Grabyo

Cloud-based video production, editing and distribution.

Periscope

International Champions Cup partners with Grabyo to meet the demands of its global audience

The International Champions Cup (ICC) has partnered with Grabyo to provide its global media teams with the tools to share in-play video highlights, whilst activating campaigns for sponsors and brand partners during this summer’s Tournament.

Now in its sixth edition, the ICC, owned and operated by Relevent, is a key event in the global soccer calendar. The ICC has teamed up with Grabyo to increase the amount of content shared through its social and digital channels, including the creation of new, digital-first live programming using Grabyo Producer.

ICC’s digital teams in the United States, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Austria will use Grabyo to amplify distribution of live streams and real-time highlights across social platforms.

The partnership will allow the ICC to work with sponsors and brand partners during the competition to provide new revenue streams and engagement through social video distribution. Grabyo provides a streamlined workflow for sharing branded content to Facebook, monetizing clips with in-stream Twitter ads and through YouTube Content ID. The ICC will be able to monetize clips in seconds from anywhere in the world.

Using Grabyo we can leverage each social platform to create new live experiences for our global audience, while also integrating sponsorship in a meaningful way. – Max McGongile

This year, the ICC will also be creating exclusive live content in and around the matches. This will include pre and post-game shows broadcast live on social channels to further drive engagement around the competition. With engagement peaking during live games, these ancillary broadcasts will be another chance to distribute ICC content globally, further expanding its audience.

“We are excited to be partnering with Grabyo for the ICC this year, it’s important for 18 of the best clubs in the world playing 27 matches across the United States, Europe and Singapore, to have the best available tools for publishing video content in real-time,” stated Max McGonigle, Manager of Marketing Solutions at Relevent. “This year the ICC is looking to drive more engaging, fan-first content, in and around each match. Using Grabyo we can leverage each social platform to create new live experiences for our global audience, while also integrating sponsorship in a meaningful way.”

The ICC will also using Grabyo to automatically clip highlights from the matches using sports data feeds. The ICC can trigger automated video clips from key events such as a goal, save, penalty decision or red card. Grabyo uses Opta Sports data to find these moments and then automatically clips the content, in real-time, for distribution to a range of digital platforms.

In support of this growing partnership, Grabyo has added new features to its platform, bringing the best possible experience to its audience. Recent updates include the addition of live social comment moderation, GIFs, image capture and live graphics authoring for digital broadcasts. For more information on Grabyo or to get access to a demo account, please contact us here. 

Turner Sports amplifies real-time video highlights and sponsor activation with Grabyo

Ahead of the 2017/18 NBA season, Turner Sports joined forces with Grabyo to amplify the amount of real-time video highlights shared to its social platforms and to generate new revenue streams through branded content and sponsored posts.

Using Grabyo’s live clipping and editing tools the Turner Sports social team was able to maximize the amount of real-time content shared to Facebook, Twitter, Periscope and Instagram for the @NBATV and @NBAonTNT handles. During the Playoffs, more than 2,000 clips were shared from Grabyo to these social pages by the Turner Sports social team.

The NBA is one of the most popular sports on social media. Millions of fans engage with more real-time clips and highlights every day. With Grabyo, Turner delivered every big moment from the NBA Playoffs as they happened, resulting in increased distribution, engagement and views.

Grabyo has increased the speed at which the social team can publish content and the potential to activate commercial partnerships through branded video content and sponsorships. Grabyo’s browser-based video editor enables the digital teams to quickly edit the NBA feed into square and vertical highlights, which are optimized for distribution and viewing on social platforms including Twitter and Instagram.

Clips can have approved sponsor branding, attribution and post-roll bumpers added seamlessly for multiple sponsors. Turner has leveraged this capability by creating sponsorship campaigns on Twitter and Instagram for global partners including Cisco, EA Sports, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Jordan, Boost Mobile and Verizon go90. By using Grabyo and the social platforms, Turner can deliver an engaging branded content experience for its sponsors.

Turner also worked with Grabyo to expand its live social video and branded content offering around the 2018 NBA All-Star. Throughout the weekend, Turner delivered 15 live broadcasts, directly to its social pages on Facebook, YouTube, Periscope.

Using Grabyo, Turner created numerous new live experiences for fans across NBA All-Star weekend including an exclusive YouTube stream directly after the Taco Bell Skills Competition. The stream featured Grammy- winning artist Kendrick Lamar and was sponsored by American Express to create an exclusive social first partnership between the two.

To find out how Grabyo can assist in helping you distribute and share key moments from live events, contact us today.

The rise of vertical video in mobile, social feeds

Mobile video consumption continues to rise at a staggering rate. Now responsible for over 85% of all web traffic, mobile video is the most effective way to reach and engage audiences at scale.

Time spent on mobile devices has now surpassed TV viewing in the US, with 50% of time spent in social, messaging, media and entertainment applications. Driving this change is vertical video viewing, a format which reflects our user behavior – we hold our phones in an upright position.

As consumers spend an increasing proportion of their waking hours on mobile devices and social platforms, vertical videos are aligned with this trend. Social news feeds are vertical too, we scroll down and not across, accentuating the trend towards square and vertical video formats.

Facebook reported this month that vertical videos are generating higher watch times and more engagements than traditional 16:9 (horizontal) formats. With more than 1bn users logging into Facebook every day on mobile devices people want to watch videos without having to turn their phones around.

This trend has forced publishers to rethink content production, creating engaging and effective video that is optimized for vertical viewing and makes the most of the available screen real estate on mobile phones.

Facebook made a number of changes to the user experience in its News Feed to ensure the success of vertical video – sound now fades in and out as users scroll through video, and autoplay starts and finishes depending on where the video is within the screen. Ultimately, by removing the need to rotate devices, Facebook has increased watch time and user engagement – a key metric for every social media platform. Key stats from 2017 include:

  • Facebook garnered 8 billion video views per day and started supporting native vertical video
  • Periscope live broadcasts are measured in years watched – with 110 years worth of video watched per day, mainly in the vertical format
  • Instagram has 300 million daily active users and was an early adopter of vertical video

Filming in vertical format straight from a mobile phone is natural for content creators. This has contributed to Snapchat’s rapid growth and the even faster adoption of Stories and live streaming on Instagram. For broadcasters and federations looking to distribute live or near-live premium content, vertical video presents some challenges. Typical broadcast workflows are designed to create content in 16:9 and repurposing this in real time for digital platforms is not an efficient process.

Despite the production challenges for vertical video, the accelerating growth of mobile devices and benefits of vertical viewing means this format cannot be ignored. Grabyo provides tools that enable rights holders and publishers to quickly change the aspect ratio of live content to share in real-time across digital platforms. This means that content shot for horizontal viewing can be quickly converted to vertical format – whilst focusing on the key action within the shot. Content is not wasted and digital production teams can dramatically reduce the time spent repurposing content for mobile feeds.

Facebook found the optimum length of a vertical video to be around 15 seconds; these clips can quickly be created, optimized and distributed through Grabyo to capitalize on peak engagement around a live event or TV broadcast.

With multi-aspect ratios, GIFs and image capture, Grabyo continues to innovate digital video production for a live, mobile and social audience. Get in touch now to find out more.

The sun sets on SnappyTV

Twitter has announced its plans to stop supporting its SnappyTV service. The social media platform has notified a handful of TV broadcasters and other SnappyTV users that it plans to “sunset” the service, most likely putting it out of commission by the end of the year.

Twitter is looking to include some of the SnappyTV functionality in its new Media Studio, a tool for publishers to distribute and manage video content on the Twitter platform. However, it is not yet clear what the scope and capabilities for publishing clips outside of Twitter to platforms such as Facebook, YouTube; OVPs such as Comcast Technology Solutions, Brightcove and Ooyala; or analytics platforms such as Spredfast will be. This could see current SnappyTV users look at premium alternatives to meet their social video production and distribution needs.

With the need to produce real-time social and digital content now more important than ever, Grabyo empowers rights holders and broadcasters to deliver content to social, mobile and on-demand audiences, across multiple platforms.

The proliferation of content across social and digital channels has intensified the competition for consumer attention. The choice for what, where and how we watch is changing fast, but there are still only 24 hours in the day. If rights holders cannot be first to deliver content to their audience, in a format they prefer and on a platform they want…someone else will and social platforms tend to reward those who get there first. If content is King, then distribution is now Queen.

By embracing a premium social video platform such as Grabyo, you are able to share content, at the right time and in the right format, across the most popular social and digital platforms, accelerate video engagement, drive viral distribution and activate mobile audiences. Partnering with Grabyo enables broadcasters and rights holders to drive awareness, enhance fan engagement, generate new advertising/sponsorship revenues and grow their global audience by extending the scope of video experiences beyond the traditional TV broadcast schedule.

If Twitter is to reduce the capabilities of its clip sharing platform and if activating and monetizing mobile, social audiences in real-time forms part of your strategy, Grabyo is your platform of choice. Video clipping is just one of a broad suite of tools available on the Grabyo platform – making it easy to distribute video across multiple platforms in real time. Grabyo platform capabilities include:

  • Live Production and Video Streaming
  • Video Editing and Live Clipping
  • Social Publishing and Distribution
  • Video Monetization
  • Data Integration and Automation

For more information on Grabyo and how you can seamlessly move from SnappyTV, keeping live and real-time video distribution in your workflow alongside a direct integration with your current Amplify deals, please contact hello@grabyo.com or try Grabyo to arrange a demo today.

Grabyo launches Periscope Producer integration

With the latest update to Grabyo Studio, Grabyo customers will soon be able to reach an entirely new audience through Periscope.

Currently, in beta with a small number of customers, Grabyo’s new Periscope integration allows users to instantly broadcast live to Periscope through the simple click of a button. With push notifications to users and the ability to integrate and post directly to Twitter accounts, the use of Periscope opens up professional live streaming to a broad new audience on social.

broadcast live to periscope from desktop

Broadcast Live to Periscope

The new feature was piloted this weekend by BT Sport, who used Periscope alongside Facebook Live to broadcast the UFC 205 pre-fight press conference between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez live from Madison Square Garden.

BT Sport was able to stream live to Periscope in professional quality throughout UFC 205, ensuring their showcase event reached a new and engaged social audience.

New Periscope Audience

With the recent update to the Periscope app allowing users to become ‘super fans,’ brands and rights holders now have the potential to target Periscope users with specific live content, increasing their engagement and video retention rate.

Periscope has embraced the use of professional video content on its platform in a bid to rival the current popularity of Facebook Live. With the release of Periscope Producer users can generate a streaming link that can be entered into Grabyo Studio, from there you will see a preview of your stream in Periscope that can be shared publicly on the app. When your stream is live, you will have access to all the usual Periscope features, ensuring you can monitor your engagement and views.

This new feature provides an opportunity for publishers, rights holders and brands, to activate audiences on Periscope and Twitter that have been excluded from the recent growth of live streaming on Facebook and Youtube.

With Grabyo now able to provide high-quality Periscope streams to engaged audiences at the click of a button, it further confirms their status as the leading cloud-based video platform across live, mobile and social.

To be amongst the first to use Grabyo to broadcast professional quality video to Periscope, contact us here: hello@grabyo.com or try Grabyo for yourself.