due to their addition of Thursday Night Football to their fall line-up. Each week their installment of football, which replaced conventional series for the first two months of the season, topped Thursday nights for total viewership. The final game aired earned a 13.2 rating and 23 percent share [10]. That’s slightly less than the all-time high overnight household rating of 13.7 when the season opened on September 11. While Thursday Night Football has done well, analysts projected it to do even better. Yesterday RBC Capital Markets’ David Bank dropped his earnings forecast for CBS by 27 cents to $3.07 because of the ratings letdown [8].

Newcomers

Among CBS’s five other newcomers for the 2014-2015 season, only one was a half-hour sitcom. The Mccarthys, which debuted 1.7/5 in the 18-49 share and 8.08 total million viewers [12], but has fallen to 1.4 and 6.53 total million viewers [13].

[11] First Look

Of the four dramas that premiered this season, consisting of Madame Secretary, Scorpion, NCIS: New Orleans, and Stalker, Scorpion has the strongest for the 18-49 share while the NCIS spin off has the highest overall views. Scorpion debuted at 3.2 share, but has decreased to a low 1.9 as of their 11/24 episode [14].

[15] First Look

NCIS New Orleans debuted at 17.37 million views, and as kept most of its view with their most current episode garnering 14.47 million views. NCIS: New Orleans, along with its predecessor, both skew older and target viewers above the age of 50 [16]. All four of the new dramas have been picked up for full seasons as of 10/28/14 [17].

[18] First Look

Returning Shows

[19] The cast of The Big Bang Theory

Of its current series, CBS boasts the most watched scripted series by both total views and 18-49 shares. The Big Bang Theory, which moved back to Thursdays as of 11/20, has consistently had highest 18-49 share for a scripted series with their most current rating averaging a 4.1 as of 11/25 [20]. Their eighth year’s average is lower so far than their past season, which averaged a 5.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 17.65 million total viewers. The series is renewed until season 10, though, with higher salaries for their lead actors as well [21].

[23] The cast of NCIS

NCIS captures the most viewers for a scripted series every week with their 11/25 episode garnering 16 million viewers. This season is also down from last, with their 11th season of NCIS averaged a 2.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 18.5 million total viewers [22]. Even with their top shows dipping in the numbers slightly, CBS is maintaining a steady flow of cash revenue.

FINANCIALS

[24] 2014 Q3 earnings for CBS

CBS is publicly held. As of their 2014 third quarter report, CBS’s shares rose 2.3% from $3.30 billion in 2013 to $3.37 billion now [24]. This was mostly thanks to a 4% increase in content licensing and distribution revenues from higher domestic and international licensing of their television programming. The main Entertainment unit, which includes the CBS TV network and studios, saw a 1% increase in revenues to $1.91 billion. Thanks to the political revenues of the midterm elections and their introduction to Thursday Night Football on CBS, the corporation saw their advertising revenue increase by 2%. In cable networks, like Showtime, revenues were up 5% to $624 million due to the company’s increased rates and increased cash flow from license agreements for its original series [25]. As of December 1 at 4:02 pm, CBS’s stock closed at $54.47, a .75% decrease from the day before [26].

MAJOR HAPPENINGS

CBS All Access

[27]

On October 16, 2014 CBS announced a first for any of the major traditional broadcast networks; subscription based multi-platform access to their content called CBS All Access [28]. For $5.99, the network will offer subscribers episodes from their current and classic shows on-demand across computers, tablets, and smartphones. Subscribers will also have the ability to live stream local CBS television stations in 14 of the most popular U.S. markets; And that number will only grow [28]. The most important amenity of this new service is that customers do not have to be subscribers of a cable or satellite company to access this service; They just need to pay their subscription to seamlessly interact with CBS’s content across their multiple platforms.

TVGN to POP

[29] Redesigned Logo

The TV Guide Network, a joint venture between CBS Corp. and Lionsgate, is planning to receive a major facelift in January of 2015. TVGN will be rebranded as POP, a network centered on the celebration of American fan boy culture [30]. The theme has a much more unique POV, allowing the channel to look at anything that draws on the experience of high intensity fans. POP will launch with more than 400 hours of original programming, featuring A New Kids on The Block reality series, a scripted series, entertainment news, red-carpet specials, and other exciting new content. One series in particular, The Story Behind, will look inside the origin stories of successful hit series [29]. CBS is hoping to be able to obtain more money a month per subscriber. The current TVGN commands two cents a month in comparison to networks garnered towards similar audiences, like E!, that get 24 cents a month per subscriber. Their hopes extend to increased ad revenue as well, since it is on the smaller side [30].

CBS vs. Dish Dispute

[31]

Tensions are rising between CBS and the no. 2 Satellite Distributor over this past month. On November 14, CBS reached out to Dish Network subscribers to inform them of the impending loss of their affiliated channels due an unresolved deal between the two companies after their carriage contract expires at the end of November. CBS has extended the deadline twice, with their deal now supposed to close by the end of the first week in December [31]. The deal seems to me more about rights over CBS content rather than financial issues, specificaly Dish’s ability to include it in the over-the-top service that it aims to launch as well as offering out-of-home viewing rights to their subscribers. There is been concern over Dish’s Hopper DVR service that allows users to record large amounts of primetime with one button. The rollout of this new DVR launched lawsuits against Dish by the major broadcasters, not just CBS [32].

Works Cited

[1] CBS Logo, Deadline.com, RT: 12/1/14

[1.5] CBS Contact, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[2] Photo of Leslie Moonves, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[3] Photo of Sumner Redstone, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[4] Photo of Joseph Ianniello, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[5] Photo of Anthony Ambosio, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[6] About CBS, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[7] Assets of CBS, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[8] Photo of Thursday Night Football, deadline.com, RT: 12/1/14

[9] CBS 2014-2015 Ratings, tvseriesfinale.com, RT: 12/1/14

[10] ‘Thursday Night Football’ Ends on High Note, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 12/1/14

[11] The Mccarthy’s- First Look, youtube.com, RT: 12/1/14

[12] Thursday Final Ratings (10/31), tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com, RT: 12/1/14

[13] Thursday Final Ratings (11/25), tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com, RT: 12/1/14

[14] Scorpion: Season One Ratings, tvseriesfinale.com, RT: 12/1/14

[15] Scorpion- First Look, youtube.com, RT: 12/1/14

[16] NCIS: New Orleans: Season One Ratings, tvseriesfinale.com, RT: 12/1/14

[17] NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, Madam Secretary, Stalker: CBS Orders Full Seasons, tvseriesfinale.com, RT: 12/1/14

[18] NCIS: New Orleans- First Look, youtube.com, RT: 12/1/14

[19] The Big Bang Theory Cast Photo, moviepilot.com, RT: 12/1/14

[20] The Big Bang Theory: Season Eight Ratings, tvseriesfinale.com, RT: 12/1/14

[21] ‘Big Bang Theory’ Renewed Through Season 10, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 12/1/14

[22] NCIS: Season Twelve Ratings, tvseriesfinale.com, RT: 12/1/14

[23] NCIS Cast Photo, jenniferbadger.com, RT: 12/1/14

[24] CBS Corporation Earnings Release, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[25] CBS Narrowly Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates, deadline.com, RT: 12/1/14

[26] CBS Interactive Stock Chart, finance.yahoo.com, RT: 12/1/14

[27] CBS Offers Digital Subscription Service, youtube.com, RT: 12/1/14

[28] CBS New Multi-Platform Digital Subscription Service, cbscorporation.com, RT: 12/1/14

[29] Meet POP, variety.com, RT: 12/1/14

[30] TV Guide Network To Relaunch In Early 2015 As POP, variety.com, RT: 12/1/14

[31] CBS Will Star on Dish Through the Weekend, deadline.com, RT: 12/1/14

[32] Carriage Talks Progress, variety.com, RT: 12/1/14

YouTube

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Blair Shulman

By Blair Shulman

Photo courtesy of techtipsworld.com [1]

YouTube, LLC

901 Cherry Ave.
San Bruno, CA 94066

Phone: +1 650-253-0000

Fax: +1 650-253-0001

www.youtube.com

A Brief History

It’s hard to believe that YouTube is only 9 years old. The video sharing website was created in 2005 by former PayPal co-workers Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. Little did they know it would go on to be the third most visited site in the world after Google and Facebook. YouTube’s first video clip was posted in April 2005 and by November, users were sending up to 8 terabytes of data per day (which is the equivalent of the entire contents of a Blockbuster store). [2] This attracted the attention of Google who paid $1.65 billion in stock for the company in the fall of 2006. By then, the site was gaining more than 700 million views a week. Today, more video content is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all three U.S. television networks have created in 60 years. [2]

Key Executives

Chad Hurley (Advisor and Co-Founder) [3]

Chad Hurley (Former CEO, Advisor and Co-Founder) [3]

Steve Chen (Co-Founder) [4]

Jawed Karim (Co-Founder) [5]

Susan Wojcicki (Chief Executive Officer) [6]

Financial Statistics

In 2006, YouTube officially became a subsidiary of Google, Inc. in a $1.65 billion deal. Although Google has never released any specific numbers in regards to YouTube’s revenues, they do release numbers about their own growth, revealing some information about YouTube’s results. On April 16, 2014, Google released financial results for the quarter ending March 31, 2014. According to Larry Page, CEO of Google, Google’s revenue was $15.4 billion, up 19 percent year on year. [7] Site revenue, which represents sites Google operates (like Google.com, YouTube, and Gmail), generated revenue of $10.47 billion, or 68 percent of total revenue. That’s a 21 percent increase over last year. Network revenue, aka “Adsense,” did $3.4 billion in revenue, a four percent increase over last year. [8] YouTube uses Google AdSense to generate their automatic media advertisements that are targeted to site content and audience on both their mobile and desktop sites. Another focus of the report was Google’s desire to develop advertisements that facilitate brand-building, in particular on YouTube. According to the Chief Business Officer of Google, Nikesh Arora, nearly all Super Bowl advertisers this year also had paid spots on YouTube. “We’ve seen a trend of brands coming over to YouTube as an addition to their TV campaigns,” Arora says, “The real fun will begin when people do brand building campaigns starting on digital, including YouTube. This is definitely the Holy Grail.” [9]

In The News

Susan Wojcicki Named New CEO of YouTube: Susan Wojcicki, one of Google’s earliest employees and former Senior Vice President of Ads and Commerce, became the new CEO of YouTube in February of 2014. The 45-year-old mother of four replaced Salar “SK” Kamangar, who was the CEO of YouTube for just over three years. Before that, Salar ran day-to-day activities at Google and took over the CEO position from YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley in 2010. [10] Kamangar now stands as the Senior Vice President of YouTube and Video for Google.

Photo courtesy of marketingland.com [16]

Wojcicki joined Google in 1999 as the 16th employee, becoming the search engine’s first marketing executive. [11] In her various positions at Google, Wojcicki has overseen product management of AdSense, Google Book Search and Google Video. Prior to Google, she worked at Intel, Bain & Co. and R.B. Webber & Co. [11] This move most likely signals a desire on Google’s part to start monetizing YouTube and its advertising content in a big way, since Wojcicki’s previous positions at Google have been centered around managing its entire ad sales department. In Google’s own statement, CEO Larry Page said, “YouTube is a billion person global community curating videos for every possibility. Anyone uploading their creative content can reach the whole world and even make money. Like Salar, Susan has a healthy disregard for the impossible and is excited about improving YouTube in ways that people will love.” [12]

Screenshot courtesy of makerstudios.com [12]

Screenshot courtesy of makerstudios.com (click to enlarge) [15]

Disney Buys Maker Studios: The Walt Disney Company completed a deal on March 24, 2014 to pay $500 million to acquire Maker Studios. The deal could end up closing for as much as $950 million if specific growth targets are met by Disney. [13] Maker Studios is a YouTube multi-channel network that produces high-quality videos for some of the most “YouTube famous” users on the site such as PewDiePie and channels such as Epic Rap Battles of History. [13] Financed by venture capitalists and grants from YouTube, Maker Studios now operates over 55,000 channels, boasts 380 million subscribers and 5.5 billion views per month. [14] It’s not unclear why Maker Studios looked desirable to Disney. The YouTube video supplier can help promote Disney’s many characters and franchises to a young target audience. Maker can also serve as an example of how to successfully interact with the “raised-on-the-Web” generation. [13] When Maker succeeds, YouTube succeeds as well. This recent acquisition was a huge win for the YouTube, Maker and Disney families.

Turning YouTube Stars Into Real Celebrities: Welcome to the next major evolution of YouTube’s business. New YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has helped to devise a plan to propel YouTube users to the next level of stardom. YouTube is chock full of “stars” who broadcast their content to thousands of loyal subscribers every day. But how many of these stars can the public actually put a name and a face to? That’s why YouTube is spending millions on advertising to overcome this awareness challenge. Popular YouTube users will now be getting their own promotional TV spots and premium-priced ad rates as part of an effort to package online video stars like traditional TV celebrities. [17] The first stars to get the ads will be chef Rosanna Pansino and beauty gurus Michelle Phan and Bethany Mota. The ads will be shown on networks like The CW and ABC Family, local TV and billboards in New York and Chicago, Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Entertainment Weekly and even in NYC subways. [18] The ads are being developed by ad agency Co:Collective. One challenge Wojcicki notes is “trying to get advertisers who traditionally bought TV to understand the YouTube platform.” [18] But Wojcicki believes in patience, hard work and continual growth. “As the platform matures and we have better monetization, we want to be able to continue to grow the whole ecosystem in a way that’s good for advertisers, good for publishers and good for users,” Wojcicki said. [18]

YouTube user Michelle Phan’s homepage, boasting more than 6 million subscribers

Sources:

[1] YouTube Company Logo, techtipsworld.com, RT: 4/12/14

[2] “Brief History YouTube”, time.com, RT: 4/12/14

[3] Photo of Chad Hurley, politic365.com, RT: 4/12/14

[4] Photo of Steve Chen, twitter.com, RT: 4/12/14

[5] Photo of Jawed Karim, commons.wikimedia.org, RT: 4/12/14

[6] Photo of Susan Wojcicki, hub.jhu.edu, RT: 4/12/14

[7] “Google Inc. Announces First Quarter 2014 Results“, investor.google.com, 4/16/14, RT: 4/19/14

[8] “Google misses Q1 2014 earnings with $15.42 billion in revenue“, arstechnica.com, 4/16/14, RT: 4/19/14

[9] “Despite 19% Revenue Growth, Google Q1 Earnings Disappoint Investors“, forbes.com, 4/16/14, RT: 4/19/14

[10] “YouTube’s Chad Hurley to step down as chief executive“, theguardian.com, 10/29/10, RT: 4/19/14

[11] “Google Names Susan Wojcicki CEO of YouTube“, variety.com, 2/5/14, RT: 4/19/14

[12] “Google Confirms Ads & Commerce SVP Susan Wojcicki Is The New YouTube CEO“, techcrunch.com, 2/5/14, RT: 4/19/14

[13] “Disney Buys Maker Studios, Video Supplier for YouTube“, nytimes.com, 3/24/14, RT: 4/19/14

[14] “With Disney Buying Maker, Do All Big Media Companies Need To Up Their YouTube Game?“, forbes.com, 4/1/14, RT: 4/19/14

[15] Screenshot of Maker Studios website, makerstudios.com, RT: 4/19/14

[16] Photo of Susan Wojcicki’s tweet after being appointed CEO of YouTube, marketingland.com, 2/5/14, RT: 4/19/14

[17] “YouTube’s Big Plan to Turn Its Stars Into Real Celebrities“, wired.com, 4/16/14, RT: 4/19/14

[18] “Exclusive Interview: Susan Wojcicki’s Plan to Make YouTube ‘Stars’ Real-Life Famous“, adage.com, 4/14/14, RT: 4/19/14

Principles & Practices

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Tag Archives: The CW Network

Hulu

CBS Corp. (TV broadcast & cable properties only)

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