Hearst-Argyle distributing video via YouTube
June 4th, 2007 | Posted by Todd Boes
The WSJ today explained that Hearst-Argyle Television and YouTube have forged a relationship whereby YouTube will distribute Hearst’s news, weather and entertainment videos. The deal means that revenues will be shared and marks the first time that TV stations will get paid for their video being viewed on YouTube.
Hearst-Argyle’s executive vice president is quoted in the article as saying…”we have great content and they have great distribution”.
It’s all about distributing your video content outside of your own network - syndication. Our upcoming webinar is going to detail the critical success factors that are necessary for broadband video syndication with our featured guest, Forrester’s James McQuivey.
The webcast is being held this Thursday, June 7th at 2pm EST - you can register here.
The fun truly never stops in Internet TV land
April 13th, 2007 | Posted by Todd Boes
It’s been a busy 36 hours (or so) and we’ve seen some big broadband TV news coming out of our nascent industry: On the heels of the NBC/News Corp. venture, CBS announced its own Interactive Audience Network to distribute programming through online platforms. And yesterday, Comcast announced it would buy Fandago (and not just because its execs wanted to go to see a movie). The new online entertainment destination, Fancast.com, will launch later this summer, possibly around the time of the NBC/News Corp. launch.
Opportunities abound for us brave souls who enjoy watching ITV, and if this recent news is any indication, this summer is gonna sizzle (and not just due to global warming).
Print Glory Days?
April 11th, 2007 | Posted by Todd Boes
With the advent of broadband video channels, you would’ve thought that the major media companies would be leaving their print brethren in the dust, but not so fast. It’s undeniably true that magazines and newspapers have struggled to stay relevant in their traditional formats…and conventional wisdom says that print publications will go the way of the dinosaur within the coming years. But these “antiquated” news and entertainment repositories have taken the broadband video market by the horns, creating their own Internet TV channels with original content, and even integrating online video into their Web sites.
During the past month, Hearst has launched online video channels for twelve of its magazines. Newspapers are redesigning their sites and increasing online video content. Print publications are making progress fast because they have a major advantage over the media companies – they don’t need to battle portals and intermediaries for control of their content because they’re creating it…to be broadcast online…ahhh, the beauty of broadband video.
This is a feel-good story we feel good about.
YouTube = YouLocate
April 9th, 2007 | Posted by Patrick O'Connor
According to a recent study by Vidmeter, less than one in 10 videos on YouTube were uploaded without the permission of copyright holders, and pirated clips that were pulled off the site attracted only 6 percent of viewers.
Accurate or not, one thing for sure is that YouTube isn’t the easiest place to locate specific broadband video content, copyrighted or not.
Viewers want to be able to quickly and easily find the programs of interest of them, and new Internet TV channels from major media and publishing companies like Hearst, CBS, NBC et al are making this a reality.
YouTube is starting to do its part to appease major media companies, but for those of us Internet video watchers lacking the time to scour a site for a particular clip, let’s see what they can do on the consumer front.
Lost is great as far as TV shows go, but it’s not a feeling that online consumers enjoy.
Networks’ Secret Sauce – Community
April 6th, 2007 | Posted by Patrick O'Connor
NBC is leading the web traffic race, leaving their major media counterparts behind - all because they offer MORE interactive content.
Yes, Content is King, but networks who jumped on the online video bandwagon last year are slowly learning that to drive traffic, they must meet user demand for social networking and user-generated capabilities – which we’ve seen make sites like MySpace and YouTube household names. In their announcement from earlier this week, NBC is answering consumer’s hunger with “The Office” Quotes Game and “30 Rock” Marry, Boff, or Kill.
Unlike traditional television, networks now have a colossal opportunity to interact with users, listen to their requests, incorporate their feedback, and ultimately deliver the experience they crave – IN MINUTES. In the end – what this also drives is revenue. If the consumer experience is there, the consumers are there, and if the consumers are there, you better believe the advertisers are too.
The online game is all about reinventing that consumer connection – therein lies the value of online video.
Take Me Out to the Ad Game… The Up Front Season is Approaching
April 4th, 2007 | Posted by Patrick O'Connor
Baseball season has arrived and fans are eager to see if their team is any good. After all teams aren’t fielded on intuition, how fast someone runs or how hard someone hits; rather they’re based on meticulously analyzed data and countless statistics in order to create the best team possible.
Analyzing data (metrics and stats) is integral to creating the best product possible, be it a baseball team or an ITV channel. The ability to collect in-depth stats associated with an online video channel is invaluable, especially when advertisers are at bat.
As the May upfront approaches and media companies look to fill their fall ad rosters, advertisers are becoming increasingly unhappy with the traditional TV medium and the audiences’ ability to skip over strategically placed commercials. ITV channels offer advertisers something new…increased measurability, in addition to an active and engaged audience.
“Moneyball” has migrated from the baseball diamond to the broadband diamond…and as for the “broadband upfront,” play ball!
Apparently old and new media can’t get along.
March 14th, 2007 | Posted by Todd Boes
I received an answer to the question I posed last week – about whether or not old and new media can get along. Instead of romantic walks between media companies and portals, we’re about to see some very messy breakups.
Yesterday Viacom sued Google citing “massive intentional copyright infringement” and is seeking $1 billion dollars in damages (about 2/3 of $1.65 billion - YouTube’s price tag when Google bought them in October). This begs the question – was the acquisition really worth it?
In hindsight, Napster was extremely popular but it didn’t take an expert to figure out that they were enabling copyright infringement. Similarly, it shouldn’t take an expert to recognize that YouTube is guilty of the same crime. The copyright risks were apparent from the start and Google should have recognized that it was the professional content that drove YouTube’s popularity. Audiences would rather watch highlights from their favorite TV shows than the neighbor’s cat playing with a ball of yarn. Old media companies played it smart – during the months of tension between old and new media, Viacom has been building its arsenal. It was just a matter of time until old media threw the first punch.
Can old and new media get along? The jury’s still out.
March 8th, 2007 | Posted by Todd Boes
As Google’s CEO recently stated, “Old and new media remain far apart in how they view the emerging business of online video.” Case in point is the rocky relationship between major media companies like Viacom & NBC and YouTube. It’s completely understandable that the major media companies want to bring their online video content direct to the consumer (it’s all about control)…and it’s completely understandable why their anger is mounting toward portals and intermediaries (once again, it’s all about control).
We don’t see media companies and portals sharing a romantic walk through Central Park anytime soon. What do you think?
Give ‘em what they want.
March 7th, 2007 | Posted by Todd Boes
Apparently what they want is their MTV. And lots of it. Very interesting news out of MTV Networks today.
According to reports, the network that spawned the music video industry is taking video to a whole new level with an announcement that they will be launching thousands of branded web sites, letting users watch and re-edit shows. Hoping that by giving consumers a single point of access for MTV digital content it will keep them involved, connected and engaged. This is an interesting take on what we’ve been saying — why would major media companies surrender their valuable content (read: targeted audience and advertising) and their brand value to the portals like MySpace, YouTube, etc. to keep or attract audiences? Simple answer. They wouldn’t. Not if they’re smart and launch branded online channels capable of distributing mass amounts of content, controlling their brand, and making money. Some call MTV’s strategy risky - we call it brilliant.
Content is King
March 5th, 2007 | Posted by Patrick O'Connor
Content owners have been at the mercy of distribution channels for years…affiliates, cable systems, Walmart, etc. Now, this incredibly disruptive distribution technology called broadband video is letting the content owner extract full value for their content without a middleman and without any revenue share. The content owner reaches consumers directly, owns that relationship, and markets it as they think is best, not based on what the distributor thinks is best (along with shoes and socks for Walmart). Google, Yahoo, and others are making it incredibly attractive to again give your content up and collect a portion of the revenue for it, but that is a deal with the devil and 5 years from now content owners will be the same situation they are in today with distributors…no direct access to customers, only part of the revenue, and unable to market with only their goals in mind. They may find themselves paying them for eyeballs to their precious content.
Prime example…the NFL is putting Thursday night games on their new NFL Network channel and want to reach as many subscribers as possible. The cable operators have the leverage here since they own the customers and they own the means of distribution. The cable operators have offered placement for the channel in their sports tiers guaranteeing vastly more revenue to them, based on new subscriptions to the sports tier, than to the NFL which is only getting 70 cents per subscriber. The NFL clearly wants placement on the basic digital tier, but they have little or no means to trade for the space since all of their content goes through one distributor or another (networks, ESPN). The solution? Broadband delivery directly to their consumers…consumers go to see NFL content - the best brand name in sports - why be at the mercy of someone else?
