Digital

As the historic events unfolded on Capitol Hill during the afternoon and evening of Jan. 6, people around the world tuned into news networks and social media to follow what was happening. The TV networks also harnessed social platforms such as YouTube to share breaking news, videos and more as the Capitol was thrown into chaos.

“I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter,“ Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wrote. But he added: ”I believe this was the right decision for Twitter.” Dorsey acknowledged that shows of strength like the Trump ban could set dangerous precedents, even calling them a sign of “failure.” Although not in so many words, Dorsey suggested that Twitter needs to find ways to avoid having to make such decisions in the first place.

Joe Mancini: To analyze critical audience data collected via their OTT services, media companies should call on “citizen data scientists” using powerful AI software to crunch data and isolate trends.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau this morning unveiled highlights of the agenda for its annual conference, which will be held virtually March 8-12, and which will feature speakers such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sen. Ron Wyden and WPP CEO Mark Read.

ViacomCBS and Dish Media said they began delivering addressable advertising impressions during live national broadcast network inventory using technology developed with Adcuratio Media.
A number of campaigns have run across Dish’s footprint in certain markets where CBS owns TV stations. The campaign’s target viewers at the household level via Dish set top boxes.

She is tapped to oversee the station group’s digital content teams as senior director and managing editor.

The encrypted messaging services have become the world’s hottest apps over the last week, driven by growing anxiety over the power of the biggest tech companies and privacy concerns.

In response to a question on his last press call, outgoing FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he has some issues with the permanent bans on President Trump’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, adding that he recognized the country was going through difficult times “and these are difficult questions to confront.”

Google will suspend political ads along with any reference to “impeachment, inauguration or protests at the U.S. Capitol” beginning Thursday. The ban will run through the day after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on several platforms.

Snapchat has permanently banned President Trump’s account for his “attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech and incite violence,” a company spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap on Wednesday. “Last week we announced an indefinite suspension of President Trump’s Snapchat account, and have been assessing what long term action is in the best interest of our Snapchat community,” a Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, who is widely expected to be named acting FCC chair next week — and perhaps more than acting — used a portion of her statement on the FCC’s first meeting of the new year and last meeting for chairman Ajit Pai to talk a little about the recent violence at the Capitol from the vantage of someone who frequented its halls as a top staffer.

This was supposed to be the year when digital ad spending loosened up again after double-digit losses last year. However, some media buyers hit an immediate pause following last week’s Capitol siege.

Fringe social media networks are seeing their user bases swell in the aftermath of last week’s insurrection at the Capitol building and the subsequent banning of President Trump and some of his loudest supporters from Facebook and Twitter.

Nielsen on Tuesday announced the launch of a new service measuring viewing to theatrical films released direct-to-consumers via streaming services. Speaking during a session at the CES conference, Nielsen executives said the new theatrical video-on-demand audience measurement service was launched in response to pandemic’s impact on studios accelerating direct-to-consumer streaming of new films, often launched in conjunction with or in lieu of cinema releases.

YouTube announced that it will temporarily suspend President Donald Trump’s official account for at least seven days. The video sharing platform now joins a number of internet apps, including Twitter and Snapchat, that have limited the president’s access following his involvement in last Wednesday’s violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, which left at least six people dead.

When it comes to mobile apps, broadcasters still face a range of options from a single- or multiple-app approach to adopting back-end tech allowing user personalization. But some goals remain constant: keeping users on owned-and-operated mobile platforms over social and monetizing the experience wherever possible.

FuboTV shares are riding high again after the emerging company announced it is acquiring sports betting startup Vigtory and will use it to launch a full-fledged sportsbook later this year. Terms were not disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter. It positions Fubo, which was founded in 2015 as an internet-delivered pay-TV operator akin to YouTube TV, as more of a hybrid company.

In addition to heading the new streaming service, he will retain his role as executive vice president of marketing at Fox News Media.

Spanish-language broadcast giant Univision today announced first quarter launch plans for PrendeTV, joining the crowded streaming market with a free, add-supported service created for the U.S. Hispanic audience. It will featuring premium 100% Spanish-language programming, debuting with over 30 channels and 10,000 hours of video-on-demand content in Spanish from global partners.

The company adds media veterans to augment monetization efforts fueled by Latinos’ growing video consumption across all platforms. Ezequiel Fonseca Zas is named SVP, revenue strategy and distribution and Malu Carmona-Botana joins as content monetization VP.

As new and more graphic videos of the mayhem emerged on social media and TV, the enormity of what happened only deepened.

Facebook is halting all political spending until at least next quarter, company communications director Andy Stone confirmed Monday. The decision comes after Facebook indefinitely suspended President Trump from its platform last week, following the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol.

Twitter shares plunged by more than 10% Monday in early morning trading following the social media giant’s move to ban President Trump, reflecting fears of political retribution and financial fallout stemming from the company’s decision.