Calling all comedy creators. Digital production studio My Damn Channel is expected to unveil a network model today that will offer partners various distribution, promotional and monetization opportunities in exchange for a share of ad revenue. The launch of the so-called My Damn Channel Comedy Network also represents a concerted effort by My Damn Channel to acquire new content. Throughout 2013, the network plans to premiere hundreds of new comedy series on MyDamnChannel.com, as well as its corresponding YouTube channels. Founded by former MTV and CBS Radio executive Rob Barnett in 2007, My Damn Channel experienced significant growth in 2012. From 2011 to 2012, according to Barnett, the company saw a 300% increase in revenue; a 268% increase in videos produced; a 366% increase in YouTube subscribers; a 550% increase in U.S. YouTube views; and a 91% increase in total video views across all of its owned-and-operated sites. Barnett has appointed Eric Mortensen director of programming and acquisitions for My Damn Channel. Mortensen is joining My Damn Channel after six years at Blip, where he was senior director, content and network programming. “We’re investing in the team and the infrastructure,” Barnett said of the new network, and Mortensen’s arrival. My Damn Channel will share revenue with creators while providing them with distribution, promotion, marketing and social media support. Creators joining the new My Damn Channel Comedy Network will be expected to sign a nonexclusive, one-year licensing and distribution agreement to show their work on the company’s online properties.
A majority of U.S. consumers -- 60% -- still want to watch their shows on TV, but these same consumers also want their smartphones and tablets by their side.Drilling down to other data, KPMG International said in a new report that in the U.S., 42% of consumers say they watch TV and access the Internet via a laptop or PC, while 17% watch TV and access the Web via a smartphone. The study also found that 22% watch TV and use a social networking site at the same time.In the U.S., 40% own or intend to own a smartphone in the next 12 months, compared to 53% globally; 26% own or plan to purchase a tablet over the next 12 months, which is the same percentage globally.Paul Wissmann, national leader of KPMG's U.S. Media & Telecommunications practice, stated: "The introduction of smart TVs is an indication of how the digital transition is accelerating to coincide with the demand of today's consumers to access anything, anywhere and at any time. The smart TV is beginning to reveal itself as the next disruptor."In the U.S., the study said 14% of those polled prefer to watch TV via their mobile or tablet for greater flexibility -- mostly coming from what the report says are largely "mobile-centric consumers" 25-34 years old.Urban consumers in China, Brazil and Singapore are proving to be the world's biggest users of digital/mobile media.KPMG polled more than 1,000 consumers in the U.S. and 9,000 globally.
The final panel at last week’s OMMA RTB was a “Grill the Vendors” session on the relationship between video and RTB. The title of the panel asked: Are video and RTB ready for each other? The panelists all believe that video and RTB are ready for each other, but there needs to be a shift in perception before the connection happens the way everyone envisions. Anthony Risicato, GM, VideoHub, believes that the lack of transparency in the RTB space has it aiming in the wrong direction. “If we go down the RTB path we are currently going down, which is mimicking what happened in display and search,” he said, “the only person who benefits is Google.” He went on to say: “But if we want to build out a real, vibrant, RTB-based business that brings in the brand marketer, then we have to focus on bidding for brand awareness, favorability, engagement, and allowing the brand marketer the absolute transparency into what they are getting out of that bid.” Essentially, Risicato was saying that transparecy is key. Advertisers need to know where their ads are being displayed, and he says that there is no reason that shouldn't be happening. Scott Ferber, CEO and co-founder, Videology, believes that RTB needs to “go back to the digital premise.” Ferber was vehement in saying that sales were the bottom line, and that following digital’s premise of creating the “best ultimate direct-response medium” was the way to go. Eric Franchi, co-founder, Undertone, disagreed with Ferber. Franchi said, “I probably fully disagree that we need to make it like display” -- AKA, the mindset of spending X and making Y is all that matters. He said, “I think it’s more complicated and nuanced with video, and it needs to be more like TV. A disagreement on such a fundamental level highlights the troubles of RTB in the online video space." The moderator next asked about the online GRP. Brett Wilson, co-founder and CEO of TubeMogul, said: “Until GRP pricing online takes into account wastage, then it never works for both advertisers and publisher.” The lack of a true standard of measurement -- and one that is easily comparable to television -- is an issue that needs to be solved before this connection can live up to its potential. It seems like video and RTB should be ready for each other, but the technology, measurement standards, and the fundamental ideas at the surface of the relationship need to be worked out first.
Last week we decided to produce a video on the Top 10 YouTube producers -- the ones who we felt stood out above the rest when measured by views, subscribers and mainstream popularity. I've always stated that it's possible that this century's Spielberg or Chaplin may emerge from the ranks of YouTube “celebrities." But if you went with some of our subscribers' comments, the list contained some pretty "crappy" producers (their word, not mine). My first reaction: "Don't kill the messenger." My second reaction was to ask myself: "If viewers on YouTube think that many of the most successful YouTube channels are 'crap,' then what will marketers think?" In fact, reading some of the comments, it took me back to an event that YouTube produced in 2008 in New York City. That was one of the first times I heard YouTube executives refer to their programming as "torso content." They were trying really hard to show the site had the content that audiences wanted. Anderson Cooper came out on stage to introduce singer Esmee Denters, with the audience shifting from "Oh, look, Anderson Cooper is here -- a real celebrity" to "Who is that young girl with the guitar?" Talented as Denters was, I recall thinking: "Man, this is depressing." And ironic. YouTube was relying on a real TV personality to introduce someone from new media, in an effort to demonstrate Madison Avenue cred. Its strategists were either too dense to realize the ironym or I was too stupid to appreciate the symbolism (probably a bit of both). YouTube's objective in putting up the event was to demonstrate that marketers would eventually follow audiences, with the hypothesis that as younger generations take over the CMO roles, they'll embrace the very kind of quirky programming that is popular on YouTube. But last I checked, marketers are embracing the Web, but they're gravitating to a lot of the same things that they're drawn to in traditional media. YouTube is without a doubt now printing money, but that’s a result of its sheer size and despite the content, not necessarily as a result of it -- the same way that Facebook makes money because of its size and not because of any inherent embracing of social media from marketers. Social media drives a discount to Facebook's revenue growth, much the same way that YouTube's content is an obstacle of its revenue growth. YouTube executives can tell me I am clueless, but hen they need to explain why they're spending $100 million to recalibrate the content on the site, despite getting 72 hours of new content uploaded each minute. Conventional wisdom is that marketers will change. Problem is, they don't. I think audiences' tastes change, if anything, as we get older. After all, when you're a kid, you may like to put ketchup on your scrambled eggs, but when you get older, you're the one changing your order for egg whites with sun-dried tomatoes instead (No, I've never ordered that). All of a sudden, we watch the news and listen to classical music. Similarly, my gut says that real ad dollars will forever elude the vast majority of YouTube celebrities who -- according to our audience on YouTube anyway -- are too oddball for mainstream marketers. But then again, those are the very same channels that have millions of subscribers and billions of views, while we have 125,000 subscribers and 175 million views. Clearly he who laughs last laughs best. I'm just not sure who'll be the last man standing.