MediaPost | VidBlog

Too Much of A Soap Thing: 'All My Children,' 'One Life to Live' Will Lengthen Time Between New Episodes

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:22:02 -0400

"All My Children" and "One Life to Live" will each present only two episodes a week online, not four as they did since their resurrection online on April 29.Why? Viewers can't commit to that kind of heavy-duty binging to stay current.

The Wonders and Contradictions of Counting Audiences

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:10:03 -0400

It is hardly left unsaid, but it is usually left unexplored, that online measurement of who's watching what is vastly superior, and more uncomfortably intrusive, than anything in the old media world. But in the past few weeks, what was being sold, particularly by cable and broadcast networks, was the buy-in-bulk mentality.

Networks Want a Better Accounting of All That Television Online

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:15:00 -0400

Legacy outlets always get the benefit of a doubt. But television networks are realizing that they risk losing advertisers and revenue to online video unless they can adequately point out how much television fare is being seen on tablets, laptops and mobile devices. In this upfront season, they're out to get it.

The Private World of Broadcast Upfronts

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:00:05 -0400

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox this week unveiled their new season plans in events that are anachronisms celebrating anachronisms. Broadcasting seems doomed to relaunch the Titanic every year, even when there are some clear signs that other 21st Century ships have already sailed.

My Advertisement For Online Advertisments

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:40:00 -0400

I am not crazy about some online advertising. But some online ads, particularly long-form ones, are fascinating--and viewers are finding them and passing them on.

Those Vine Videos Do Get Around, A New Study Says

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:00:00 -0400

Unruly, the company that tracks video sharing, reports this morning that five Vine videos are shared on Twitter every second. But it's hardly making a branding impact yet.

'Made for Web' Content Work Just Fine For Advertisers, Says New Tremor Video Research

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:08:02 -0400

Tremor Video, in a study for the IAB, finds ads that show up in original content for the Web get a nearly identical response from viewers as ads shown in replayed TV fare online. The bigger driver may be the Website where the video is located.

Baseball's Highlights Get Some Highlighted Exposure

Wed, 08 May 2013 08:00:00 -0400

Major League Baseball's video clips are now being given broader exposure by NDN to thousands of news-oriented Web sites, a logical pairing that should help those Websites and the grand old game itself.

Wait! You Mean You Can't Always Get What You Want?

Tue, 07 May 2013 15:29:02 -0400

The Internet has naturally created an environment that finds room for every taste, a Blockbuster store where the shelves are all fully stocked. As if.

Would Consumers Pay For YouTube Channels?

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:20:02 -0400

The Financial Times is reporting that YouTube wil start charging a monthly fee to watch some of its special channels. YouTube isn't denying the story, but not confirming it either. It does say it's looking into creating a subscription platform.

With Eight You Get Crackle

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:40:03 -0400

Crackle today announced its ambitious slate of digital content offerings, including a couple movies and at least one series it will unfurl all at once, just like Netflix's "House of Cards" and "Arrested Development."

YouTube Declares War Is Over And It Won

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:48:02 -0400

With its awesome viewership levels, YouTube doesn't think it's warring with television for dominance. It's way past that old stuff. At its NewFronts presentation, it said its next goal was to capture the entire world. It probably will, too.

Aol Is Very Into Itself, Looks to Nielsen For Justification

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:36:00 -0400

That Aol lives to have had an overly long NewFronts presentation Tuesday is a result of what CEO Tim Armstrong told his audience. When it was between fight or flight, "We always choose fight." You shouldn't bet against them.

All That Online Video Is Great, Except When It's Really Not

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:00:03 -0400

NewFronts are a celebration of online video and their power as an advertising carrier. But there are problems about the proliferation of video and advertising attached to it.

Amazon's Kindle Turns A Page, to OTT

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:50:02 -0400

A report that Amazon later this year will offer its own set-top device is probably an indication that it has serious intentions to become a producer of original content. But then again, who isn't?

NewFronts At The Edge of History

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:00:03 -0400

The latest comScore rankings reveal another month of record-setting video consumption. Most months do, With NewFronts on the horizon, though, this truly may be the moment when the online video business convinces advertisers that the whole wide world really IS watching.

NBCU's Digital 'Million Second' Bet on Digital

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:30:02 -0400

NBCUniversal has laid out an elaborate digital plan that loads them up with apps, new programs, Twitter feeds and something "The Million Second Quiz." It looks like exec Lauren Zalaznick wants the industry to know she's serious about making sure that second screen is getting serious attention.

That YouTube Elephant With A Very Long Tail

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:45:02 -0400

What does an elephant at the San Diego Zoo have to do with a Gray Lady in New York? They're both linked in the short, amazing and evolving history of online video.

For Online Video Shares,Unruly Says,Those First Dates Are Important

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:20:00 -0400

According to new research from Unruly, a quarter of the average branded video's shares happen within three days of the launch. Advertisers can know very quickly if they've got a viral hit, or just another pre-roll..

Advertisers Can Capture Light TV Viewers with Online Ads, Tremor UK Study Says

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:27:00 -0400

Advertisers can likely find that light TV viewer online--and overall, it might be worth it to advertisers to run their TV/online campaigns for a little longer online to maximize the message.So says a new study from Tremor Video, part of its "Friends With Benefits" push.

Disrupted to Death

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:00:03 -0400

What if disruptive media is so plentiful consumers have decided they don't really want to be bothered? Couldn't it be that are so many competing devices and concepts out there that viewers have just chosen not to choose? .

Wait 'til the Ship Hits the Familiar

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 17:10:00 -0400

Kmart's new online advertising is a viral hit, particularly with people who like to make flatulence sounds and fun stuff like that. The "Ship My Pants" ad has gotten 12 million views in short order, and proves to me--using a horrible example--that one thing online video has over other advertising venues is the ability to make news and create buzz. But buy now. It won't always be that way,.

Alloy Goes Shopping, Buys Digital Broadcating Group

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:30:00 -0400

Alloy Digital, riding high with the success of Smosh on YouTube and with a recent $30 million infusion of capital, bought Digital Broadcast Group, adding a top content and online advertising platformer to its stable. DBG executives, some of the bright lights of online content, will remain.

Two Big Steps by Two Big Players: Facebook, Twitter Both on Verge of Big Deals, Reports Say

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:00:03 -0400

Facebook and Twitter are reportedly both in the midst of making deals--or trying to--that would add a new layer of complexity to the online video biz. Facebook is trying to sell video ads at $1 million a crack, says AdAge.com. Twitter is working on a video and advertising sharing deal with NBC Universal and Viacom, like the ones it already has with ESPN and the Weather Channel.

Nostalgic; Bad, Blurry YouTube Video 'Celebrates' VCR's Anniversary

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:48:02 -0400

By YouTube’s calculations, this is the 57^th anniversary of the VCR player and as to mark the date—because we all mark 57^th anniversaries in a special way –YouTube has added a special icon to the bottom right of selected videos today. Click on it, and it will allow you to watch the video so they’ll look just as crappy as video did on your old VCR.

“One issue with VHS was always the video quality, or lack of it. Scrolling images, distortion and noise were the order of the day back in the early nineties, which is a stark contrast with YouTube’s streaming, 1080p HD video,” says the Website Redmond Pie.com today.

Maybe I have a fonder memory of my cheap VCRs, but I think the fuzzy video on YouTube’s creation is a little exaggerated. Then again, I may have a fuzzy memory of fuzzy video, and when I think of it, technology now comes at such a fast pace that it seems all but impossible to remember when some technology first happened.

But it is that speed on online video and ubiquity of YouTube that has changed not only communication, but commerce.

Rodney King was savagely beaten in 1991 after being stopped by Los Angeles police following a high speed car chase. A nearby resident with a home video camera videotaped the beating and took it to a TV station a few days later. What would have happened had it, instead, popped up on YouTube instantly? Maybe nothing much more than what did happen in 1991. The public and the press were outraged. But it wasn’t until the officers were generally exonerated more than a year later that Los Angeles erupted into racial violence.

Who knows how that Rodney King assault would have played out today? Or if it would have happened, as police and everybody else can now fairly depend that everything is being recorded by someone or something? Watch a big city newscast now and notice how unusual it isn’t to see security camera video of bodega assaults, not to mention more major crimes.

I was talking to the comedian and director David Steinberg recently, and he pointed out that comedians who once tried out new material, or were polishing the finished product at comedy clubs, now can’t do that very easily knowing their act may be on YouTube before the comedian gets home that night. A joke—even a good one—is spent once it’s widely exposed.

“Wikipedia tells us that the first VCR was the Ampex VRX-1000, launched in 1956. Early VCRs were enormous beasts that looked nothing like the compact VHS units many reading this will have grown up with. Okay, YouTube adding a videotape icon to its videos for a day is hardly earth-shattering news but it’s a nice nod from a leader in the current video landscape to one of its earliest ancestors,” says the Web site TheNextWeb.com.

If you want to see how YouTube’s salute to VHS works, you’ll have to find the icon on the videos where it’s been added. Here’s one that works, chosen just because it’s also a pretty good example of the sometimes-bewildering subject matter of YouTube fare.

pj@mediapost.com

Webby Nominees: Mainstream or Too Arty?

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:35:03 -0400

The Webby Award nominations this week make you wonder: Are the Web endeavors marked for greatness actually the kinds of Websites people like or are they kinds of sites that just Web-people like? In other words, Art house or fun house? Does a good looking Website help advertisers?

Food for Thought: A New Online Video Provider for Newspaper Sites

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:50:02 -0400

Who knows what will happen to daily newspapers? It seems to me that the entity with the least clear-cut idea is the newspaper industry itself, But Media Program Network has begun offering newspaper Websites free "lifestyle" online videos, mainly recipes, they can run on their sites for free in return for the pre-roll ad positions.

Online Video: Too Popular for RTB's Own Good?

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:08:02 -0400

A new piece of Forrester Consulting research for SpotXChange comes to the conclusion that online video is growing so fast, publishers don't want to "give up" inventory in the real time bidding process. Though, at the same time, online video is becoming so plentiful that RTB seems to be the inevitable, most practical solution.

Would You Want to Own Hulu, But Without the Content?

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:50:03 -0400

That's what Peter Chernin, in essence would be getting, if his $500 million bid is accepted. Hulu's owners, News Corp. and the Walt Disney Co. would take their programming to their own Websites, leaving the new Hulu without much to show. But as other content sites are showing, there's still plenty to see, and maybe nothing better than original fare.

Can Monitoring Facial Expression Make a Difference?

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:28:02 -0400

I smile. Therefore I buy your product. Do commercials work like that? A glowing story about a firm that measures facial expressions leaves me scratching my head.