Video Surges On Newspaper Sites

by Mark Walsh, Apr 9, 2009, 8:30 AM

• Comment
• Recommend (4)
• Tweet
• 

Newspapers across the country may be scaling back to survive, but online video appears to be one area where they are expanding aggressively. An analysis of 187 U.S. newspaper Web sites by Web video provider Brightcove shows a surge in their video-related activity last year.

The number of videos uploaded by each newspaper to the Brightcove platform, for example, grew from an average of 186 per month to 638 in 2008. The overall total of uploads increased 1,500%.

On the consumer side, video streams are growing 35% per quarter, nearly tripling to 42.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the year-earlier period. Total video player "loads," or page views containing video, increased 700% -- suggesting that newspaper sites are putting video on more pages.

While Brightcove does not provide ad revenue figures, the company says nearly all of its newspaper partners are monetizing video content with advertising. The main ad format is the 30-second pre-roll video with 300 x 250 companion banner.

A growing number of newspapers are also relying on third-party ad networks to help sell and optimize their video inventory, according to Brightcove. The Boston-based company attributes the rapid growth to lower production costs, higher-quality video and the gradual consumer shift from print and broadcast media to online outlets.

"While the data and trends point to many positive signs, the question remains whether newspaper publishers will be able to ramp their digital initiatives and evolve their operations in time to save their businesses and ensure a growth position when they come out on the other side of the current recession," wrote Brightcove Communications Director Josh Hawkins in a post on the company blog Tuesday.

The company says it works with more than 30 major newspaper groups in the U.S., Europe and Asia including Cox Newspapers, Freedom Communications, Hearst Communications and Media News Group.

• Comment
• Recommend (4)
• Tweet
• 

0 comments on "Video Surges On Newspaper Sites".

1. William Hoelzel from The Day
   

   commented on: April 9, 2009 at 3:07 p.m.

   I posted this comment on Brightcove.com, and I'm also posting it here:

   I know smart newspapers are producing these videos, but I see no evidence in your story that any of them is producing a profit. Yes, good journalists are eager to create new content, but we marketers want to know that we can make a business out of online videos. We all want to see newspapers generate videos, but we need to see a business plan.

   You say: "Newspapers are monetizing video distribution [by enabling advertising with] 30-second pre-roll video ads [and] 300x250 companion banners."

   But where's the business plan?

   Have any of the newspapers in this study started to just break even -- where video-related revenues equal the costs of video production (including salaries)? Have any of the newspapers adopted a business plan so video production won't grow faster than video revenues?

   Newspapers can't afford to produce videos if advertisers aren't willing to sponsor some of them. We need a business plan. Can you show us that some Brightcove clients are making money by producing video for their websites? Cloak their identities, use fictitious figures, but show us that we CAN make a profit.

   We used to to launch "faith-based" enterprises when times were good, but now circulation is declining for most of us.

   We can't afford to say that "if we produce videos, advertising revenues will come." We need to learn how real newspapers are making real profits by producing real videos.

   That's the focus we must use to evaluate new businesses as print revenues decline. I hope I'm not asking too much by asking "what's the plan to make money?"

   Thank you! You've given us a good part of the story -- producing and posting videos. Now we need to see how papers are monetizing their investment.
   

Leave a Comment