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Twitch’s peak viewing numbers rival CNN and MTV’s prime-time audience

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/30/twitch-peak-viewing-numbers/

So we know that Twitch’s online broadcasts trump those of WWE and traditional sports, but how does it stack up against cable networks like CNN? According to the New York Times, the game-streaming giant’s peak viewership numbers have surpassed the average prime-time viewers for Headline News, CNN, E!, MSNBC and TruTV since this January. At its best, Twitch had over 720,000 viewers in July alone, but as the NYT points out, it’s still pretty far behind the likes of Netflix and YouTube when it comes to total hours-viewed per month. It’s all pretty fascinating stuff, and there are even breakdowns for what competitive gaming tournament broadcasts are getting the most eyes, too. Spoiler: for this month it’s Riot Games’ League of Legends. Considering that we’ve seen Twitch expanding into more than just gaming broadcasts recently (hosting concerts and even entire conventions) it’s pretty likely that the outfit’s numbers will only continue to climb. Surely Jeff Bezos wouldn’t mind.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Via: Joystiq

Source: New York Times

North American Digital Marketers Rank Key Goals and Challenges

source: http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/north-american-digital-marketers-rank-key-goals-and-challenges-45421/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

US Ad Spending Forecast to Reach New Peak Next Year

source: http://www.marketingcharts.com/traditional/us-ad-spending-forecast-to-reach-new-peak-next-year-45452/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

This Poker-Funded Startup Is Revolutionizing The Flower Industry

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bloomnation-is-disrupting-flower-delivery-services-2014-8

David Daneshgar, a world-famous poker player, was attending the University of Chicago’s business school when Farbod Shoraka, a friend from Daneshgar’s undergrad years at Berkeley, reached out to him. 

Shoraka’s aunt was a florist in Irvine, California, and had been telling Shoraka how services like Teleflora and 1-800-Flowers were hurting her local business. The two friends had used those companies to send flowers before, and were always disappointed with the results.

“The photos online didn’t match up with what was delivered,” Daneshgar said. “And so we noticed in that moment there was a huge disconnect.”

Companies like 1-800-Flowers and Teleflora are wire services, not flower specialists like local florists. This might not make any difference to customers at first, but it’s an important distinction.

When someone orders flowers from a wire service, they order a stock photo of a bouquet. The order then gets sent to a local florist who fills the order. But florists have a hard time making money; wire services eat up to 50% of the profits. So for every $60 bouquet you order, a florist only gets $30. The florists have to do their own deliveries for wire service orders, too.

“The florists say the same thing every time: ‘if a consumer just came to me directly and found me or called me they would get much better flowers.’ They would be a customer and not an order,” Daneshgar told Business Insider. “When you’re a florist and you’re getting that 50%, even if you’re doing an amazing job, the customer’s just going to go back to 1-800-Flowers and they’ll route it to any florist. There’s no retention. The florist doesn’t have the incentive. “&n! bsp;

When Daneshgar and Shoraka noticed this, it was around the same time they saw the prevalence of Etsy.

“We thought, ‘why isn’t there an Etsy for flowers?” Daneshgar said. “Why isn’t there a place where the florists can come together, put their own prices, make their own deliveries?'”

While Daneshgar’s classmates were going to Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs for internships between their first and second years of business school, Daneshgar, now-BloomNation CEO Shoraka, and Gregg Weisstein, BloomNation’s COO, decided to walk into a hundred different flower shops and ask what the florists there wanted. 

“When they realized what we were doing, the conversation would turn into two and a half hours. They’d make us tea, they’d vent,” Daneshgar said. “And they’d tell us what they wanted. But they’re florists, so they could never build it. They need a group of tech savvy nerds, and that’s where we came in.”

SEE ALSO: How One Flower Delivery Company Got Its Start From An Epic Poker Game

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drag2share: Real-Time Bidding Is Taking Over The Digital Ad Market

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/adOX1yZGDN0/the-programmatic-and-rtb-ad-report-2014-8

Google May Release Two New Smartphones This Year, And One Of Them Will Be Gigantic (GOOG)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-google-nexus-smartphones-2014-8

Google is reportedly planning to release two new smartphones this year, one with a 5.9-inch screen and another with a 5.2-inch display, according to Phone Arena’s Michael Heller.

Rumors about Google’s next smartphone have been circulating the Web for months.

We first heard that Google is planning to launch a giant phablet-sized Nexus phone back in July, when Android Police said the device would debut in November. The phone was believed to be a joint effort between Google and Motorola, but Android Police’s report suggests it will launch under Google’s Nexus brand.

At the same time, Motorola has been rumored to be working on two new smartphones — its flagship successor to the Moto X known as the Moto X+1, and a separate device called the Moto S. 

Motorola is believed to be testing two different model sizes for this Moto S — a 5.2-inch version and a 5.9-inch variant. This isn’t to be confused with Google’s alleged Nexus X, since Phone Arena says a 5.9-inch Nexus X is already scheduled to go to market. From what we understand, it sounds like the Moto S is a separate device and Motorola is testing it in two different sizes.

Which size makes it to market will depend on the success of the Moto X+1, which is said to be slightly larger than the 4.7-inch Moto X. 

So how does this relate to Google’s new Nexus smartphones?  If Motorola decides to bring its 5.9-inch version of the Moto S to market instead of the 5.2-inch model, Google may repurpose that smaller Moto S and brand it as a second Nexus device. So, depending on Motorola’s choices, Google could launch a 5.9-inch Nexus phablet and a smaller 5.2-inch Nexus phone. 

A 5.9-inch screen is unusually large for a smartph! one. In fact, it’s just about one inch shy of a tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Mega, which comes in both 5.8- and 6.3-inch sizes, is the only other phablet that would compare in size to Google’s upcoming giant smartphone.

There’s no word on when we should expect these phones to debut, but last year Google quietly unveiled its Nexus 5 smartphone and Android 4.4 KitKat at the end of October. It’s also important to note that Google hasn’t confirmed any plans to release new smartphones in its Nexus line just yet. 

SEE ALSO: The Most Exciting Gadgets To Look Forward To In 2014

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