Videoblogs
I have generally been sceptical of content plays because:
- Fashions change – today’s heroes are tomorrow’s has-beens
- Content prices are only going one way
- Distribution has been difficult
- Barriers to entry have been low OR production costs have been high; and
- DRM doesn’t work
Following a couple of excellent presentations at Le Web 3 I am re-visiting this conclusion for video blogging companies. Here is for why:
- They are cool – download numbers are very high and revenues are starting to flow
- Their brands should/could operate as barriers to entry
- They have no distribution dependencies – they use the internet/RSS
- Production costs are low – camcorders are a disruptive technology that will turn the traditional TV production industry on it’s head
The potential of disrupting two huge industries – TV production and TV distribution would be the exciting thing, but I’m still wrestling with the following:
- The fashion point – most of the plays I have seen have their brand centred on one person – it’s unclear to me how that scales and how to think about the risk of fading popularity
- Revenue models – there are examples of companies getting paid to produce ‘shows’ and there is advertising – not sure yet how this translates to margins
December 14th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Comments
Fashion - yes, its still a job shop environment - witness Rocketboom - but it wil move to be yet another media industry as it is just another channel. Not without a lot of disruption though
Revenue - will go hybrid - free stuff with advertising, higher value stuff with subs / ppv. And if the Subs / PPV are too high, piracy will supply the need.
Its not the just tech of production that costs though, its the hours of sweat to get the right aesthetiics