Andy Plesser

Mindshare, the media agency within WPP, has created some 250 branded campaigns for video and television over the past 9 years, says David Lang, Chief Content Officer and President of the agency’s entertainment division,  in this interview with Beet.TV  On the subject of viral video hits and paid vs. earned, Lang stresses the importance of […]

Hearst has just launched “CosmoBody,” a daily fitness show which is advertiser-free and is  being offered on a subscription basis.  This is the first of what will be a number of Hearst titles and Hearst partners who will be part of a new “Netflix model,” explains Chris Grosso, SVP and GM of Hearst Digital Studios, […]

While the viral video hit can be golden for brands, it can’t be done consistently and it’s “not a sustainable business model” says Mitchell Reichgut, CEO and founder of the Jun Group, a digital video ad services firm that secures views for branded content on hundreds of publisher sites.   Viral is great, but paid […]

Whether the dramatic increase of the company’s stock price on its initial day of trading, which closed at 11.50, up $4.50 or 64%, can be sustained or not, time will tell.  For TubeMogul co-founder and CEO Brett Wilson, he is focused on “building a big, transformative company,” he told Beet.TV recently when we interviewed him […]

Comcast has provided  13 million video streams of World Cup matches to subscribers watching via digital devices.   That’s up  55% over the number of streams for the Soichi games, the cable giant says. The enormity of the digital consumption represents something of a watershed moment for “TV Everywhere” — the industry term  for cable […]

The British tabloid the Daily Mail, known as Mail Online,  has become the biggest English language newspaper destination site in the world.  It is growing quickly in the U.S., with a 30 percent  increase over last year, and monthly unique visitors up to 36,4 million, according to comScore.   That growth has come with a […]

Vidyo, the live video platform solution that powers Google Hangouts and a number of other enterprise-level implementations. has raised an E round of $20 million, the company announced today.   Last year we sat down with VP Ray Glynn about the company and the opportunities to implement live streaming across a variety of business and […]

Netflix, AOL and Crackle were among the digital-first video producers to get recognized with a slew of Emmy nominations which were announced yesterday.   Netflix received several nominations for its big budgeted series.    In the category of Outstanding Short-Form, Nonfiction Program, Crackle’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and AOL’s  Park Bench With Steve Buscemi, […]

It may not have the sunshine and parties of Cannes Lions, or the glittery nightlife of CES, but DMEXCO (digital media expo) in Cologne is where business gets done for the digital media industry, says Christian Muche, co-founder of the giant two-day conference in September which will attract  a record-breaking 30,000 attendees, 450 speakers and 850 […]

CANNES, France – While the predominant consumption of video still takes place on the television screen, the industry is moving to a world where the delivery of commercial-free  services like Netflix and Amazon will grow as will the consumption of short form video and mobile. All this presents advertisers with a new set of challenges. […]

In a big move to expand its video advertising capabilities, Facebook has acquired video ad services company LiveRail, both companies announced today.   Earlier this year, LiveRail CEO Mark Trefgarne explained the company’s business model and plans in the video session with Ashley J. Swartz at this year’s Beet  Retreat.   We are republishing that […]

CANNES, France –  Media planning has been pretty easy of the past 50 years, with deals done in back rooms over Scotch and cigars.  The complacency of this dynamic is quickly changing with new technology and CMO’s need to embrace change, says B. Bonin Bough, VP of Global Media and Consumer Engagement at Mondelēz International, […]

CANNES – Powerhouse media investment banker Terence Kawaja has both a booming M&A advisory practice in digital adtech along with growing visibility as a va showman – a gig he clearly enjoys.   Here’s his spoof of  the hit song “Happy,” taped at Cannes last week with a number of media luminaries taking small roles. […]

When advertising spend for digital video doubles to $12 billion by 2018 in the U.S., half of that will be around mobile platforms, says David Hallerman, Principal Analyst at eMarketer, in this interview with Beet.TV.  By mobile, he means both wi-fi-connected devices and phone devices connect via cellular. We spoke with him about the growth […]

Forrester principal analyst Jim Nail is “disappointed” by today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Aereo case.  He says it is unfortunate and it reinforces the existing business models of cable and satellite operators in the United States.   Not withstanding, the control of the media giants, content delivery will eventually move to a direct […]

From being a niche advertising sector not too long ago, mobile advertising has fast become the dominant digital advertising platform, says Rob Norman, Chief Digital Officer of GroupM Worldwide in this interview with Beet.TV   The rapid  transformation has been propelled by Facebook and Twitter, he explains. The transformation to mobile provides new opportunities and […]

CANNES, France – Bringing authenticity and an easy sell to sponsored content is essential, explains the make-up  web celebrity Camila Coehlo in this interview with Beet.TV The Brazilian is part of Maker Studios, which is bringing her advertisers and creative support, she explains.  We spoke with her at Cannes Lions.   More on Maker Studios […]

CANNES, France –  Disney’s Maker Studio, the Los Angeles based multi-channel network (MCN) that distributes and promotes web videos from some 55,000 content creators around the globe, made a big push for advertising dollars at the  Cannes Lions festival.   Jason Krebs, who heads up sales, says that Maker has what advertisers want – scale […]

CANNES, France – While there has been considerable conversation in programmatic media circles about a movement away from open exchanges to private exchanges, it’s not a matter of choosing one solution,  but of both, says Stephan Beringer, President of Audience on Demand at VivaKi, the digital unit of the Publicis Groupe. We spoke with during […]

ON THE SEA OFF THE COAST OF FRANCE —  Sitting between Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue, Hollywood and Wall Street, MediaLink is a unique media consultancy, explains Wenda Harris Millard, president, in this interview with Dave Morgan. “We are operators.” At Cannes, MediaLink created a a number of high-profile seminars for its clients along visibility for […]