Quarterlife's Crisis
New York Times, Wednesday, December 26, 2007 11:45 AM
"Quarterlife", the highly touted original Web series that runs on several Web 2.0 sites, apparently isn't doing very well. According to The New York Times, some episodes of the show, which average eight minutes, have yet to attract 100,000 views on MySpace and YouTube. Its numbers are terrible compared to what television advertisers are used to. However, "Quarterlife" online is just a warm-up for the series' network television debut on NBC in February. That's where the real litmus test is: can the Web serve as a springboard for a new television series? "Quarterlife" will be the guinea pig.
That said, success on NBC wouldn't mask the fact that "Quarterlife" has been a dud online. Part of the problem, the Times says, is that a show needs a prominent link on a site like MySpace or YouTube to garner a significant number of page views. "Quarterlife" had this for its first episode on YouTube for 48 hours in late November. The result: 700,000 views. But after that, the series' traffic sunk. On MySpace and YouTube, "Quarterlife" has averaged 105,000 page views for its last twelve episodes.
Series creator Marshall Herskovitz isn't giving up: "I am determined to succeed on the Internet," he says--insisting that word of mouth, the most effective, most elusive marketing method, is beginning to pick up. He says that a couple hundred thousand views, which is instant death on network television, is "just the way the world is right now for scripted content on the Internet."
Read the whole story at New York Times »
That said, success on NBC wouldn't mask the fact that "Quarterlife" has been a dud online. Part of the problem, the Times says, is that a show needs a prominent link on a site like MySpace or YouTube to garner a significant number of page views. "Quarterlife" had this for its first episode on YouTube for 48 hours in late November. The result: 700,000 views. But after that, the series' traffic sunk. On MySpace and YouTube, "Quarterlife" has averaged 105,000 page views for its last twelve episodes.
Series creator Marshall Herskovitz isn't giving up: "I am determined to succeed on the Internet," he says--insisting that word of mouth, the most effective, most elusive marketing method, is beginning to pick up. He says that a couple hundred thousand views, which is instant death on network television, is "just the way the world is right now for scripted content on the Internet."
Recent Around the Net In Online Marketing Articles
-
TripAdvisor Grabs Mobile App GateGuru June 19, 11:26 a.m.
Travel portal TripAdvisor has scooped up mobile app GateGuru for an undisclosed sum. GateGuru’s app offers ... -
Amazon Frowns On Binge Streaming June 19, 11:24 a.m.
Unlike Netflix, Amazon apparently doesn’t want viewers binging on its original content. As such, Amazon’s new ... -
Fab Takes Another $150M June 19, 11:23 a.m.
High-flying ecommerce startup Fab has raised an additional $150 million, bringing its total investment to $310 ... -
Facebook Hits 1 Million Advertisers June 19, 11:22 a.m.
Facebook on Wednesday said it has reached 1 million advertisers. Forbes interprets the number as signaling ... -
Samsung One-Ups Apple With Jay-Z Promo June 18, 9:38 a.m.
What’s one way for Samsung to steal cool points from Apple? Feature Jay-Z in an ad, ... -
Digg Preps RSS Aggregation Service June 18, 9:34 a.m.
Remember Digg? The social news pioneer, which was acquired by Betaworks last year for a half ... -
Yahoo Could Pay $50M For Qwiki June 18, 9:33 a.m.
With no end in sight to its shopping spree, Yahoo is reportedly close to dropping as ... -
Microsoft Bowing Windows 8 Ad Format June 18, 9:27 a.m.
Microsoft today is expected to debut new native ad formats for Windows 8 “The new ads ... -
Samsung Plans Faster Galaxy S4 June 17, 12:01 p.m.
Samsung says it will soon launch the world's first smartphone with a network connection boasting ultra-fast ... -
Apple Tries To Clear Its Name June 17, 11:37 a.m.
Trying to make good with consumers in the wake of reports that technology companies cooperated with ...
Be the first to comment on "Quarterlife's Crisis"
Leave a Comment