Theater chain AMC has partnered with MoviePass, a company that charges moviegoers a subscription fee to attend movie screenings at participating theaters (up to one film per day for a monthly fee). Subscribers will have the option to pay $35 for standard screenings or a $45 premium fee for access to IMAX and 3D features. AMC announced the partnership with MoviePass shortly after reports from Nielsen showed that attendance for young moviegoers continued to drop this year.  Continue reading AMC Teams with MoviePass to Get Millennials Back in Theaters

Nielsen’s 2014 report for movie theater attendance shows that moviegoers aged 12-24 are making fewer trips to the theater compared to previous years. This year’s summer box office was reportedly the weakest of any summer for the past eight years. Nielsen’s numbers also reveal that streaming movies and TV shows has become the preferred alternative for Hollywood’s most coveted demographic. Americans 12-24 told Nielsen they saw 15 percent fewer films in theaters compared to 2013. Continue reading Nielsen: Streaming Impacts Theater Attendance Among Digitals

Nielsen is planning to begin measurement of viewership ratings next month of television shows streamed on subscription online video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video. Nielsen will analyze the audio of programs to identify which shows are being streamed, a new measurement capability that does not require the approval of the streaming services. The data could impact how business is conducted between the services and the studios that license content. Continue reading Nielsen Planning to Measure TV Viewing via Streaming Services

Nielsen, the company that provides data about what people watch, listen to, and purchase, is calling for a new set of rating standards due to the growing popularity of accessing media content via tablets and other devices. This statement came after Viacom’s recent criticism of Nielsen, claiming that the research firm is outdated because the ratings do not consider digital viewing methods. Nielsen admits that its ratings for broadcast networks have been inaccurate for seven months now. Continue reading Nielsen Calls for Updated Ratings Standards to Address Digital

According to a recent Piper Jaffray study, contrary to popular belief, teenagers have yet to abandon the MP3 as the traditional way to listen to music. Given a sample of about 7,200 teens, Piper Jaffray concluded that nearly 42 percent preferred an MP3 player to Pandora, local radio, CDs, Sirius XM and other streaming services. This data however, omits key trends, including the use of Spotify and YouTube, and may not be the best interpretation of how teenagers listen to music today. Continue reading New Study: The Mystery Behind the Way Teens Listen to Music

Nielsen, in partnership with Adobe, is developing the first measurement system for tracking the consumption of digital media across apps, the Web and smart TVs. The system is expected to launch commercially in 2015. ESPN, Sony Pictures Television’s Crackle, Turner Broadcasting, Univision Communications, and Viacom have already signed up to participate. Adobe Analytics and Adobe Primetime will be integrated with Nielsen’s digital measurement tracking tools to create the system. Continue reading Nielsen, Adobe to Launch Cross-Platform Measurement System

According to a KPMG study, Hollywood is now offering more content through legal digital venues than ever before. As of the end of 2013, 94 percent of the 808 top films analyzed by KPMG were available legally for U.S. consumers through online VOD services, while 85 percent of the 724 most popular and critically acclaimed TV shows were also available. In related news, the amount of Netflix streaming video has grown 350 percent in the last 10 quarters, and now averages 93.2 minutes per subscriber daily. Continue reading Study: More Top Movies and TV Shows Available Legally Online

A recent study from Twitter shows that live-tweeting from an actor’s account can boost the volume of conversation on the social network. Series premieres with live-tweeting cast-members had 64 percent more tweets that day than TV shows that did not. The difference for live-tweeting from the show’s official handle was only a seven percent increase. Twitter says actors also generate a significant following when they live-tweet. Their lift in follow rate increases by 228 percent. Continue reading Study: Live-Tweeting Actors Drive Engagement, Good for Shows

Ratings service Nielsen is starting to replace its traditional paper diaries with electronic devices it has developed to measure local TV viewership. Nielsen’s diary-based system, which has been in place in varied formats for at least 60 years, will eventually be retired. To start, the dismantling will affect 14 of the 154 markets in which hand-written viewing diaries are still used to collect data. The new devices will “listen” to the audio portion of shows that are being viewed by consumers. Continue reading Nielsen is Finally Going Electronic, Diaries on Their Way Out

Google has acquired mobile startup Polar, to bring the founder Luke Wroblewski and his team to Google+. Polar developed online polling technology for clients such as HBO, TechCrunch and USA Today to poll their users on mobile websites and apps. At Google, the new hires are expected to work on optimizing Google’s struggling social network for the mobile platform. Wroblewski is a prominent mobile designer and author of the book, “Mobile First.” Continue reading Google Acquires Mobile Startup Polar to Reinvigorate Google+

Twitter has announced its trial run of a “Buy” button on tweets, which enables users to make purchases directly from their Twitter feeds. So far, Twitter has announced that it will test this new feature with a variety of retailers, nonprofits, and musicians, but movie purchases may not be far behind. Fandango, for example, has already launched a “Twitter Card” feature, which redirects users to the Fandango site so they can buy movie tickets. The “Buy” button is currently being tested by a select number of Twitter users. Continue reading Make Purchases from Your Twitter Feed with New Buy Button

Millennials have more smartphones than any other age group in the U.S., currently at 85 percent. Statistics show that nearly 43 percent of these users opt for iPhones while 52 percent prefer Android devices. The choice to use Android is based on cost rather than software or hardware. Millennials spend 37 hours per month on their phones, most commonly engaged with social networking, entertainment and messaging. Users 25 to 44 use the most apps, an important statistic for developers. Continue reading Millennials Represent the Largest Number of Smartphone Users

Nielsen reports that the number of hours people ages 12 to 17 watch traditional television has dropped seven percent in the last five years, indicating that teens watch less television than any other age group. Meanwhile, over 75 percent of this age group use Facebook and 25 percent use Instagram. Recent statistics have highlighted a shift in younger viewers’ habits from traditional television programming to digital short form content such as YouTube, Vine and Instagram videos. Continue reading Teens Shifting From Traditional TV Content to Online Videos

Each month, almost 100 million people use song-recognition app Shazam. Many shows and ads integrate Shazam to supply special offers or exclusive content. The app now plans to launch Resonate, a sales platform to help television networks monetize the viewers that use second screens while watching television. The platform aims to help network partners exert more control over the messages and content users receive when using Shazam while watching TV.  Continue reading Second Screen: Shazam Unveils Sales Platform for TV Networks

RightThisMinute, a TV show that focuses solely on online videos, has become the number one syndicated new show in the U.S. The show airs on HLN and local channels, with two million viewers per half-hour episode. Because the show consists only of online videos, rather than hiring writers, the producers and talent search for featured videos. The popularity of the show highlights a shift that makes the second screen — featuring content from YouTube, Hulu and Netflix — our first screen. Continue reading TV Show Highlighting Popular Online Videos Tops Syndication