While the majority of user-generated content, as far as it relates to the news, has been used mostly on the national level, television stations owned by Fisher Communications, Journal Broadcast Group and Granite Broadcasting are now entering into it on a local level via YouNewsTV.
There are inviting "citizen journalists" to create and produce content from video footage to total reports. Their goal is to get the content connected to the locality the story is in.
The specific markets haven't been chosen yet, but over 30 are cleared, and three of them are in the top 15.
It won't be as open as other general upload sites like YouTube (GOOG), as once the content is uploaded it will be checked out by employees of the stations to determine if it will be offered to the public.
Timur Yarnall, president/CEO of Broadcast Interactive said, “If the video is not suitable to have advertising or is copyrighted material, it is not going up. We are not trying to replicate YouTube. The key will be having clear editorial standards and sticking to them.”
This initiative is completely revenue-driven with eight- to 15-second pre-roll ads added to the video clips. The revenue will be shared between local spots that have been sold by stations and national spots sold from BIM. It will be divided between the two.
The companies said that "interstitial advertising in longer clips may come later."
It seems like a good idea, but I'm not sure why they didn't include the "citizens" in the revenue sharing. I'm wondering if people will embrace offering this stuff for free, when they can already do that in other places? The one thing it does do is offer someone the opportunity for their work to be seen, which may lead to other things.
From the standpoint of the companies initiating this, it is smart. There is no way that they could get the type of coverage from their employees that citizens can offer, as so many carry around their devices with them. It will probably offer much more interesting and thorough coverage than ever before.
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