Despite the fact that a lot of stats from online video are out there in public view, there are in fact few available metrics to compare oneself to.
So today we get some stats from others the video content production space, though I’ll be the first to admit that our content is nothing like Revision3 or Next New Networks. Oh, we also didn’t raise $9M and $23M respectively, but I digress.
Online video studio Revision3 said today its program views are up 140 percent, with 46 million views in 2008 as compared to 19 million views in 2007. Next New Networks claimed 300 million views in 2008. Yesterday Break reported 35 million plays of its branded content productions “in the past few months.”
WatchMojo.com did 28M streams in 2008, which was up from 13M in 2007, which was a 115% spike. All-time, we’ve almost hit 50M in 3 years, which I guess is not too shabby.
Of course, it’s worth adding that we don’t give away our content, we have been keeping the lid of syndication (speculative revenue share deals) in favor of licensing deals with guaranteed revenue. Also, these are audited stats, in the sense that on many sites we don’t have access to reports etc., so we don’t estimate what those streams are. Lastly, we also have a booming out of home digital signage network, reaching nearly 20M consumers each month in the US. Again, this number would be higher if we were giving away the content, which we don’t.
More on the challenges of online video monetization:
The real challenge is convincing advertisers to move away from their traditional 30 second spots. Part of that problem is agencies, which are used to TV, where they can quickly spend their clients’ money – and drive up billing fees — buying millions of impressions in one phone call.
It will be interesting to see if Next New Networks can continue its torrid stream count, so much of it seemed to have come from the Obama Girl gal, and let’s face it, once the honeymoon is over in DC, I doubt she will have as much traction.
I presume our streams will continue to grow quickly as we now have thousands of videos across thousands of touch points. As per revenues, despite the doomsay scenarios, 2009 is not looking bad at all… though admittedly we’re growing from a small base. The best part is that we have never raised a penny in VC so unlike Revision 3, we’ve not had to cut any costs or scale back headcount.
To be perfectly honest though, I think that for all video content producers, the challenge will lie in mainstream crossover appeal. Just because the heaviest video watcher on YouTube might know who you are means zilch in the long term, there are billions of viewers on TV and we need to appeal to this audience, too.
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WatchMojo NewsletterMark Cuban has a piece up talking about how the Web fails to match TV’s distribution, focusing on content creators and how they’ll never reach the masses.
Internet Video. Its the salvation for content creators everywhere. Its the end to dependence on the big bad meanies, the cable and satellite companies. Right ? Hell no. The concept that “over the top” video creates a valid business alternative for content creators is as misguided an internet business myth as there is.
Cuban will have his share of denigrators and fanboys, but I think he sort of misses the big points here.
For many people who consume content, TV’s push model it antiquated. The fact that I am at the mercy of what network executives choose to air is plain outdated.
A lot of people (maybe the silent minority) like to pull media, and the Web is perfect for these people.
Secondly, and most importantly, I think he misses the bigger issue: video advertising is a myth. Yes, I said it. Let’s consider some facts.
One Strategy for Google
Google used a perfect storm to become king of the Web mountain, but it did so with a relatively speaking open strategy. Compared to today’s open standards, Google’s AdSense or AdWords are anything but, but at the time, the idea of creating virtual billboards around the Web on third party sites was novel. In other words, what made Google explode was not the fact that they successfully scaled GoTo.com’s pay per click model, but rather that they opened up their database of text advertising to third party sites who were dying for incremental revenue during the last downturn.
Google is the leader in search, and after acquiring YouTube, has become the leader in video.
Another Strategy for YouTube
Technically, YouTube did the same thing by creating virtual projection screens by allowing for embedded videos… where things seem to have diverged on the openness front is YouTube absolutely owns the video market with 50% market share. Yes, I know, revenue wise YouTube is having some challenges with monetization, but seeing how it has a stranglehold on the streams, then this means that any other technology is at YouTube’s mercy and in fact dead on arrival.
Memo to Ad Vendors: No YouTube? No Dice.
You might have a great ad solution but if you don’t to test it on YouTube, you won’t have scale. Day in and day out, we get calls from “a great company with a great technology” that will allow us to generate a lot of video advertising revenue, but when you ask them if they work with YouTube, the answer is generally: no. Now we work with YouTube and they are our largest distribution partner by stream count, we like them and all so this is not a knock. I am mentioning all of this to come back to Cuban’s argument about how content producers are wrong about seeing the Web as salvation, on which point he’s wrong.
Content Creators Are Only Ones With a Shot in Hell
WatchMojo.com has built a library of nearly 5,000 clips, 500 hours of programming, and generated nearly 50M streams since launching in 2006. An experienced executive at a major media company recently asked me during a call: “are you guys like a big production company that is now moving online?”
Truth is, we’re basically a website that spawned a production company, and now has a considerable syndication network. The point is: because of the power of distribution online were we allowed and able to become relevant. We cut deals alongside with and with the traditional television and cable companies… so unless I am missing something, Cuban is wrong about content creators being delusional, I personally think that given YouTube’s position and power, the content providers have the ability to build a real business over time whereas the ad vendors are left outside looking in on the action.
PLAY
