NBC Honcho: Hulu Will Have Failures

by Gavin O'Malley, Sep 25, 2007, 6:00 AM

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Expect failure from Hulu, according to George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal's chief digital officer. Just as NBC expects some of its new fall TV series to flop, NBC Digital is factoring some degree of failure into its joint venture with News Corp., he told a packed crowd at OMMA New York on Monday.

"The most important thing is to not be presumptuous about what's going to work," Kliavkoff said.

But to fail successfully, he added, you have to fail fast in order to quickly identify your errors and cut your losses. Success involves setting up "processes to fail fast," he said.

His message to marketers? "Anything you want to try, we'll try it with you."

As competitive as the media business has become, there has never been a better time to be a content owner, according to Kliavkoff. The reasons for that include unlimited distribution opportunities, new tools for engaging with consumers, and shortly, proper tools to measure that engagement.

While broad distribution is a key factor for Hulu, NBC will provide incentives for viewers to spend time on the Hulu destination site, Kliavkoff said.

When the site launches next month, visitors can expect more tools for experiencing and engaging with videos, higher-quality videos, and the ability to take "something"--most likely content--away from the site.

According to Kliavkoff, the single biggest opportunity for NBC is mobile, while the current revenue split makes it hard to pay for the creation of suitable content.

"Think what your cell phone means to you as opposed to your TV," he suggested to the audience.

There is no reason why advertising has to necessarily worsen the viewing experience, Kliavkoff believes. "Folks don't want ads that are not relevant," he said. "When I'm in the mood for a car, I'll sit through half an hour of car ads."

A potential concern for Kliavkoff is the effect that NBC's broad distribution will eventually have on its syndication business. "It's potentially a point of exposure," he admitted on Monday.

For his part, Kliavkoff does not believe that viewers will ever prefer consumer-generated content over premium fare.

Particularly for marketers, he said, "at the end of the day, premium, produced content wins."

What does concern him, said Kliavkoff, is how much time is spent creating and sharing CGM. "We're worried about anywhere [people are] spending time that they could be spending watching our video," he said.

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