Real-time: the video format for a mobile generation

Real-time: the video format for a mobile generation Insights on TV clip sharing and Twitter Amplify by Gareth Capon, CEO at Grabyo Page 1 SECTION ...
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Real-time: the video format for a mobile generation Insights on TV clip sharing and Twitter Amplify

by Gareth Capon, CEO at Grabyo

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Introduction

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The New TV Consumption Paradigm

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Twitter and Social TV

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Twitter Amplify: The Ad-Funded Distribution Model for Content

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Twitter Amplify: The Opportunity for Brands

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Insights on Real-Time Video from Grabyo

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The Commercial Opportunity for Broadcasters

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Following the Bellwether

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Appendix

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INTRODUCTION Social media has changed the way we experience TV forever and the implications for broadcasters are profound. With consumers making conversation and sharing their TV experience on digital platforms, broadcasters must now learn how to own, drive and monetise engagement across social media. At the same time, brands must find ways to engage with this connected audience across multiple platforms and in real time. As well as highlighting the new patterns of TV consumption, this report examines the case for Twitter Amplify and shares insights from real-time video initiatives that Grabyo has delivered for major broadcasters and content rights holders. It also explores the significant commercial opportunities that this emerging real-time video format now presents to broadcasters and content owners alike.

“The real-time video format played a key role in helping us make The BRIT Awards 2014 the most engaged show yet in the UK. It also enabled us to provide very compelling ad-inventory to our brand partner VO5 - who was able to connect with music fans in a very positive way.” - GIUSEPPE DE CRISTOFANO HEAD OF DIGITAL AT BPI AND BRIT AWARDS LTD

“With real-time video we’ve shared some of the most entertaining, memorable and controversial moments of shows as they happen. It’s been great at driving additional buzz on Twitter and Facebook, letting people know what they’re missing by not tuning in. And the video has provided talking points, giving people a chance to revisit those moments again. We’ve particularly with live shows.” - ANDREA AMEY - HEAD OF DIGITAL CONTENT AT CHANNEL 5

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THE NEW TV CONSUMPTION PARADIGM TV has gone social: If broadcasters want to engage with viewers and fans, they must do so on social platforms. During primetime there are few days when at least one TV show or TV event is not trending on Twitter. This is particularly true for coverage of sports – which comprise somewhere between 2-3% of TV programming in any given month, but generate close to 50% of Twitter activity.1 Social media naturally compliments the TV experience, by bringing people closer together around TV shows and live events.

Social media has gone mobile: Some 40% of YouTube’s traffic now comes from mobile, compared to 25% last year and just 6% only two years ago2; yet this is a fraction of the mobile activity seen by major social networks in the UK. Facebook has more than 20m active mobile users accessing the platform daily,3 while 80% of UK Twitter users access the service via mobile.4 Social advertising income also reflects this – mobile advertising revenue now represents over 75% of total worldwide advertising revenue for Twitter.5

Social media is real-time: Viewers share their TV experience on social media in real time as events unfold: between 88-100m Facebook users log in to the platform during the primetime hours of 8pm – 11pm in the US6 and there was a 38% increase in tweets about TV last year to 263m.7 The 2014 Oscars generated 5m tweets, viewed by an audience of 37m unique Twitter users and delivering 3.3bn impressions globally as conversation and key moments were shared virally across the platform.8

Social video is bite-size: The popularity of video-based social platforms such as Vine and Instagram has demonstrated the appeal of ‘micro-video’ amongst consumers. For brands, micro-video also promises greater levels of engagement: branded Vines are four times more likely to be shared than traditional online video.9

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TWITTER AND SOCIAL TV Twitter is an open platform by design and as such the nature of conversations on Twitter are closely aligned with real-time events (and TV is a key driver of conversation in both the online and offline world). The big spikes in Twitter conversations when headline sports events, live shows and major dramas air on TV are redolent of this, with spikes closely following the cadence of the TV show storyline or event in question. However, enabling and driving TV conversation is only one element of Twitter’s social TV ambitions. Twitter is also a two-way communication mechanism. There are numerous examples of TV production companies and broadcasters using tweets from viewers to influence production (UK examples include the live social wall on Got To Dance, audience questions on Question Time or What’s The Story on Sky Sports). This is engaging and rewarding for the few people that get their tweet on television - but is not scalable (or indeed relevant) across every TV format. More collaborative examples are those where Twitter is used as a voting platform to influence the outcome of a TV production - such as the live Twitter vote for the Best British Music Video at the BRIT Awards 2014 (won by One Direction, a nod to the influence of its huge community of Twitter followers) and even voting for alternative endings on Hawaii 5-0 on CBS (which fed directly into the live show broadcast on television).10 Given the broad audience awareness and engagement with voting for TV reality shows and talent contests (as far back as 1997 for the Eurovision Song Contest but more broadly popularised by Pop Idol in 2001 in the UK), social voting looks like a scalable opportunity for the TV mainstream given the current penetration of user adoption across the major social networks. The most interesting developments are more recent, using Twitter as a discovery platform for premium content and a media destination in its own right. This development is driven by Twitter Cards which enable users to see photos and videos in-line within their Twitter feed (as well as enabling other features such as commerce and lead-generation). Changes to the Twitter user interface, both for web and mobile, have brought this content to the forefront and will help drive mass market appeal and future growth; reducing the opacity of the platform for new customers that may be put off by Twitter’s unique terminology and conversation mechanics (e.g. followers, hashtags, @symbols and shortened URLs).

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There is also the opportunity to use Twitter conversation to drive TV discovery and tune-in, highlighted by the launch of SeeIT™ in the United States by ComCast. ComCast has enabled the US networks, led by NBC Universal, to leverage the viral distribution of tweets (that carry TV show information) to drive users to tune-in immediately via an app on their smartphone or tablet, or to record a show to their (ComCast Xfinity) personal video recorder (PVR) at home. This social mechanic for content discovery and tune-in has also been replicated by BSkyB in the UK who launched #watchonsky in April 2014. Given the volume of TV conversation on Twitter, and the opportunity for users to discover and share their favourite TV shows with friends simply by clicking a link or hitting retweet, this could be a very successful strategy. However, one of the key challenges with using Twitter for content discovery on TV is to ensure the mechanic can work across all channels and formats and address the long tail of content on television. The major shows generate the most noise and will therefore surface most frequently in conversations, but most TV viewers or sports fans are unlikely to need a million people on Twitter to tell them that the Super Bowl has started, or that the X-Factor final is about to go on air? Content filtering and publishing of contextual TV-related tweets (to interested users) may be a mechanism to help solve this problem – we wait to see Twitter’s next move in this space. By far the most interesting development, however, is Twitter Amplify...

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TWITTER AMPLIFY: THE AD-FUNDED DISTRIBUTION MODEL FOR CONTENT

Twitter Amplify allows broadcasters and rights holders to share live TV clips and video content into Twitter in real time, giving users the opportunity to watch the videos without leaving Twitter. It also drives viral distribution and discovery of that content, as Twitter users retweet their favourite clips and push them out to their own followers, extending the reach of the videos more broadly. However, the most important aspect of Twitter Amplify (and the piece which is often misunderstood) is that it allows content owners to use paid media support from sponsors and advertising partners to fund the distribution and thus discovery of their content across Twitter. One of the challenges when distributing (and consuming) video on Twitter is that many consumers have ‘fast’ feeds – active users follow lots of other Twitter users and see hundreds of posts moving through their feed every time they open the Twitter app. With tweets passing rapidly through the feed, it’s easy to miss a video tweet from a broadcaster or one posted against a hashtag. Twitter Amplify makes it possible to ‘pin’ the video tweet to the visible part of the feed so the user is more likely to see it and engage with it - this is a key concept of the proposition to broadcasters and advertisers. Moreover, if a broadcaster sends a tweet from its own Twitter account, it can target only the people that are following that account (i.e. its ‘organic reach’). However, when a sponsor runs a paid campaign with Twitter Amplify, it can target anyone tweeting about that topic or content at that time, or any other user who may be interested in the content (because they have followed a relevant account, tweeted against a particular hashtag or discussed an associated topic in their twitter conversations). Therefore, broadcasters can ensure their video tweets are seen by the maximum audience and use paid media distribution (Twitter Amplify) to extend this reach to a much wider and relevant demographic. Indeed this audience can be many times the size of their existing (organic) reach – potentially the entire Twitter user base in any given territory. Furthermore, paid media Amplify campaigns encourage extended viral distribution as Twitter users that do not follow the broadcaster or rights holder directly discover these new video tweets in their feed - pushed to them via promoted tweets. If the content is relevant (which is the role of the targeting variables provided via the Twitter advertising platform) then these additional users will go on to share the video tweets to their own followers, driving a second wave of viral distribution and greater earned media value for the broadcaster and brand. By enabling broadcasters to have this extended social reach paid for by a brand sponsor - one that wants to align itself with premium TV content on social platforms - Twitter Amplify represents a highly compelling, ad-funded distribution model for content. Page 7

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TWITTER AMPLIFY: THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BRANDS “Clients are increasingly interested in connecting their TV activity with social, so the ability to do real-time sharing of live TV clips across social networks is a highly it is important to navigate the complex rights landscape around broadcast content and social but, with the right agreements in place and the right paid social media lined up, it is possible to achieve both scale and engagement.” - NICK ADAMS HEAD OF DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT AT MINDSHARE

Consumers are now spending more time using their smartphones than the web and 13 minutes of every hour spent online is on social media platforms.11 The growth of mobile and social media usage does not show any signs of stopping and it is clear that mobile will soon be the dominant platform for all internet experiences across the globe. Indeed, this is already apparent in a number of key markets and the number of mobile-connected devices is forecast to exceed the world’s population for the first time this year12. Brands, as well as broadcasters, must find ways to connect with consumers across multiple media channels and devices to deliver a consistent and compelling message to their target audience. TV AD-TARGETING Twitter’s TV ad-targeting product is one opportunity to address this multiplatform challenge. It gives the opportunity for a brand to send out promotional tweets at the same time as their TV ads are airing to any Twitter users that are watching the relevant show and discussing it on the platform; brands can also use demographic data to filter the broad TV audience and target users more effectively. By reinforcing the brand campaign message with a targeted direct response on Twitter, brands can accentuate their message and drive recall, as well as deliver a direct promotional message to viewers. The challenge however is ensuring that advertising content is interesting enough to drive viral engagement – this is where the real leverage lies for the brand by capturing additional earned media value and providing social validation of their brand message as users share this with their own (micro) audience on Twitter. Storytelling and creativity are just as important for social marketing campaigns as on television.

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TWITTER DATA AND AUDIENCE TARGETING The second opportunity for brands on the platform is linked to Twitter’s recent acquisition of MoPub, which will allow brands to use Twitter data to target people on mobile (using display adverts and banners) via third party mobile websites and apps. TV conversations serve as the mechanism for understanding user preferences and creating segments for targeting. For example, if a Twitter user spends a large percentage of their time on the platform interacting with technology bloggers and tweeting about TV shows covering professional cycling or travel, then this may be of interest to Garmin, WattBike or Nike. This data can be used to target customers across the MoPub network, rather than being restricted to active conversations or the Twitter platform itself. TWITTER AMPLIFY Twitter Amplify goes much further, allowing brands to directly associate their brand and campaign message with premium TV content using a range of digital media assets including: pre-roll and post-roll videos, display banners and branded galleries, each combined with real-time video clips. Brands can extend TV advertising and sponsorship into social media in order to engage their target audiences in a positive and relevant way. Crucially, brands can use Twitter Amplify to leverage their sponsorship or advertising campaigns at scale – by extending social reach, ensuring the discovery of the video content (and their brand message) and targeting a much larger community of active and relevant social media users. It is this opportunity to engage social media users and join the conversation around live events that has attracted innovative brands. In the case of the BRIT Awards 2014, which recently became the UK’s first Twitter Amplify deal, VO5 sponsored a campaign which saw 12 exclusive videos of live TV footage promoted on Twitter – generating thousands of clip views and re-tweets.

THE UK’S FIRST TWITTER AMPLIFY CAMPAIGN: THE BRITS 2014 Page 9

VO5 was able to engage with its target audience in a positive way and win the social buzz contest, meanwhile the campaign helped to make the BRITs the most tweeted-about-show ever in the UK as well as make V05 the most talked about brand on social for the BRITs. It’s clearly a compelling proposition for brands that can now scale social engagement for major formats and events; an example of this in 2014 would be sponsoring the live clips of goals scored in the World Cup. Not only would it enable a brand to become a key part of the social conversation around the tournament but it would also enable the brand to drive that conversation through the viral distribution of clips combined with paid media campaigns that take the brand message to a broad and highly engaged user group (football fans). As well as providing a more compelling ad format than a sponsor message or textbased advert alone, the brand would be able to ensure active Twitter users see the sponsor idents before the video content is played: so every time a goal is viewed the user would see a message from the sponsor - this isn’t even possible on TV (where sponsor credits only appear at half-time during the ad breaks and on the advertising hoardings in the stadium). Furthermore, video advertising on Twitter is not constrained by the same rules as TV so there are many more options for brands. Twitter Amplify could be used to distribute branded content that is associated with a TV programme - such as backstage highlights from the Oscars – or push out longer form brand/sponsor adverts into Twitter. Indeed, there is significant flexibility for brands to deliver innovative ads that use popular shows as the anchor for engagement and to release the content at key moments during the broadcast to maximise reach and virality. In addition to using Twitter Amplify as an integrated cross-platform tool for reaching the social conversation, the brand sponsorship and digital media assets can also be used to highlight special promotions, competitions and even take payments. Using Amplify as a platform for social interactivity can create a whole new ecosystem on top of Twitter conversations. Limited only by the creativity of the brands that choose to participate, Twitter Amplify is set to become a very significant advertising channel – and therefore create very significant new value for broadcasters and content owners alike.

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INSIGHTS ON REAL-TIME VIDEO FROM GRABYO In order to provide insight into how consumers engage with real-time video, Grabyo analysed the traffic generated by more than 2,500 clips of live TV that were shared by major broadcasters and rights holders between September 2013 and March 2014. This real-time video traffic encompasses users across Twitter and Facebook. REAL-TIME ENGAGEMENT PEAKS

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Traffic on the platform regularly spikes to hundreds of thousands of concurrent users and many thousands of clip plays in a few seconds after the content is shared. Figure 1 shows the volume of plays each minute after the clips are shared across Twitter and Facebook, websites and mobile apps. It illustrates that this new format drives rapid and immediate engagement and highlights the need for broadcasters and rights holders to create and share video content instantly and in real time: 41% of clip plays during the first hour occur within the first 10 minutes 65% of clip plays during the first hour occur in the first 20 minutes Furthermore, 46% of clip plays during the first 12 hours occur within 20 minutes

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REAL-TIME VIDEO IS MOBILE FIRST

Figure 2 shows the dominance of mobile and the need for broadcasters to take a multi-device, as well as multi-platform, approach to real-time clip sharing. Mobile represents 72% of clips plays on the Grabyo platform, illustrating that: Real-time video is unquestionably mobile-first. It is a highly effective platform for engaging mobile users around TV and live events. The chart also shows the dominance of Apple iOS devices, which is a pattern recognised by other studies of mobile app engagement where iOS user engagement over-indexes vis-à-vis Android and other mobile platforms.13

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REAL-TIME VIDEO ENGAGEMENT (A 24-HOUR DAILY CYCLE)

Figure 3 indicates a high level of social engagement in real-time video during prime time TV hours, but the average patterns of engagement are higher throughout the day than traditional TV viewing and there is a more consistent level of engagement from 9AM onwards (with a big spike for prime time). An analysis of the data revealed that 63% of clip plays are outside of prime time TV hours. While key moments of sports action, breaking news or TV drama are often the most popular clips, there are other types of entertaining, irreverent and unusual content that also work well on social media. Some of the most engaged clips were shared outside of prime time hours - highlighting the opportunity for broadcasters to utilise this new video format to drive content engagement more broadly across the daily and weekly TV schedule.

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THE COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR BROADCASTERS

With the launch of Twitter Amplify, Twitter has centred its social TV strategy on real-time video. Although we are in the early stages of adoption, Twitter Amplify is already creating significant new value for broadcasters and rights holders. In less than a year since its launch, all of the major US TV networks have signed up and the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster ITV recently followed suit. So why is Twitter Amplify adoption now gathering speed? As a real-time, bite-size format that is optimised for viewing on mobile (which represents 80% of the Twitter audience), short-form live video is highly appealing to social media users. It increases the level of content engagement and drives immediate viral reach as user’s share or retweet their favourite videos and engaging content. As brands fund broader distribution of (real-time) TV clips via paid media social campaigns, broadcasters can dramatically enhance their reach on Twitter by targeting additional and relevant audiences and driving a second wave of viral distribution. Furthermore, broadcasters can use real-time video to promote new shows and other relevant formats to their audience and drive interactivity such as voting, betting, and payments. In addition, pay TV operators have an opportunity to promote and sell additional packages, upgrades and content services using realtime video as a social marketing channel. This process closes the virtuous circle for social video distribution: from sharing short-form, live video clips which generate huge levels of engagement across social platforms to driving core KPIs for the broadcaster or rights holder (such as tune-in, digital content sales, upgrades and entitlements to new OTT services). We believe this is a key part of the future evolution for real-time video services and, for that matter, the future business models for TV distribution and consumption. Our experience has shown that it’s not just the key broadcast TV moments that generate high levels of engagement. In the case of the BRITs, the most popular video wasn’t a clip of a live music performance, but banter between James Corden and One Direction which saw the biggest spike in social buzz and over 1,760 retweets. We see huge spikes of traffic on the Grabyo platform from entertaining, irreverent and unusual content, in addition to key moments from TV. There is an opportunity for broadcasters to maximise value from their TV and digital rights by sharing interesting and irreverent moments that drive maximum engagement in social context.

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Ultimately the value of the data that broadcasters are able to gain from Twitter Amplify could do much more. With access to the likes and dislikes of Twitter users, broadcasters could target viewers with personalised adverts and sponsorship campaigns – providing considerable additional value to brands as they optimise ad inventory, frequency capping and consumer targeting across multiple platforms. Finally, it is clear that Twitter Amplify is a complementary platform to YouTube. While social networks provide the format for real-time engagement, YouTube provides a search-driven platform with significant reach where content can continue to attract a scalable viewing audience in the longer-term. Broadcasters that are looking to maximise revenue and engagement in the realtime video market will first share clips to Twitter, Facebook and their own websites and mobile apps – these are the apps that consumers use when watching television (what percentage of consumers regularly sit in front of the TV with the YouTube app open on their smartphone?). A contributing factor is that any realtime content shared on YouTube is subject to Google’s standard commercial terms (where 45% of revenues are retained by YouTube) leaving the broadcaster with a much smaller share of revenue than for a Twitter Amplify or related social video campaign. The key opportunity for rights holders is not to view real-time video and Twitter Amplify as a substitute for YouTube distribution but as an additional channel for driving further engagement, maximising viral reach and generating new revenue. SOCIAL VIDEO CAMPAIGN - PLATFORM DISTRIBUTION PLANNING:

Phase 1: Real time social campaign (from Live – 24/48hrs after broadcast)

Share clips to Twitter, Facebook and (your own) mobile web and apps

Phase 2: On Demand revenues (from 24/48 hrs until end of rights window)

Add to On Demand catalogue Add clips to YouTube channels

Drive maximum viral engagement and reach Leverage direct commercial opportunities of Twitter Amplify and social video advertising

Maximise long tail of consumption and benefit from YouTube’s vast audience and search-driven traffic (and revenue)

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FOLLOWING THE BELLWETHER Twitter Amplify has already had a significant impact in the U.S. market, which serves as a bellwether to the global TV industry. NFL took control of its real-time video assets and struck lucrative sponsorship deals for clips of live content in one of the first and most significant Twitter Amplify deals in 2013. Real-time video in the U.S. has also shifted from teasers and trailers, the staple of YouTube channels built by the major networks, to premium broadcast content that was previously locked behind a paywall. This is indicative of content owners recognising that this new video format drives both incremental revenues and core KPIs (subs/tune in). With Twitter now supporting one tap video playback across its mobile apps – effectively offering the same display format as Vine to Twitter Amplify partners – it will not only enhance the experience of watching TV clips for Twitter’s users but will also ensure a higher level of social engagement, distribution and monetisation for broadcasters. It is clear that Twitter Amplify presents intriguing opportunities and is creating an entirely new market around the new short-form live video format. The market remains nascent but as awareness and understanding develops among the broadcast, content rights and media industries, the commercial value from real-time video could accelerate very quickly. The impact from a content rights perspective will be particularly interesting as rights holders may look to carve out real-time video as a separate package to maximise its commercial and distribution value in the future. The mobile internet has scant regard for geographic boundaries and mobile offers rights holders an audience of billions, not millions. All this without mentioning Facebook, the 1.2bn-user ‘elephant’ (or is that gorilla?) in the room – the real-time video journey has only just begun.

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APPENDIX

1. Nielsen SocialGuide, as featured in The New York Times, Oct 2013 http://www. nytimes.com/2013/10/03/technology/social-networks-in-a-battle-for-the-second-screen. html?pagewanted=all 2. BI Intelligence, Dec 2013 http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-video-statistics-andgrowth-2013-12 3. Facebook, Aug 2013 http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1207288/facebook-reveals-20mmobile-users-june 4. Twitter, Feb 2014 https://blog.twitter.com/en-gb/2014/80-of-uk-users-access-twitter-via-their-mobile 5. Twitter Fiscal Year 2013 Results, Feb 2014 - https://investor.twitterinc.com/releasedetail. cfm?ReleaseID=823321 6. Facebook, Jul 2013 http://mashable.com/2013/07/31/facebook-tv-ad-study-nielsen/ 7. Nielsen SocialGuide, Oct 2013 http://www.socialguide.com/nielsen-launches-nielsen-twitter-tv-ratings/ 8. Deb Roy, Chief Media Scientist at Twitter, MipTV Apr 2014 9. Unruly Media, May 2013 http://www.unrulymedia.com/article/20-05-2013/unruly-vine-study-shows-branded-vines-4xmore-likely-be-shared-branded-videos 10. Deadline.com, Jan 2013 http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/episode-of-cbs-hawaii-five-0-lets-viewers-choose-ending-inreal-time/ 11. Experian 2013 Digital Marketer Report http://www.experian.com/blogs/marketingforward/2013/04/18/for-every-hour-online-americans-spend-16-minutes-on-social-networks/ 12. Cisco Visual Networking Index, Feb 2014 http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/ service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/white_paper_c11-520862.html 13. Report from FreeWheel, Feb 2013 http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/12/apple-continues-todominate-mobile-video-viewing-with-60-occurring-on-ios-vs-32-on-android-report-says/

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gareth Capon is CEO at Grabyo. He brings more than 15 years experience in digital, mobile and television covering both corporates and startups. Prior to joining Grabyo, Gareth was a Product Development Director at BSkyB where he managed Sky’s award winning mobile app portfolio and led investments in tech startups in Europe and North America. Gareth was also responsible for driving social TV initiatives across BSkyB during his tenure. Gareth previously founded a digital media consulting business and co-founded two start-ups covering music, mobile and social. He began his career as a strategy consultant in the telecoms and media sector at Accenture.

ABOUT GRABYO Grabyo is the leader in real-time video. Its scalable, cloud-based platform enables broadcasters and content rights holders to instantly create, distribute and monetise real-time video clips across any platform and device. With rich industry experience, Grabyo also provides broadcasters and rights holders with strategic guidance and support in order to extract maximum value from realtime video content and capitalise on the significant commercial opportunities in sharing live TV across web, social and mobile. Grabyo launched as a mobile-first platform in 2013 and works with broadcasters in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, as well as some of the most popular TV formats and largest advertisers. For more information please visit www.grabyo.com

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