Commentary

With Web-Based Series, Who Has The Last Laugh?

by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 16, 2012

Jerry Seinfeld wants to give us a coffee break from our usual TV menu by starting a Web-based series,"Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," on Sony Pictures Television’s original video site Crackle.

That will help boost Crackle in its competition with bigger video sites like Hulu, YouTube and Netflix. Crackle has done this before with a few other celebrities. Some might say they are vanity projects.

Well, why not? Seinfeld's online effort is a no-lose proposition: His brand name is pretty well intact, as he is still playing big comedy venues.

The simple premise of comedians talking in cars and sitting in coffee places, telling jokes, is perfect online material. But this kind of online fare doesn't have the depth, story lines and character development that people still expect from the lean-back entertainment environment of traditional TV.

CBS converted a popular Twitter account into the TV show "$#*! My Dad Says," but it didn't last. To date, no Internet-based content -- video or otherwise -- has become a successful, long-term, financially thriving TV show.

Internet proponents would tell you that new TV models should be invented to incorporate this stuff, especially shorter-length two and four-minute series that would last about 10 episodes or so.

But after all these years, one still has to wonder -- where is the monetization for such original efforts in the online space?

Short-attention-span, multitasking traditional TV viewers would seem a perfect fit for this stuff. The audience would include older viewers -- remember that fans of “Seinfeld,” which went of the air in 1998, are still around -- who seem to be gravitating in this direction.

But don't expect Sony to market Seinfeld’s latest effort on television, where big-time shows get exposure. Sony will count on social media, search and other online marketing tools. That virtually assures that “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” will not get big TV-like audiences.

This isn't to say that some day there will not be a true breakout hit -- perhaps a germ of an idea -- for a traditional TV show. Maybe the day will come when we'll be watching a half-hour time-shifted comedy from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW or even Univision and then easily switch to a three-minute episode of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.".

But in an instant, some of us will probably miss that three-minute bit -- or decide to move to another bit of media, as we pour another espresso.

4 comments about "With Web-Based Series, Who Has The Last Laugh? ".

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Brad Michaelson from Brand Canyon at Runway 21 Studios, July 16, 2012 at 1:52 p.m.
Generating revenue and making money with a Web-only show doesn't work - yet. But that shouldn't be a surprise because shows produced during the early days of TV didn't really "make money" either. They were paid advertisements for cigarette, soap and consumer goods companies. As the show's entertainment quotient went up,more people watched. When the audience became large enough, the networks started to slice up the sponsorship pie for each "show". This medium will develop much the same way; sponsors need to wrap their online video ads into entertaining packages and grow their audiences and sales simultaneously. It's the only way to get any real ROI at this point. The good news is if they actually develop a viral "hit", their sales should go up and they can start their own channel.
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Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, July 16, 2012 at 2:20 p.m.

Difference this time than in the early 50's is that choice was very limited. Now, there are more "channels" and "programs" to watch, not to mention longer work hours, gaming, twits, FB and other forms of entertainment than those ol' Carter's Little Liver Pills. Most people can't even keep track of availabilities, let alone watch them.

Hisani Dubose from Seven Generations Productions, July 16, 2012 at 3:28 p.m.

This seems to be a field that independents will develop. We understand that multi-millions will not be made from original programming on internet movie channels. We have launched the Mox-E Channel with our first series, Football Girls! We are picking up ads priced low enough for buyers to take a chance. Within a year we expect to make a profit not of millions but we'll be happy with thousands. The ants get the crumbs the elephants miss. (www.themoxechannel.com)

Thomas Siebert from BENEVOLENT PROPAGANDA, July 16, 2012 at 4:09 p.m.

Not sure if The Annoying Orange is huge money generator, since it only debuted on TV a couple weeks ago after a successful web video run, but my kids love it and and it sure had a packed turnout at Comic-Con last weekend.