VideoNuze Posts

This week's drama between Hulu and Boxee shines the strongest light yet on all of the disruptive forces broadband-delivered video has unleashed: the fight for how video content will reach your living room in the broadband era, and who exactly will control the process. It is a litmus test for major networks in how they intend to transition from the orderly and closed traditional distribution world to the new, open and messy one.

For those who haven't been paying close attention, this week Hulu's CEO Jason Kilar announced in a blog post that its content would no longer be available to users of Boxee, which is an open source media player that connects broadband delivered content to the TV with a friendly and social interface. Boxee has quickly become a darling of the early adopter and techie set (it's still in "Alpha" release, and only runs on Mac OSX and Ubuntu Linux).

Despite not having a formal agreement from Hulu, several months ago Boxee was able to extend its product to enable Hulu viewing. Hulu promptly became Boxee's #1 content source, and according to Boxee's CEO Avner Ronen, it was recently generating 100K streams per week (note that this amount is still chicken feed relative to Hulu's 240 million monthly streams). Boxee doesn't interrupt Hulu's business model; Hulu's content and ads are shown in their entirety. One would have thought the calculation for Hulu and its owners would be pretty simple: more streams = more ads = more success.

Yesterday I checked in with senior executives around the industry to see what's going on here. The picture that emerges is one of big media companies trying to reassert their control over how users access their content. In his blog post, Kilar says "our content providers requested that we turn off access to our content via the Boxee product, and we are respecting their wishes." According to everyone I spoke to, the unnamed content providers can only be Hulu's two owners, NBC and Fox.

Embracing broadband delivery by backing Hulu was progressive thinking by NBC and Fox. And as long as its skyrocketing usage was perceived as a net positive for on-air distribution (research has shown no cannibalization, higher sampling, more awareness, etc.) and its usage was mainly computer-based, all was fine.

But what Boxee did was extend the Hulu experience to sanctified ground: the TV itself. And that opened a real can of worms for the networks. Are they aiding and abetting "over the top" user behavior which could lead to "cord-cutting," in turn jeopardizing their highly profitable cable operator relationships? Are they undermining their own P&L's because Hulu usage on TV will cannibalize on-air delivery which carries higher revenues/viewer? Are they setting a dangerous precedent that any scruffy startup can distribute their prized programming without a formal relationship? And so on. These questions were too significant and Boxee's implications too profound to go unchecked. So Hulu's owners snapped its leash.

There's just one problem here: what's the impact of the decision on Hulu's users and by extension, the Hulu franchise? A quick perusal of the comments to Kilar's post says it all: people are ballistic and they are deeply confused. They don't get the arbitrary logic of why it's ok to watch Hulu in lots of other ways, but just not through Boxee. And they raise the nightmare scenario that this decision will only serve to fuel piracy, an outcome networks were expected to avoid given the devastating Napster precedent their music industry brethren experienced.

One can only imagine the anguish being felt by Kilar and the Hulu team. Having sweated every detail to create the best video experience out there, it is now watching that goodwill evaporate due to its owners' squeamishness. Better yet, one wonders what the folks at Providence Equity Partners, which invested $100 million in Hulu at a $1 billion valuation, are thinking? Did they sign up at this stratospheric valuation only to see NBC and Fox circumscribe Hulu's reach?

I've been saying for a while now that broadband's openness makes it the single greatest disruptive influence on the traditional video distribution value chain. The Hulu-Boxee situation illustrates this perfectly. Once content providers embrace broadband they inherently give up some of their traditional control. And there's no going back; once the proverbial genie is out of the bottle, it can't be put back in. Hulu, NBC and Fox are learning this first hand. With everyone now watching for their next move, I'm betting a change of heart is forthcoming. Hulu will be back on Boxee in one form or another soon enough. Resistance is futile.

What do you think? Post a comment now.

(Note: Hulu-Boxee is going to be outstanding grist for the Mar 17th Broadband Leadership Evening's panel discussion. Early bird discounted tickets are available through the end of today)

Below is the 7th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Feb. 20, 2009.

This week Daisy Whitney discusses two recent articles she wrote about the profitability of various broadband video providers and what to expect in 2009. The articles are here and here.

Meanwhile, I provide more insight into the comScore video traffic numbers I compiled for the Jan '07 - Dec '08 period, including further analysis of YouTube's dominance of the market.

Click here for previous podcasts

The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

A reminder that early bird discount tickets will expire tomorrow for VideoNuze's next event, the Broadband Video Leadership Evening, on Tuesday, March 17th in New York City. The event will be a premier opportunity to meet industry colleagues and learn from top-tier digital media executives on the front lines of the video revolution.

We'll start with a "VideoSchmooze" cocktail/networking reception from 6pm - 7:30pm, followed by a panel discussion I'll moderate from 7:30pm - 9pm titled, "Broadband Video '09: Building the Road to Profitability." The panel includes:

• Albert Cheng, EVP, Digital Media, Disney/ABC Television Group
• Greg Clayman, EVP, Digital Distribution & Business Development, MTV Networks
• John Edwards, President and CEO, Move Networks
• Karin Gilford, SVP, Fancast and Online Entertainment, Comcast Interactive Media
• Curt Hecht, President, VivaKi (Publicis Groupe)

Click here to learn more and register for the early bird discount

The event will be held at the Hudson Theater on West 44th Street just off Times Square. I'm pleased to have NATPE, VideoNuze's partner since launch, on board for the event. And I'm extremely grateful to lead sponsor Move Networks and supporting sponsors ExtendMedia, Horn Group, mPoint and PermissionTV who are making the evening possible.

I've set up a Facebook group so you can start meeting other attendees and also keep up to date on all the recent broadband news we'll discuss on the panel.

Note this event is on the evening before the start of the McGraw-Hill Media Summit in NYC; if you're coming into town for that, plan accordingly to join us as well!

Click here to learn more and register for the early bird discount

Tremor Media announced this morning that it has raised a Series C round of $18 million, led by Meritech Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors Canaan Partners, Masthead Venture Partners and European Founders Fund. Tremor has now raised nearly $40 million to date. Tremor's CEO Jason Glickman gave me a short update on the company yesterday and a little more background on the financing.

Tremor believes it is now the largest video ad network, with 1,400 publishing partners aggregating 137 million unique visitors per month. Tremor focuses exclusively on premium video (i.e. non user-generated) and Jason said the company has access to 1 billion "advertisable impressions" per month. According to Jason, this critical mass has been a big source of the company's recent success as it has been able to appeal to advertisers by segmenting its network to target certain types of users.

Jason explained that as Tremor has grown and usage of broadband video has surged, the company has increased its efforts to shift traditional TV ad dollars over. Though it's hard to know exactly what budgets ad dollars were originally earmarked for, based on the size of the RFPs Tremor's responding to, Jason thinks this shift is indeed underway. And as he correctly points out, you don't need a lot of the $70 billion that's spent on TV annually to move over to make a big impact in broadband advertising. To help compete more effectively with TV, Tremor also recently announced that it would use comScore's Post Buy and Ad Effectiveness reports to offer GRP (gross ratings points) campaign metrics.

While acknowledging the economic downturn has created new challenges, Jason said the company has met or beat all of its metrics, is still on track for profitability in '09 and had multiple financing offers. Meritech's media and advertising experience in other portfolio companies (e.g. Facebook, Quigo, Revenue Science, etc.) was a real draw. The funding will be used to build its network, enhance its Acudeo monetization platform and continue international expansion.

There's no denying the economic pain being felt these days, but Tremor's ability to raise, coupled with other market leaders' ability to do so, is solid evidence that the broadband video market is a rare bright spot in the media landscape today. I constantly remind people that the underlying fundamentals of broadband video consumption are only increasing each month. The companies that figure out how to capitalize on these trends will still be able to raise money.

What do you think? Post a comment now.

(Note: Tremor Media is a VideoNuze sponsor)

VideoNuze readers know that I focus mainly on the media industry and how broadband video is creating disruption and opportunity across the value chain. With so much media-related broadband activity it's a constant challenge to maintain a wider lens so as to not miss any of broadband's impact in non-media segments. These can be just as exciting and significant. That's why it was compelling for me to recently have Chris Savage, CEO/co-founder of a local Boston-area early stage company called Wistia, explain their model.

Wistia is all about online video sharing and collaboration for businesses. While collaboration tools have been around for ages, and have become increasingly cheaper (think WebEx, GoToMeeting, etc.), Wistia's difference is that it focuses mainly on video.

The company's assumption is that as the cost of creating quality video has become ridiculously inexpensive and the popularity of watching video online has skyrocketed (by sites like YouTube and others), the environment is now right for businesses to embrace the medium to achieve increased productivity and cost-effectiveness. Given the economic climate and knowledge workers' geographic dispersion, these are no doubt goals for millions of businesses.

Wistia makes it simple for a project manager to set up an account and begin uploading videos which are all automatically converted to Flash. Users are invited as "viewers" or "collaborators" depending on what privileges they're to have: viewing and commenting only or uploading media and inviting others as well. When commenting users have the option of turning on a time-coded option so that when others read their comments they are jumped to that specific point in the video. Wistia also provides a powerful analytics package that tracks actual consumption of the videos, including time spent in specific segments and completion rates.

No surprise, the types of companies and their uses of Wistia vary widely. Chris explained a few: Cirque du Soleil, the circus arts performer, is using it for managers in disparate locations to review audition video when making casting decisions. Tribal DDB, a large ad agency, is using it to share rough cuts of ads with its clients to get immediate feedback. Kiva Systems, a robotics manufacturer is using it to share demonstration videos with prospective customers as part of their sales cycle. And many companies are using it for training distributed workers. When you take a moment to think about all the potential business applications, the list is mind-boggling.

Remarkably, Wistia is still just a 5 person company that has been largely bootstrapped to date. Chris and his co-founder Brendan Schwartz are twenty-something Brown University friends who have built the product by focusing tightly on customer feedback. To be sure, customer acquisition tactics are still a work in progress and pricing models are being tweaked. Currently, basic customers pay as little as $79/mo and heavy users up to $5,000/mo.

Business communications may not be as sexy as the media business, but Wistia is showing that innovative entrepreneurs are finding unexpected and exciting ways for broadband video to create new value.

What do you think? Post a comment now.

Microsoft's Silverlight notched another high-profile win with yesterday's announcement by CBS Sports and the NCAA that CBSSports.com's March Madness on Demand (MMOD) will offer a high definition option using powered by Silverlight.

Over the past few years MMOD has become the signature online video sports event, with CBSSports.com successfully converting it in 2006 from a paid, subscription based model to one fully supported by ads. The payoff has been evident: in '08 MMOD had 4.8 million unique visitors (a 164% increase over '07) who watched 5 million hours of live video (an 81% increase over '07).

CBSSports.com is building on its MMOD success by offering the higher quality option via Silverlight this year. Users who download the plug-in will get 1.5 mbps streams vs. the standard player's 550 kbps. Once again, all 63 games, from the first round through the championship game will be available. For office workers unable to watch on TV, online distribution continues to be a compelling value.

With MMOD, Microsoft is continuing to push Silverlight into high-profile sports events. Recall that Silverlight's inaugural run, supporting the 2008 Summer Olympics, was executed superbly. It showcased new features like multiple viewing windows and instant rewind/fast-forward. MMOD promises yet another premier opportunity for Silverlight to show its stuff.

What do you think? Post a comment now.

The "syndicated video economy" continues to mature with today's announcement of Betawave TV, a video distribution network offering video content and ads to kids age 6-17 and moms. Betawave TV is being launched by Betawave Corp., which was until recently called GoFish (and which also recently raised $22.5M). The company has amassed a U.S. publisher network totaling 25 million monthly unique visitors. I recently spoke to Betawave's executive chairman Jim Moloshok to learn more.

Betawave TV illustrates how broadband is helping merge the traditional concept of an ad network with the potential for widespread distribution of video to contextually targeted publisher sites. The bet here is that Betawave TV's content and ads can generate more value on its publishers' pages than just pure advertising could. Since Betawave TV's network has a heavy emphasis on gaming sites (e.g. GamesGecko, Hallpass, etc.) that don't have really have video strategies themselves, Betawave TV's offering seems like a good augment. Betawave TV will be released on sites totalling 6 million monthly uniques by the end of Q1.

Of course, these sites are by nature very immersive, so drawing users' attention away from their primary purpose requires compelling content. Betawave TV has a broad content strategy, including licensing from producers like Cookie Jar Entertainment, MGM and Young Hollywood to creating its own series. First up is the fashion-oriented and brand-sponsored "Raven Symone Presents." My guess is that much of Betawave TV's programming is relatively inexpensive to acquire or to produce, all the more so if Betawave TV can do more brand-sponsored deals.

Ultimately, Betawave TV is competing for audience attention and ad dollars that have traditionally flowed to major kids' TV programmers like Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. As a piece in Mediaweek just yesterday suggested, 50-75% of ad dollars spent on kids' sites are no longer a part of integrated TV packages. The massive fragmentation of kids' attention away from just watching TV is certainly the underlying cause for this and what Betawave is banking on for success. I can attest to this trend myself: when my 8 1/2 year-old daughter gets together with friends they are far more likely to play games at AmericanGirl.com than watch Disney Channel.

No doubt Betawave TV won't be alone in pursuing kids online with syndicated video and ads. While Jim says they own 100% of the target inventory on their publishers' sites, there's no question these publishers will be evaluating plenty of competing offers in the future. Betawave TV's results will be an interesting test of how mature the video syndication opportunity actually is.

What do you think? Post a comment now.