Commentary

Economic Woes Won't Stop Online Video, Probably, Hopefully

The panelists discussing online video programming at MediaPost’s OMMA Video conference on Wednesday morning were fairly sanguine about the prospects of the new medium in the midst of a sharp economic downturn. David Prager, the founder of Revision3, asserted: “It’s inevitable that there’s going to be this… evolution of the way media is consumed,” referring to the long-term shift “from appointment viewing to on-demand.” While there may be shake-outs, Prager said the medium is headed for long-term growth, “however much the economy might slow things down” in the short term. In fact the downturn will provide opportunities for online video, according to Zack Posner, vice-president of corporate development for National Lampoon: “The costs on the Internet are so much lower, that the brands we’re talking to are actually shifting money from traditional venues to interactive.”

However there were some cautionary notes too. Felicia Williams, the director of community programming for Next New Networks, said anyone going the traditional TV route will probably fail, because of the production costs: “We have to make sure that we’re building models that aren’t the studio model.” And Jake Zim, the chief operating officer for Safran Digital Group, was frankly pessimistic, warning“It’s an extremely difficult time for any business that hasn’t… horded cash.” He predicted a wide-ranging shake-out: “The companies that are well-funded and well-capitalized, that can create the right kind of content, and form the right kind of advertiser relationships, will come through this.” But as for everyone else, well: “The rich are going to get richer right now, and the poor will have to fight for more crumbs.”

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