The overarching goal has really been to increase the amount of video, the traffic from those videos, the engagement, and in the end, it’s all led to monetization.
CASE STUDY
How SNY increased their online video viewership and engagement with a video-first strategy
Learn how SNY was able to increase ad monetization with a laser focus on increasing their amount of video content, the traffic from those videos, and viewer engagement.
SNY is an Emmy Award winning, multiplatform regional sports network serving approximately seven million homes in the New York Metropolitan area and nine million homes across the country through exclusive coverage of the New York Mets, New York Jets and all things New York sports. Online, SNY.tv is the “go-to” digital communal home for New York sports fans to get succinct, easy-to-read updates, video highlights and features, recaps, news, opinion, rumors, insight and fan reaction on their favorite New York sports teams.
Broadcasting
New York City
Use Case
81
% Increase of average daily video views
84
% Increase average daily video watch time
108
% Increase in video views since 2020
The Challenge
With a goal to expand reach by producing new video content, getting viewers to engage with the content, and therefore increase ad revenue, SNY needed a reliable tech solution. With JW Player, SNY has been able to increase not just the amount of video that they’re producing, but also the engagement and ad revenue from regular video content. And all this during the global pandemic, when much of the New York sports world was halted and in-person games impossible.
Why SNY Chose JWP
“One of the major reasons why we chose JW Player over Brightcove and Kaltura was the ability to really engage our audiences with playlist technology, the ability to go live with the player, the various tools for tightening the metadata, and it’s a really nice looking player with all the right technical aspects,” said Kristin Lindsey-Cook Director of Digital Platforms & Strategy.
To increase engagement of their content (and thereby increasing their viewership and ad revenue), SNY uses analytics and custom reporting from JW Player to provide valuable insights in what works. That insight is relayed back to producers so content can be further optimized in the future. In one example of using analytics to optimize their content, SNY cut their intro branding for each video to under 3 seconds which increased viewership. “We provide content producers with a minute-by-minute look where people are dropping off and where people are continuing to engage,” said Zach Moretti, Manager of Business Intelligence and Social Strategy at SNY.
How JWP Responded
“We took advantage of the time during the pandemic to create about 12 different original franchises—serial content that could sustain us without game play,” said Kristin Lindsey-Cook. With fresh, new original content, SNY was able to utilize JW Player to streamline new ways to engage with not just their existing audience, but bring in new audiences. “In the past, video would just go out to any platform. We weren’t acquiring new users through video.”
Using JWP to host video exclusively on their owned and operated website rather than social media platforms, SNY was able to increase their engagement and advertising revenue. With original programming alongside sports broadcast content, SNY still uses social media to tease their original video content and bring new viewers back to their site where they can monetize their video content.
81
% Increase of average daily video views
84
% Increase average daily video watch time
108
% Increase in video views since 2020
The Results
Using JW Player’s Video Player, Video Streaming and Analytics with a robust content strategy utilizing playlists, SNY managed to increase their video viewership. Since transitioning to JW Player in July 2020, SNY’s average daily video views are up 81% vs. their 2019 daily average. With detailed analytics, custom reporting, and a digital-first strategy, SNY has not only increased their viewership with new audiences, but also increased their user engagement and time-on-site. SNY’s average daily video watch time is up 84% vs. their 2019 daily average since enabling a digital-first content strategy with JW Player.