• The Human Pre-Roll
    Sponsor remarks are an obligatory part of trade shows and conferences like OMMA Video, especially following the lunches they paid for. But Tremor Networks’ Randy Kilgore was surprisingly candid and eminently human about the whole process, going so far as to call himself a human “pre-roll.” “I’m like a pre-roll here,” he said, noting that he paid for the ad, and, I’m what’s standing between you and the content.” Kilgore was referring to the afternoon panels and tracks. Conference chair Steve Smith suggested Kilgore’s delivery might serve big video content providers too. “Randy, if you can tell …
  • Writers' Strike Side Effect: Pairing down a glutted TV programming market
    Cable networks' new programming may give those channels a chance for more market share in the wake of the writers' strike. But in reality it may just add to an already existing TV glut. Many cable networks have reality shows  -- or scripted shows that may not depend union writers. Discovery, TLC, Bravo, A&E, and the like, have many reality shows now looking to make hay. Add to this some scripted shows ready to hit the air. TNT, for example, will air new episodes of "The Closer" and  "Saving Grace." All this seems good for cable because in December, …
  • This Just In (Via Blackberry)
    Bravo has launched what it describes as the “first-ever mobile fan club” for its “Project Runway” series. Sponsored by L'Oréal Paris, by texting RUNWAY to 27286 (BRAVO), members can receive exclusive content including video, behind-the-scenes messages, interaction with designers and more.  Fans will get a "Project Runway" guide to New York which encompasses the designers and judges’ favorite places in New York. Bravo has partnered with Socialight, a location-based social platform that lets people create, share, and discover virtual sticky notes tied to real-world places. On the web, fans can view an interactive New York map with notes detailing the …
  • Online video ads appearing on regular TV
    In digital ad production it's anybody's game, and talent can rise the top in record speed -- and at a fraction of the cost of traditional TV ads.  Panelists observed that successful online ads are now appearing in regular broadcast TV. In one case the spot was produced at about 1/10 the cost of a regular ad. Worth considering: the GEICO caveman started this way.
  • TV Guide: The Show Must Not Go On
    One surprising casualty of Hollywood’s TV writers strike may ironically be the telecast of an awards show celebrating the best of online video. Germany’s Welt Online reports that TV Guide has cancelled the television broadcast of its “Online Video Awards” on Dec. 1. It’s not clear whether the two-hour special was directly impacted by the writers’ strike, but that’s the implication. The OVAs, which have 18 categories, recognize the “best and most innovative professional video programming created for the Web,” according to TV Guide.
  • Clueless
    Deep Focus Founder-CEO Ian Schafer wins the prize for most eclectic references during the opening sessions of the OMMA Video conference this morning. First Schafer described the consumer video experience as “monkey’s drinking their own urine.” That one escaped even me, but Schafer added that he, “just wanted to say urine on the panel.” Next he made a reference to the “Cluetrain Manifesto,” which many seemed clueless about. The manifesto, which is also the basis of a business management book, Schafer said, was about defining “markets as conversations.”
  • Laboring A Point
    The Hollywood writers’ strike loomed large during the early morning sessions of OMMA Video in Los Angeles. Bravo’s Jason Klarman touched on it, following his opening keynote. Noting that Bravo’s TVbigshot.com fantasy TV league is now gearing up for a “November sweeps” competition, Klarman said, I don’t know how that will be affected by the writer’s strike.” Brian Monahan, director of IPG’s Emerging Media Labs, addressed it more directly, and more quickly, when he set up the opening panel discussion on the roll of pre-roll. “We almost didn’t have this panel,” Monahan quipped, …
  • Bravo cooks up online video for Runway, Top Chef
    Bravo has achieved some impressive results with online video campaigns, according to Jason Klarman, executive vice-president of marketing and digital for Bravo - but he stressed the importance of treating video as a real content channel in itself, not just a cheap way of shoveling more ads out there. He says Bravo's mission was to "create a better experience for the consumer, first and foremost, and then layer the advertiser into that experience in an organic way."
  • Manatt: don't forget audio
    Manatt says it's common for people to keep the audio off on their computers, so online video ads need to include visual branding messages that can stand alone without audio. An old-is-new lesson from the first days of TV's "mute" button. I know my default audio setting for my computer is "off," to escape any number of annoying clicks and whistles from email and the Internet. But will I watch pretty shapes and colors? Oh yeah.Â
  • Kara Manatt of Dynamic Logic breaks down online video trends
    After a brief interruption of power â€" perhaps a highly localized LA brownout â€" OMMA Video kicked off with a research update from Kara Manatt, research director for Dynamic Logic. According to Manatt, the company’s Ad Reaction survey of 950 respondents (a representative cross-section of the U.S. population) revealed the following perceptions of online video, versus other online formats. Overall, consumers had the most favorable attitude to the least intrusive ads, including banners, skyscrapers, advergames, and then online video. Towards the bottom (no surprise) were pop-ups and pop-unders. However online video has dropped recently, and Manatt said that’s due to …
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