VideoNuze Posts

Tracking the innovative use of broadband video by brand marketers is an ongoing focus for me and I'm always on the lookout for great examples. The latest I found is a campaign from CIT, a global commercial finance company, that has just introduced the third installment of "Behind the Business", a broadband-based interview series with notable business leaders. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth checking out. This particular installment is a series of interviews with the co-founders of Intrepid Pictures, Marc Evans and Trevor Macy.

The press release states that CIT is "reaching out to its client base through various initiatives that will highlight key business issues facing middle market executives today." Having watched a number of the videos available at the site, it is evident that CIT is taking a soft-sell approach, with the interviews focusing on Intrepid and the founders, with no overt CIT plugs. The video player window is embedded in a page that has strong CIT branding and links to learn more, but that's about it. The idea is to inform and educate the target audience, with CIT branding wrapped around the experience.

Another aspect of the campaign is its multi-platform nature. CIT hooked up with Conde Nast Media Group, which is promoting the video heavily in its publications. This follows a separate video initiative that Grey Goose Entertainment and Sundance Channel are pursuing with their "Iconoclast" series, in which Conde Nast is also a partner. Conde's involvement shows that when big brands are going to invest real money in broadband-centric campaign, promoting in relevant print publications is an important key to driving awareness.

CIT is following a list of other brand marketers who want to expand beyond traditional 15 and 30 second TV spots to use video to drive deeper engagement with their target audiences. This artful blending of entertainment, information and advertising is at the heart of how I believe broadband will be used by smart brand marketers. With broadband's unlimited shelf space, marketers have a new and unprecedented palette to promote their brands. Behind the Business shows that savvy brands are beginning to take advantage of it and that there are a plethora of opportunities unfolding for skilled producers.

In the spirit of the season, I'd like to offer a huge THANKS to VideoNuze's outstanding sponsors. Below they are listed along with their own descriptions:

Akamai - Akamai is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and applications online. click here for more

ExtendMedia - ExtendMedia provides software and media services that enable content providers and distributors to quickly and securely create, deliver, manage and monetize online content offerings over many devices. click here for more

thePlatform - thePlatform, a subsidiary of Comcast, is the leading broadband video ASP for content providers, broadband media sites, and mobile businesses. click here for more

Voxant - Voxant is building a new kind of network that delivers unparalleled licensed content, advertising and services to millions of web sites and niche communities throughout the Web. click here for more

Atlas Venture - Atlas Venture is an international early-stage venture capital firm that invests in communications, information technology and life sciences companies. click here for more

Brightcove - Brightcove is an Internet TV service that empowers video producers and programmers to build broadband businesses while giving viewers more choices and control over their use of video and television. click here for more

Digitalsmiths - Digitalsmiths is the company behind VideoSense, the first universally compatible and future-proof broadband video contextual ad-matching system. click here for more

ICTV - ICTV provides the technology and distribution network that enables television programmers and Web publishers to deliver broadband video and other media to television in an engaging, immersive TV-quality viewing experience. click here for more

PermissionTV - PermissionTV offers a flexible platform for delivering innovative and interactive video experiences on the Web. PermissionTV tools empower companies to use video to capture new audience, enhance relationships and maximize customer value. click here for more

Please take a moment to check them out!

A piece in Variety yesterday describing WBITD's aggressive new strategy to mine on-demand opportunities in cable, satellite and broadband underscores how technology is driving new distribution options and revenue opportunities, while at the same time posing new challenges to traditional business models.

 The article, entitled "WB Shows Go On-Demand" outlines how WBITD is launching "Warner TV" branded on-demand initiatives in Europe and Asia. That Warner will be offering its library of films and TV programs Warner entirely on-demand is a clear acknowledgement that consumer behavior has shifted beyond the "appointment viewing" paradigm of linear TV.

This shift, along with scarce channel capacity and resistant service providers, have all contributed to the fact that launching new cable networks here in the U.S has all but dried up. The recently unveiled Fox Business Channel is a huge exception; behind the scenes there are scores of people who aspired to launch their own cable networks who have now shifted their focus to on-demand, or increasingly to broadband.

Jeffrey Schlesinger, WBITD's president put his finger on why the on-demand and broadband models make so much sense, "The costs here are much lower than creating a linear channel. You don't have as much on-air promotion that you have to do. You don't have as much scheduling or advertising sales infrastructure. You don't have to worry about commercial insertion."

Building a new programming franchise today is more about nimbleness and experimentation than big structure and deliberative scheduling. WBITD seems to recognize this and also seems to be willing to test lots of different models depending on the opportunities and circumstances it encounters in each local market.

Of course the key balancing act for WBITD here is pursuing these new initiatives without disrupting existing revenue streams and relationships. That's the first thing I hear from all content providers who have a vested interest in existing models, but a hunger for new revenues. WBITD is sensitive to this: its plan is to offer library titles or a secondary window on current programming,

Add WBITD to your "watch list" of companies pioneering how distribution will work in the broadband era.

-Will Richmond

Does TV programming beget broadband video programming or is it the other way around?

If you were expecting a simple answer, recent evidence suggests that none will be forthcoming. Step away from the relatively straightforward model of streamed or downloaded TV episodes, and the question of how original video content will be produced and distributed between broadband and TV is whole lot more complicated. Layer on the writers' strike and the world only fogs up further.

For those who see broadband as a pathway to TV, Quarterlife's deal announced last Friday with NBC to bring their new Quarterlife series to the network following its run on MySpace offers encouragement that Internet programming can move to the TV (bear in mind that Quarterlife was originally pitched as a TV series however).

Another example is TMZ.com, which has been successfully syndicated as TMZ TV this fall by Warner Bros. TMZ shows us that a brand that was created and built solely online can make the leap to TV. And just last week TV Week reported that Twentieth Television and Yahoo were close to a deal to create a new syndicated series based on popular broadband videos that they've collected.

On the flip side, there is plenty of evidence of opportunities for TV programs spinning off broadband programming, or existing TV producers with assets and skills pushing into broadband as a first outlet for their work.

Consider Sony's Minisode Network, with distribution on MySpace, Joost, AOL and Crackle. In an effort to squeeze more life out of its library of classics, in June Sony launched abbreviated versions, for broadband "snacking". This initiative is being closely watched as a model for how to repurpose existing assets to make them more palatable for attention-challenged online audiences.

And Endemol's recent deal with Bebo to produce "The Gap Year" series for exclusively for Bebo's audience shows that a successful TV producer is turning its sites on broadband as a first outlet.

All of these deals underscore broadband's disruptive nature - its ability to create new opportunities for incumbent players, and also for new entrants. My read is that most (though not all) broadband producers would love to make the leap to the TV. In the mean time, broadband offers a low-cost, interactive distribution path to experiment with more engaged audiences.

Red Lasso is a stealthy company that's been around for about 2 years, though only now coming up to the surface. I did a phone briefing earlier this week with Kevin O'Kane, President/founder and Al McGowan, COO. They also gave me access to the private beta and I've been playing around with it for the last couple of days.

Red Lasso's goal is "to help broadcasters extend the life of their content, legitimately." They're positioning themselves as "an anti-YouTube", allowing broadcasters to proactively contribute long form video and audio, which users can then search and clip for exactly the content they're looking for. The video can simply be watched or it can be embedded. Though they don't want to be seen as an "online DVR", it is tempting to see them as such. Monetization is most likely through advertising, though a licensing model is possible as well.

Red Lasso's playing in the same basic space as Voxant (note: a VideoNuze sponsor) and Clip Syndicate (see this for more), with a key differentiator being the long form content availability and clipping feature. Red Lasso is currently taking 150 different broadcast feeds from around the country, and their ability to get the industry to cooperate is helped by the fact that Al and Kevin are broadcast veterans.

Red Lasso is trying to appeal to at least 3 types of users: broadcasters seeking to flexibly publish specific video clips on their own sites, independent web sites trying to feature key segments of their own video (e.g. sports teams) and bloggers seeking to embed video. They believe this third group is the most fertile territory and I agree.

Bloggers across the spectrum (politics, entertainment, sports, etc.) have been hungry for video clips to enhance their sites. I believe this demand will only increase. If you're a blogger looking just for the "money quote", clipping from long form assets provides a lot of value. I did some searching and clipping (below is one result).

I found the clipping pretty straightforward, and I liked the fact that I could save mine, which I can also publish to the community for widespread viral use if I choose to. The searching is based on phonetic and closed caption text. It was not quite as accurate as I hoped, but video search is a very tough nut to crack, and so I'd expect room for improvement there.

At a strategic level, Red Lasso again demonstrates how broadband's influence is going to be felt in the broadcast TV industry. I think traditional concepts of appointment viewing, geographic constraints and local ad sales are all going to seem quaint as broadband allows quality video to fly around the net. I'd urge broadcasters to be looking closely at all the players in this space.