Home: Internet TV
The Liability Circle of Copyright Filtering
June 9, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
I feel for Microsoft and the other companies trying to integrate the co-called 'copyright filtering' (a term which makes it sound nice and simple like looking for naughty words in a text file) technologies.
My time at Kazaa trying to integrate these tools gave me a rich appreciation of how messy the process is.
- The problem is a hard one to solve. How does a machine know a collection of bits is copyrighted?
- The technology is difficult to integrate into a real work flow because it takes a lot of CPU cycles and time to perform the filtering process. This is probably what the intrepid Craig Rubens was seeing in his testing when it took Soapbox days to filter the file. Of course Microsoft could just stop publishing files until the copyright filtering job has run, but is it a good product for people who want to upload their personal videos if it takes days for the video to show up?
Of course these are just technical issues and can be solved in time.
The real problem is, these days there is a good chance you will get sued if your solution is less than perfect. And who will take that responsibility? Liz Gannes' report on NewTeeVee encountered this problem:
"We called Microsoft to ask what was going on. You should talk to Audible Magic, they said; our system is only as good as their index. We called Audible Magic, who essentially blamed Microsoft, for only implementing the audio version of its software."
This is a technologically challenging problem that is clouded by lawyers designing the software either directly or vicariously via contracts and settlements. Everyone else is busy thinking about how to best cover there ass instead of building copyright filtering solutions that work.
June 9, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
I feel for Microsoft and the other companies trying to integrate the co-called 'copyright filtering' (a term which makes it sound nice and simple like looking for naughty words in a text file) technologies.
My time at Kazaa trying to integrate these tools gave me a rich appreciation of how messy the process is.
- The problem is a hard one to solve. How does a machine know a collection of bits is copyrighted?
- The technology is difficult to integrate into a real work flow because it takes a lot of CPU cycles and time to perform the filtering process. This is probably what the intrepid Craig Rubens was seeing in his testing when it took Soapbox days to filter the file. Of course Microsoft could just stop publishing files until the copyright filtering job has run, but is it a good product for people who want to upload their personal videos if it takes days for the video to show up?
Of course these are just technical issues and can be solved in time.
The real problem is, these days there is a good chance you will get sued if your solution is less than perfect. And who will take that responsibility? Liz Gannes' report on NewTeeVee encountered this problem:
"We called Microsoft to ask what was going on. You should talk to Audible Magic, they said; our system is only as good as their index. We called Audible Magic, who essentially blamed Microsoft, for only implementing the audio version of its software."
This is a technologically challenging problem that is clouded by lawyers designing the software either directly or vicariously via contracts and settlements. Everyone else is busy thinking about how to best cover there ass instead of building copyright filtering solutions that work.
Revver to Begin P2P Downloads of Video Content
April 26, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
Revver has made the inevitable decision to begin using P2P to for video content downloads. I suppose I have a unique perspective on this because I have both done the business planning to launch a new video content business and I was CTO of Kazaa - a humungous P2P network.
The video distribution business is a very tough one. Not only do viewers generally expect the content to be free, creators (rightfully) expect to get a cut of ad revenue. Of course, this is no different to any kind of user-generated-content business, but video is more difficult due to expensive bandwidth bills, processsing requirements (to render correct formats etc), copyright filtering, etc. Revver must be spending bucket loads of money.
Now Google Video and YouTube are united and underwritten by Google's revenues from elsewhere, Revver needs to move towards making money and differentiate itself by offering more of a payback to content creators in the hope of attracting the best stuff.
Problems they are going to face:
1) Getting users to install a P2P application. Most video viewers are snatching a few minutes to watch something someone sent them. They will be difficult to convince to install.
2) Managing the value equation for users. Downloads are cheaper for Revver because users pay for the uploads. Will they be compensated? Will uploaded MB per user have a ceiling?
I'll be interested to see if its mandatory or an optional component with some payoff for the user. e.g. get higher quality downloads if you use P2P.
Anyone know what happened to Dijjer? I am pretty sure Revver originally used Dijjer as a P2P platform before YouTube went large and Revver needed to compete without problems 1 and 2 above.
Beet.TV has the scoop.
April 26, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
Revver has made the inevitable decision to begin using P2P to for video content downloads. I suppose I have a unique perspective on this because I have both done the business planning to launch a new video content business and I was CTO of Kazaa - a humungous P2P network.
The video distribution business is a very tough one. Not only do viewers generally expect the content to be free, creators (rightfully) expect to get a cut of ad revenue. Of course, this is no different to any kind of user-generated-content business, but video is more difficult due to expensive bandwidth bills, processsing requirements (to render correct formats etc), copyright filtering, etc. Revver must be spending bucket loads of money.
Now Google Video and YouTube are united and underwritten by Google's revenues from elsewhere, Revver needs to move towards making money and differentiate itself by offering more of a payback to content creators in the hope of attracting the best stuff.
Problems they are going to face:
1) Getting users to install a P2P application. Most video viewers are snatching a few minutes to watch something someone sent them. They will be difficult to convince to install.
2) Managing the value equation for users. Downloads are cheaper for Revver because users pay for the uploads. Will they be compensated? Will uploaded MB per user have a ceiling?
I'll be interested to see if its mandatory or an optional component with some payoff for the user. e.g. get higher quality downloads if you use P2P.
Anyone know what happened to Dijjer? I am pretty sure Revver originally used Dijjer as a P2P platform before YouTube went large and Revver needed to compete without problems 1 and 2 above.
Beet.TV has the scoop.
Want to Start Your Own TV Station: Answers
April 10, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
AIMIA has published the overflow answers to the panel discussion on the future of TV. Here they are.
April 10, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
AIMIA has published the overflow answers to the panel discussion on the future of TV. Here they are.
Joost the Real Competition for NBC Universal / News Corp?
March 23, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
Techmeme is alive with comments that the new NBC/News video offering will be a YouTube killer but it seems to me that Joost is more likely in its cross-hairs. YouTube has short, 10 minute, user-generated videos. The quality is uncertain but the abundance of content is compelling. NBC/News is going for the packaged, channel-based, quality offering of video content once the sole domain of broadcast television - just like Joost.
Its like Verizon and BT getting together when Skype was in beta to create a desktop VOIP client. Looks like the media companies are learning.
March 23, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
Techmeme is alive with comments that the new NBC/News video offering will be a YouTube killer but it seems to me that Joost is more likely in its cross-hairs. YouTube has short, 10 minute, user-generated videos. The quality is uncertain but the abundance of content is compelling. NBC/News is going for the packaged, channel-based, quality offering of video content once the sole domain of broadcast television - just like Joost.
Its like Verizon and BT getting together when Skype was in beta to create a desktop VOIP client. Looks like the media companies are learning.
Ads in Video Get Twice Click-through
March 22, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
Beet.tv is talking about a new eMarketer survey which finds that regular ads within video get twice the click through. This is the kind of thing Revver does to monetise the content.
Intuitive: the site has the user's gaze on that part of the screen from watching the video so it makes sense that more click because more see the ad.
Good: Most people don't get to the end of a video so probably the percentage of people who get to the end and click is even higher.
Bad: The video costs more than twice as much as a web page to serve so double isn't enough. Also, a page can hold more than one ad.
March 22, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
Beet.tv is talking about a new eMarketer survey which finds that regular ads within video get twice the click through. This is the kind of thing Revver does to monetise the content.
Intuitive: the site has the user's gaze on that part of the screen from watching the video so it makes sense that more click because more see the ad.
Good: Most people don't get to the end of a video so probably the percentage of people who get to the end and click is even higher.
Bad: The video costs more than twice as much as a web page to serve so double isn't enough. Also, a page can hold more than one ad.
Create Your Own TV Network: Report from the Panel
March 21, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
I had a great time last night participating in a panel discussion organised by AIMIA on creating your own TV network. Thanks to everyone that came down to the Shelbourne Hotel. We discussed how the internet is making new things possible and focussed on the opportunity to set up new video content businesses.
It was a pleasure to catch up with Mark Pesce again after more than ten years. We last saw each other in Madrid in 1996 at the Cyberconf. He's a passionate and clever bloke and always good to hear in a debate. Last night he advocated the ability of individuals to get there stuff out there and build an audience using Ze Frank as his case study. What is the 'value' of Ze Frank after a year of vlogging now he's as big as Jon Stewart? Mark also questioned the internet's ability to handle the load of a video dominated web - especially once Joost goes viral as many expect it will.
I enjoyed meeting Tom Kendall from Of The World for the first time. He's not just talking about it, he's actually building an internet TV network and there's some good stuff there at oftheworld.tv. I love that the channels are presented full screen in the browser instead of the little screen that are so common. [Tom, I don't know if any of my shelved chatabox.tv thinking is of use to you?]
Ian Gardiner from VioCorp was an important component of the group because he represented the enterprise market. Unlike most of the internet video market that has to give stuff away, Ian is building a business around charging business customers for video products. He was also the most knowledgeable on the subject of large scale webcasting and talked about his experience webcasting the Mardi Gras this year as a pay-to-view offering. [Ian, this is the powerful streaming technology I refered to last night.]
As ever, Marty Wells was the voice of reason. There's a lot of hype about forming a startup and most of it is crap. He has a talent for clearly explaining why. He spoke alot about Purepwnage.com as an example of starting small with a strong idea, and then slowly scaling the business from there. With the videos served on Brightcove there is no serving cost to worry about and its monetised with advertising and merchandise.
My big points where:
- Forget the technology, focus on the idea instead of getting lost in the options in Adobe Premiere. You can make something great for free and become famous, at no cost. i.e. you don't even need a video camera.
- The problem with podcasts, video blogs, etc is that they are not searchable, so the content can be invisible to the normal channels of discovery. Is that where Adam Curry went as all the discussion went to audio??
- Don't try to control your content by keeping it on your own site. Accept that the internet's nature is copying, sharing, transfering and let it go. Let the users promote your stuff for you. Find a way of deploying the monetisation with the media so this doesn't matter.
Apparently there were quite a few tough questions via SMS that we will be answering today for publishing on the web later. Watch this space.
March 21, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
I had a great time last night participating in a panel discussion organised by AIMIA on creating your own TV network. Thanks to everyone that came down to the Shelbourne Hotel. We discussed how the internet is making new things possible and focussed on the opportunity to set up new video content businesses.
It was a pleasure to catch up with Mark Pesce again after more than ten years. We last saw each other in Madrid in 1996 at the Cyberconf. He's a passionate and clever bloke and always good to hear in a debate. Last night he advocated the ability of individuals to get there stuff out there and build an audience using Ze Frank as his case study. What is the 'value' of Ze Frank after a year of vlogging now he's as big as Jon Stewart? Mark also questioned the internet's ability to handle the load of a video dominated web - especially once Joost goes viral as many expect it will.
I enjoyed meeting Tom Kendall from Of The World for the first time. He's not just talking about it, he's actually building an internet TV network and there's some good stuff there at oftheworld.tv. I love that the channels are presented full screen in the browser instead of the little screen that are so common. [Tom, I don't know if any of my shelved chatabox.tv thinking is of use to you?]
Ian Gardiner from VioCorp was an important component of the group because he represented the enterprise market. Unlike most of the internet video market that has to give stuff away, Ian is building a business around charging business customers for video products. He was also the most knowledgeable on the subject of large scale webcasting and talked about his experience webcasting the Mardi Gras this year as a pay-to-view offering. [Ian, this is the powerful streaming technology I refered to last night.]
As ever, Marty Wells was the voice of reason. There's a lot of hype about forming a startup and most of it is crap. He has a talent for clearly explaining why. He spoke alot about Purepwnage.com as an example of starting small with a strong idea, and then slowly scaling the business from there. With the videos served on Brightcove there is no serving cost to worry about and its monetised with advertising and merchandise.
My big points where:
- Forget the technology, focus on the idea instead of getting lost in the options in Adobe Premiere. You can make something great for free and become famous, at no cost. i.e. you don't even need a video camera.
- The problem with podcasts, video blogs, etc is that they are not searchable, so the content can be invisible to the normal channels of discovery. Is that where Adam Curry went as all the discussion went to audio??
- Don't try to control your content by keeping it on your own site. Accept that the internet's nature is copying, sharing, transfering and let it go. Let the users promote your stuff for you. Find a way of deploying the monetisation with the media so this doesn't matter.
Apparently there were quite a few tough questions via SMS that we will be answering today for publishing on the web later. Watch this space.
Invitation: Jamming the Future of TV
March 19, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
Friends, I am on a panel jamming the future of TV tomorrow night (Tuesday) at the Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney. Come and join the debate!
March 19, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
Friends, I am on a panel jamming the future of TV tomorrow night (Tuesday) at the Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney. Come and join the debate!
Answering Charlene...
February 24, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
My guess is that it isn't the implementation that is taking the time, its the phone calls with media company lawyers agreeing on details of the implementation.
It's interesting that they chose Audible Magic. In this game it's not all about finding the best solution, its about finding one that the content industries are already familiar and comfortable with. That's Audible Magic by a mile.
UPDATE: I should have called this "Answering Josh" because it comments on a post written by Josh Bernoff on Charlene Li's Blog. Sorry Josh! :-)
February 24, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
My guess is that it isn't the implementation that is taking the time, its the phone calls with media company lawyers agreeing on details of the implementation.
It's interesting that they chose Audible Magic. In this game it's not all about finding the best solution, its about finding one that the content industries are already familiar and comfortable with. That's Audible Magic by a mile.
UPDATE: I should have called this "Answering Josh" because it comments on a post written by Josh Bernoff on Charlene Li's Blog. Sorry Josh! :-)
AIMIA: Want to Start Your Own TV Station?
February 22, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
I am on a panel for one of AIMIA's NSW Intimates nights at the Shelbourne Hotel on March 20th talking about how television is changing. Come on down. It'll be fun! Register here.
Here's the blurb:
With improvements in bandwidth and a doubling of broadband subscribers over the last year it’s possible to broadcast video over the internet and capture a share of the market. With clever technology, broadband subscribers can enjoy quality video even when it’s played through a regular television set.
Viewers are abandoning traditional free-to-air TV preferring to watch online content wherever and whenever they want to. Recently, when 300 attendees at an industry forum were asked if they watched the evening news, only 5 put up their hands. A revolution in the distribution of video over the internet has begun.
Hear how local broadcasters and industry professionals are moving this space forward. Learn about the Australian business models for internet broadcasting, and how to deal with the technical and legal challenges.
AIMIA NSW Intimates is a forum intended to give attendees valuable knowledge about the digital media industry. You are invited to come and listen to 5 panelists, handpicked for their expertise on the topic, give you the low down. Ask questions via SMS from the floor and join in the lively discussion.
When & Where
Tuesday, 20th March, 2007
The Shelbourne Hotel, Altitude Level, 200 Sussex Street, Sydney.
6.30pm for 7.00pm start.
7.30pm Your chance to ask Qs and then back to mingling
10:30pm bar is closed.
Panelists: Ian Gardiner, Tom Kendall, Martin Wells, Phil Morle, Mark Pesce
Moderator: Scott Bradley-Pearce.
February 22, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
I am on a panel for one of AIMIA's NSW Intimates nights at the Shelbourne Hotel on March 20th talking about how television is changing. Come on down. It'll be fun! Register here.
Here's the blurb:
With improvements in bandwidth and a doubling of broadband subscribers over the last year it’s possible to broadcast video over the internet and capture a share of the market. With clever technology, broadband subscribers can enjoy quality video even when it’s played through a regular television set.
Viewers are abandoning traditional free-to-air TV preferring to watch online content wherever and whenever they want to. Recently, when 300 attendees at an industry forum were asked if they watched the evening news, only 5 put up their hands. A revolution in the distribution of video over the internet has begun.
Hear how local broadcasters and industry professionals are moving this space forward. Learn about the Australian business models for internet broadcasting, and how to deal with the technical and legal challenges.
AIMIA NSW Intimates is a forum intended to give attendees valuable knowledge about the digital media industry. You are invited to come and listen to 5 panelists, handpicked for their expertise on the topic, give you the low down. Ask questions via SMS from the floor and join in the lively discussion.
When & Where
Tuesday, 20th March, 2007
The Shelbourne Hotel, Altitude Level, 200 Sussex Street, Sydney.
6.30pm for 7.00pm start.
7.30pm Your chance to ask Qs and then back to mingling
10:30pm bar is closed.Panelists: Ian Gardiner, Tom Kendall, Martin Wells, Phil Morle, Mark Pesce
Moderator: Scott Bradley-Pearce.
Chatabox.TV: Start Here
February 19, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
As you know, I canned Chatabox.TV as an active project last week. It seems a bit of a waste to leave the ideas on the D: drive after a decision like that so I thought I'd put some of the main documents up for comment and interest for other people. I've introduced each document in italics at the start of each piece.
February 19, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
As you know, I canned Chatabox.TV as an active project last week. It seems a bit of a waste to leave the ideas on the D: drive after a decision like that so I thought I'd put some of the main documents up for comment and interest for other people. I've introduced each document in italics at the start of each piece.
Chatabox.TV: Product Description
| Filed under: Internet TV
This was an early document to describe Chatabox. It outlines a simple use-case that was centered on a citizen journalism model. I found that the problem with this example was that it didn't show potential to reach a mass-market. Some obsessed on it as an example and assumed that the market was niche.
Real People. Real Places. Real Things
Chatabox is a social TV network, built upon proven internet principles of social networking and user generated content which exploits viral business models.
Chatabox will 'crowdsource' content using software to make the process of gathering, sorting and editing fun and very simple.
Chatabox will pioneer video based citizen journalism before moving into other vertical channels such as how-to, travel and people.
Points of Difference
The Chatabox model has several unique features over other video products on the market today.
- Video Clipping: Enables users to use clips from larger pieces of content in their own project as easy as quoting text from a blog. An API will allow other websites to enable clipping.
- One-Click Studio: Make a TV show as easy as making a play-list.
- Comment Layers: Add rich media layers to add to content.
- Social Content management: Digg-like voting for the best content.
- Social Viewing: Watch video together using chat and peer-to-peer distribution of content.
- Full Ecosystem Economy: Everyone gets paid so everyone is incentivised to create, to consume and to spend.
- Entertainment Experience: Rich, full screen experience.
Business Model
Chatabox will operate an ad-based business model. As well as exploring existing video ad engines, a proprietary system will allow users to advertise to each other for a fee in order to make more money for themselves from their videos.
Markets
Asia, US, Europe, Australia
Use Cases
To illustrate how it will work, I will begin with a use case.
JO lives in LA and carries his video camera everywhere. When he sees something interesting he shoots it. When he gets home, he uploads it to chatabox.tv. Today he has some nice shots of buildings and shots of a car accident on the interstate. He also finds a message asking all users in LA for footage of a demonstration that is happening the next day in Santa Monica. He decides to attend and get some footage.
JANE is an expert in LA news. She logs on and sorts through the clips that have come into her filter today. She spends 10 minutes looking through some clips and marks some as GOOD and some as BAD. The good ones are good enough quality to use in a larger piece and seem relevant. She also tags comments where appropriate. She wants to tell a story about the terrible road conditions in LA. She queues up some clips (one of them is the slip JO shot earlier that day) and opens her chatabox.tv studio. She sees the clips she has queued as well as transitions settings and titles she used last time. Also preset from her last session are her advert settings (where the ad will go and what category) and text feeds (RSS) that she would like to have scrolling (Bloomberg-like) across the screen in her show. She presses GO and records her 10 minute show. One-click later her show is aired.
JON lives in LA and is a video junkie. He opens chatabox.tv and immediately jumps into watching some shows because his first view is personalized to where he lives and what he is interested in. JANE's piece on the traffic is what he watches first. It is full-screen in his browser and is easy to operate. He thinks JANE is over-reacting and is incorrectly making claims about pollution. He presses record on his webcam and speaks into the camera. He sees his video layered on top of JANE’s show (it can be moved, disabled, etc). No one else sees this until Jane approves it. He then selects a clip which includes her claim and his response and pastes it into his blog.
JACKSON sees JON's blog and is angry. He clicks the link and jumps straight into JANES show at the correct spot. He sends a text message from inside chatabox to swarm his friends into the clip. Chatabox knows the best way to reach all his friends and sends links to their preferred device. Some get Skype IM’s, one gets an email and the rest get an SMS. They all swarm to chatabox.tv and watch it together. They don’t all agree but it is a great discussion. They variously leave comments on the piece and make clips for themselves to use in their own projects.
After one month, JANE’s show on LA traffic congestion has been watched 100,000 times. The ad revenue is split between her and JO, who provided the live footage.
Concepts
These are definitions for various concepts that will be discussed in this document:
Content
Clips
A clip is the smallest unit of content in Chatabox. It is usually unedited raw footage. Sources of clips:
· Uploaded footage of an event, interview, etc that can be used a primary footage in an edited story. Footage comes from browser or mobile phone upload. Also, cutaways and stock footage such as shots of buildings, crowds, planes, planes.
Shows
Clips are edited together to create shows. A show is a complete unit of entertainment. If shows are in a series (e.g. a video blog) they can be subscribed to.
Channels
Channels are collections of shows. Chatabox will launch with 3 main channels:
· News & Current Affairs.
· Lifestyle – cooking, places, travel.
· People – biographies, interviews.
· 2-3 broadcast TV stations who agree to allow clipping and do a deal with Chatabox (see Broadcast TV integration).
There will be a live stream of high quality video that will loop throughout a 24 hour period. It will have an electronic program guide and be distributed over p2p. Users will be permitted to watch 1 hour of live video without the p2p element and then they will be promoted to upgrade to he p2p component.
Channels will also feature on demand downloads of recent shows. Perhaps the last 7 days.
Initially channels will be created manually by Chatabox but we envisage a great many more channels and these should be created by users.
Comment Layers
Users can comment on a video with a ‘layer’ of their own content. This layer is anchored to the timeline. The comment can be:
· text based e.g. a translation,
· a tag (to help searching and linking to particular content)
· audio
· video
In the interface, the primary content can be viewed with one active comment layer at a time. The software will automatically mix between primary content and the comment layer. For example, a video comment will be superimposed over a portion of the screen and the sound on the main content will be reduced to give the comment prominence.
There is no limit to the number of comment layers that can be added.
The creator of the original video approves which layers go live with the content.
When clips are embedded in other websites the user can optionally include a comment layer.
Users
All users collaborate in the making of the Chatabox experience.
The Eyes
These are the users that upload clips. Some users may only do this and never try to edit things together
Storytellers
These are the users that create shows. They compile clips together into complete units of entertainment.
Swarms
A swarm is what occurs when a user calls his/her friends around a piece of content for collaborative viewing.
Functional Description
High Level Principles
Many video sites today resemble database applications and are quite different to the entertainment experiences which people are used to on their TV sets. Chatabox has its eye on the long term media consumption and will create a user experience that is rich – easily transportable to a plasma television in the living room as well as a laptop.
Videos will be generally full screen with fluid, transparent layers that can be shown and hidden by the user according to their specific needs. This is inspired to the experience of playing collaborative video games such as World of Warcraft.
The user interface can be shown as a layer above the main video content. Here you can see a chat window appeared during a swarm viewing of a news show. Also, some tags which have been attached to the timeline have just faded into view and the user can click on these to find related stories.
In addition to the previous configuration, this user has also displayed the comment channels for this story and selected JazzyB’s comment. When the comment appears on the timeline it fades into view and becomes the primary sound channel.
This is a news banner user interface that can present contextual information during a show. For example, show creators can integrate text RSS feeds into their show and it will scroll across the screen.
When a clip is paused the user gets the ability to interact with it. For example: marking an in-point to a clip.
Here you can see a possible Vista integration where the user can watch certain channels persistently and also view their inbox to get breaking news, new clips, etc.
The site should encourage link-clicking at all points to lead users on an interesting and enjoyable content discovery process.
It should be easy to embed appropriate elements into other websites. For example, take the electronic program guide (EPG) for a channel and embed it in a users MySpace page or blog.
All clips, stories and channels need simple links for easy social interaction.
Inbox
This area is where you go to find stuff that is of interest to you. If you are just a viewer you can configure this to list shows that you may want to watch each day. It’s your personal channel.
If you are a ‘storyteller’ you can come here to watch the clips you want to assemble into your shows. It’s an inbox. It’s a control hub. It’s part of the production line. Raw material comes in one end to multiple user’s inboxes and goes out the other side a little more refined, better described, clipped differently for specific usage. All users can vote on clips and shows that come into Chatabox.
Functional Requirements:
- RSS feed so that you can watch your incoming media from any RSS application.
- Easy Voting/Digging of new clips and shows.
- Categorisation tools – tagging.
- Ability to open a clip and re-clip it so that it can be used for specific purposes.
- Filter configuration – users need to be able to refine the content that comes into the Inbox.
Studio
The Studio is where clips are combined, optionally with live footage, to make a complete show. Storytellers queue up their clips and configure other settings and then Chatabox builds there show.
- Easy access to a playlist of clips that make up the show
- Ability to tweak in and out points of clips
- Set transitions
- Set backdrop image/set
- Record control for live camera and microphone
Player
The player is how media is viewed, but also the main forum for user interactivity and community.
- Player Controls: Play/Pause, volume, etc. In collaborative contexts there needs to be the concept of who is in control.
- Clipping: Users need to be able to set in and out points for clips and save them out to their clip lists.
- Chatting: Chat with people in your viewing group.
- Who’s watching in your group:
- Invite people to group: It is envisaged that this will interface with other communication tools such as AIM, Skype, SMS, to pull people into watching content.
- Comment Layers: Other users can add media to the parent content which will be displayed as a layer on top. Sound and vision will be mixed automatically. Comment layers can be clicked to link off to other content from the commenter.
- Rating/Voting/Digging: Interface needed for users to mark what is good to assist others finding the best stuff.
- Tag overlays: Tags can be set on the timeline to assist users searching within the video. Clips can be auto generated from this. Where tags have been set they can be optionally displayed as an overlay on the video. They are hyperlinked to search for similar shows and clips.
- RSS overlays: Storytellers can assign RSS feeds to their content so that text information can be presented in the video screen to create a rich, Bloomberg-like experience.
- Ads are displayed somewhere. It is envisaged that the system will need to support multiple display choices while we understand what users respond to best: post roll, pre-roll, ads around the content, in tags, etc.
- Persistent comments: Comments can be made which are not on the timeline. Text comments should be available at any time. Video comments perhaps are played after the main content.
- Share – embed – email – post to blog. Sharers can also optionally set what layers to display in the shared version and if they want to send the whole show or just a clip.
The Archives / The ‘Basement’
This is like the catacombs under the BBC! It is where all clips and shows can be found and added to clip playlists. Like all things in Chatabox it should be possible to update the content (metadata and re-clipping) as well as view it
- Search by full-text or tag
- Tag browsing
- Category browsing
- Geo-location browsing
- Date browsing
- Set search results as filter for Inbox
Search and browse results also show links to blogs and websites that have embedded video with this metadata, who is maintaining the content in this section the most.
Community
The community is the engine of Chatabox.
- User homepages with lists to their content
- Tutorials and demos
- Resources to download
- Forums for discussing content and also to discuss the creation process
- Friends lists – Friend of a Friend (FOAF)
- Look for friends – include mobile phone number and various IM – to send swarms.
- Invite Friends
- ‘Wanted’ Notice Board: Order clips – include ad ordering, chatabox briefs, etc. “I need some clips of New York at night.”
Broadcast TV Integration
Chatabox will do deals with some existing broadcast TV networks to allow users to take clips from them. This will most likely be limited – at least initially – to public broadcasters rather than cable or commercial networks. Channels would be recorded and made available only to users in the legal jurisdiction. A simple DRM will be in place to limit clips to a certain length set by the channel owner.
API Strategy
The main use for an API will be to allow other video services to provide the clipping functionality of Chatabox. This way, Chatabox users can refer to them and link back to the host site.
Codec strategy
The entire site will be created as a rich Flash application and video will be played as Flash Video by default.
Videos will also be available to download in as many formats as possible. A favourable default could be determined as a high quality download if Chatabox was to work with a particular media player.
Mobile phones integration
Mobile phone integration will be important for content acquisition, community and monetisation. For example, users could upload video (or a series of stills) from their phones, vote on small number of Inbox clips, etc.
Most interesting would be a way to request footage. For example,
a user can send a message to all users in LA (who opt in) to request footage of something happening that day/hour/minute in LA.
Monetisation
As a business that relies on user generated content it is important not to over-commercialise the product too soon and turn away users.
Advertising will be the main vehicle for revenue. This will include users making the ads for the advertisers.
Additionally:
- Buy professional studio tools
- Mobile phone upload and download data charges
- Bill to phone/Premium SMS (video ring tones, voting)
Everyone Gets Paid!
Objective:
- Make high quality, relevant content for less using the power of user generated content.
To do this, a financial model will be created that distributes the ad revenue between Chatabox, ‘Eyes’ and ‘Storytellers’.
Market
Chatabox would naturally be promoted to English language jurisdictions such as the US, UK and Australia. Additionally we will target key markets such as China.
| Filed under: Internet TV
This was an early document to describe Chatabox. It outlines a simple use-case that was centered on a citizen journalism model. I found that the problem with this example was that it didn't show potential to reach a mass-market. Some obsessed on it as an example and assumed that the market was niche.
Real People. Real Places. Real Things
Chatabox is a social TV network, built upon proven internet principles of social networking and user generated content which exploits viral business models.
Chatabox will 'crowdsource' content using software to make the process of gathering, sorting and editing fun and very simple.
Chatabox will pioneer video based citizen journalism before moving into other vertical channels such as how-to, travel and people.
Points of Difference
The Chatabox model has several unique features over other video products on the market today.
- Video Clipping: Enables users to use clips from larger pieces of content in their own project as easy as quoting text from a blog. An API will allow other websites to enable clipping.
- One-Click Studio: Make a TV show as easy as making a play-list.
- Comment Layers: Add rich media layers to add to content.
- Social Content management: Digg-like voting for the best content.
- Social Viewing: Watch video together using chat and peer-to-peer distribution of content.
- Full Ecosystem Economy: Everyone gets paid so everyone is incentivised to create, to consume and to spend.
- Entertainment Experience: Rich, full screen experience.
Business Model
Chatabox will operate an ad-based business model. As well as exploring existing video ad engines, a proprietary system will allow users to advertise to each other for a fee in order to make more money for themselves from their videos.
Markets
Asia, US, Europe, Australia
Use Cases
To illustrate how it will work, I will begin with a use case.
JO lives in LA and carries his video camera everywhere. When he sees something interesting he shoots it. When he gets home, he uploads it to chatabox.tv. Today he has some nice shots of buildings and shots of a car accident on the interstate. He also finds a message asking all users in LA for footage of a demonstration that is happening the next day in Santa Monica. He decides to attend and get some footage.
JANE is an expert in LA news. She logs on and sorts through the clips that have come into her filter today. She spends 10 minutes looking through some clips and marks some as GOOD and some as BAD. The good ones are good enough quality to use in a larger piece and seem relevant. She also tags comments where appropriate. She wants to tell a story about the terrible road conditions in LA. She queues up some clips (one of them is the slip JO shot earlier that day) and opens her chatabox.tv studio. She sees the clips she has queued as well as transitions settings and titles she used last time. Also preset from her last session are her advert settings (where the ad will go and what category) and text feeds (RSS) that she would like to have scrolling (Bloomberg-like) across the screen in her show. She presses GO and records her 10 minute show. One-click later her show is aired.
JON lives in LA and is a video junkie. He opens chatabox.tv and immediately jumps into watching some shows because his first view is personalized to where he lives and what he is interested in. JANE's piece on the traffic is what he watches first. It is full-screen in his browser and is easy to operate. He thinks JANE is over-reacting and is incorrectly making claims about pollution. He presses record on his webcam and speaks into the camera. He sees his video layered on top of JANE’s show (it can be moved, disabled, etc). No one else sees this until Jane approves it. He then selects a clip which includes her claim and his response and pastes it into his blog.
JACKSON sees JON's blog and is angry. He clicks the link and jumps straight into JANES show at the correct spot. He sends a text message from inside chatabox to swarm his friends into the clip. Chatabox knows the best way to reach all his friends and sends links to their preferred device. Some get Skype IM’s, one gets an email and the rest get an SMS. They all swarm to chatabox.tv and watch it together. They don’t all agree but it is a great discussion. They variously leave comments on the piece and make clips for themselves to use in their own projects.
After one month, JANE’s show on LA traffic congestion has been watched 100,000 times. The ad revenue is split between her and JO, who provided the live footage.
Concepts
These are definitions for various concepts that will be discussed in this document:
Content
Clips
A clip is the smallest unit of content in Chatabox. It is usually unedited raw footage. Sources of clips:
· Uploaded footage of an event, interview, etc that can be used a primary footage in an edited story. Footage comes from browser or mobile phone upload. Also, cutaways and stock footage such as shots of buildings, crowds, planes, planes.
Shows
Clips are edited together to create shows. A show is a complete unit of entertainment. If shows are in a series (e.g. a video blog) they can be subscribed to.
Channels
Channels are collections of shows. Chatabox will launch with 3 main channels:
· News & Current Affairs.
· Lifestyle – cooking, places, travel.
· People – biographies, interviews.
· 2-3 broadcast TV stations who agree to allow clipping and do a deal with Chatabox (see Broadcast TV integration).
There will be a live stream of high quality video that will loop throughout a 24 hour period. It will have an electronic program guide and be distributed over p2p. Users will be permitted to watch 1 hour of live video without the p2p element and then they will be promoted to upgrade to he p2p component.
Channels will also feature on demand downloads of recent shows. Perhaps the last 7 days.
Initially channels will be created manually by Chatabox but we envisage a great many more channels and these should be created by users.
Comment Layers
Users can comment on a video with a ‘layer’ of their own content. This layer is anchored to the timeline. The comment can be:
· text based e.g. a translation,
· a tag (to help searching and linking to particular content)
· audio
· video
In the interface, the primary content can be viewed with one active comment layer at a time. The software will automatically mix between primary content and the comment layer. For example, a video comment will be superimposed over a portion of the screen and the sound on the main content will be reduced to give the comment prominence.
There is no limit to the number of comment layers that can be added.
The creator of the original video approves which layers go live with the content.
When clips are embedded in other websites the user can optionally include a comment layer.
Users
All users collaborate in the making of the Chatabox experience.
The Eyes
These are the users that upload clips. Some users may only do this and never try to edit things together
Storytellers
These are the users that create shows. They compile clips together into complete units of entertainment.
Swarms
A swarm is what occurs when a user calls his/her friends around a piece of content for collaborative viewing.
Functional Description
High Level Principles
Many video sites today resemble database applications and are quite different to the entertainment experiences which people are used to on their TV sets. Chatabox has its eye on the long term media consumption and will create a user experience that is rich – easily transportable to a plasma television in the living room as well as a laptop.
Videos will be generally full screen with fluid, transparent layers that can be shown and hidden by the user according to their specific needs. This is inspired to the experience of playing collaborative video games such as World of Warcraft.
The user interface can be shown as a layer above the main video content. Here you can see a chat window appeared during a swarm viewing of a news show. Also, some tags which have been attached to the timeline have just faded into view and the user can click on these to find related stories.
In addition to the previous configuration, this user has also displayed the comment channels for this story and selected JazzyB’s comment. When the comment appears on the timeline it fades into view and becomes the primary sound channel.
This is a news banner user interface that can present contextual information during a show. For example, show creators can integrate text RSS feeds into their show and it will scroll across the screen.
When a clip is paused the user gets the ability to interact with it. For example: marking an in-point to a clip.
Here you can see a possible Vista integration where the user can watch certain channels persistently and also view their inbox to get breaking news, new clips, etc.
The site should encourage link-clicking at all points to lead users on an interesting and enjoyable content discovery process.
It should be easy to embed appropriate elements into other websites. For example, take the electronic program guide (EPG) for a channel and embed it in a users MySpace page or blog.
All clips, stories and channels need simple links for easy social interaction.
Inbox
This area is where you go to find stuff that is of interest to you. If you are just a viewer you can configure this to list shows that you may want to watch each day. It’s your personal channel.
If you are a ‘storyteller’ you can come here to watch the clips you want to assemble into your shows. It’s an inbox. It’s a control hub. It’s part of the production line. Raw material comes in one end to multiple user’s inboxes and goes out the other side a little more refined, better described, clipped differently for specific usage. All users can vote on clips and shows that come into Chatabox.
Functional Requirements:
- RSS feed so that you can watch your incoming media from any RSS application.
- Easy Voting/Digging of new clips and shows.
- Categorisation tools – tagging.
- Ability to open a clip and re-clip it so that it can be used for specific purposes.
- Filter configuration – users need to be able to refine the content that comes into the Inbox.
Studio
The Studio is where clips are combined, optionally with live footage, to make a complete show. Storytellers queue up their clips and configure other settings and then Chatabox builds there show.
- Easy access to a playlist of clips that make up the show
- Ability to tweak in and out points of clips
- Set transitions
- Set backdrop image/set
- Record control for live camera and microphone
Player
The player is how media is viewed, but also the main forum for user interactivity and community.
- Player Controls: Play/Pause, volume, etc. In collaborative contexts there needs to be the concept of who is in control.
- Clipping: Users need to be able to set in and out points for clips and save them out to their clip lists.
- Chatting: Chat with people in your viewing group.
- Who’s watching in your group:
- Invite people to group: It is envisaged that this will interface with other communication tools such as AIM, Skype, SMS, to pull people into watching content.
- Comment Layers: Other users can add media to the parent content which will be displayed as a layer on top. Sound and vision will be mixed automatically. Comment layers can be clicked to link off to other content from the commenter.
- Rating/Voting/Digging: Interface needed for users to mark what is good to assist others finding the best stuff.
- Tag overlays: Tags can be set on the timeline to assist users searching within the video. Clips can be auto generated from this. Where tags have been set they can be optionally displayed as an overlay on the video. They are hyperlinked to search for similar shows and clips.
- RSS overlays: Storytellers can assign RSS feeds to their content so that text information can be presented in the video screen to create a rich, Bloomberg-like experience.
- Ads are displayed somewhere. It is envisaged that the system will need to support multiple display choices while we understand what users respond to best: post roll, pre-roll, ads around the content, in tags, etc.
- Persistent comments: Comments can be made which are not on the timeline. Text comments should be available at any time. Video comments perhaps are played after the main content.
- Share – embed – email – post to blog. Sharers can also optionally set what layers to display in the shared version and if they want to send the whole show or just a clip.
The Archives / The ‘Basement’
This is like the catacombs under the BBC! It is where all clips and shows can be found and added to clip playlists. Like all things in Chatabox it should be possible to update the content (metadata and re-clipping) as well as view it
- Search by full-text or tag
- Tag browsing
- Category browsing
- Geo-location browsing
- Date browsing
- Set search results as filter for Inbox
Search and browse results also show links to blogs and websites that have embedded video with this metadata, who is maintaining the content in this section the most.
Community
The community is the engine of Chatabox.
- User homepages with lists to their content
- Tutorials and demos
- Resources to download
- Forums for discussing content and also to discuss the creation process
- Friends lists – Friend of a Friend (FOAF)
- Look for friends – include mobile phone number and various IM – to send swarms.
- Invite Friends
- ‘Wanted’ Notice Board: Order clips – include ad ordering, chatabox briefs, etc. “I need some clips of New York at night.”
Broadcast TV Integration
Chatabox will do deals with some existing broadcast TV networks to allow users to take clips from them. This will most likely be limited – at least initially – to public broadcasters rather than cable or commercial networks. Channels would be recorded and made available only to users in the legal jurisdiction. A simple DRM will be in place to limit clips to a certain length set by the channel owner.
API Strategy
The main use for an API will be to allow other video services to provide the clipping functionality of Chatabox. This way, Chatabox users can refer to them and link back to the host site.
Codec strategy
The entire site will be created as a rich Flash application and video will be played as Flash Video by default.
Videos will also be available to download in as many formats as possible. A favourable default could be determined as a high quality download if Chatabox was to work with a particular media player.
Mobile phones integration
Mobile phone integration will be important for content acquisition, community and monetisation. For example, users could upload video (or a series of stills) from their phones, vote on small number of Inbox clips, etc.
Most interesting would be a way to request footage. For example,
a user can send a message to all users in LA (who opt in) to request footage of something happening that day/hour/minute in LA.
Monetisation
As a business that relies on user generated content it is important not to over-commercialise the product too soon and turn away users.
Advertising will be the main vehicle for revenue. This will include users making the ads for the advertisers.
Additionally:
- Buy professional studio tools
- Mobile phone upload and download data charges
- Bill to phone/Premium SMS (video ring tones, voting)
Everyone Gets Paid!
Objective:
- Make high quality, relevant content for less using the power of user generated content.
To do this, a financial model will be created that distributes the ad revenue between Chatabox, ‘Eyes’ and ‘Storytellers’.
Market
Chatabox would naturally be promoted to English language jurisdictions such as the US, UK and Australia. Additionally we will target key markets such as China.
Chatabox.TV: A Powerpoint
| Filed under: Internet TV
This is the Powerpoint deck that I used most frequently when talking to people about the product. Usually, I just skipped to the middle bit where there were mockups of the product. People have heard the pre-amble about the opportunity in video a gazillion times.
| Filed under: Internet TV
This is the Powerpoint deck that I used most frequently when talking to people about the product. Usually, I just skipped to the middle bit where there were mockups of the product. People have heard the pre-amble about the opportunity in video a gazillion times.
Chatabox Update
February 16, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
Some of you will know I have been thinking a lot over the past year about an internet video product for the social creation of content I call Chatabox. There's a mockup screen shown above.
Well, the news is that I have decided to suspend this project and pop it up on the dusty shelf in the 'Things that Never Happened' pile. I do this with only a little regret because I think an entrepeneur needs an idea I learned in theatre from the director Peter Brook: "Hold on tightly. Let go lightly". Its a great idea that says, hold onto your beliefs and your ideas, fight to make them real... but know when to let go and walk away.
In this case I have spent a year talking to various people in attempt to fund the dream becoming a reality, but now its just too late. The window has closed and there is too much competition to make it worth doing without a good war chest to go at 'em. I think Chatabox would have done it better than Jumpcut, Eyespot, Lycos Mix and Dabble but just being good isn't enough in this very competitive market.
One day I will post a fuller description of Chatabox to this site so to at least get the ideas out there.
February 16, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
Some of you will know I have been thinking a lot over the past year about an internet video product for the social creation of content I call Chatabox. There's a mockup screen shown above.
Well, the news is that I have decided to suspend this project and pop it up on the dusty shelf in the 'Things that Never Happened' pile. I do this with only a little regret because I think an entrepeneur needs an idea I learned in theatre from the director Peter Brook: "Hold on tightly. Let go lightly". Its a great idea that says, hold onto your beliefs and your ideas, fight to make them real... but know when to let go and walk away.
In this case I have spent a year talking to various people in attempt to fund the dream becoming a reality, but now its just too late. The window has closed and there is too much competition to make it worth doing without a good war chest to go at 'em. I think Chatabox would have done it better than Jumpcut, Eyespot, Lycos Mix and Dabble but just being good isn't enough in this very competitive market.
One day I will post a fuller description of Chatabox to this site so to at least get the ideas out there.
This Video Changes The World
January 1, 2007
| Filed under: Internet TV
This video changes the world. How can we look at things the same way after seeing this? Should we be seeing people die on YouTube? I don't know what to think.
January 1, 2007 | Filed under: Internet TV
This video changes the world. How can we look at things the same way after seeing this? Should we be seeing people die on YouTube? I don't know what to think.
Social Networking and World Building Coming to TV?
December 21, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
C21Media reports (subscription required):
Endemol UK is planning to abandon an individual on a desert island with only a laptop to build their own community, as audiences vote for people to join them or leave, in the company's first global commission.
There's not much to go on yet, but it sounds like fun. Endemol's new format, iLand, brings internet-style entertainment (and branding!) to the TV. Contestants will be using Yahoo! Answers for survival.
Endemol is ahead of the game, as ever, and is also pulling the other way and bringing the TV formats to the net to put Big Brother in Second Life.
December 21, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
C21Media reports (subscription required):
Endemol UK is planning to abandon an individual on a desert island with only a laptop to build their own community, as audiences vote for people to join them or leave, in the company's first global commission.
There's not much to go on yet, but it sounds like fun. Endemol's new format, iLand, brings internet-style entertainment (and branding!) to the TV. Contestants will be using Yahoo! Answers for survival.
Endemol is ahead of the game, as ever, and is also pulling the other way and bringing the TV formats to the net to put Big Brother in Second Life.
Why the Mainstream is Vulgar?
December 19, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
From Chris Anderson:
"TV is not vulgar and prurient and dumb because the people who compose the audience are vulgar and dumb. Television is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests." A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
Vulgar is also the easiest thing to make for television. Let's make 2007 the year where we tackle the hard stuff and give people the tools to be noble!
December 19, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
From Chris Anderson:
"TV is not vulgar and prurient and dumb because the people who compose the audience are vulgar and dumb. Television is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests." A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
Vulgar is also the easiest thing to make for television. Let's make 2007 the year where we tackle the hard stuff and give people the tools to be noble!
Barry Diller: "Now is the Moment"
December 12, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
Barry Diller (CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp) at the Web 2.0 Summit.
"Its not yet really there, but in the next couple of years for certain I'm quite sure that being able to create programming... different hybrid forms, pure, actual program creation... now is the moment ... that you could justify putting real capital in, so we are going to do so."
The whole video is good to watch.
December 12, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
Barry Diller (CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp) at the Web 2.0 Summit.
"Its not yet really there, but in the next couple of years for certain I'm quite sure that being able to create programming... different hybrid forms, pure, actual program creation... now is the moment ... that you could justify putting real capital in, so we are going to do so."
The whole video is good to watch.
Mobile TV - Some Valuable, Real Observations
November 24, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
Jan Chipchase from the Nokia Research Center has blogged a summary of their findings when they examined how actual mobile TV viewers are consuming TV in South Korea.
It is an important study because it is about how real people use this technology not a theoretical speculation as so much of this market currently is.
Often the findings are surprising. Head by Jan's blog to find out how...
November 24, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
Jan Chipchase from the Nokia Research Center has blogged a summary of their findings when they examined how actual mobile TV viewers are consuming TV in South Korea.
It is an important study because it is about how real people use this technology not a theoretical speculation as so much of this market currently is.
Often the findings are surprising. Head by Jan's blog to find out how...
Big Advertisers Coming to Web Video & The Quality Question
November 17, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
I have been speaking with a few 'big brand' advertising executives recently and heard that advertisers are generally still resistant to buying inventory on the web. I must be missing something because I also understand that:
- Every year they get less eyeballs for each $ they spend
- Young people (in particular) are migrating to the web from other media like broadcast TV
- Web advertising can be targeted more precisely
- Effectiveness of web advertising can be measured more precisely
Perhaps the extraordinary Jay-Z ad for HP (below) is a sign of change. Slate is reporting that, whilst these ads were expensive to make, many were only released onto the web instead of broadcast TV slots. (Thanks Anil for the link.)
I think it also shows that quality counts. Right now audiences are enjoying the explosion of unique, relevant, unusual stuff that is coming out of our long-tail big bang. It feels fresh and invigorating against the mainstream noise of big media.
But when something with higher production values is dropped into the same mix, it stands out like a candle in the night. I was looking around YouTube yesterday and found Kiwi (below). The creator sez:
My Master's Thesis Animation, which I completed while I was at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Created using Maya, After Effects, and rigged using The Setup Machine by Anzovin studios. If you would like to download there is a small version at my website: www.donysanimation.com
The music is orginal and is by Tim Cassell, someone I went to highschool with. The music will be available for download very soon.
Made by a student and his high school buddy, this has been watched 2.2 million times - and deservedly so. The comments show that the audience loves it. It is a candle in the night at YouTube.
So in the years to come, as production values rise, will we still be watching relevant grunge like Revision3 and Rocketboom? Or will we have moved on?
While I have you, check this out. It's so much fun to be in an era where users have the tools to interact with a brand in this way. I am not sure HP would approve, but I wonder if it is a negative effect? Perhaps it indicates that the ad, and the brand, are getting good meme action?
November 17, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
I have been speaking with a few 'big brand' advertising executives recently and heard that advertisers are generally still resistant to buying inventory on the web. I must be missing something because I also understand that:
- Every year they get less eyeballs for each $ they spend
- Young people (in particular) are migrating to the web from other media like broadcast TV
- Web advertising can be targeted more precisely
- Effectiveness of web advertising can be measured more precisely
Perhaps the extraordinary Jay-Z ad for HP (below) is a sign of change. Slate is reporting that, whilst these ads were expensive to make, many were only released onto the web instead of broadcast TV slots. (Thanks Anil for the link.)
I think it also shows that quality counts. Right now audiences are enjoying the explosion of unique, relevant, unusual stuff that is coming out of our long-tail big bang. It feels fresh and invigorating against the mainstream noise of big media.
But when something with higher production values is dropped into the same mix, it stands out like a candle in the night. I was looking around YouTube yesterday and found Kiwi (below). The creator sez:
My Master's Thesis Animation, which I completed while I was at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Created using Maya, After Effects, and rigged using The Setup Machine by Anzovin studios. If you would like to download there is a small version at my website: www.donysanimation.com
The music is orginal and is by Tim Cassell, someone I went to highschool with. The music will be available for download very soon.
Made by a student and his high school buddy, this has been watched 2.2 million times - and deservedly so. The comments show that the audience loves it. It is a candle in the night at YouTube.
So in the years to come, as production values rise, will we still be watching relevant grunge like Revision3 and Rocketboom? Or will we have moved on?
While I have you, check this out. It's so much fun to be in an era where users have the tools to interact with a brand in this way. I am not sure HP would approve, but I wonder if it is a negative effect? Perhaps it indicates that the ad, and the brand, are getting good meme action?
Steven Bochco Working on Diamonds in the Crud
November 16, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
PaidContent is reporting that Steven Bochco will be creating content for Metacafe.
I have long been a fan of Bochco's ability to know his medium and create audience experiences that exploit it to the full. His creations show Dickensian slices of life that are real and yet poetic - certainly compelling. Consider Hillstreet Blues and NYPD Blue.
Now he is joining a charge to bring the next wave of content to the web with the growing number of people bringing diamonds to the crud that is online video content. He has already indicated that the content will be unscripted and interactive.
I can't wait.
November 16, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
PaidContent is reporting that Steven Bochco will be creating content for Metacafe.
I have long been a fan of Bochco's ability to know his medium and create audience experiences that exploit it to the full. His creations show Dickensian slices of life that are real and yet poetic - certainly compelling. Consider Hillstreet Blues and NYPD Blue.
Now he is joining a charge to bring the next wave of content to the web with the growing number of people bringing diamonds to the crud that is online video content. He has already indicated that the content will be unscripted and interactive.
I can't wait.
Google Video: Ad Tools for User-Generated Content?
November 14, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
Beet.TV are today showing this video of Hunter Walk, one of the execs behind Google Video, where he indicates that ads are coming soon for user generated content as well as for the 'professionals'.
If Google made this available openly in the way that Adsense is today it would fuel the fire of online video that is already raging.
There are some of the complex problems that need to be solved to do it.
- How will the content be analysed in order to target effectively? It will be disappointing if the solution is low revenue 'run-of-network' type ads like Revver seems to be.
- Related to this, how will they prevent earning revenue from copyright infringing content or annoying advertisers by placing their ads next to offensive content?
- Where will the ads be placed? Pre-roll? Post-roll? Scrolling text links across the top?
- Will videos need to be uploaded to Google Video or can they be hosted on completely independent services just like AdSense can be placed on any web page?
I've met these guys and they are smart. I'd be suprised if they didn't have solutions to some of these.
November 14, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
Beet.TV are today showing this video of Hunter Walk, one of the execs behind Google Video, where he indicates that ads are coming soon for user generated content as well as for the 'professionals'.
If Google made this available openly in the way that Adsense is today it would fuel the fire of online video that is already raging.
There are some of the complex problems that need to be solved to do it.
- How will the content be analysed in order to target effectively? It will be disappointing if the solution is low revenue 'run-of-network' type ads like Revver seems to be.
- Related to this, how will they prevent earning revenue from copyright infringing content or annoying advertisers by placing their ads next to offensive content?
- Where will the ads be placed? Pre-roll? Post-roll? Scrolling text links across the top?
- Will videos need to be uploaded to Google Video or can they be hosted on completely independent services just like AdSense can be placed on any web page?
I've met these guys and they are smart. I'd be suprised if they didn't have solutions to some of these.
Lycos Cinema: Almost Cool
| Filed under: Internet TV
Reuters are reporting on the new Lycos web video play Lycos Cinema. I haven't tried it myself - something I will get to in a moment - but it is great to see new ideas like this emerge because they are post YouTube stuff.
Lycos Cinema already has full length features on there instead of the crippling limitation of 10 mins/100MB which shields YouTube from financially bleeding to death and provides low-tech copyright filtering.
Its most significant feature is that users can watch videos together and chat at the same time. IPDemocracy reports:
"One section of the site lists movies that are currently “playing” and how much time is left in the film so that users can jump in and watch along with the other viewers. Up to 10 viewers can watch schedule a movie in advance and watch it simultaneously, and Lycos is planning to add voice chat to the service."
This is a compelling idea that could get lots of interest. The 10 viewer limitation seems to be a huge limitation though and p2p social video products like the forthcoming Venice Project may wipe the floor wth them.
So why couldn't I try it myself? First run:
This is because I am using Firefox. So I tried in IE7:
But I have WMP 11. They lost me.
I tried harder than a regular fickle user would. This kind of thing suggests to me that they have got lost in the technology and forgotten their market. They are making it the user's problem and most users will simply choose not to resolve it. Knowing this is precisely why YouTube succeeded. They exploited the ubiquity of Flash and made sure that their content experience worked for everybody - first time. Users come for the content and to be with their friends and they care not about the technology. A site that depends on social network dynamics cannot have this kind of barrier.
| Filed under: Internet TV
Reuters are reporting on the new Lycos web video play Lycos Cinema. I haven't tried it myself - something I will get to in a moment - but it is great to see new ideas like this emerge because they are post YouTube stuff.
Lycos Cinema already has full length features on there instead of the crippling limitation of 10 mins/100MB which shields YouTube from financially bleeding to death and provides low-tech copyright filtering.
Its most significant feature is that users can watch videos together and chat at the same time. IPDemocracy reports:
"One section of the site lists movies that are currently “playing” and how much time is left in the film so that users can jump in and watch along with the other viewers. Up to 10 viewers can watch schedule a movie in advance and watch it simultaneously, and Lycos is planning to add voice chat to the service."
This is a compelling idea that could get lots of interest. The 10 viewer limitation seems to be a huge limitation though and p2p social video products like the forthcoming Venice Project may wipe the floor wth them.
So why couldn't I try it myself? First run:
This is because I am using Firefox. So I tried in IE7:
But I have WMP 11. They lost me.
I tried harder than a regular fickle user would. This kind of thing suggests to me that they have got lost in the technology and forgotten their market. They are making it the user's problem and most users will simply choose not to resolve it. Knowing this is precisely why YouTube succeeded. They exploited the ubiquity of Flash and made sure that their content experience worked for everybody - first time. Users come for the content and to be with their friends and they care not about the technology. A site that depends on social network dynamics cannot have this kind of barrier.
Google Co-op: The Technology of Entertainment Search Engine
October 24, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
I just pimped Google and made a new search engine which specialises in the technology of entertainment. Anyone can contribute to this search engine so feel free to dive in and help me make it super-useful. This Google Co-op thing looks kinda intersting...
October 24, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
I just pimped Google and made a new search engine which specialises in the technology of entertainment. Anyone can contribute to this search engine so feel free to dive in and help me make it super-useful. This Google Co-op thing looks kinda intersting...
Why Google Bought YouTube: The Final Piece of the Puzzle?
October 21, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
Fortune is reporting a real reason Google bought YouTube:
"Google executives confirm that the company bought YouTube in part to better position itself for getting into the business of selling traditional television advertising."
It could be the final significant piece of a puzzle that currently looks something like this:
- Hardware / software now cheap and simple to use for making great quality video content.
- Flash video creating a format for almost everybody to be tooled-up ready to view video.
- GooTube, Revver, and the rest training users to get into watching video on their computers
Missing is:
- [Insert solution here] as a revenue engine for content creators to make a living from their efforts.
With this final piece of the puzzle, an entire ecosystem could, theoretically, be in place.
But I am still wondering:
- Will monetised videos mean more copyright cases? The case would be stronger against them for sure... Expect to see lots more copyright filtering in place.
- Will monetised videos with no revenue to the people that made them (say LonelyGirl15) make creators angry? Presumably they would share the revenue as Revver does.
- Testing and optimising TV-style ads on the type of content we see on YouTube today does not necessarily help Robert Scoble or Revision3 who are trying to make 'shows' rather than muck around with 'clips'.
- If 'shows' get enough viewers, will it be possible to build a content business to rival NBC as Revision3 are trying to do? Will content businesses be able to earn enough revenue from the Google product? I guess Google did get that right with adsense so we just have to wait and see how a Google video ad eco-system works.
If this is why Google bought YouTube AND they have a video adsense AND they balance the eco-system carefully it will be very interesting indeed.
October 21, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
Fortune is reporting a real reason Google bought YouTube:
"Google executives confirm that the company bought YouTube in part to better position itself for getting into the business of selling traditional television advertising."
It could be the final significant piece of a puzzle that currently looks something like this:
- Hardware / software now cheap and simple to use for making great quality video content.
- Flash video creating a format for almost everybody to be tooled-up ready to view video.
- GooTube, Revver, and the rest training users to get into watching video on their computers
Missing is:
- [Insert solution here] as a revenue engine for content creators to make a living from their efforts.
With this final piece of the puzzle, an entire ecosystem could, theoretically, be in place.
But I am still wondering:
- Will monetised videos mean more copyright cases? The case would be stronger against them for sure... Expect to see lots more copyright filtering in place.
- Will monetised videos with no revenue to the people that made them (say LonelyGirl15) make creators angry? Presumably they would share the revenue as Revver does.
- Testing and optimising TV-style ads on the type of content we see on YouTube today does not necessarily help Robert Scoble or Revision3 who are trying to make 'shows' rather than muck around with 'clips'.
- If 'shows' get enough viewers, will it be possible to build a content business to rival NBC as Revision3 are trying to do? Will content businesses be able to earn enough revenue from the Google product? I guess Google did get that right with adsense so we just have to wait and see how a Google video ad eco-system works.
If this is why Google bought YouTube AND they have a video adsense AND they balance the eco-system carefully it will be very interesting indeed.
Sexy, Naked Girl Has Accident: Or How to Market Video on the Web
| Filed under: Internet TV
Back in August I blogged about a REALLY BORING video that was somehow in the Google Video Top 100. Its popularity seemed driven by the thumbnail which showed a moment in the video where the camera fell to the female passengers groin.
Looking at the same Top 100 today I see:
- Sexy Naked Penalty Kick ! BEST PENALTY EVER !
- Sniper shoots gun right of out criminals hand!!!! Accidentally Naked Girl !
I wonder why these videos are so popular? :-)
Update: Sure enough, this post immediately entered the top 5 of my posts from Google searches largely (keyword: 'sexy') and has a 71% bounce rate. For some reason the people that found the post didn't find what they were looking for! :-)
| Filed under: Internet TV
Back in August I blogged about a REALLY BORING video that was somehow in the Google Video Top 100. Its popularity seemed driven by the thumbnail which showed a moment in the video where the camera fell to the female passengers groin.
Looking at the same Top 100 today I see:
- Sexy Naked Penalty Kick ! BEST PENALTY EVER !
- Sniper shoots gun right of out criminals hand!!!! Accidentally Naked Girl !
I wonder why these videos are so popular? :-)
Update: Sure enough, this post immediately entered the top 5 of my posts from Google searches largely (keyword: 'sexy') and has a 71% bounce rate. For some reason the people that found the post didn't find what they were looking for! :-)
Scobleizer: Where's the Money in Video?
| Filed under: Internet TV
Today Robert Scoble walked into the same wall I crashed into a couple of weeks ago. Business models for video are challenging. For sub 10 minute, low quality, user generated content like YouTube the ad CPM is tiny or zero. For unique content like Scoble's the CPM can be much higher, but at 200MB a download, not enough.
There are solutions though... and one that can be adopted today is p2p. Revision3 is doing this already.
The secret is to be aware of the distribution cost and tweak the model accordingly. Its not like the text-web, where you can ignore it, chuck some adlinks on there and watch the money flow in.
| Filed under: Internet TV
Today Robert Scoble walked into the same wall I crashed into a couple of weeks ago. Business models for video are challenging. For sub 10 minute, low quality, user generated content like YouTube the ad CPM is tiny or zero. For unique content like Scoble's the CPM can be much higher, but at 200MB a download, not enough.
There are solutions though... and one that can be adopted today is p2p. Revision3 is doing this already.
The secret is to be aware of the distribution cost and tweak the model accordingly. Its not like the text-web, where you can ignore it, chuck some adlinks on there and watch the money flow in.
Some Notes on "Revision 3 Grows Up" Podcast
October 19, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
I just listened to Catherine Girardeau interview Revision3 CEO Jay Adelson and Production Director David Prager. Here are my notes on the podcast:
Ambition
Adelson: "Our viewership potential is actually greater than television."
Growth
Adelson explains how he wants a slow, organic growth of loyal viewers: "We're not aiming to have billions of viewers overnight"
Girardeau: "Are you aiming to have billions of viewers at all?"
Adelson: "Yeah - absolutely."
Investment
50K personal investment then 1 million angel funding.
Downloads
1.5 million downloads / month (1 million of these are diggnation)
Most podcast/feed downloads are from iTunes Music Store. Downloads = Viewers because iTunes stops downloading from a feed if the user stops playing the files.
Advertising
18-34 men - "most covetted by advertisers"
Keeping Costs Low
Adelson: One thing I also don't want to do is throw a lot of money at it. Y'know, increase production values and so on. That doesn't buy me anything."
The podcast is here.
I previously discussed Revision 3 here.
October 19, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
I just listened to Catherine Girardeau interview Revision3 CEO Jay Adelson and Production Director David Prager. Here are my notes on the podcast:
Ambition
Adelson: "Our viewership potential is actually greater than television."
Growth
Adelson explains how he wants a slow, organic growth of loyal viewers: "We're not aiming to have billions of viewers overnight"
Girardeau: "Are you aiming to have billions of viewers at all?"
Adelson: "Yeah - absolutely."
Investment
50K personal investment then 1 million angel funding.
Downloads
1.5 million downloads / month (1 million of these are diggnation)
Most podcast/feed downloads are from iTunes Music Store. Downloads = Viewers because iTunes stops downloading from a feed if the user stops playing the files.
Advertising
18-34 men - "most covetted by advertisers"
Keeping Costs Low
Adelson: One thing I also don't want to do is throw a lot of money at it. Y'know, increase production values and so on. That doesn't buy me anything."
The podcast is here.
I previously discussed Revision 3 here.
Video on the Internet: Nowhere to Everywhere in 16 months
October 16, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
The 1.65 billion USD Google/YouTube deal has punctuated my awe that I needed to write this on June 26 2005.
October 16, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
The 1.65 billion USD Google/YouTube deal has punctuated my awe that I needed to write this on June 26 2005.
Pulver: 2007 Will Be The Year That WebTV Competes
October 12, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
"Pulver believes that, in 2007, we'll see the rise of a new TV network that will eventually compete with the likes of NBC, ABC and CNN. He believes that this new TV network will be Web-based. And he hopes it will be Network2.tv."
I think Jeff Pulver is probably right about this. TV that is made for the web is about to go off. Where's the money?
"Eventually, advertisers might be able to do product placement with particular Web shows. And viewers might be able to click on a show character's shirt and buy it online."
This is the Revision3 way. I wonder how network2.tv will go about this given that they don't actually make any content.
October 12, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
"Pulver believes that, in 2007, we'll see the rise of a new TV network that will eventually compete with the likes of NBC, ABC and CNN. He believes that this new TV network will be Web-based. And he hopes it will be Network2.tv."
I think Jeff Pulver is probably right about this. TV that is made for the web is about to go off. Where's the money?
"Eventually, advertisers might be able to do product placement with particular Web shows. And viewers might be able to click on a show character's shirt and buy it online."
This is the Revision3 way. I wonder how network2.tv will go about this given that they don't actually make any content.
Video Business Models - P2P is Necessary
October 7, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
Assuming that users will not pay for most content and that advertising/sponsorship is the most likely way to monetize...
Assuming an optimistic CPM of roughly $50 for show sponsorship like we are seeing from the likes of Rocketboom...
And download costs / GB at roughly $0.20 from a service like Amazon S3...
Shall we say 250MB per show so that it is decent quality...?
That means that - optimistically - each download has a variable cost of:
($50/1000) - (0.20/4) = $0 break even
So with no staff, no infrastructure, a very good CPM and a 100% inventory sale, a video site could break even.
P2P isn't a nice-to-have in this world... its a necessity.
October 7, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
Assuming that users will not pay for most content and that advertising/sponsorship is the most likely way to monetize...
Assuming an optimistic CPM of roughly $50 for show sponsorship like we are seeing from the likes of Rocketboom...
And download costs / GB at roughly $0.20 from a service like Amazon S3...
Shall we say 250MB per show so that it is decent quality...?
That means that - optimistically - each download has a variable cost of:
($50/1000) - (0.20/4) = $0 break even
So with no staff, no infrastructure, a very good CPM and a 100% inventory sale, a video site could break even.
P2P isn't a nice-to-have in this world... its a necessity.
Web Video Today = "The Talkies"
October 6, 2006
| Filed under: Internet TV
"the real power isn't just in "broadcasting" TV content to the internet (and then getting a TV or DVD deal, as some seem to aspire to), but in adding in the real interactivity -- and there are many different ways that can play out. It can be as simple as encouraging others to make "response" videos, as are popular on YouTube, or playing up to the community of watchers as folks like Ze Frank have embraced."
October 6, 2006 | Filed under: Internet TV
"the real power isn't just in "broadcasting" TV content to the internet (and then getting a TV or DVD deal, as some seem to aspire to), but in adding in the real interactivity -- and there are many different ways that can play out. It can be as simple as encouraging others to make "response" videos, as are popular on YouTube, or playing up to the community of watchers as folks like Ze Frank have embraced."
The Secret to Making Online Video?
| Filed under: Internet TV
Lucas Gonze found some nice Justin Frankel wisdom on making music online.
"The secret for making
| Filed under: Internet TV
Lucas Gonze found some nice Justin Frankel wisdom on making music online.
"The secret for making