The document discusses four key insights from analytics that are changing the digital entertainment industry: 1) The rise of mobile platforms and short-form content to match shorter attention spans. 2) Personalization of content using viewer data, like a viral film that stalked viewers using their Facebook data. 3) Video on demand (VOD) is the fastest growing content format, pushing networks to offer more content to lure viewers from DVRs. This will increase costs to subscribers and create jobs. 4) Independent producers may benefit from networks seeking lower-cost content for VOD libraries.

1. Insights
into
the
Changes
Impacting
the
Digital
Entertainment
Industry
By
Rebecca
Bennett
Written
July
25,
2015
(Presented
at
the
Zinnov
Roundtable
Conference
for
"Personalization
and
Gamification
in
Entertainment
Services
-­‐
The
New
Face
of
Customer
Centricity"
in
Los
Angeles
-­‐
July
30,
2015)
Current
analytics
is
giving
our
industry
insights,
which
are
so
profound,
that
they
are
impacting
and
changing
content
creation,
its
accessibility,
as
well
as
the
way
we
are
monetizing
it.
What
does
this
mean
for
the
future
of
digital
entertainment
and
advertisers
who
market
through
it?
There
are
four
particular
developments
I
would
like
to
share
and
the
direction
they
are
driving
this
industry.
First,
the
development
of
new
platforms,
which
have
allowed
viewers
to
watch
content
no
matter
where
they
are,
has
affected
content
format.
Consequently,
short-­‐form
video
and
photo
stories
have
now
taken
their
place
alongside
long-­‐form
video.
Increasing
numbers
in
viewership
have
resulted
because
of
the
market
penetration
of
smaller
screen
platforms
that
best
serve
the
shorter
attention
spans.
For
example,
YouTube
‘shorts
under
20
mins’
and
photo
stories
in
Instagram
and
Snap
Chat
are
dominating
the
mobile
world.
YouTube
provides
shorter
entertainment
series
and
funny
home
videos
that
viewers
can
get
their
fix
on
in
a
world
where
free
time
is
harder
and
harder
to
come
by
and
attention
spans
are
getting
shorter.
Instagram,
Vine
and
other
photo
apps
are
allowing
consumers
to
share
personal
photo
stories
as
the
new
text
message.
Second,
personalization
of
content
has
proven
its
impact
and
created
an
opportunity
on
personal
devices
for
the
future.
In
2011,
an
interactive
short
horror
film
was
released
where
Facebook
users
could
approve
the
website
to
access
their
profile
information.
As
a
result,
a
viewer
would
sit
back
and
watch,
horrified,
as
they
saw
themselves
being
stalked
in
the
film
by
a
serial
killer
using
their
Facebook
information.
The
video
links
with
the
Facebook
Connect
App
to
personalize
the
experience
directly
to
the
single
viewer
by
actually
putting
their
information
and
photos
in
the
film.
It’s
no
surprise
that
this
phenomenon
went
viral
with
400,000
views
and
30,000
likes
within
24
hours
of
its
release.
A
week
later,
the
film
had
been
viewed
7
million
times
with
1.1
million
"likes".
[1]
Today,
4
years
later,
it
has
over
15
million
likes.
[2]
Although
the
film’s
purpose
was
to
create
public
awareness
on
the
risk
of
sharing
personal
information
across
the
Internet,
the
film
also
reveals
an
opportunity
for
content
creators
and
advertisers;
an
opportunity
to
leverage
this

2. concept
of
using
personal
viewer
information
to
connect
them
to
a
story
or
ad
that
otherwise
may
not
emotionally
affect
a
viewer.
It
is
proven
that
when
made
personal,
content
will
have
a
greater
impact
on
a
viewer.
Greater
impact
equals
greater
sales.
It
won’t
be
long
before
you
will
be
seeing
ads
personally
addressed
to
you
or
more
stories
with
you
as
a
character.
Third,
VOD
(Video
On
Demand)
is
the
fastest
growing
content
consumption
outlet.
[3]
While
DVR
penetration
has
slowed
[4],
consumption
of
recorded
shows
is
not
disappearing
for
now.
Since
it
is
in
the
network’s
best
interest
to
promote
viewers
to
watch
their
content
on
demand
over
DVR,
so
they
can
obtain
their
Nielsen
ratings,
VOD
will
become
the
dominating
consumption
outlet.
In
order
to
lure
viewers
away
from
their
DVRs
and
for
cable/OTT
box
(Over
The
Top)
companies
to
remain
competitive,
they
will
have
to
continue
offering
even
more
content.
There
are
two
sidecars
to
this.
One,
is
that
all
content
comes
with
a
licensing
cost.
The
more
content
offered,
the
greater
price
cable/OTT
box
service
companies
will
charge
to
subscribers
to
offset
those
costs.
Second,
it
takes
a
whole
production
team
to
create
the
kind
of
content
worthy
of
VOD.
If
“more”
is
the
future,
then
we
are
looking
at
an
industry
boom.
Rising
employment
rates
and
increased
funding
to
buff
up
film
programs
is
not
far
off.
But
not
just
for
studios,
lower
budget
indie
films
are
finding
the
VOD
outlet
a
more
feasible
means
to
reach
their
audience.
With
current
studio
productions
only
able
to
spit
out
a
handful
of
films
and
shows
at
a
time
due
to
sky
high
costs,
distributors
will
be
turning
more
to
independent
producers
for
content,
especially
if
it
costs
them
less
which
will
make
their
subscriber
costs
more
competitive.
If
studio’s
want
in
on
the
game,
they
just
may
partner
up
more
with
these
little
independent
production
companies.
With
this
increase
in
diversification
of
our
content
creation
players,
I
predict
we
will
see
much
greater
creative
output
which
no
doubt
will
send
us
into
a
new
renaissance
for
the
arts.
Fourth,
DAI
(Dynamic
Ad
Insertion),
the
ability
to
replace
outdated
commercials
from
original
broadcast
on
VOD
with
more
timeless
local
commercials
allows
content
distributors
and
networks
to
monetize
otherwise
stale
inventory
and
allows
smaller
local
companies
a
more
affordable
way
to
break
into
advertising
in
the
digital
streaming
world
in
only
their
targeted
market.
Although
still
in
its
infancy,
DAI
is
well
on
its
way
to
taking
over
and
being
available
for
all
ad
inventory.
To
sum
up,
analytics
tells
us
short-­‐form
and
photo
stories
are
becoming
more
prevalent,
allowing
content
providers
and
distributors
another
revenue
stream
by
giving
advertisers
this
additional
means
to
reach
consumers.
Personalization
and

3. localization
with
the
DAI
of
ads
and
personalization
of
creative
content
is
the
foreseeable
direction
of
the
future.
It
is
an
opportunity
to
drive
the
economy
with
its
more
personal
impact.
VOD
is
not
only
looking
towards
being
the
main
means
of
content
consumption,
but
is
driving
the
creation
of
even
more
content
and
more
players
into
the
field.
Even
though
the
cost
of
content
subscription
services
will
likely
increase,
with
the
new,
more
affordable
and
localized
ad
inventory
now
available
through
VOD,
it
will
result
in
more
ad
dollars,
which
will
fuel
the
digital
entertainment
industry.
With
more
dollars
and
more
diversification
of
players
in
the
game,
the
next
renaissance
is
right
around
the
corner.
REFERENCES
[1]
Take
This
Lollipop.
Wikipedia.
May
25,
2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_This_Lollipop
[2]
Take
This
Lollipop.
http://www.takethislollipop.com
[3]
McKinsey&Company.
Global
Media
Report
2014.
2014.

4. [4]
The
Networks
Are
Eager
to
Get
You
On
Demand
and
Off
Your
DVR.
TVGuide.com.
Michael
Schneider.
September
24,
2014.
http://www.tvguide.com/news/networks-­‐vod-­‐ratings-­‐dvr-­‐1087477/.