MaxxoMedia Digital Media and Entertainment Trends

Average US Consumer Household Will Own 5-10 Web-Enabled CE Devices by 2014

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., November 17, 2010 – Over 53 million US broadband households currently view TV programs over the Internet. 85% of these users already view online TV content on multiple devices, including personal computers, TVs and mobile handsets. By 2014, there will be over 200 million web-enabled wire-line Consumer Electronic (CE) devices in operation in the US. When PCs and mobile devices are added in, the average US consumer will own between 5-10 web-enabled devices to choose from for viewing Internet-based digital entertainment.

Websites asking new users to “spread the word” by logging into their email accounts is not exactly new. Of late, it is not very uncommon to see the same thing happen with social networks. However, ‘The Mechanical Zoo’, the parent company of Aardvark – the social search engine that was recently acquired by Google has applied for a patent on the idea of viral ad campaigns via status messages.

In the application titled, “Online Word-of-Mouth Marketing of a Web Service Using Personalized Invitations via a Status Messaging Service“, the company has sought for rights on the concept whereby websites and web applications (like Farmville) that promote their service via the users’ status messages.

Here are a few screenshots of the idea that could now belong to Google.

Each week, on average, Americans watched roughly 35 hours of TV and two hours of timeshifted TV via a DVR. Adults aged 65 and up watched the most weekly TV, 47 hours and 21 minutes; while teens aged 12-17 watched the least weekly TV, 23 hours and 24 minutes. The overall growth in viewing is due to a number of factors, the DVR brings added convenience while high definition programming and flatscreen TVs have boosted the quality of the experience. Digital delivery, via cable or satellite, is delivering more channels and more choice to the home than ever before, according to Nielsen.

While market leaders Google and Bing battle it out, new companies are taking search into uncharted territory.

Tonight MIT Enterprise Forum of the NW featured presenting company Evri, a consumer web company that is changing the way users filter, discover, navigate, and engage with content on the Web. Evri’s web platform scours content from more than tens of thousands of sources, such as real-time news, blogs, and Tweets. It then filters it by timeliness, relevance, and source credibility, and delivers that content to consumers in intelligent streams across multiple platforms.

Joining Evri’s CEO, Will Hunsinger, was a panel of leading experts, covering the challenges, issues, and opportunities in the world of search and information discovery.

Written by Sarah Perez

At the recent Mobile World Congress 2010, Dutch app store analytics firm Distimo presented their findings on the six largest mobile application stores in existence today: the iTunes App Store, BlackBerry App World, Google Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog and Windows Marketplace for Mobile. In their presentation, they analyzed everything including store size, store growth, the most popular applications and where you can find the best deal. They recently shared some of the highlights from that presentation by way of a slideshow embedded on their blog.

For mobile industry insiders, some of the findings won’t be all that shocking, just common knowledge paired with statistics. However, there were a few surprises that caught us off guard, maybe they will you too.

Distimo collects public application data from app stores and also offers developers an analytics tool which is used to monitor their apps and those belonging to their competitors. After examining and analyzing the data, the company releases market reports detailing their findings.

Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up.

Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around. I hope a new ebook Seth Godin has organized will get you started on that path. It took months, and he thinks you’ll find it worth the effort. (Download here).

Here are more than seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. From bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert to brilliant tech thinker Kevin Kelly, from publisher Tim O’Reilly to radio host Dave Ramsey, there are some important people riffing about important ideas here. The ebook includes Tom Peters, Fred Wilson, Jackie Huba and Jason Fried, along with Gina Trapani, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber.

If novelty is your thing, then you’ll be pleased to discover that Coca-Cola has finally launched their Coke Zero Facial Profiler.

As you may recall, we covered the announcement of the facial experiment back in October, and were intrigued by the application’s premise: using Facebook to find your digital double.

Now that app is live, we put it to the test and found that it works as promised. Once you connect your Facebook account with the Coke Zero Facial Profiler, the app will scan your photos (you can also use your webcam to snap a beauty shot) and use facial recognition software to match your face against others in their database.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau, in association with the Games Committee, has introduced the first in a series of papers that outlines a detailed overview of the various game platforms, primarily “console” and “personal computer (PC) online.” Subsequent reports are expected to address audience demographics, behavior, and best practices.

Video Games have emerged as a main-stream entertainment medium that generates worldwide revenues of about $25 billion in hardware and software sales. Surpassing box office revenues, movie rentals, book and music sales, Video Game revenues reached $12 billion in the US in 2006.

DFC Intelligence estimates that:

Price Waterhouse Coopers has released their Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2006-2010 book.

• In depth global analyses and 5-year growth projections for 14 industry segments
• Covering every major region – US, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA), Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Canada
• A single point of reference for top-level comparative data for the industry
• All the information industry executives need to stay ahead of the curve — right on their desk or PC

Here are some facts and figures excerpted from the publication.

Filmed Entertainment

The filmed entertainment market consists of consumer box office spending for theatrical motion pictures plus spending on renting and purchasing home video products in both DVD and VHS formats. It also includes online film rental subscription services, such as those whereby DVDs are delivered via overnight mail, and streaming services, whereby films are downloaded via a broadband Internet connection. The figures do not include music videos (which are counted in the Recorded Music chapter), or video-on-demand (VOD), or pay-per-view (PPV), or movie distribution by cable, satellite, or telephone companies (which are covered in the TV Distribution chapter).

A sampling of global facts and forecasts:

• “U.S. box office growth will average 4.3 percent compounded annually during the next five years from a weak 2005, taking total box office spending from $9.0 billion in 2005 to $11.1 billion in 2010. However, admissions in 2010 will remain below the levels achieved during 2002-04.”

• “In EMEA online subscription services and video streaming services are entering the market. Together they will reach $2.2 billion by 2010 from only $216 million in 2005, averaging 59.1 percent growth compounded annually.”

• “In Asia Pacific high-definition video and reduced piracy will stimulate the sell-through market. We project sell-through spending to grow at a 6.2 percent compound annual rate to $6.2 billion in 2010 from $4.6 billion in 2005.”

• “Countries in Latin America are supporting local production through various subsidy programs. As the experience of 2004-05 indicates, the success of local films can have a dramatic impact on the overall market.”

• In Canada sell-through growth will average 4.9 percent compounded annually to $3.8 billion, and rentals will be flat at $1.3 billion.”

From KenRadio.com

According to a new study by E-Poll, which focused on the viewing of video content, showed the youth are leading the way, with 26% of males 13-34 frequent viewers of video on devices other than a TV. Teens are by far the most prevalent users of mobile video devices such as iPods and cell phones. The proliferation of user-generated content and expanding viewing platforms makes for a dizzying array of viewing choices. The study of consumers 13+, to see what they are doing with this freedom to choose, found that among those that view video content away from the TV the desktop computer had 75% of the group.

On iPods and cell phones, viewing of video content happens almost anywhere (traveling, school, work outdoors, social events), mostly in the afternoons and evenings. Most watched content includes: music videos, TV programs, movies, videos on websites. Considering television viewers, 13% currently transfer video content from their computer to their TV. In addition:

Look, It’s Mii — on Wii!

Nintendo’s Hot System Sparks
Secondary Industry as Users Create
Their Own Characters

By YUKARI IWATANI KANE WSJ.COM
March 16, 2007; Page B1

David Merrill, a 28-year-old graduate student in Somerville, Mass., struggled recently with a popular feature on Nintendo Co.’s Wii videogame console. Try as he might, he just couldn’t get the game character he created, called Mii, to look like himself.

Frustrated, Mr. Merrill turned to the pros. He shelled out $5 to a Web-based service called Mii Station (www.miistation.com), run by a Tokyo entrepreneur, which creates look-alike game characters for Wii based on photos. Three days later, he received a Mii with spiky hair and a really big smile that he says pretty much captured his essence.

“It’s made playing Wii a little more personal,” says Mr. Merrill, adding that he doesn’t have the perspective that graphic artists have to know what facial features to emphasize. “That makes a big difference.”

David Wesson is an Internet media-marketing consultant and has worked in the entertainment and advertising industries for the last 15 years in Europe and Australia.

(Article as published in march 2007 issue of Marketing Magazine )

The penetration of broadband and the sophistication of the end-user means that the Internet is no longer seen merely as an information gathering point and purchase space. Today it is as much an entertainment hub and is part of the digital revolution changing the face of entertainment. We look at current trends and initiatives in digital entertainment; how the lounge room/online entertainment space of tomorrow will look and impact on the future of digital entertainment. We also look at the culture of consumer behavior and how the industry will be able to deliver what the consumer wants now and in the future.