What to watch for at the Newfronts: Day six

By the editors of Media Life

The Digital Content Newfronts has kicked off, and over these two weeks there will be more than three dozen presentations. Media Life will present daily previews of these presentations and the companies behind them to assist media people in gauging their importance, influence and popularity.

You can check out the day one story here, day two story here , day three story here, day four story here, day five story here, and the schedule here.

 

Here’s a look at the day six presenters at the Newfronts:

 

Fullscreen

What it is: A multichannel network.

Why it’s doing video: Video is Fullscreen’s sole purpose.

The network launched five years ago with some big names behind it, including founder George Strompolos, a former Google and YouTube executive, and Peter Chernin, an advisor.

Fullscreen recently launched a premium streaming service.

Sample series: Grace Halbig, one of the biggest YouTube stars, began airing her show “It’s Grace” on Fullscreen two years ago. She has more than 2.8 million subscribers.

Reach/stats: Fullscreen says it has 600 million subscribers and gets 5 billion views per month.

It has partnered with 70,000 content creators.

What to expect today: A focus on the premium offering, which is targeting young audiences who grew up with digital video. Interestingly, Fullscreen has been very clear that it’s not competing with Amazon and Netflix—it’s not a service for everyone.

Influencer rank, on a scale of 1 to 10: 5

The new premium launch has gotten a lot of buzz, and Fullscreen is on an upswing—but it’s still an MCN.

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SheKnows Media

What it is: A digital media company focused on women.

Why it’s doing video: As a means of reaching more women.

Over the past year, SheKnows has been pushing Hatch, a hub of videos made by kids, and The Pitch, which focuses on female entrepreneurs. This is SheKnows’ first time at the Newfronts.

Sample video: A recent addition to the site’s YouTube channel, the Laughing Moms’ spoof of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” explores life with allergies.

Reach/stats: She Knows ranks in the top 25 overall sites on the web for traffic, according to comScore. It had nearly 86 million visitors in March.

But its video reach isn’t nearly that high, and its YouTube channel has only 17,000 subscribers.

What to expect today: SheKnows is one of six new presenters this year, and it popped into the Newfronts just two months ago. It will emphasize the development of Hatch and The Pitch during its presentation.

Influencer rank, on a scale of 1 to 10: 4

The site is hugely popular among women but its content is mostly fluff and video is not its strength.

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National Geographic

What it is: A media company.

Why it’s doing video: All media companies do video.

National Geographic has always put an emphasis on visuals, too, so video is a key part of its strategy

Sample video: “Wild Jaguar Spotted on Camera in Arizona” is one of the site’s most popular videos right now. It’s short and newsy, something that goes over well with Millennial audiences.

Reach/stats: Its Instagram account is the most-followed non-celebrity account, with nearly 43 million followers, more than doubling since last year, and it posts videos there.

Short-form video production has increased by more than fourfold over the past two years.

What to expect today: National Geographic will undoubtedly highlight its Instagram growth and emphasize how popular it is with Millennials, who make up many of those followers.

The company had a cute idea for Newfronts, inviting people to submit questions for it in advance of the presentation using the hashtag #NatGeoNewFront. Alas, no one had submitted any questions as of Sunday night.

Influencer rank, on a scale of 1 to 10: 4

It has better photos than almost anyone else online, but in video it’s not a leader.

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Newsy

What it is: An online video aggregating service.

Why it’s doing video: Because that’s its focus.

Newsy compiles information from lots of sources about the same subject and distills it into short videos, allowing people to compare sources and come to their own conclusions about news and events.

It’s owned by E.W. Scripps and aimed at Millennials.

Sample video: With everyone talking about Donald Trump’s declaration on ABC that he’d increase taxes on the rich, Newsy posted a video looking at the issue. It includes video from five different sources.

Reach/stats: The company has room to grow.

It currently has just over 9,500 YouTube subscribers, but it claims its videos are seen 100 million times per month.

What to expect today: Newsy wants to establish its own cred separate from Scripps. It recently hired Andy Brownell, formerly of Empower Media Marketing, to direct advertising.

Influencer rank, on a scale of 1 to 10: 4

Newsy has some good ideas but its news focus isn’t typical of online video.

 

 

 

Tags: fullscreen, National Geographic, newfronts, newfronts preview, newsy, sheknows