Aiming to counter the growing sense that shows announced during the NewFronts either fail to launch or quickly get canceled in a life cycle far more compressed than even kneejerk broadcast TV's Condé Nast Entertainment said it has renewed 62% of its digital series for another cycle during the 2016-17 season.
CNÉ also added Comcast (through its VOD and Watchable arms) to its roster of 50 distribution partnerships. It rolled out a new version of aggregation platform The Scene, which features content from an array of suppliers, and an expansion of its incubator programs designed to discover and develop creative talent. The rebooted Scene also features a new mobile app. The NBA has joined the list of outside contributors to the Scene.
“We’ve been at the forefront of the digital video revolution since the beginning, and are pleased to announce the expansion of our network with significant developments in content, distribution, data capabilities and measurement,” CNÉ president Dawn Ostroff said. “Today, through cutting-edge partnerships and content innovation, our high powered video network produces more than 4,000 videos annually, and we’re programming to the next generation of audiences in compelling and resonant ways across every platform that matters.”
Related: Digital Video Market Surges Into NewFronts
Execs also noted CNÉ reaches 70% of "cultured millennials" in the U.S.
"It’s that storytelling expertise coupled with our deep data capabilities that allows us to offer advertisers innovative programs in elevated and creative environments that they can’t find anywhere else,” said Lisa Valentino, CNÉ chief revenue officer.
CNÉ also announced a partnership with Simple Reach on a new dashboard that will provide a lens into branded content video performance across every distribution outlet and will launch in early fall 2016.
Related: Condé Nast Entertainment Launches Studio
The company, known for its stable of premium magazine brands such as Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, launched its digital video arm in 2013 and hired TV vet Ostroff to run it. Over its three-year run, CNÉ has worked busily across platforms, expanding into feature films, VR and television. It has five TV series currently in production, a scripted first-look deal at Fox, and has sold pilots to several networks. Its first feature film, The First Monday in May, about the Met Costume Ball (which Vogue's Anna Wintour spearheads), opened last month's Tribeca Film Festival. Its next film, Army of One, is due out later this year.
