Digital Content NewFronts held near the Hudson River in New York’s West Village saw attendance by around 700 marketers in Turner Broadcasting interactive event, where they experienced a range of innovative and exciting digital presentations. They touched and leaned into pliable, synthetic walls that allowed them to watch and listen to videos from Turner Broadcasting’s digital platforms like CNN Digital, Bleacher Report and Great Big Story.
Dave Finocchio, CEO, Bleacher Report, inaugurated the show by making a virtual appearance on screen although he was there on site. Casey Neistat, a social icon and partner at CNN was also present at the event; he announced that his viral-news-styled program which is eagerly awaited will be launched in two-three months. And then, Jeff Zucker, chief of CNN, announced that exclusive videos of Ted Talks will soon be distributed from that popular tech events platform.
It was Turner’s 2012 acquisition, Bleacher Report, which seemed to be toast of the event. More than 400 million millennials regularly visit Bleacher Report and consume the content for good measure. This explains why social and mobile are the key to success. With 4.3 million followers on Instagram, where it is gaining 8,000 followers every day, Bleacher Report is the platform to look for. This hub of millennials uses Facebook and YouTube to viral its videos and GIFs. Finocchio said, “Young people have a really low tolerance content that isn’t relevant to them. Don’t miss the boat marketing to a [sports] culture that no longer exists.”
Bleacher Report’s focus on basketball may be good idea, since it is growing internationally and is on the way to become the second most followed sport after fútbol. The site gets about 30-35% of its traffic from overseas especially during the English Premier League, one of soccer’s biggest annual events. In fact, half of its social engagement is driven by traffic from overseas. “Whether or not (basketball) gets to where people really care about whether a team loses or not, I don’t know. But the players and the culture of basketball resonate globally,” said Finnochio.