xOD Capsule - July 05, 2007

A duo of online advertising solutions
Two new online advertising platforms have emerged—one from Yahoo! Inc. [2], and one from the ROO Group [3] and Tribal Fusion [4].

[2]Yahoo! has debuted Yahoo! SmartAds, a platform that allows marketers to customize and tailor online ads.

For example, if a consumer is browsing for hybrid cars in Yahoo! Autos, and San Francisco is the person's default location in Yahoo! Weather, the new ad platform can display ads in real time that market a hybrid vehicle from a major auto brand, as well as a local dealership with current information and pricing, the company said.

The patent-pending platform also allows advertisers to design a single set of individual creative components; with the artwork, SmartAds will then generate hundreds of ad combinations based on the components.

Yahoo!'s rival, Google Inc. [5], has dominated the Internet advertising space as of late. On June 18, Terry Semel stepped down from his position as Yahoo!'s CEO, and Jerry Yang was appointed to the role. Yang has overseen Yahoo!'s acquisition of Rivals.com [6] and the company's announcement that its search and display ad sales teams are combining in the U.S.

And ROO, an online video solutions provider, is partnering with Tribal Fusion, an online ad network, for a contextual video advertising product.

The new online video ad platform will present a user—who, for example, is reading an online article about indie rock bands—with videos of the music he is reading about, and with the opportunity to purchase the music featured in the videos. Since content is king, Tribal Fusion's decision to partner with ROO was driven by the depth of ROO's video content library.

The platform will launch later this year on Tribal Fusion's ad network—which serves more than 20 billion monthly impressions and reaches more than 120 million U.S. consumers per month.

 —Traci Patterson, Web/News Editor - CED, Editor - xOD Capsule

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Bresnan picks Terayon's video apps
Terayon Communication Systems Inc.'s [8] video apps have been deployed by Bresnan Communications [9] for its rollout of digital simulcast.

The apps—which run on Terayon's DM 6400 Network CherryPicker—are being utilized for digital program insertion, zoned ad insertion, and other solutions that leverage rate shaping and statistical remultiplexing capabilities.

Bresnan provides broadband services to more than 300,000 subs in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Now more than 95 percent of the MSO's subs are offered digital TV, VoIP and high-speed Internet services, and two-thirds are offered DVR, HDTV and VOD services.

Internet TV market on the rise
The Internet TV market will rise to $5.8 billion in 2011, up from $422.7 million last year, predicts iSuppli Corp [10].

"Internet video is dominated by news content currently, as that is easily consumed in a 'snack' format on PC screens," said Frank Dickson, principal analyst with iSuppli. "However, as Internet connections find their way to the living room TV and the digital transition drives an installed base of new set-top boxes, sports and entertainment content will populate Internet Protocol streams. The longer-form content will drive bandwidth requirements and revenue, threatening the dominance of 'walled gardens.'"

iSuppli expects the bandwidth required for Internet TV will expand by more than 44 times by 2011, to almost 7 million Tebibytes (TiBs). And the company said North America and Western Europe will be the regions with the most Internet TV penetration.

Game ad spending increasing, Nielsen to measure it
Game advertising spending in the U.S. will grow from $370 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion in 2012, according to a new report from Parks Associates [11]. In that time, game advertising will achieve a compound annual growth rate of 33 percent, higher than that of TV, radio, print and the Internet.

And The Nielsen Co. [12]—which recently completed the previously announced merger of NetRatings Inc. and is set to acquire Telephia Inc. [13]—is partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. [14] (SCEA) to develop a measurement system for game network advertising.

SCEA will share game network traffic and other data from its PS3 systems and PlayStation Network, and Nielsen will analyze and benchmark the data.

Cox adds HD movies to VOD offering
Cox Communications [15] announced the availability of HD movies on-demand for its digital subs.

The service is currently available in Cox's San Diego operation; additional markets are expected to launch this summer.

In June, Verizon [16] stated its plan to add HD VOD to its FiOS TV service.

Arris' UEQ increases capacity by 50 percent
Arris' [17] D5 Universal Edge QAM's capacity will increase by 50 percent, from 48 QAMs per 2RU chassis to 72 QAMs per 2RU chassis.

The increase—achieved with a software upgrade to the D5 and the WAN modules—is part of Arris' D5 planned release 2.3, which will be available for shipment later this year. With the improved density, an operator can choose between 4 QAM channels per RF port and 6 QAM channels per RF port.

The D5 UEQ is designed to support QAM sharing, VOD, SDV and broadcast today, and it is ready for M-CMTS and DOCSIS 3.0 functionality with a software upgrade, the company said.

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• Comcast OKs TiVo's software
Comcast Corp. [19] has finally approved TiVo Inc.'s [20] OCAP software for use on its DVRs. The two companies announced the deal more than two years ago. Comcast expects to test the service in Boston this fall, the Associated Press reported.

• MySpace TV launches
[21]Last week, MySpace [22] launched its stand-alone video Web site, MySpace TV [21]. Unlike YouTube [23], though, MySpace is focusing on longer-form, professionally produced content. MySpace TV includes The Minisode Network, a classic TV channel that features abbreviated versions of 15 shows from Sony Pictures Television's [24] library.

• thePlatform helps BBC with YouTube launch
BBC Global News [25] will utilize thePlatform's [26] media management and publishing system for its distribution of short-form video content on YouTube [23].

With thePlatform's mpsConnect service, media companies can create destination video sites and syndicate video to broadband and mobile platforms.

• Game console movie viewing not so high
Though 80 percent of U.S. game console households own a device capable of some form of DVD playback or online download, only 13 percent have used the console for movie-viewing purposes (about eight million households), according to The Diffusion Group [27].

Among those that own a gaming device connected to the Internet, 42 percent have used the console to watch an Internet-based movie on their TV.

Company:
PricewaterhouseCoopers [28]
Headquarters: New York City
URL: www.pwc.com [28]
CEO: Samuel A. DiPiazza

Claim to fame: More than 140,000 people in 149 countries provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for clients and their stakeholders.

Recent news of note: The "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2007-2011" expects the VOD market to increase by a 19.5 percent compound annual growth rate, to $4.2 billion by 2011.