Yahoo Canada has launched a Canadian iteration of its online video service Screen, which debuted in the U.S. last fall.
The Yahoo Canada Screen service has what the company characterizes as “premium” video content. The site houses more than 25 original shows, including original video series including Burning Love (a spoof of reality TV dating shows) and documentarian Morgan Spurlock’s show Failure Club.
The site also aggregates videos from more than 30 partners and news organizations, including ET Canada, CBC and Canadian Press.
While the bulk of the scripted series on the Canadian Screen are U.S made, Dan Unger, Yahoo Canada’s head of media network, told Marketing he is hoping to have between five and 10 Canadian-specific content partnerships within the next year.
“We’re testing a lot of concepts to see what’s going to resonate with our audiences,” said Unger. “We’re looking to expand and make it a very localized experience for our audiences.”
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Unger said entertainment-related content such as the celebrity news round-up omg! Now and Primetime in No Time—which serves up clips and recaps from the previous night’s TV shows—has proven very popular with the U.S. version of Screen, along with Burning Love.
Unger said that content segments lasting between three and five minutes have proven the most successful at engaging audiences. There are exceptions however, with a typical Burning Love segment lasting between eight and nine minutes.
“We’re seeing really high activation rates where people are watching the whole show—which hasn’t necessarily happened in the past,” said Unger.
One of Screen’s highest-profile shows, Cybergeddon—which is debuting simultaneously in Canada and the U.S.—features an advertising partnership with the anti-virus software manufacturer Norton, but Unger said that Yahoo is also attracting advertising interest from the consumer packaged goods, financial and automotive categories.
The automotive category in particular has gravitated towards Screen in the U.S., said Unger, citing the show Ford Plugged In, in which 10 celebrity guides including actress Alicia Silverstone and TV chef Rocco DiSpirito attempt to help teams win a Ford Focus Electric.
“The automotive category is one that’s really important for Yahoo,” said Unger. “Automotive is a really critical category for broadcast, and I think we’re going to see the same thing in the online market.
According to the “BrightRoll Canada Video Advertising Report” prepared for IAB Canada in October 2011, Canadians are the global leaders in online video consumption, with the typical viewer consuming more than 20.2 hours of video per month.
Unger, too, cited comScore data which said that approximately 90% of the 23 million online Canadians are consuming online video on a monthly basis. Canadians are also avid online viewers, watching an average of 339 videos per month compared to 269 for online Americans.
“This is a telling sign, and as broadband penetration increases and more multi-device usage occurs, we’re going to see this grow and expand,” said Unger. “It’s really the reason Yahoo is focused on this area and continuing to invest.”
There is still ample room for online video to grow as an advertising category, however. According to the BrightRoll Canada report, video ad spending was a mere $37 million in 2010, accounting for just 2% of total online ad revenues.
A similar disparity exists in other markets such as the U.S. and the United Kingdom, where only 2% of online spending is going to online video despite the fact that 86% and 81% of the online population respectively is consuming online video.
Do you think Screen will be a viable media property in Canada? Post your thoughts in our comment section.
