YouTube

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Kyle Desiderio

Youtube Logo [1]

The Founders

Co-Founder: Chad Hurley [8]

Co-Founder: Steve Chen [9]

Co-Founder: Jawed Karim [10]

Current Key Executives

YouTube CEO: Susan Wojciki [2]

YouTube Chief Business Officer: Robert Kyncl [3]

YouTube Overview & History

Google Acquired YouTube in late 2006 [7]

YouTube is a worldwide video sharing company, which was launched in April 14, 2005 by three former PayPal employees [4]. Soon after their launch, Google purchased the company for $1.65 billion, making it the most expensive acquisition for Google at that time [5]. YouTube now operates as a subsidiary of Google. Since it’s launch, YouTube popularity has skyrocketed, serving as the premier destination to post videos, and creating a network of channels with a significantly easier barrier of entry compared to more established mediums. Youtube has positioned itself as a significant competitor to traditional media, with the coveted 18-49 year-old market accessing YouTube’s mobile site than any cable television network [6]. Many established networks and personalities now use YouTube as an extension to reach a much wider audience, such as The Ellen Show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. With YouTube’s massive popularity, especially with the younger demographic, much of the company’s recent actions focus on profiting on their large user base.

Finances

Google's Stock plummeted after its Q1 Earnings Report [14]

Google’s Stock plummeted after its Q1 Earnings Report in mid April [14]

While Google is a publicly traded company, it is unclear what effect YouTube has on their stocks. Google has never released the earnings of YouTube and many have speculated that the web service has focused on building a strong user base rather than creating a profit [11]. Despite YouTube announcing it’s paid subscription plan, YouTube Red, a vast majority of YouTube’s revenue comes from advertisements, taking 45% of profits from every video allowing ads [12]. However, within the past few months, Google’s stock (now known as Alphabet, but still retaining the GOOG stock market tag) has fluctuated wildly especially with the April release of their First Quarter 2016 results, reporting a disappointing net income of $5.25 billion [13]. These earnings were more than $310 million less than average expectations, causing nearly a 5% drop in stock within 24 hours of the earnings release. Much of this can be attributed to spending that increased nearly 27%, focusing on improving YouTube’s servers and content acquisition for YouTube Red that was released in February 2016 [14]. While these numbers might be disappointing, the company seems to be doubling-down on its approach to attract viewers now, and worry about profits later, and it does seem unlikely that this will have a lasting effect on Google’s entire stock.

YouTube Red

YouTube Red, announced in late 2015, was the company’s attempt to launch into the paid subscription market. For $9.99/month users are able to view videos without advertisements, download videos, receive a free subscription to Google Music, and gain exclusive content [15]. While there was some controversy, YouTube released the first round of their exclusive content, to very mixed results, in February 10, 2016.

A Trip To Unicorn Island

Lilly Singh stars in YouTube’s first documentary [31]

YouTube Red’s first documentary, A Trip to Unicorn Island focuses on YouTube star Lily Singh and is produced by Astronauts Wanted. The piece focuses on Singh, holder of the YouTube account ||SuperWoman|| with more than 8 million subscribers, during her first worldwide tour [16]. The documentary is clearly targeted at her tween fanbase as she delves into her struggle with depression and preaches self-acceptance. However, mainstream media has given the piece little to no attention and currently holds a 4.2 rating on IMDb [17].

Dance Camp

Taking from the success of made-for-tv Disney films such as High School Musical, Dance Camp is a teen musical featuring songs created by YouTubers themselves [18]. Similarly to A Trip to Unicorn Island, YouTube’s first foray into the musical world has received essentially no professional press, as has user reviews hovering around 3.5 [19].

Scare PewDiePie

Scare PewDiePie features YouTube’s most subscribed user [32]

This web series centers the most subscribed YouTuber, Felix Kjellberg, otherwise known as PewDiePie, as he navigates different sets inspired off popular horror video games. The show format mimics what made his channel so popular; commentating and screaming the more terrified he becomes. His name popularity seems to have garnered some of the most press as well, with episode seven offered to the public for free amassing nearly 24 million views [20].

Lazer Team

Lazer Team, created by Rooster Teeth, is the most traditional offering in YouTube Red’s launch. [33]

The most “traditional” offering of YouTube Red is Rooster Teeth‘s Lazer Team, which prior to appearing on Red’s lineup received an actual theatrical release in late January [21]. The film created notoriety in the Summer of 2014 when it received nearly $2.5 million in a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo [22]. The internet company Rooster Teeth has had a very close relationship with YouTube over the company’s life cycle, so it isn’t surprising that the sci-fi movie was brought to YouTube instead of a more traditional physical DVD release. The movie also brings some credibility to the subscription service, since it is the only content to receive enough professional reviews to warrant a Metacritic score, receiving “mixed or average reviews” with a 42% [23].

The Future

While YouTube Red’s offerings have received very mixed critical reception, the company has plans to release much more content within 2016. This new content seems to branch out into new demographics, while still maintaining headlining YouTube stars such as Bad Internet written by College Humor and reality show Prank Academy starring PrankVsPrank, which was just began releasing episodes in April [24]. Much of this content targets YouTube’s very young demographic, and while it might attract viewers, it still remains to be seen if they have the capital to spend $10 every month for YouTube Red, especially when Netflix and Hulu‘s offerings seem to be much more well-received.

Live and 360 Video

YouTube Gaming was launched to directly combat video game live-streaming from Twitch.tv [34]

Despite the fact that YouTube has had a chokehold in streaming archived video, the company has fallen behind in the live-streaming market. Streaming services such as Twitch, Periscope, and even Facebook Live might not necessarily have the numbers that YouTube does, but it has left YouTube with a significantly smaller portion of that market. To combat this, YouTube released YouTube Gaming in August 2015 to combat Twitch, and continues to expand into the live video world [25]. According to a report by VentureBeat, Google might soon be entering the mobile market as well with an app called YouTube Connect, which would directly combat the popularity of Periscope [26]. YouTube was also the host of the first live-streamed event in the 2016 election cycle, with stars interviewing candidates live onto the website [27].

On April 18, YouTube also announced that it would combine live streaming with some of its newest technology: 360 degree video [28]. The company also announced that it would immediately begin to introduce spatial sound recognition into it’s 360 video, creating a more immersive sound experience. The effect of this announcement was released to the public during Coachella 2016, where artists such as Matt & Kim and Open the Gates was live-streamed to the public with 360 degree video [29].

As the cost of producing 360 degree-quality videos has reduced in price, YouTube has put capable cameras in all of their creative studios, allowing use for all YouTube content creators [30]. While the effects of this announcement are already being felt, this could also have massive implications for the virtual reality world, where live-streaming has never been compatible with the new technology, but now could be when paired with Google’s own Google Cardboard VR device.

Works Cited

[1] YouTube Logo. Digital image. YouTube. Google, n.d. Web.

[2] Susan Wojciki. Digital image. Twitter. Twitter, n.d. Web.

[3] Robert Kyncl. Digital image. Twitter. Twitter, n.d. Web.

[4] Hopkins, Jim. “Surprise! There’s a Third YouTube Co-founder.” USA Today. N.p., 11 Oct. 2006. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[5] Associated Press. “Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 Billion.” NBC News. N.p., 10 Oct. 2006. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[6] Google. “YouTube Statistics.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[7] Google Logo. Digital image. Crunch Base, n.d. Web.

[8] Chad Hurley. Digital image. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web.

[9] Steve Chen. Digital image. Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web.

[10] Jawed Karim. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web.

[11] Oreskovic, Alexei. “How Much Money Does YouTube Make? Don’t Ask the New CFO.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 16 July 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[12] Edwards, Jim. “The Biggest Stars on YouTube Make Huge Incomes … Yet They Can’t Keep the Vast Majority of It.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 03 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[13] “Alphabet Investor Relations.” Alphabet Investor Relations. Alphabet, Inc., 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[14] Owens, Jeremy. “Google’s Big Plans for YouTube and Cloud Lead to Big Spending.” MarketWatch. N.p., 22 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016

[15] Google. “YouTube Red.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[16] Lenker, Margert. “YouTube Fans See a Different Side of Lilly Singh in YouTube Red’s ‘A Trip to Unicorn Island’.” Variety. N.p., 11 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[17] “A Trip To Unicorn Island (2016).” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[18] Spangler, Todd. “‘Dance Camp’: YouTube’s First Movie Has More Adult Themes Than Disney Musicals.” Variety. N.p., 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[19]”Dance Camp (2016)” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[20] PewDiePie. “LEVEL 7 | I’M NOT CRAZY (OUTLAST IRL GAMEPLAY).“YouTube. YouTube, 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[21] Brouwer, Bree. “Rooster Teeth To Release ‘Lazer Team’ In Theaters, On YouTube Red On January 27 – Tubefilter.” Tubefilter. N.p., 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[22] “Lazer Team by Rooster Teeth.” Indiegogo. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[23] “Lazer Team.” Metacritic. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[24] “Get Your Popcorn Ready! Our First YouTube Red Originals Are Now Available.” Official YouTube Blog. YouTube, 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.l

[25] Sarkar, Samit. “YouTube Gaming Launches Aug. 26 with Website and Mobile Apps.” Polygon. N.p., 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[26] Yeung, Ken. “Google Is Building YouTube Connect, a Livestreaming App to Take On Periscope.” VentureBeat. N.p., 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[27] “YouTube Creators Live From Tomorrow’s #DemDebate.” Official YouTube Blog. Google, 16 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[28] “One Step Closer to Reality: Introducing 360-degree Live Streaming and Spatial Audio on YouTube.” Official YouTube Blog. Google, 18 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[29] Philips, Amy, and Noah Yoo. “YouTube Launching 360-Degree Live Streams With Coachella 2016.” Pitchfork. N.p., 16 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[30] Popper, Ben. “YouTube Introduces Live 360 Video, the Gateway Drug to Virtual Reality.” The Verge. N.p., 18 Apr. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[31] A Trip To Unicorn Island Poster. Digital image. Punjab2000. N.p., 12 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[32] Scare PewDiePie. Digital image. IMDb. N.p., 10 Feb. 2016. Web.

[33] Lazer Team. Digital image. IMDb. N.p., 10 Feb. 2016. Web.

[34] YouTube Gaming Logo. Digital image. PC Advisor. N.p., n.d. Web.

YouTube

Link

Emma Lux

Source: YouTube, YouTube logo [1]

HISTORY

YouTube is a video streaming company that was launched in May of 2005 [2]. The company is a website that allows people all around the world to watch and share videos. They have sports videos, music videos, gaming videos, live streaming, and so much more [3]. YouTube has been utilized by individuals and by large companies as a platform to distribute content. YouTube currently has more than 1 billion users and 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Until recently, YouTube made a majority of its money through advertising before and during the videos on the site. In 2006, Google bought YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars [4]. Under the deal, YouTube was able to remain an independently operated entity and a separate brand. The original founders of YouTube were Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim who were all early employees of PayPal [2]. The current CEO of YouTube is Susan Wojcicki, but Chad Hurley, one of the original founders, still serves as an advisor [5]. YouTube has opened up channels of communication and allowed for an easier way to distribute media more directly to the public.

KEY EXECUTIVES

Source: Susan Wojcicki Twitter, Susan Wojcicki – CEO, YouTube [6]

Source: Robert Kyncl Twitter, Robert Kyncl – Chief Business Officer, YouTube [7]

Source: Politic365, Chad Hurley – Founder and Advisor, YouTube [8]

FINANCIALS

Source: Behance, Google Logo 2015 [11]

As a company, YouTube’s financials have been protected by their parent company, Google. There has been wide speculation about whether YouTube actually makes a profit. In 2014 an anonymous Wall Street Journal source reported YouTube’s revenue for the year at roughly $4 billion and profit at break even [9]. YouTube was a large investment for Google. It has been estimated that it won’t be long before YouTube makes up to 10% of Google’s total revenues [10]. During Google’s Q2 2015 conference call, the new CFO, Ruth Porat, was evasive regarding questions to clarify YouTube’s financials. Porat did not share YouTube’s financials because she felt it could put the company at a competitive disadvantage. Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, believes that Google is now in the stages of refining and preparing YouTube’s financial performance so when they do finally reveal those numbers, Wall Street will be pleasantly surprised [9].

YOUTUBE RED

Source: The Wrap, YouTube Red Logo [13]

On October 28th, 2015 YouTube launched its long-discussed paid subscription service, YouTube Red. The service will cost $9.99 a month and have ad-free versions of YouTube videos. There has been speculation about a service like this coming for a long time because of the financial issues that YouTube is faced with. YouTube has all the factors for success, but reportedly only breaks even with their revenue. This new service will allow subscribers of YouTube Red to save YouTube videos for offline play, listen to videos in the background while browsing other mobile apps and watch all YouTube videos without ads. YouTube stars like PewDiePie, Lilly Singh and the Fine Brothers will be creating videos that are exclusive to this new program. Music is also a large component of YouTube Red.

Source: Connect Socialyte, Collage of YouTube’s Top Creators [14]

The service will be providing access to Google Play Music and a new app called YouTube Music, which offers a personalized playlist based on a starting song or artist, this style is very similar to Pandora. YouTube Red is charging prices very similar to potential competitors like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu [12]. YouTube also announced that they would be shutting down their Music Key beta, just a year after launching. Music Key was YouTube’s first attempt at a subscription service and offered users full album streams and offline listening for $7.99 a month. The service also included access to Google Play Music. Music Key was not successful, and never made its way out of beta. YouTube Red is the company’s second attempt to overcome the issues that were evident in Music Key’s model and break through any streaming service barriers [15].

Source: TechCrunch, ESPN Pulling Videos From YouTube due to Red [16]

YouTube Red contains a large amount of promise to fix YouTube’s financial woes, but there has been controversy over how YouTube has gotten creators to agree to be a part of the service. YouTube has stated that 99% of creators have signed on with the Red deal but has also been accused of giving creators no choice, either getting on board with the service or having their videos removed from the site. ESPN has had the most public battle with YouTube over the service. With rights issues surrounding their content, ESPN had to pull almost all of their videos from YouTube. Eleven of ESPN’s thirteen YouTube Channels were impacted and had their content pulled from the site [16].

YOUTUBE’S MOMENTUM & FUTURE

Even with the issues facing YouTube and the fallout coming from YouTube Red, the company’s future seems bright. YouTube now reaches more 18-49 year olds than any

Source: BN1 Magazine, Vevo Logo 2015 [18]

single U.S. cable network and the average YouTube mobile session is 40 minutes. The number of hours people spend watching videos is also up 60%, which the fastest growth YouTube has experienced in 2 years [17]. Ever since YouTube officially became “mainstream” in 2009 with Congress and The Vatican launching their respective YouTube channels, the momentum in pop culture has only increased. YouTube launched Vevo, a music video channel, then announced that movies could be rented from YouTube starting in January 2010. As YouTube gained notoriety projects were launched on the site such as the It Gets Better project and Kony 2012. YouTube has pushed the importance of

Source: It Gets Better Project, It Gets Better Project Logo [19]

original content and been revolutionary in the likes of live-streaming. YouTube was the first company to show a live-stream of the 2012 Olympics. YouTube has pushed the boundaries and the strides can only point to a successful future [2]. YouTube has big plans to stay ahead of everyone else in the field, and to turn their large audience numbers into real, tangible profit i.e. YouTube Red. One of YouTube’s other big projects for the future is to provide YouTube access to anyone, anywhere. No matter what kind of connection, they want YouTube and its content to be streamed everywhere. YouTube has worked very hard to improve their tech. To continue improving it, YouTube has built new codecs, participated in developing new versions of HTML, and

Source: Buzzfeed, YouTube Rainbow Logo Celebrating Marriage Equality [20]

worked narrowly and closely with internet providers to make sure people are getting the best picture possible. These upgrades will never stop for YouTube, because this is what it takes to stay ahead and that has always been one of their biggest priorities. One of YouTube’s other resolutions as it moves to the future is a greater focus on “creators” rather than the one hit viral wonders that helped give YouTube its notoriety. These creators have built large fan bases and are in large part to thank for the increased viewership and subscriptions which is what is making YouTube so successful. These creators are also crucial to make sure that YouTube Red is successful, exclusive content on the service from these creators will only draw more fans to pay for the service [21].

SOURCES

[1] YouTube Logo. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[2] Dickey, Megan. (February 15th, 2013). The 22 Key Turning Points In The History Of YouTube. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[3] YouTube Channels. YouTube. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[4] La Monica, Paul. (October 9th 2006). Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion. CNN Money. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[5] Kioskea. (October 29th 2010). Hurley stepping down as YouTube chief executive. CCM. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[6] Susan Wojcicki. Twitter. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[7] Robert Kyncl. Twitter. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[8] Barnette, E.R. (2015). Chad Hurley. Politic365. Retrieved: November 29th 2015.

[9] Oreskovic, Alexei. (July 16th 2015). How much money does YouTube make? Don’t ask the new CFO. Business Insider. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[10] Brugger, Tim. (September 9th 2014). Alright Google, Inc, What’s YouTube Really Worth? The Motley Fool. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[11] Google Logo. Google. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[12] Luckerson, Victor. (October 21st 2015). You Can Now Pay to Watch YouTube Without Ads. Time. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[13] YouTube Red Logo. The Wrap. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[14] YouTube Creator Collage. Connect Socialyte. Retrieved: December 1st 2015.

[15] Connolly, Amanda. (October 24th 2015). YouTube’s Music Key beta will end next month, leaving non-US users in the lurch. The Next Web. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[16] Perez, Sarah. (October 23rd 2015). YouTube Red Deal Forces ESPN To Pull Its Videos From YouTube. TechCrunch. Retrieved: October 25th 2015.

[17] YouTube Statistics. YouTube. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[18] Vevo Logo. BN1 Magazine. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[19] It Gets Better Project Logo. It Gets Better. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[20] YouTube Rainbow Logo. BuzzFeed. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

[21] Pierce, David. (May 12th 2015). YouTube’s Plans for 10 More Years of Video Domination. Wired. Retrieved: December 1st, 2015.

Time Warner (TV/Cable channels only)

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Jesse Katzenstein

by JESSE KATZENSTEIN

[1]

Time Warner Inc.
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019-8016
212-484-8000
www.timewarner.com
[2]

About

Time Warner Inc. is one of the largest media corporations in the United States, specializing in TV, film, and entertainment. Its operating divisions consist of Turner Broadcasting System, Home Box Office Inc., and Warner Bros. Entertainment. [3]

Executives

Chairman and CEO – Jeff Bewkes

[4]

EVP and CFO – Howard M. Averill

Howard M. Averill Executive Vice President and CFO

[5]

EVP and General Counsel – Paul T. Cappuccio

Paul T. Cappuccio, Executive Vice President and General Counsel

[6]

Financials and Company Plans

Time Warner is a publicly traded company. In 2014, their revenue grew to $27.36 billion, which is up 3% from their 2013 annual revenue of $26.46 billion. [7] In the release of Time Warner’s Full Year 2014 Financial Results, Time Warner stated that their fourth quarter revenues decreased by 1% to $7.5 billion and can be attributable to a decrease in income from Warner Bros. It was also stated that Home Box Office Inc., or HBO, and Turner Broadcasting Company were responsible for counterbalancing an even larger decrease in revenue. [8]

In a story released by Bloomberg.com, it was said that CBS Corp. was thinking of a merger deal with Time Warner. CEO of CBS Corp., Leslie Moonves, is said to have mentioned the idea to CEO Jeff Bewkes in meetings between the two companies last year. [9] Critics claim this merger would benefit both companies regarding their position in sports broadcasting, and this powerful advantage would make this powerhouse “a good alternative for ESPN.” [10] However, Jeff Bewkes seems to be satisfied with keeping Time Warner and CBS separate.

Lulegacy.com released an article on April 16th revealing the results of 30 ratings firms who have been analyzing Time Warner’s stock. The average stock price target came out to $91.71. A little over two-thirds of the analysts put a “Buy” recommendation on the stock, while just 9 of the analysts gave the stock a “Hold” recommendation. [11]

HBO

[12]

According to Time Warner’s company website, HBO is the top domestic premium pay television service in the United States. This service offers both HBO programming and Cinemax programming. [13] HBO is known for its original television series such as Game Of Thrones, Girls, True Detective, and Silicon Valley. [14] Cinemax is known for its original television series such as The Knick, Banshee, and Strike Back. [15] Both services also offer programming of movies released theatrically. HBO’s most popular and successful show, Game Of Thrones, has won Primetime Emmy Awards in every year of its existence. [16] Its fifth and most current season debuted on April 12th of this year, but was subject to many news stories when almost half of the season was linked on illegal websites all over the world. Jeff Bewkes’ comments were surprisingly optimistic when he explained that these leaks can offset some paid advertising, and joked about how distributing the most pirated show in the world is “better than an Emmy.” [17]

On April 7th, Time Warner announced that HBO NOW is now available to Apple and Optimum Online customers. HBO NOW is HBO’s streaming service where consumers can stream all available episodes from their favorite HBO shows on all compatible devices. The service costs $14.99 per month, but if consumers purchase the service in the month of April, they are granted with a 30-day free trial. [18]

Turner Broadcasting System

[19]

Turner Broadcasting system controls and manages some of the leading television networks in the country. These networks cover programming in entertainment, news, sports, and animation, among other television genres. Turner’s networks TNT and TBS are most notably known for their broadcasting of major sporting events such as the NBA Playoffs and the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. [20]

TNT and TBS both had a huge turnout this year during the NCAA tournament. Time Warner released a statement on March 29th stating that the Kentucky vs. Notre Dame broke the record for the most-viewed and highest-rated college basketball game in cable TV history. As of that day, total viewership was up 2% from the previous year. [21] A little over a week later, the semifinal game between Kentucky and Wisconsin broke one of those records; the most-viewed college basketball game in cable TV history. Total audience for the Final Four across all networks (TBS, TNT, truTV) attained 41.7 million viewers, a 24% increase from 2014. [22]

As for original content, Turner delivers the #1 comedy with adults 18-49 in The Big Bang Theory (TBS), and delivers the #1 original animated series in Mr. Pickles and Squidbillies (Adult Swim). For kids, Cartoon Network is the leading channel that holds “49 of basic cable’s top 50 telecasts for young boys.” Turner recently announced a revamp of the Cartoon Network live streaming app in Australia called Cartoon Network Watch and Play. [23]

In the news genre, CNN is Turner’s premier news network. It is one of the first 24-hour news networks that provides breaking news across all media platforms. Its popular programs include Anderson Cooper 360, Newsroom, Situation Room, and State of the Union. [24]

Warner Bros. Entertainment

[25]

Warner Bros. Entertainment is a studio responsible for Time Warner’s influence in the TV, film, and home entertainment industries, as well as being a global distribution company. [26] For it’s work in film, 2014 became the 14th consecutive year Warner Bros. Picture Groups grossed $1 billion or more at both the domestic and international box office. [27] It has also done what no other studio has done, which is gross over $3 billion at the international box office for two consecutive years. On March 30th, Warner Bros. reported their new agreement with Redbox, a company that provides self-service kiosks for consumers to purchase movies and video games on various platforms. There are 35,000 kiosks across the country. This two-year agreement leaves a 28-day window for consumers to purchase Warner Bros. films on Blu-ray and DVD. [28]

The Future for Time Warner

The future may or may not be bright for Time Warner. At this point in the year, their action plan should be to play the waiting game and see how all of their assets perform. There are high hopes for the current season of Game Of Thrones despite the leaking scandal. Warner Bros. has an exciting lineup of movies coming out in late spring/early summer including The Water Diviner, Pan, Magic Mike XXL, and San Andreas.

Sources

[1] – Time Warner Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[2] – Time Warner Contact Info, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[3] – Time Warner Inc. Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[4] – Jeff Bewkes Bio Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[5] – Howard M. Averill Bio Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[6] – Paul T. Cappuccio Bio Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[7] – Time Warner Annual Earnings, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[8] – Time Warner Q4/Full Year 2014 Results, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[9] – “Moonves Said To Have Mulled Time Warner Deal As CBS Plots,” Bloomberg Business, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[10] – “Karmazin: CBS and Time Warner Inc. Need To Merge,” Fierce Cable, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[11] – “Time Warner Recieves $91.71 Consensus Price Target From Brokerages,” The Legacy, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[12] – HBO Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[13] – HBO Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[14] – HBO Website, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[15] – Cinemax Website, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[16] – Game Of Thrones Awards List, IMDb, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[17] – “Game Of Thrones Season 5 Premiere Set Rating Record Despite Episode Leak,” Forbes, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[18] – HBO NOW Press Release, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[19] – Turner Broadcasting System Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[20] – Turner Broadcasting System Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[21] – “2015 NCAA Scores Highest Average Viewership in 22 Years,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[22] – “2015 Final Four Semifinals Reach More Than 41 Million Viewers,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[23] – “Cartoon Network Activates Live Streaming App,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[24] – List of CNN TV Shows, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[25] – Warner Bros. Entertainment Logo, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[26] – Warner Bros. Entertainment Company Website, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[27] – Warner Bros. Entertainment Company Page, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

[28] – “Redbox, Warner Bros. Announce New Agreement,” Time Warner, Retrieved, April 17, 2015

Cablevision

Link

by Steven Spohr

Summary

Source – Cablevision.com

Founded in 1973, Cablevision Systems Corporation is a leading telecommunications company that primarily offers television, phone, and Internet services to millions in the NY metropolitan area. Initially serving a mere 1,500 customers on Long Island, Cablevision has since expanded to offer WiFi, a leading local newspaper, and business communications solutions to its over 3 million subscribers. Former properties include Madison Square Garden and Rainbow Media Holdings. [1]

Source – Optimum.com

Cablevision’s television, phone, Internet, WiFi, and business solutions all operate under the ‘Optimum’ brand name. These include (but are not limited to) –

Optimum TV – exclusive home of News 12 Networks, a series of local news channels
Optimum Voice
Optimum Online
Optimum WiFi
Optimum Lightpath – a “leading provider of integrated business communications solutions that meets the needs of larger companies” [1]

Source – www.newsday.com/

Cablevision also owns Newsday Media Group, which runs two local papers. Newsday is a Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper that has been in circulation since 1940. Over 70% of Long Island adults read Newsday, and its articles and reporting have won numerous awards and made it the top paper on Long Island. To provide the most local news possible, Newsday works closely with MSG Varsity (part of the News 12 Networks) to provide detailed coverage of local high school and college sports. amNewYork offers a quick read of city news and events. In addition to the papers, NMG owns Star Community Publishing, which producers weekly shopper publications in Long Island and Queens. It is the largest publisher of its kind in the Northeastern United States. [2]

Leadership

The Dolan family founded Cablevision and continues to lead the company today. Key personnel include [3] –

Charles Dolan – Founder and Chairman / Source – Sean Smith, The Boston College Chronicle

James Dolan – Chief Executive Officer / Source – Al Iannazzone, Newsday.com

Kristin Dolan – Chief Operating Officer / Source – Variety.com

Brian Sweeney – President / Source – POST Online Media

Gregg Seibert – Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer / Source – Business Wire

Hank Ratner – Vice Chairman / Source – The Madison Square Garden Company

Financials

A detailed map of Cablevision’s stock pricing in 2014. / Source – Yahoo! Finance

2014 has seen Cablevision’s stock (CVC) prices gradually increase throughout the year. Starting the year at $17.22/share, CVC stock stands at $20.32/share as of November 29th. February 3rd saw the year’s low of $15.85. Prices peaked in late July, mid-September, and late November. [4]

The following financial information is from Cablevision’s Third Quarter 2014 Results.

Net revenue increased 3.7% to $1.62 billion.
Cable advertising revenue grew 6.8%
Average Monthly Cable Revenue per Customer increased 5.7% to $154.50/customer/month. [5]

These figures represent a continued loss of subscribers for Cablevision across the board. Between satellite TV providers, rival phone companies, and the public’s shift to watching TV online, Cablevision’s audience is becoming fragmented. The company chose to increase its subscription rates in response to decreasing numbers, which is represented by the net revenue and AMCR/C increases. [6]

Recent News

The latter half of 2014 has been a busy one, with notable hirings, financial news, legal troubles, and more.

August 4th

August 4th saw Cablevision’s announcement that it has hired David Dibble as Chief Technology Officer, a newly-created role. Dibble is formerly of Yahoo!, and his hiring is part of Cablevision’s efforts to “become the premier connectivity provider in the market, delivering a peerless customer experience”. [7]

November 7th

A New York Times article revealed a major legal proceeding against Cablevision. The National Labor Relations Board has charged Cablevision CEO James Dolan with “illegally threatening to deny company technicians in Brooklyn a pay increase unless they voted to quit their union”. The NLRB also charged Cablevision itself with “illegally [undermining] the union’s representation of those workers by sponsoring a nonbinding poll to determine whether they wanted to leave their union”, while some workers reported they were being ‘spied on’ during the vote. Federal law states that such a vote can only be conducted by the labor board, not the company. CEO Dolan fired back, calling the NLRB “a tool of Big Labor” and questioning the validity of its findings. The case is ongoing, and Cablevision has stated it will appeal to federal courts, if necessary. [8]

CEO Dolan has plenty of reasons to be frustrated, especially with his ongoing legal troubles with the National Labor Relations Board. / Source – ESPN.com

November 11th

Cablevision teamed up with Time Warner Cable to release the first ever “New York Television Audience Insights Report”. The report sampled the 3.5 million subcribers of Cablevision and TWC in the New York area, which is half of the TV homes in the region. Its aim was to help advertising and marketing departments and companies get better value out of their advertising purchases. Some key findings include –

74% of all TV programming watched was outside of traditional TV ‘prime time’ (8-11PM).
On average, a subscriber will only watch 25 channels in a month.
a whopping 90% of all viewing comes from a mere 100 channels. [9]

These new insights will help create better statistics for TV viewership and aid advertisers in spending money more efficiently.

November 18th

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city is planning an extensive new WiFi network across the five boroughs. The project, dubbed LinkNYC, would provide not only free WiFi, but also no-cost domestic calling and video chat. The 10,000 hotspot system would replace the city’s decaying network of archaic payphones and operate completely with money generated through advertising. Projected to cost around $200 million, LinkNYC would bring in over $500 million over the next twelve years, according to city officials.

This announcement led some to think Cablevision’s Optimum WiFi network would be threatened by this new, massive competition. Cablevision officials have not only dismissed these musings, but have actively worked with New York City on a number of initiatives, possibly including LinkNYC itself. [10]

Mayor-Elect De Blasio Makes Announcement

Mayor de Blasio’s ambitious project looks to dramatically improve WiFi services within the five boroughs. / Source – PIX 11

November 22nd

The Lewisboro Ledger revealed that Cablevision has a new deal with the town of Lewisboro (Westchester County). The deal, which primarily concerns franchising fees, has a number of key improvements –

Over $270,000 in new franchising fees are expected in 2015.
Free cable would be provided to 16 municipal and school buildings, including the public library.
New offers would include a senior discount for those aged sixty-five and older.
Town Board meetings would become available for live-streaming.
The town’s parks and baseball fields will become WiFi-equipped. [11]

November 25th

Kids video-on-demand network Kabillion announced a carriage deal with Cablevision. Kabillion, which is the only independently-owned VOD network ranked in the Top 10 Kids Free On Demand list, will now reach over 50 million homes nationwide. The deal is beneficiary to Cablevision too, as Kabillion reports views exceeding 65 million in 2014. [12]

Bibliography

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

IAC

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Carlos Bonachea

By Carlos Bonachea

Courtesy of IAC Press Kit [1]

555 W. 18th St.
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-314-7300
Website: www.iac.com

Key Executives

Barry Diller - Chairman and Senior Executive, IAC & Chairman and Senior Executive, Expedia, Inc.Chairman and Senior Executive, IAC - Chairman and Senior Executive, Expedia, Inc.

Barry Diller – Chairman and Senior Executive, IAC & Chairman and Senior Executive, Expedia, Inc.
Courtesy of the official IAC website [2].

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Courtesy of the official IAC website

Jeff Kip – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Courtesy of official IAC website [3].

Victor Kaufman – Vice Chairman, oversees all strategic planning, financial and legal matters.
Courtesy of official IAC website [4].

IAC remains at the forefront of internet commerce, communication, and media by strategically managing the investment, acquisition, and sale of some of the worlds most innovative companies [5]. IAC began as Silver King Communications Inc., a television company led by Barry Diller, who previously was in charge of Fox Broadcasting as well as Paramount Pictures prior to that. [6]

IAC now boasts over 1.3 billion total monthly visits amongst it’s network of sites and controls over 150 brands and products all at the cutting edge of web commerce and modern living. IAC has spawned six independent publicly traded companies – Expedia, TripAdvisor, HSN, Tree, Interval, and Live Nation (formerly Ticketmaster). Simply put IAC is the 9th largest network in the world and one of Fortune’s most admired companies in the internet services sector. [5] [7]

Some of the many brands owned by IAC.

Financials

From April 22 2013 to April 17, 2014 stock prices of IAC (IACI) have risen 55.2% from $44.25 a share to $68.67 a share, proving IAC’s value to it’s investors. [8]

2013 Q4 statements show that revenue for IAC is down 5% from 765.3M in Q4 2012, to 724.5M.

IAC Head Quarters in NYC Photo courtesy of Vimeo on Flickr.

IAC saw a 48% adjusted EPS growth from 0.7 in Q4 2012 to 1.04 in Q4 2013.

IAC also has enjoyed and increase in adjusted net income of 38% from 66.2 in Q4 2012 to 91.1 in Q4 2013.

Thus IAC has now entered its 19th consecutive quarter of double-digit operating income before amortization growth.

Financial Statements courtesy of IAC’s public quarterly report [9].

Media

Logo courtesy of IAC official Profile

Vimeo is one of IAC’s hottest commodities and a worthy innovator in the realm of web video and user generated content. Vimeo currently has over 100 million unique monthly users and over 22 million register users which provide content. Vimeo is known to be the best video player “in the galaxy” which attracts some of the best independent filmmakers. Though Vimeo is within the media branch of IAC which accounts for a relatively small portion of revenue compared to ‘web search and applications’ or the Match group the media prospects of IAC prove to be some of the most innovative. [11]

As of March 18 2014, Vimeo has acquired ‘Cameo‘ a video making app which the leaders at Vimeo say is going to be independently run much like the recent acquisition of Echograph about a year prior. This is very much inline with the philosophy of supporting new ideas which is so close to the core ideals of IAC. [10]
Another company in the Media branch is CollegeHumor which, thought it does not directly create a majority portion of IAC’s revenue, it has a huge impact in pop culture and the multimedia habits of the 18-14 demographic. It draws over 100 million monthly video views and the number 9 most subscribed to channel on youtube. [12]

Match

The Match group of IAC is comprised of all the the websites and brands which deal with dating and matching people together. Match.com being the primary website but also including many other brands. Meetic, the European leader in online dating, Chemistry.com, okcupid, and tinder. There are also some brands which specialize in helping advertisers find their audience.
Match.com recently made an exclusive partnership with Major League Baseball to further find matches based on team preferences. This joint effort can mean serious revenue for the Match group in future quarters. [13]
IAC in an effort to restructure some of the company for unknown reasons recognized Greg Blatt as the new Chairman of the newly created Match Group, on the Board of directors as of December 19 2013. This strategic moves serves as an indicator of the companies success in the Match department.

IAC thus far has proven to be a very innovative company which has harnessed the reach of its network to self facilitate more growth across company and brand lines. This innovative approach is reshaping not only pop-culture and the way we access media but the daily lives of the average person. IAC will continue to shape the way the internet does business and the way people interact. With projected financial statement the decrease in operating costs will lead to a great deal of profit in the following quarters which will more than likely prompt another large media acquisition given the highly increased capital which IAC now has.

Sources

[1] IAC Online Press Kit RET: 4/13/2014

[2] Official IAC Website– Bio Page on Barry Diller – Photo credit: Michele Asselin RET: 4/13/2014

[3] Official IAC Website– Bio Page on Jeff Kip RET: 4/13/2014

[4] Official IAC Website– Bio Page on Victor Kaufman RET: 4/13/2014

[5] Official IAC Website– Overview of Brands RET: 4/14/2014

[6] Official IAC Website– Timeline of company progress, acquisitions and sales RET: 4/15/2014

[7] CNN Money– IAC’s ranking as one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune RET: 4/15/2014

[8] Google Finance– IAC share value from 4/22/13 – 4/17/14 RET: 4/15/14

[9] IAC public quarterly report– RET: 4/15/2013

[10] Re/Code– Article by Peter Kafka on the aquisition of Cameo by IAC’s media company Vimeo; published March 18 2014; RET: 4/11/2014

[11] Official IAC Website– Vimeo brand profile and overview RET: 4/13/14

[12] USA Today– Match.com partnership with MLB RET: 4/14/14

Principles & Practices

Website by the students of TRF235

Tag Archives: Video

YouTube

The Founders

Current Key Executives

YouTube Overview & History

Finances

YouTube Red

A Trip To Unicorn Island

Dance Camp

Scare PewDiePie

Lazer Team

The Future

Live and 360 Video

Works Cited

YouTube

Link

HISTORY

KEY EXECUTIVES

FINANCIALS

YOUTUBE RED

YOUTUBE’S MOMENTUM & FUTURE

SOURCES

Time Warner (TV/Cable channels only)

Cablevision

Link

IAC