Digital Content Newfronts blog: Day three update

Hulu’s ‘The Path’

By the editors of Media Life

Throughout the Digital Content Newfronts, Media Life will be providing updates from the day’s latest presentations. We’re compiling them all here, including daily breakdowns from each presenter. You can also check out our daily Newfronts previews to find out what to expect next.

Here’s a look at the day three presenters.

Hulu

Hulu kicked off the third day of presentations with a whole slew of announcements. In fact, it was a little hard to digest all the information.

In addition to confirming that it’s eyeing a skinny bundle that would deliver broadcast and cable content to over the top subscribers, Hulu also said it has a new ad product, an interactive advertisement designed to engage people in their living rooms.

The subscription video on demand service said it has almost 12 million subscribers, up from 9 million last year. And it announced new measurement deals with Nielsen and Millward Brown.

The Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings will measure OTT viewership on living room devices such as game consoles and Rokus for the first time. As is the trend in advertising right now, Hulu is partnering with Millward Brown for more in-depth insights into who is watching in order to better target its ads.

Finally, Hulu renewed two of its original shows, “The Mindy Project” and “The Path,” plus it scheduled an election special starring Triumph the Insult Dog.

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Here’s a look at all four day two presenters.

Maker Studios

In a much smaller event than it hosted last year, when more than 800 people attended, Maker presented to clients only.

And Maker’s pitch was smaller, too. A year after touting partnerships gained through new owner Disney, such as Marvel and ESPN, Maker pledged to focus on the areas that have made it one of the biggest multichannel networks, such as kids and family, entertainment and gaming.

It introduced four new series from the new Spark studio: “Spin for Ink,” “Worthy,” “Can I Crush It?” and “The Remember Hour.”

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Defy Media

Defy touted its comparability to television, unveiling a schedule of 72 shows laid out in the same sort of grid as a TV schedule.

That includes 30 new shows, with several on top networks Smosh and Clevver. It also introduced a new ad product, Z Blocks, that lets advertisers become the only sponsor of shows in categories such as gaming, comedy, entertainment and lifestyle.

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Condé Nast Entertainment

The newfronts have developed a reputation for hyping new content that never actually appears (remember Simon Cowell’s much-hyped, eventually aborted DJ competition show for YouTube?).

Well, Condé Nast wants buyers to know that it has follow through and stability. It said during its presentation it has renewed nearly two-thirds of its new shows for this year.

It also introduced a distribution deal with Comcast, making CNE available on-demand. And it updated its content aggregator The Scene with a new mobile app while also broadening its incubator programs, which seek out talent online.

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AOL

Just call AOL’s “Build” the “Total Request Live” of its era. The online giant said it’s moving its popular talk show to a gigantic new studio on the ground floor that faces out on the street in Manhattan, reminiscent of the one-time MTV hit’s street presence two decades ago.

The company says it’s aiming to increase video production threefold this year. The new studio will have 360-degree video capability, clearly of great interest to AOL since it bought RYOT Corp., a company that specializes in that type of video, last month.

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Day One

May 2: The Newfronts kicked off with its first four presentations on Monday, day one, with BuzzFeed capturing the biggest headlines for its huge digital video viewership growth numbers.

Here’s a look at all four day-one presenters.

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The New York Times

Chief executive officer Mark Thompson says the future of media is “great content,” which was always the driving principle behind great papers. Apparently this will guide Times video, too.

The company said it’s rolling out six new digital shows, and it’s hoping to land a big sponsor for each. And apparently it’s serious about virtual reality journalism. It’s making a bigger push into that largely uncharted realm, after incorporating it into a package late last year and another last month.

You can see The Times’ full announcements here.

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BuzzFeed

The viral site touted its huge video viewership growth, up to 7 billion views per month, or 2.5 times what it was drawing during last year’s Newfronts presentation.

The company said it’s focusing on Facebook Live, noting that Facebook accounts for about a quarter of its video views. It will also be working with recent investor NBCUniversal to secure advertising, promising to work with its big names on pitches to advertisers and video concepts.

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Bloomberg

The media company will bow four new shows, including interview series “Big Problems, Big Thinkers,” which will feature guests as diverse as the Dalai Lama and Warren Buffett.

New ad product VidPlus will allow advertisers to sponsor in-video polls and other content, better integrating it with the editorial.

And its branded content studio has been renamed Kinection.

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Refinery29

The woman-focused site will produce 12 short films as part of Shatterbox Productions, and one of them will be directed by actress Kristen Stewart. Another actress, Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe, will also make her directorial debut with the series.

Other new shows include two series from actress America Ferrara, a scripted comedy, and a reality series from Morgan Spurlock about girls’ education around the world.

The site is, like The Times, drinking the Kool-Aid on virtual reality, launching its own VR studio.

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