BUSINESS BLOGS
BUSINESS BLOGS
category: business
10 Dec 2008
related tags: Internet & Web | Video | Management | Discovery |

One of the biggest bears of taking long form TV content and slapping it online is Discovery Networks David Zaslav.  Ok.  Not true.  You can put NBC’s Jeff Zucker ahead of David… who frequently complains about trading offline dollars for online pennies, but you get the point.

Says Zaslav:

Keeping it short: You will find plenty of short-form clips of Discovery’s shows, as well as some special features tied to its programming. But that’s about all you’re going to get, Zaslav said. “What you won’t see is any long form content on the web. There’s no value to doing that. We’ continue to run more and more clips, but we have a 20-year-old library and we’re not giving it away. As for where do we find additional value on the web? That’s something I don’t have the answer to.”

The funny thing is: I actually I think I have the answer to his question…

This quote captures the argument for made-for-web video content producers such as WatchMojo.com. Online video content is a sum of super premium from traditional media companies, premium content from made for web producers such as ourselves, and UGC:

- Yes, TV content is extremely valuable.

- No, web advertising will never be enough to make the TV companies able to make up the dollars they’re losing offline.

Online, the majority of the video content will indeed be UGCrap, with a sliver coming from super premium sources… those who focus on the middle portion of the following pyramid will capture the lion’s share of online video advertising dollars, whatever they might be!