New Revenue Models for YouTube
YouTube is exploring a new revenue model with Brand Channels, which are basically like just every other YouTube account publishing amateur videos, but this time the intent is to push products. In this case, the initial run will be a deal with Warner Bros. Records, which will promote Paris Hilton’s latest album thru videos of the model-turned-singer.
Beginning Tuesday, YouTube will roll out its first Brand Channel, where Warner Bros. Records will promote Paris Hilton’s debut album, “Paris.”
Brand Channels are much like the channels created for all YouTube users who upload their homemade videos to the site, though the purpose of a Brand Channel is to sell a product rather than to simply promote one’s ability to attract an audience for their work.
The Brand Channels will be financed by sponsors. In this case, the Paris Hilton album videos will be sponsored by Fox.
Another revenue generating scheme that YouTube is embarking upon is Participatory Video Advertising or PVAs. These are video commercials that, just like any other video on YouTube, members can rate, comment on, and embed on their websites or blogs as they please. This is a win-win situation both for YouTube, the advertisers, and the site’s userbase. YouTube gets advertising revenues, while in turn the advertisers get direct feedback from users (and perhaps it’s not as expensive as buying a 30-second slot on traditional air TV). The users, meanwhile, get to provide their feedback on the ads, and they can bookmark favorite ads as they please (considering there are quite a lot of adverts that are entertaining and interesting).
Paris will sure make the YouTube experience interesting.
LCD and Plasma Go Head-to-Head in Competition
LCD and Plasma always had their own niches in the television industry. Each had its status for being ideal in certain situations. LCD displays, for instance, were great for monitors and smaller-sized television panels. They were also good for applications where Plasmas wouldn’t survive, such as for displaying static images (plasmas have burn-in problems especially prevalent with static images or even black bars in wide-format DVD videos).
Plasma displays were great for large sizes. And plasmas were always better at contrast. Dark was dark. Light was light. Plasma had none of the washed-out image problem some LCDs sometimes still exhibit.
Until recently the technologies weren’t really in direct competition, as plasma was more suited to bigger screens while LCD had the edge on smaller ones. Giant LCD sets were available, but they relied on bulky image-projecting equipment behind their screens, and thereby lacked the fashionable thinness of plasma flat-screen units.
But LCD technology is evolving as manufacturers turn out increasingly larger flat-panel units. LCD manufacturers can now make a flat-screen TV as big as 46 inches without compromising picture quality. And they say even bigger sets are in development.
However, the issue these days is not as much about the capabilities and applicability of either plasma or LCD technology. Advocates of environmental conservation are warning against the implications on energy consumption of television sets getting larger and larger, be they LCD or plasma.
“If we could cut the energy use of a TV when it’s on by 25 per cent, we could cut the electric bill in the U.S. by a billion dollars a year, and prevent 7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year — (carbon dioxide being) a key contributor to global warming … We really want manufacturers to get ahead of the curve here.”
While there is apprarently a misconception that plasma televisions consume more energy, this is apparently because they are generally larger in size than their LCD counterparts. With this in view, TV manufacturers are trying to assure consumers and advocates alike that they are addressing the energy/conservation issues by developing and producing new models that are more energy efficient than their predecessors.
Youth Prefer the Internet
A survey by British media and telecommunications regulator Ofcom has determined that young people are increasingly turning towards the Internet for multimedia needs, thus effectively lessening television viewing.
The young are abandoning television and radio in favour of the Internet, a survey has found.
The ‘networked generation’ - those aged 16 to 24 - are increasingly turning to the Internet for entertainment and information, said communications regulator Ofcom.
It found that they spend one hour fewer per day watching television on average than other viewers. And they are shifting away from terrestrial TV, spending only 58 per cent of their viewing time watching the five channels.
With downloadable and streaming content available from popular websites such as YouTube and iTunes, the Internet is making access to hard-to-find, niche, or off-time content easy. Particularly with today’s busy lifestyles, there is a preference for time-shifting. Hence, people–young, active individuals in particular–would rather consume content when and where they want it, not having to wait for television schedules and content with commercials.
This should make those in the broadcast business think of alternative business models, such as pay-per-view via the Internet or ad support in Web video, for instance.
MTV and Google to Display Advertising on Web-based Video
Google made a killing with the way it popularized contextual advertising and how it shared the rewards (read: money) with publishers, particularly those who used AdSense. What’s great is that the advertisers were able to target their marketing efforts to those who are likely to be more interested, and that they didn’t have to pay a cent for deadweight in advertising, since they only get charged for clicks (or theoretically, at least, because clickfraud has been rampant lately).
In contrast, traditional advertising has always been riddled with inefficiencies. Advertisers spent millions when the marketing would be aimed at a very broad audience, most of whom aren’t likely to be relevant at all.
The concept of Web video has been a boon and bane for traditional media stalwarts. First, there is a threat that Internet video would eventually supplant broadcast TV. But there is also great potential for Internet TV becoming the next multimedia goldmine. If only there was a good way to incorporate marketing into videos, then both online video providers and producers would have found the holy grail in online advertising.
It seems today’s biggest names in either side of the spectrum are trying to do just this. From Reuters:
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Viacom Inc.’s MTV Networks has agreed to distribute clips from its cable networks over Google Inc.’s advertising network, in a test of what could become a new economic model for Web-based video delivery, the companies said on Sunday.
The project, a year in the making, marks the first time Google will distribute ad-supported videos across its AdSense network from a major programming provider. The ad-supported video distribution project will begin testing later in August.
Google’s AdSense network currently handles primarily text and graphical-oriented brand advertising. The MTV trial, if successful, would highlight the progress Google is making in evolving beyond its reliance on delivering Web-based text ads from which it derives most of its revenue and profit.
Expect to see popular Viacom properties online–this would include MTV and Nickelodeon shows, such sa Spongebob Squarepants and Laguna Beach.
Is YouTube Finally Overtaking FreeTV?
YouTube reports that it’s getting 100 million video streamings per day. These are mostly “bite-sized” snippets of videos.
Since springing from out of nowhere late last year, YouTube has come to hold the leading position in online video with 29 percent of the U.S. multimedia entertainment market, according to the latest weekly data from Web measurement site Hitwise.
YouTube videos account for 60 percent of all videos watched online, the company said. Videos are delivered free on YouTube and the company is still working on developing advertising and other means of generating revenue to support the business.
Incidentally, during the same period, television viewership seems to have declined.
CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox averaged 20.8 million viewers during the average prime-time minute last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. That sunk below the previous record, set during the last week of July in 2005.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected. By tradition, the week that includes Independence Day has the fewest viewers of the year, or close to it, because rerun season is in full swing and the public is consumed with outdoor activities.
It’s either people are going out more with this summer season, or they’re resorting to alternative sources of entertainment, such as the ‘Net. When YouTube started out last year, I didn’t think it would be as popular as it is now. I thought it would be just another one of those short-lived web apps. Even with Google’s launch of its own video service, YouTube has stood strong. Perhaps it’s the community aspect of the service that made it so popular. According to Forevergeek, YouTube is actually now among the Web’s most popular destinations, even surpassing MySpace.
Is YouTube really worth the $1 billion price tag people are attributing to the video service?
A Girl’s Best Friend? Try Plasma TVs!
No longer a girl’s best friend
Here’s some good advice to you gentlemen out there looking to woo your lady–perhaps you’re looking forward to your anniversary or engagement. Diamonds are out! Tech is in. According to an article by Reuters, recent research shows that while women are traditionally viewed as disinterested with technology, they are in fact as enthusiastic (or addicted?) as men with high tech gadgetry.
Diamonds are no longer a girl’s best friend, according to a new U.S. study that found three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV to a diamond necklace.
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The study found 77 percent of women surveyed would prefer a new plasma television to a diamond solitaire necklace and 56 percent would opt for a new plasma TV over a weekend vacation in Florida.
The survey was commissioned by US cable provider Oxygen Network and conducted by market research firm TRU among 1,400 women and 700 men aged 15 to 49. According to the research, majority of the women surveyed are interested in acquiring (or upgrading) digital cameras, televisions, camera phones, and increasing activities in email, text messaging and instant messaging over the course of the next five years.
Attention TV manufacturers: time to snap up market share in this demographic!
Kids TV Network: “Don’t Watch Too Much TV”
Nickelodeon is advocating a healthy and balanced lifestyle, and part of this is limiting TV viewing time. It’s a stance that’s apparently a conflict of interest, but thinking of it long term, TV networks stand to gain from their viewers being healthy. I think it’s all about goodwill. Companies have to reach out to the public so they won’t be considered as too impersonal. Besides, if I were a company or a media enterprise, I wouldn’t want my clients to be sickly.
It’s the heart of the summer, a time when a kid’s thoughts may well turn to watching television - lots of television. But one television network is telling kids to turn off their sets, put aside their remotes and go outside and play.
“Our whole mantra is about a balanced lifestyle,” said Marva Smalls, an executive vice president with the Nickelodeon cable channel, whose summer promotion this year is a series of specials called “Let’s Just Play Go Healthy Challenge.”
“Part of a balanced lifestyle,” Smalls added, “is not to spend all of your waking hours watching TV.”
Nick also has its weekly Lets Just Play Go Healthy Challenge which showcases the progress of three kids from around the country in terms of shifting towards a healthier lifestyle through exercise and proper diet.
Who said TV’s just for couch potatoes?
World Cup Helps TV Sales
World Cup season is over, but it seems this is one period in every year that TV manufacturers look forward to. Fo instance, Sony cites the World Cup as a major contributing factor for a boost in its flat-panel television sales in the first quarter of 2006. From the Financial Times:
Sony on Thursday unveiled an increase in first-quarter profit for the first time in four years on the back of a favourable exchange rate and a boost to its flat-panel TV sales from the World Cup soccer season.
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Although TV sales grew 40 per cent during the World Cup, this was less than expected, leading to a rise in inventories and leaving the TV division still in the red.Nonetheless, Nobuyuki Oneda, chief financial officer, said the boost in demand was enough to help Sony make progress towards turning round its TV business. It also helped push the group’s LCD flat-panel production joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung into profit in the first quarter.
Sales of home entertainment and computing equipment are, after all, seasonal. For instance, it is foreseen that individuals and businesses would hold off on purchasing laptops and desktop computers in anticipation of Microsoft’s release of Windows Vista early next year. Vista was originally intended to be released mid-2006, but release was moved back a couple of times as the development team wanted to resolve bugs before finalizing the product.
This has hurt PC sales, especially since Vista has very intensive hardware requirements. Manufacturers these days are banking on labelling their computers as “Vista Ready.” Still, users are wary of the added cost (in terms of software prices and effort) of having to purchase and install Vista later on, as opposed to buying laptops or desktops that come with Vista by default.
On the TV front, technologies worth waiting for are the full switch to digital, HD broadcasts and IPTV.
Syntax-Brillian Announces New Line of Olevia LCD Televisions
Syntax-Brillian, newly merged from previously separate television and monitor manufacturers, has announced three new series in its Olevia LCD television line. The Olevia 3, 5, and 7 Series all feature firmware upgradeability via USB and can all double as PC monitors supporting maximum resolutions of 1366 x 768 for the 3 and 5 Series and 1920 x 1080 for the 7 Series via either VGA or HDMI input.
All Olevia 3, 5 and 7 Series LCD TVs feature new industry-leading technology innovations engineered by Syntax-Brillian to perfect video quality. Director’s Image(TM) technology recreates the director’s intended image through calibrated 6500K color temperature, gamma, optimized gray scales and adjustable black levels. Big Picture Technology(TM) shows without distortion up to 11% more of digital broadcast images and up to 37% more of analog images. Consumers can protect their investment by easily downloading firmware updates from Syntax-Brillian’s Web site via Olevia’s USB port to ensure that their TV will always perform with the latest features, software updates and image-quality improvements. Syntax-Brillian has also designed an easy-to-understand On-Screen Display (OSD) for selecting the optimum image attributes for any viewing environment.
The Olevia 5 Series is currently shipping, with 27-, 32-, 37- and 42-inch models available for retail. Each model comes at a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, and features a native resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, 8 ms response time, 1600:1 contrast ratio and a 178-degree viewing angle.
Dan Rather Considers Suing CBS
Former news anchor Dan Rather is considering filing civil charges against CBS, his former employer, as he things his departure from CBS is under questionable circumstances. We may recall that Rather was caught in the middle of a controversy about the legitimacy of some documents about President George W. Bush’s military records in the election year of 2004 (wher Bush won a second term). This went down in history as the landmark new media-versus-mainstream media battle, as the controversy was fueled and discussed heavily by the blogosphere from all sides of the political spectrum.
Rather said that he brought up several times while at CBS that, after his departure from the anchor desk and assignment as a “60 Minutes” correspondent, the network wasn’t living up to its end of his contract. CBS has said that with the many “60 Minutes” correspondents, there weren’t enough assignments for him.
Rather said that he had never been told what led to his departure from CBS. He said he wasn’t sure whether it was related to the aftermath of the “60 Minutes Wednesday” story on President Bush’s military career that relied in part on unsubstantiated documents.
We earlier wrote that Rather was joining Mark Cuban’s HDNet.