Ahead of Digital Content NewFronts, a new study revealed that except for Hulu and YouTube, many of the companies presenting aren’t generating much consumer interest in their digital content.
While 57% and 32% of Americans who have watched original digital content in the last year are excited for content from YouTube and Hulu, respectively, only 2% are excited for digital content from Conde Nast.
Those findings according to the 2018 Digital Content NewFronts Sentiment Forecast from Matrix Solutions, which commissioned YouGov to poll the views of a representative sample of 1,319 American adults online. The findings are limited to companies participating in NewFronts, which does not feature presentations from major digital content players like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
NewFronts take place April 30 through May 4 in New York City and will feature content preview events from Viacom, Twitter, Disney Digital Network, Oath, ESPN, Refinery29, Meredith, Group Nine, Vice Media and others. The annual event is organized by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
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When many of those companies take the stage, they’ll be fighting against some rather stagnant levels of consumer interest. According to the study, 1 in 6 respondents reported excitement on original digital content from BBC News (17%) and ESPN (16%); 1 in 7 (14%) are excited about original digital content from Twitter; 1 in 10 (10%) are excited about original content from the New York Times; 1 in 11 (9%) are excited about original digital content from Viacom (i.e. Nickelodeon, MTV); 7% are excited about original digital content from Disney Digital and Oath (i.e. TechCrunch and Engadget); and 6% are excited about content from Fusion Media Group (i.e. The Onion, Fusion, Gizmodo).
“Legacy media brands, like the New York Times, don’t suffer in terms of brand recognition for their reporting, but, as suggested by our data, they are experiencing a lack of awareness around their original digital video content,” said Mark Gorman, CEO at Matrix Solutions, in a statement. “The ‘pivot to video’ for publishers is still in its early stages and, as such, it may take a while for consumers to begin associating original video content with the Times and the BBC in the same way they do with YouTube and Hulu. Traditional and lesser known media companies might want to consider rethinking their approach to video and how they promote it. If it begins resonating more with everyday people, brands and advertisers are more likely going to want to be a part of it.”