• Ad Age, Wednesday, June 10, 2009 3:30 PM

As it turns out, long form content simply isn't that popular on YouTube, the runaway leader in online video. So, for all the talk about studio deals, the real opportunity for the Google video site lies in the so-called mid-tail, says Ad Age's Michael Learmonth, which fills a niche somewhere between studio-produced and user-generated content.

This is a category that didn't really exist before YouTube, but it may play a significant part in its future, because the mid-tail actually supplies the biggest pool of brand safe impressions, Learmonth says. The top 100 mid-tail producers include the likes of College Humor and MyDamnChannel, which have generated more than 2 billion views during the past six months on YouTube.

By comparison, full-length hour-long and half-hour long TV shows on YouTube have accumulated just 19.5 million views. CBS, YouTube's biggest content partner, has generated just 6.9 million views across 315 full-length episodes in the past year.

So, what does this mean? "The closest thing as made-for-YouTube is this midtail; it's more snack-size -- you're watching at work when you have less time," said TubeMogul CEO Brett Wilson. "As audiences grow, this will be more profitable for YouTube than selling ESPN's content."

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