Scott Kirsner's post on what some of the big questions going forward for professional online video will be, caused me to revisit a recent article I posted on where online video advertising is currently at in today's market.
Scott said concerning professional online video, "I think we're seeing the emergence of professional content online that will challenge user-generated content -- something I started talking about late last year. This doesn't mean user-gen video is going to disappear, or that we won't see user-generated viral clips continue to circulate - just that the professionals are now serious about trying to reach viewers, build long-term relationships, and make money on the Web."
As far as monetization of professional video goes, we talked about how "Even with the projections of reaching around $4.3 billion by 2011, most of that will be considered an expense by companies and agencies, as it will be for the most part be experimentation that drives those numbers, rather than surety of what to do."
When we talk about professional online video, I'm thinking more than simply putting existing TV shows online, which will have there place of course. Rather, I'm talking about professionally produced video created specifically for the web - original content.
With that in mind, I think the problem now isn't even how things will work out as far as monetization goes, it's more the problem of getting enough short-form professional content online in a variety of genres to be able to test out enough things to see what viewers are willing to sit through.
It seems Rocketboom has found something that works, as they're selling sponsorships which include post-rolls and a link below the video player to the sponsors site. I don't know if they're still there at this time, but at the beginning of this, Rocketboom was asking for $3,000 daily for the sponsorship.
What we need is a few hundred of the types of shows like Rocketboom that attract enough viewers to be able to try different things to get feedback. We've had short-form shows like Lonelygirl15, which has attracted product placement; and former Disney (DIS) CEO Michael Eisner's Prom Queen is offered through his Vuguru. Wallstrip, recently bought by CBS (CBS-A), is another good example of what we need more of to get a good sampling to work with.
Eisner said he was surprised that the monetization of Prom Queen ended up in the black, as he had no expectations or thought that it was even possible.
For now I think it's now a matter of waiting for enough good short-form content to get online to be able to experiment with. Once that happens, which seems like will take several years, we will have a robust, professional, online video market.
"I think the problem now isn't even how things will work out as far as monetization goes, it's more the problem of getting enough short-form professional content online in a variety of genres to be able to test out enough things to see what viewers are willing to sit through."
I agree with this to a large degree, but the problem is that some content is now also becoming the advertising itself. In my view, that's a bad sign. You mention Lonelygirl15 and product placement. Lonelygirl now has a British cousin named KateModern. The problem with Kate is that she was "built" ONLY to product place. That's a big turn-off in my opinion. (I just wrote a long piece about it on my blog.)
In an effort to monetize, it looks like some marketers (and creators) are crossing lines they shouldn't cross. In their minds, the content is there as a vehicle for the advertising. Of course they're going to look at it like this. To a degree, it's their job to look at it that way. But the problem is it would seem they think the VIEWER is happy to look at that way (see KateModern). I can tell you, they aren't.
The content ISN'T the advertising. They need to start understanding this.
Now, I understand that they are trying new things to find out what works. It's a messy but necessary process. But some of what they're trying is pretty presumptuous, even insulting. Hopefully they'll realize this sooner than later.
Posted by: Joe | July 23, 2007 12:14 PM | Permalink to Comment