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Comcast Pairs Yellow Pages, TV for Local Search

Yellow Pages on TV, a new initiative from Comcast, has married two emerging ad trends: local search and interactive TV advertising. The offering will enable viewers of a Comcast cable station to search for local businesses with their digital remote.

The service will feature both short commercials for specific local businesses and longer how-to videos that can be watched on-demand, writes MarketingVOX.

The new service, provided by FourthWall Media, also affords advertisers a number of reporting tools to track ad performance. The revenue potential is significant because of growing interest in local search and the $15 billion that print Yellow Pages ads traditionally bring in.

The business case for interactive local search ads has been well proven, first by Google online and more recently by social networks Facebook and Twitter. Local online advertising is expected to hit $14.2 billion by year’s end, a 12% increase over 2008, according to a report from Borrell Associates.

Interactive TV- not as well developed as search-ad technology - is also of interest to marketers, despite more limited options. Most have found television advertising less effective in the past two years, but are interested in exploring new ad formats and forms of video commercials, according to the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research.

In particular, marketers hope to be able to try out ads in online TV shows (65%), ads embedded in video-on-demand (VOD) (55%), interactive TV ads (43%), and ads within the set-top-box menu (32%), the study found.

Comcast has been experimenting with more than one of these techniques. Its new VOD ad insertion platform went live in Jacksonville, Florida, last month, allowing for the dynamic insertion of ads into its VOD inventory. Using technology developed by software vendor BlackArrow, the system enables advertisers to insert fresh ads into VOD streams on the fly.

Reuters headlines its article, “Apps a nail in coffin of broadcast mobile TV,” suggesting that cellular users prefer to pick and chose individual TV programs/channels and movies rather than accepting the traditional broadcast TV model with bundles of programs.

The article sees the future for mobile TV as downloading applications for specific video services, such as the apps available via Livestation (see below). 

Reuters notes that a survey by KPMG and the Mobile Entertainment Forum showed almost 40 percent of consumers had watched video on their handsets, and that 52 percent said the experience was “satisfying” compared to 38 percent of a much smaller number of consumers who had tried broadcast mobile TV.

What’s interesting to me is that only about half of the consumers had a satisfying experience downloading videos, which isn’t a particularly impressive number.  It’s not a statistic to be proud of.

Testing options

Reuters reports that handset manufacturers are testing different options.  For example, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are offering full length movies, Apple’s iPhone can download TV shows (and movies) and Nokia is working with the creator of the TV program “Heroes” to produce a cellular project for launch this summer on the Ovi Store.

Ben Wood, the research director at CCS Insight, says, “Old-fashioned broadcasters who are wedded to the old broadcast model have the biggest challenge because those days are over; consumers expect their favorite content when they want it, on whatever platform is most convenient — TV, PC or a mobile phone."

If this concept is indeed valid — and it remains to be seen — it doesn’t bode well for, as an example, Qualcomm’s FLO TV, which broadcasts regular TV programs on handsets, although not necessarily at the same times they are broadcast on the networks.

There's a revolution going on in television but you may not necessarily be watching it on the set in your living room.

Online viewing of programmes in the UK will more than triple in the next few years, according to the latest forecasts, boosted by new video on demand websites offering the best British and US shows to internet users for free.

UK viewers are not about to be able to watch all their favourite American shows on their computers for free – at least, not legally – as US studios and networks have lucrative deals with British broadcasters giving exclusive TV transmission windows for shows such as CSI, Lost, and Desperate Housewives.

However, mindful of how illegal file-sharing has damaged the music industry, broadcasters in the both the US and UK are creating partnerships to offer an increasingly wide selection of TV shows to internet users legally and for free.

In 2008 there were just over 1.6bn views of TV shows by UK internet users through free online TV services, according to research firm Screen Digest. This figure is forecast to jump to close to 5bn views by 2013.

British fans of critically lauded US drama Mad Men got a tantalising glimpse of what the future may hold for online TV viewing this week when – for a couple of days – the first episode of the third series was available to watch for free on the internet, nearly six months before the show will be broadcast in the UK on BBC4.

After what appears to have been a mistake by Mad Men's US broadcaster AMC, the episode is no longer available to view by UK internet users.

UK viewers are already accustomed to the idea of catching up with their favourite BBC shows, such as Doctor Who and The Apprentice, via their computer, thanks to the iPlayer.

Likewise, fans of Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor are logging on to the ITV.com website in increasing numbers to see video of Simon Cowell's latest catty put-downs.

The next development over the coming months will be the launch of competing video-on-demand websites offering TV shows from a variety of UK and US broadcasters all in one place.

"It feels like a gold rush is going on, everyone is seeing a big opportunity and jumping in," said Erik Huggers, head of the BBC's future, media and technology division.

"The number of entrants is staggering – the fragmentation reminds me of the music industry and all the digital offerings before Apple and iTunes came along."

Microsoft has already launched a pilot version of its MSN Video Player, offering a limited number of shows including Peep Show, Shameless and The Young Ones. Once MSN Video Player is fully up and running it is expected to be complementary to existing services such as the BBC iPlayer, with its seven-day catch up for current shows, offering older archive programming.

Microsoft will face competition from Hulu, a video-on-demand joint venture backed by News Corporation, NBC Universal and Disney.

Hulu – strapline "Watch your favourites. Anytime. For free"– is already up and running in the US, with the most popular shows on the website this week including Family Guy, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, and Hell's Kitchen.

The joint venture is looking to do deals with British broadcasters for homegrown programming and has offered ITV a significant stake in its UK operation, which could launch early next year.

Google-owned YouTube has also been holding discussions with UK broadcasters about online programming rights as the video-sharing website attempts to move beyond short clips, often homemade, to offer full-length TV shows.

The other contender lining up to launch a video-on-demand website is Arqiva, the company that owns the UK's TV and radio transmitter network. Arqiva has yet to announce any deals with broadcasters for programming but is reported to have reached agreements with Channel 4 and the BBC for some content.

"We welcome competition in the market, it means more and more quality content and more choice for viewers," said Pierre-Jean Sebert, chief executive of the as yet unnamed Arqiva online video venture.

"We believe we are very well placed to play an aggregation role online [of TV shows] and be one of the main players."

Around the fringes there are smaller players, including BlinkBox, which offers films and shows from partners including BBC Worldwide and Shameless-maker All3Media, and Joost, which has admitted it is struggling to find a viable business model.

The biggest issue for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five, which are also trying to build their own online TV services, is how much control over programming and ad revenue might have to be given up in each deal on the table.

While negotiations between the parties continue, Five has just struck a deal with Sony to provide on demand TV shows directly through its next internet-enabled TVs,

However, the BBC's Huggers warned that consumers may find navigating the new world of competing video-on-demand services difficult.

"What is happening is everyone is trying to get in there and that is confusing for consumers," he said.

"And there will be more entrants to come. For the companies in the space there will be a shake-out as scale and critical mass is critical.

"The services that have the right mix of content and strong brand name will see it through."

At the moment these online TV services can mostly only be accessed via a computer screen.

However, another development in the pipeline is for video on demand services to be available more widely via traditional TV sets, offering a better viewing experience.

The BBC estimates that one-third of all iPlayer viewing comes via the video on demand service offered to Virgin Media's 3.6 million cable subscribers via their TV sets.

In partnership with ITV, Channel Five and BT, the BBC is also developing Project Canvas, which will make TV shows available on a video on demand basis to millions of Freeview and Freesat viewers.

Project Canvas is due to launch next year, although it is facing criticism from rival companies including BSkyB, claiming it could dominate the burgeoning market for video on demand and stifle competition.

Five has also this week signed a deal with Sony to make shows including Neighbours and Home and Away available via a new internet video service that will come built into the next generation Bravia TV sets that go on sale from next year.

BBC iPlayer's most popular shows

Web users made 45m requests to watch TV programmes on the BBC iPlayer in July. The service's top 10 most requested shows in the 12 months to the end of March were:

1 EastEnders

2 Top Gear

3 Doctor Who

4 The Apprentice

5 Live at the Apollo

6 Merlin

7 Gavin and Stacey

8 Mock the Week

9 Waterloo Road

10 Never Mind the Buzzcocks

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That’s according to a new report released by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group of 30 countries with democratic governments that provides economic and social statistics and data. The report shows happiness levels are highest in Northern European countries.

Finland and the Netherlands also rated at the top of the list, ranking second and third, respectively. Outside Europe, New Zealand and Canada landed at Nos. 8 and 6, respectively. Switzerland placed seventh and Belgium placed 10th.

In Depth: Europe's Happiest Places

The report looked at subjective well-being, defined as "life satisfaction." Did people feel like their lives were dominated by positive experiences and feelings, or negative ones?

To answer that question, the OECD used data from a Gallup World Poll conducted in 140 countries around the world last year. The poll asked respondents whether they had experienced six different forms of positive or negative feelings within the last day.

Some sample questions: Did you enjoy something you did yesterday? Were you proud of something you did yesterday? Did you learn something yesterday? Were you treated with respect yesterday? In each country, a representative sample of no more than 1,000 people, age 15 or older, were surveyed. The poll was scored numerically on a scale of 1 to 100. The average score was 62.4.

Why did the Northern European countries come out looking so good? Overall economic health played a powerful role, says Simon Chapple, senior economist from the Social Policy Division of the OECD, which put together the report.

While the global economic crisis has taken a toll on every nation, the countries that scored at the top still boast some of the highest per-capita gross domestic products in the world. Denmark, which got the highest score, is not only a wealthy country, it's also highly productive, with a 2009 GDP per capita of $68,000, according to the International Monetary Fund. The U.S.'s GDP per capita, by contrast, is $47,335. Though the U.S. got an above-average score of 74, it did not break the top 10.

But wealth alone does not bring the greatest degree of happiness. Norway, for example, has the highest GDP per capita on the list--$98,822--yet it ranked ninth, not first. On the other hand, New Zealand's happiness level is 76.7 out of 100 on the OECD scale, but its 2009 GDP per capita is just $30,556.

According to a 2005 editorial published in the British Medical Journal and authored by Dr. Tony Delamothe, research done in Mexico, Ghana, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K. shows that individuals typically get richer during their lifetimes, but not happier. It is family, social and community networks that bring joy to one's life, Delamothe says.

The OECD data show that another important factor is work-life balance. While Scandinavian countries boast a high GDP per capita, the average work week in that part of the world is no more than 37 hours. In China, which got a low score of just 14.8, the average work week is 47 hours and the GDP per capita is just $3,600.

Low unemployment also contributes to happiness. "One thing we know for sure," says the OECD's Chapple, is that "not having a job makes one substantially less satisfied." Denmark's unemployment rate is just 2%, according the C.I.A.'s World Factbook. Norway's is just 2.6%; the Netherlands, 4.5%. Many economists concur that a 4% unemployment rate reflects a stable economy. The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 9.4%.

In Depth: Europe's Happiest Places