• As Video Distribution Becomes Ubiquitous, Advertising Differences Become Blurry
    At the Elevate Video Advertising Summit in New York last week, executives from Disney, Turner, and Comcast nearly sent the audience into cardiac arrest by demonstrating that their heads weren't actually fully stuck in the sand: before long, the majority of TV content will be available online and on mobile devices. At face value, that is surely to make viewers ecstatic. But upon reflection, you have to wonder: Will that make Big Media more or less controlling of its content?
  • Why Online Businesses Should Avoid Hosting Their Videos On YouTube
    YouTube is a good way to get started with online video to promote your business, products and services. It's free, easy to use and almost everyone knows how to play the videos. However, you can compromise your content by only using free online host sites like YouTube.
  • I Changed My Mind -- Content Is No Longer King
    Yesterday I was invited to a "C-Level dinner" with folks from great companies such as Facebook, JetBlue and even Dunkin Donuts. Usually those encounters entail conversations you don't want to have, with people you don't really want to meet about things you don't really care about. This was actually a great event, great conversation and incredible people. One thing, though, caught my attention. Someone said the very well-known line: "Content is king." I've said it once or twice in the past. We all did. It's time to come clean. I've changed my mind. Aside from a very specific type, content …
  • TV Audience Erosion: Cord-Cutting Or Something Bigger?
    A few years ago, the term "YouTube generation" emerged, describing those who watch video online on their PCs. What a novel idea! The YouTube generation was generally identified to be males between 18 and 34 years of age. Even before YouTube, I built my first Internet TV/OTT video platform while at a then-prominent online media company. The big debate was not what to build, but whether anyone would even watch video online. All that changed very quickly post YouTube.
  • Of Branded Content, Prince and Innovation
    A new branded web series is born every day. 48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. There's no doubt that discovery is a big problem. No longer can a brand just develop online video content, wrap it in a paid media plan and launch it upon a target audience with hopeful expectations. To succeed, marketers must move beyond serving up content alone. They need a larger, strategic program.
  • Four Reasons Why We Choose to Watch Ads
    There's no shortage of phenomenal video content online today. Movies, sitcoms, music videos, sports highlights, cat videos... they're all just a click away. And yet in Q1 2011 alone, we chose to watch ads nearly 800 million times. Why?
  • The Evolution Of Distribution
    Once upon a time, television studio executives negotiated with one network to air the first run of their programming. If the show was a success, then the studios would eventually sit down with other distributors for syndication deals. Rinse, repeat, and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh, how times have changed.
  • The Serious Business Of Social Games
    According to Facebook, more than 290 million people regularly play social games online. Fifty-three percent of Facebook users login specifically to play social games, and 19% of the people who play say they are "addicted." If you find this puzzling, consider the powerful forces that are working to capture and hold on to users' attention. A standard video game provides challenges, excitement, and escape. The good ones even tap your brains and your wits. Social games have all that and more because your friends are there sharing the experiences.
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