In today's keynote, Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback shares his vision for TV on the Internet. Jim explains why shoveling content onto the web doesn't work, why Revision3's ownership of their content is important, and how video on the Internet is rewriting the rules of appointment viewing.
Video on the Internet:
- TV, Cable, Satellite are still on top, but Video on the Internet is starting to gain an audience.
- Beware the Cowpath! You can put your existing stuff online, or you can try to make content that fits the medium.
- In 1999, TiVo changed everything.
- Almost ten years later, the Internet is changing everything again.
- Anywhere, anytime, and service.
- Rewriting the rules of appointment viewing: time shifting, place shifting, and device shifting.
- Younger viewers spend twice as much time online as with TV.
- Prime Time is all the Time!
- "The people who the content are the ones who are going to win."
On Revision3:
- Started in 2005, born out of TechTV
- Started at the same time as Digg.com
- Today: 15 shows, 6 million viewers/videos a month
- All original, HD quality
- Anywhere, Anytime, Any Device, Any Service
- Shows focused on passions and communities, hosts come from these communities
- Targeting 18-34 year olds
Lessons learned:
- If you want to get into the video world on the web, don't get D-list or even A-list stars, get people who are passionate and who are already building a community online.
- The Internet is a place where new stars are born.
- Hosts and stars still matter! They are community based experts though, not actors.
- No barriers means that great hosts can come from anywhere. Formats are unbound from the programming wheel.
- Examples of shows that work: Diggnation, Ask A Ninja, TikiBar.
- Facebook is a great way to connect with your audience.
- "If you're not on Twitter, you should be."
- Be wherever your audience is, and make pass-along simple.
On monetization:
- Pre-rolls don't work.
- Models are still emerging: overlays, sponsorships, host mentions, pull downs, product placement.
- IAB and ADM are still working on standards.
- Venture capital will shy away from media, but it's a changing world so anything's possible.
Jim showed the words "anywhere, anytime, any device, any service" about six times throughout his presentation. Think that might be important? ;)
He closed with an awesome video of Ask a Ninja talking about Internet Video. Very funny!
Questions from the audience:
- Do you see any meeting between traditional and online video? What's interesting is that some broadcast TV is actually better off on the Internet! Take Gossip Girl for instance. There is overlap, but the way you think about video online is different.
- How much personal attention should hosts give on social networks? You've got to spend time there, you need to be part of the conversation. If done right, it's not one person talking to 3000, it's everyone talking to one another.
- What about production costs? You can do a lot now without a lot of money. The technology to do Revision3 is so much less than it was for TechTV.
- Why is Twitter a priority? See where your audience is first, and be there. If you want to reach the under 30 crowd living their life online, you need to be on Twitter.
- What about moving content to mobile? You can waste a lot of money and time moving stuff to mobile. Find someone who can help you do it. Mobile is huge, you've got to be everywhere.
