Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow… this time, it doesn’t just creep pettily from day to day; in fact, many of us are extremely anxious for tomorrow to come faster. And all because of… the Oscars! But, as with so many things that are extremely important for business and culture, not everyone will be lucky enough to watch the Oscars come tomorrow eve.

The Guardian stated it plainly: there’s no more „American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards„, only the newly rebranded the Oscars, as the prestigious award dumps the old, musty tuxedo-like name of the old for the sexy, sleek new 140-character-ready title of the new. The „it” factor of the Oscars is not accidental: the 85th ceremony will also mark one of the first times ABC (the official broadcaster of the gala) gets fully invested into the online streaming of the event. This is why your next Oscar-related scoop will most likely come straight from the official Oscars website.

And so it should. Apparently, according to Forbes.com, Grammys were watched by 750 000 people exclusively via the Internet earlier this year. There’s an even more astounding figure of 24 million people that exchanged opinions over the social networks regarding the auspicious music awards show. Clearly, this is a great and still largely untapped market for various goods and services usually been hawked at the intermission – called a commercial break in the cinema and TV era, and called an interstitial, popup or overlay ad nowadays.

There’re indeed many future implications for advertisers and content publishers out there, but even more so for the service providers themselves. According to a recent research conducted by Conviva, an online audience research company, the new generation of online denizens are very fussy about their connections. Two factors in particular are cited as major hurdles. The first one is quality of the streamed video – a major concern in the era of HD portable devices like Kindle Fire, but one that is rather easily amended with high-def streaming. The second obstacle is much harder to overcome, and it’s about buffer-free video feeds.

Buffer-free in essence means being able to watch a video without the dreadful „rotating circle” or percentile meter in the middle of the screen when the video hangs for a bit, while the video player is trying to download the rest of the file in the background. Usually this indicates a slowdown in one’s Internet connection, but as it turns out, more often than not it’s the streaming content provider’s fault. And as Conviva’s research shows, it only takes an average of just 2 seconds for a viewer to get bored with the unresponsive video and shut it down, shutting down commercials with it. Clearly, this is a generation of very impulsive watchers, and even more impulsive buyers. It’s vital, therefore, for companies to ensure that viral videos and ads that come along with them are all streamed seamlessly and without delays.

Unhindered video streaming is especially crucial for wireless connectivity. Another piece of research, this time from IGR-inc (an analyst company in the telecom sector) extrapolates the trends from the last decade or so of Wi-Fi presence into the future. According to their predictions, by 2017 bandwidth usage via the wireless services will grow tenfold, with customers paying a larger bill as a result. But that larger bill will not be a common fixed monthly fee; instead, the so-called meter plans will become the new normal come 2017.

Already the big boys are taking notice, and it’s no surprise that some companies feature more prominently during the Oscar Sunday. Traditionally, only the Academy Award Show sponsors are even allowed to show their ads, with no competing shows or brands allowed. Samsung in particular is extremely aggressive in their ad campaign this year, including the Oscar show. For starters, they’re pretty much dominating the online ad space for the Oscar-related buzz – don’t be surprised if you see an interstitial or a floating ad for the new Galaxy tablet or a Smart TV from Samsung while you’re watching an online red-carpet feed tomorrow night. In addition, Samsung go all in into apps that support native streaming of Netflix, YT, Hulu, Amazon and many other streaming content providers out there.

But clearly, in the new landscape of media it’s as important to have an app for everything as it is to stay connected to your community. The Livestream-driven Oscar stream site features prominent side-by-side widgets that connect directly to Twitter and Facebook, making it a breeze to exchange opinions on what is streamed as it happens. On the face of things, they’re ready to make sure everyone stays connected… But, as it usually is with big broadcasting, there’s a catch.

The biggest problem folks have is the localization of the event’s broadcasting. ABC has the exclusive right to televise the proceedings, and they watch it like a hawk; other channels in the US and overseas have to contend with second-hand reporting until 2020, when ABC’s contract runs out. Apparently, this also means no out-of-US viewing online. The Oscars app, supposedly available here will not be downloadable outside of the US, Canada and UK. It’s pretty ironic, considering the Oscars are watched by millions outside of the US  – but more often than not, a day later, in a recap rather than via a live feed.

So it’s likely that you’re going to end up with a retransmission or just red-carpet coverage instead of the real deal at the Dolby Theatre… even though you’re going to most likely be watching it online, and share it with your friends on Twitter of FB. So see you there – just a few hours AFTER the event itself!

VOCABULARY
anxious – zaniepokojony
eve – wieczór, wigilia (święta, wydarzenia)
plainly – prosto
motion picture arts – sztuki filmowe
award – nagroda
to rebrand – odnowić/zmienić koncepcję marki
to dump – porzucić, odrzucić
tuxedo – smoking
sleek – wysmukły, elegancki
to mark – odznaczyć, charakteryzować
broadcaster – nadawca, stacja nadająca dany program
streaming – nadawanie strumieniowe (wideo/audio)
event – wydarzenie
scoop – poufna informacja, cynk
according to – zgodnie z, według
exclusively – wyłącznie
via – za pośrednictwem
astounding – zdumiewający
figure – liczba
regarding – odnośnie (do)
auspicious – odświętny, uroczysty
untapped – niewykorzystany (zasób)
various – rozmaity
to hawk – opylać, sprzedawać
intermission – przerwa (w spektaklu)
commercial break – przerwa reklamowa
interstitial – reklama na całą stronę (przy przejściu między stronami)
popup – reklama w wyskakującym oknie
overlay – osadzony, nakładany (na coś)
ad (advertisement) – reklama
content – zawartość, treść
research – badanie, badania
to conduct – przeprowadzić
denizen – mieszkaniec
to be fussy about sth – być wybrednym w jakiejś kwestii
to cite – przytaczać
hurdle – przeszkoda
concern – obawa, troska
portable – przenośny
device – urządzenie
to amend – naprawić
to overcome – przezwyciężyć
buffer-free – niebuforowany, wolny od buforowania
feed – kanał informacyjny/RSS
dreadful – okropny
percentile meter – miernik procentowy
to hang – zawiesić się
to download – ściągnąć (dane z Internetu)
in the background – w tle
to indicate – oznaczać, określać
slowdown – spowolnienie
to turn out – okazać się
content – zawartość, treść
fault – wina
average – przeciętny, średni
unresponsive – niereagujący, nieodpowiadający (np. na bodźce)
to shut sth down – wyłączyć coś
vital – decydujący, niezbędny
to ensure – zapewnić
seamlessly – nieprzerwanie, bez przerw
delay – opóźnienie
unhindered – nieograniczony, niepohamowany
crucial – ważny, istotny
wireless connectivity – łączność bezprzewodowa
to extrapolate – ekstrapolować, przewidywać
prediction – prognoza, przewidywanie
bandwidth – pasmo, szerokość pasma internetowego
tenfold – dziesięciokrotnie
fixed – ustalony, stały
fee – stawka, opłata
so-called – tak zwany
meter plan – taryfa przesyłowa (płacisz za tyle danych, ile faktycznie ściągniesz/wyślesz)
big boys – grube ryby
to take notice – zauważyć, zwrócić (na coś) uwagę
to feature – przedstawiać
prominently – widocznie, wyraźnie
competing – rywalizujący
for starters – na początku, po pierwsze
buzz – szum medialny
floating – unoszący się, latający
red-carpet – galowy, dotyczący gali
app – aplikacja mobilna
native – natywny, obsługiwany domyślnie
landscape – krajobraz
community – społeczność
a breeze – kaszka z mleczkiem, łatwizna
on the face of things – pozornie, na pozór
catch – haczyk
folks – ludzie
to televise – nadawać (TV), transmitować (TV)
proceedings – wydarzenia
to watch sth like a hawk – pilnować czegoś jak źrenicy oka
to have to contend with sth – być zmuszonym do czegoś, musieć pocieszyć się czymś
second-hand – z drugiej ręki
to run out – skończyć się
supposedly – pozornie, podobno
considering that… – zważywszy, że…
recap – podsumowanie (najważniejszych wydarzeń), rekapitulacja
to end up with sth – skończyć z czymś
coverage – relacja, sprawozdanie
the real deal – prawdziwa rzecz, coś autentycznego

-by Prochor Aniszczuk

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