The next big winner?

This is a great chart of video hosting services that offer monetary rewards to producers. Only a couple companies listed are more than two years old. Watching this tabulation evolve will make 2007 an interesting year, indeed!

The book containing the chart is available now, even as a work in progress. Click the cover to learn more and buy it.

Post-YouTube fall-out

Video sharing might not be as lucrative as the Google/YouTube deal might indicate. That big acquisition has not been followed by others. Was the YouTube phenomena a singular event? CNET reports that Guba and others are shaking up management as they deal with sobering new realities.


On the other hand, ZDnet reports that MetaCafe thinks its prospects are better than ever.

New: Megite video, and Tailrank

So here's the buzz- Why not aggregate every new story posted on sites that link to us, and deliver better news, since they relate to us? Hmm... so now Megite is delivering videos.

Something to watch... watch what the crowd that watches us does. The crowdsourcing of their "News River" provides a seductively automated mirror and lens. Look, ma, no editors!

A similar approach, though not yet with video, is Tailrank. Here is how they say they do it:

"We find the hottest stories by tracking conversations between blogs.

"Tailrank takes into consideration linking behavior, the text of the post, links in common with other users, text relevance, weblog ranking, past performance, and various other factors for recommendations."

Viewer Created Content gets crowdsourced

We've been watching Current TV evolve into a viable alternative to mainstream television. Editorial processes enable interesting materials to surface, and here's a case in point. The Portland-based band "The Shins" recently told their audience to bring their video cameras to a recent concert in Austin. The video tells the story of "crowdsourcing" the pod.

Over 200 user videos were uploaded and are a part of it.

Variety reports on "YouTubeToo"

With reports that major Hollywood studios would band together and build their own video-sharing site, a bit from Variety might be in order. The authoritative trade magazine has been following talks between CBS, News Corp, Viacom, Disney, and NBC Universal as they explore how to control their distribution, or at least to be compensated for distributing their content online.

So far, no deal, but Google wants them to use YouTube, of course. Variety says something might happen by the end of January.

Everyone is striking up deals as they can. They all have their own sites, of course, and various shows are available through iTunes (but that has generated less than $70 million for content owners in over a year). So what has them in this predicament? Well, like with everyone else, YouTube and user generated content caught the "big boys" off guard. Here are a couple of quotes:

"They're probably a year too late," said Jeff Pulver, founder and chairman of Pulver.com, a New York company that organizes a conference called Video on the Net. "The networks know they have to do something. They have good intentions, and big brand names, but at the end of the day, these joint ventures never deliver on their promise."

Jeff Jarvis, an associate professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in New York who also runs the blog BuzzMachine.com, points out that the promotional platforms the networks have may not help much in launching a vid site. "You can't advertise it on TV, because the person who's watching TV is 59½ years old," he argued. "That's not the demographic you want to attract."

Video on the Net keynote: BrightCove

Another thoughtful analysis by Jeremy Allaire of the various ways video is changing the landscape of sharing information, education and entertainment.

The YouTube story... on YouTube

It pretty much stands on its own merits: the history of YouTube as told in October, 2006. Quite a lot to learn from this! The video really shows how horrible it used to be and how much YouTube made it easy.

Deep tagging goes social... SceneMaker from Gotuit

Now we are getting some powerful new video services emerging that use "video sharing" sites for their source materials. SceneMaker lets users cut and tag clips on YouTube (and MetaCafe, for starters), and then email their friends about it. The hope is that viewers can jump to interesting segments inside videos.

They have a "video toolbar" which lets you snag videos as you watch them, and to bring them into SceneMaker. The Boston Glove reviewed the site, and reports:

"SceneMaker will be free to users, but Pascarella said Gotuit hopes to attract a lot of advertising revenue. He plans to link ads to the tags generated by users. For instance, someone who runs a search for "shuttle" could see an ad for science fiction books or vacation tours of the Kennedy Space Center.

"'It gives the marketers the ability to target the words,' said Pascarella."

Here's a snippet from their site:

What Can You Do With SceneMaker?

• 

  Bookmark or "Deep Tag" Scenes Found Inside Online Videos From YouTube and Metacafe

  Much like you can bookmark a single page on a website, SceneMaker lets you bookmark and "deep-tag" specific scenes inside online video. Use the Gotuit Toolbar to apply descriptive tags or keywords to any scene you want to save.

• 

  Share Only The Scenes In A Video You Want

  Has this ever happened to you? Someone sends you a link to watch something cool in an on-line video...but you have to sit through the entire video to see the good part? SceneMaker lets you bookmark scenes inside of a video and send just the good part. For example, you can tag and send just the 10 second crash for a 5 minute highway chase video. SceneMaker makes discovering and sharing the best online video even easier.

• 

  Embed The Individual Scenes on Your MySpace Page, Blog or Web Site

  If you are a blogger or writer, SceneMaker now makes adding video to your website much more relevant. You can now reference specific moments in a video and embed them to play within your web pages.

A new kind of video distribution... BrightCove

The vision expressed by BrightCove CEO Jeremy Allaire has captured the imagination of producers from TV and film. The videos bring a wide variety of views to what "Internet TV" is becoming.

Nice to have an alternative to "video sharing"!

Wired coins "Monkeyvision"

OK. They talk about "Boom Goes the Dynamite" and other instant YouTube classics. They also talk about the quandary Madison Ave. finds itself in, as it wonders where to spend $67 billion in TV ads when TV is being viewed online.

This is a must read, carefully developed over months in a world that is only months old. Great work!

Ah, and you say you haven't seen "Boom..."? Well, now you can't. YouTube has removed the clip due to "Terms of use violations".

The new age of Vaudeville???

Now this is a new way of understanding the YouTube/video sharing phenomenon. It's our equivalent to vaudeville.

Here's a snip:

"As the name suggests, the variety stage was based on the principle of constant variation and diversity. It represented a grab bag of the full range of cultural interests and obsessions of an age marked by dramatic social, cultural, and technological transformations. In the course of an evening, one might watch a Shakespearean actor do a soliloquy, a trained dog act, an opera recital, a juggler or acrobatic turn, a baggy pants comedian, an escape artist or magician, a tap dance performance, and some form of stupid human tricks (such as a guy with hammers on his shoes hopping around on a giant xylophone or an act where baboons play musical instruments). Similarly, YouTube brings together an equally ecclectic mix of content drawn from all corners of our culture and lays it out as if it were of equal interest and importance, trusting the individual user to determine the relative value of each entry."

The variety show has long captured the TV screen, and now on a computer near you. Well done!

Obviously, sharing videos builds audience...

From the Media Post "Just An Online Minute" blog...

"While some entertainment companies continue to complain about video-sharing sites, at least one, CBS, isn't griping today. Several weeks ago, CBS began uploading clips of its shows such as "Survivor," "CSI" and "Late Show with David Letterman," to YouTube.

In total, CBS has placed more than 300 clips on the site--and has seen ratings increase as a result. The company said that "Letterman" has drawn 200,000 new viewers--a 5% increase, while "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" has increased its viewership by 100,000, or 7%, according to CBS and YouTube.

The conclusion is obvious: Web users viewed clips on YouTube, became fans, and then started watching the broadcast versions."

Statements like this, along with reader responses, never had the "play" they get now.

Podcasts go corporate: H&B

Selling golf gloves using podcasts, H&B has discovered a great way to monetize video over the internet. The story behind the podcasts has just been published, and it accurately reflects my own experience. Here's a snippet:

"The company is excited by the potential of the podcasts to increase sales and to develop closer ties with customers"... The golf shows, which have been downloaded about 15,000 times from viewers in 24 countries, invite readers to e-mail H&B with comments and suggestions. That not only helps the maker of Louisville Slugger bats provide the type of shows that customers want, "but we're also getting ideas about products."

And the winner is: video sharing

If we have learned anything from last week's elections, popular culture believes in video. This article in the Hamilton Spectator identifies these items:

* Virginia Senator George Allen was comfortably ahead in the polls until summer when a racial slur he made was caught on video and uploaded to YouTube. An estimated 400,000 viewers downloaded the clip. Allen conceded defeat this week to his Democratic opponent in a squeaky close vote.

* And last month, more than 112,000 visitors watched a video of Tennessee Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. explaining his presence at a Super Bowl party hosted by Playboy. He also just narrowly lost his seat.

Game on! Xbox Live video content

Now we have the world changing quickly... Microsoft will ship a movie download service through its Xbox game player this month. Over 1,000 movies will be available by end of November when the service launches. This beats Apples "iTV" product to the punch, with Sony and TiVo expected to launch a competitive products/services soon.

Microsoft's service will handle HD content, and Sony's is expected to as well. Apple has only announced it's intention to support standard definition at first.

What does the Microsoft system do for podcasts and user generatated content? For that, we will have to wait and see.

HD podcasts

Now this is something to keep track of... So far, only a few HD podcasts exist. Expect this to grow, particularly when Apple brings their iTV solutions to market. HDTV magazine lists only 3 as of this writing.

mariposaHD - mariposaHD is produced by four ordinary guys who quit their jobs, moved to South America, and decided to make a TV show. We film everything with HDV camcorders and edit the video on a PC in our living room. mariposaHD is recorded, edited, and distributed in the full 1920x1080 pixel resolution of the 1080i standard.

The Big D in HD - The Big D in HD is a video podcast celebrating the good times and fun of the “Happiest Place on Earth”. Filmed with an HDV video camera see Disneyland Like never before on your Computer.

MacBreak - The only Macintosh video show you'll ever need. Mac experts Leo Laporte, Amber MacArthur, Alex Lindsay, and Emery Wells talk about everything Mac, including hardware, software, pro apps, and tips. Shot in 1080p high def, because your Mac deserves the very best.

Making money with online video

There is now a chart to track which online services offer revenue sharing opportunities for filmakers. Scott is writing a book about online video for Ballentine Books (to be released "soon"). His blog, CinemaTech, is a must read!

At the same time, Brightcove has announced its revenue sharing plan. Now any professional filmaker can join the Wall Street Journal and other top publications on the Brightcove network, let Brightcove sell ads for them, and split the revenue down the middle.

Online video usage behaviors

Over the past year, I have experimented with delivering video both via iTunes (RSS feeds) and using web pages (on blogs, web pages, and through Google Video). These two methods are quite different and seem to serve audiences in different ways.

There seems to be something special about being part of a feed, as members who subscribe expect to receive updates. Each time I post a new file to the feed, regular subscribers automatically download it, and the rest of the feed archive receives more action as well. Each item gets picked over again and again when new pieces are sent off. This on-going increase in activity can last for a couple of weeks after a new piece hits the feed.

Web pages typically require notification for people to go get the featured piece. On the other had, a piece placed on a page that has a lot of traffic brings the material to wider audiences. The numbers "spike" for a period of a few days, bringing in huge numbers as people view the piece. Then, that page is no longer "new" and the number of views taper off to next to nothing. That page might still be on a site or popular blog, but people just don't go back to find it after the "featured" period is over.

A side benefit to web "features" is the feed subscription. Slowly but surely, a few people who are exposed to a feature find the feed and subscribe.

Here are some other perspectives, that mirror my experiences to some degree. With all of the recent focus on YouTube and other huge sites, these thoughts from the makers of an RSS video feed reader have relevance.

Basically, YouTube and other web-based sites have to pay for the bandwidth used by their readers/watchers. RSS feeds download as needed (without the users watching until the downloads are complete). The cost difference is enormous!

So far, I have not had a video "feature" outstrip my bandwidth, but it is conceivable that it could occur. The $7 per month I pay my ISP covers about 40,000 downloads, and I'm nowhere near max. For October, 46% of the bandwidth used has been for featured pieces, and the rest has been spread over the archive. The spread touches every single item in the archive each month. I feel it is healthy to have this mix. I'm finding ways to feature a piece and then attract a few new subscribers each time.

And yes, there is a thrill when someone (or several people) takes "one of each" from the entire collection. Through the RSS feed, it happens fairly regularly. So far, that is the best indication I have that my materials are serving my audience well.

Social video?

Are the big video sites becoming too big, overrun with predators, etc? Smaller video sharing sites are taking a different tactic: provide social networking platforms for others to brand and use to bring their audiences together around their theme.

This piece in AlwaysOn identifies a couple of entrants, Dave.tv and vSocial. Dave Networks powers the fan site, Stargate.tv, and vSocial is the platform behind a Chevrolet-sponsored site called Reduce Your Use.

From the article:

"These campaigns are akin to Google's self-service offerings, such as AdSense and AdWords. These self-service offerings are a great way to tap the long tail of publishers, which is the target.

Now, there is no doubt in my mind that these companies will have their hands full with business. More and more movie studios and television, down to free-agent artists and musicians will want to create social communities around specific shows or a specific brand to create buzz. Manufacturers, retailers and service providers will also find such services useful. Wal-Mart (WMT) is already using video to impart messages. I hear Monster (MNST), the recruitment firm, wants to start a video show with a social networking feature."

Online remix sites emerging

First, we heard that Yahoo snapped up JumpCut, and now another group has been funded. Eyespot allows groups to share their mixes.

SubscribeCast now pays

The first seemingly robust solution supporting for-pay distribution of user generated video? SubscribeCast offers a rate calculator, in which I've not been able to put out an unprofitable feed. It may be that my forecasts are optimistic, or that it's just not feasible to capture the audience and to make them pay this way. But if this works, organizations of all kinds should be able to improve their donations, revenue, and audience loyalty.

Podcast numbers emerging

There can be no doubt that Apple created a small industry by supporting podcasts through its iTunes distribution system. Of course, video podcasting represents a small portion of the total (I would guess it's no more than 10%).

Now a blogger has tracked the growth, by category. He makes his report as a screencast, and suggests opportunities for audio podcasts. His screencast is below:

What's it all mean... in video

There just can't be a better way to report this event than to watch what others are saying about it in their posts. Are video posts about this on YouTube better than the blog posts or newspaper articles? OK... maybe not better, but they sure are entertaining. No problem with identifying sources or locking down facts. Now we can get what news has always been: a reflection of how people feel, whether fact or fiction.

YouTube closes deals with Big Media, Google

What a week. With all the talk about videos through iTunes, Google, etc, YouTube comes out as the rose. Variety reports:

* YouTube to be acquired by Google for 1.6 billion

* CBS pacted with YouTube to provide daily short-form content from its entertainment, news and sports networks. Net will sell advertising around its videos and split the revenue with YouTube. In addition, CBS will use new technology, expected to launch later this year, from the Netco to identify user-uploaded content that violates its copyrights and will then decide whether to ask YouTube to take it down, or to keep it up and split revenue from related ads.

* Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group signed content licensing, revenue-sharing deals to put portions of their musicvideo catalogs on YouTube, along with other special video content. Both will also, like CBS, take advantage of YouTube's new technology to strike or make money from copyright-violating content uploaded by users. Warner Music already has a similar deal with YouTube.

* Sony BMG and Warner Music signed content distribution, revenue-sharing agreements for their musicvideos on Google Video. In addition to making money from ads on the search giant's video section, they will take advantage of its new syndication technology to put their videos on other Web sites, along with ads. They also will use Google technology to let users access some of their content to create their own musicvideos and will get a cut of related ad revenue.

Video sharing comparisons

There are a growing body of reviews about video sharing. It seems like 40 of them are fairly easy to talk about. This graphic came from MustSee and this item from DV Guru compares 10 of the top services to date.

Is YouTube profitable?

This has been circulating around recently, so it brings to light just how many people are watching videos online.

Basically, YouTube is selling ads on their homepage, with banners on each video page. They are investigating how to make more money, but it already seem to be breaking even. The gross usage numbers are staggering:

40 million video streams a day
200 terabytes a day of bandwidth (estimates by PaidContent)

Bottom line:

"So, finally, back to the numbers. Is YouTube "wildly profitable"? If we take the adjusted numbers and add in expenses, the answer is certainly "No."

Total Revenue is $4.65 million a month after sales costs and discounts.
Bandwidth/Hosting Costs: $3.9 million a month
Salaries, G&A and other costs: $450,000 a month
Profit = $300,000 a month or a net margin of about 6.4 percent."

Apples and Oranges... Network TV, Cable, and YouTube

This post points to what we already know: video over the internet plays to a sizeable audience. My 12 yr old daughter saw this video long before I did. I had no idea it has been viewed over 33 million times in 6 months!

UC Berkeley goes gaga over Google Video

Who needs textbooks when you can watch Professor Marian Diamond break it down? She teaches Integrative Biology 131: General Human Anatomy and during the fall of 2005 she had her courses taped. As a Cal grad, I can only applaud the effort to make these treasures so widely available. I'm sure we'll soon see similar publications by other universities. Here is how they describe what they are doing: Integrative Biology 131 - Lecture 01: Organization of the Body The functional anatomy of the human body as revealed by gross and microscopic examination. The Department of Integrative Biology offers a program of instruction that focuses on the integration of structure and function in the evolution of diverse biological systems. It investigates integration at all levels of organization from molecules to the biosphere, and in all taxa of organisms from viruses to higher plants and animals. The department uses many traditional fields and levels of complexity in forging new research directions, asking new questions, and answering traditional questions in new ways. The various fields within the department cooperate across disciplinary boundaries, sharing information and knowledge. Experience in laboratory and/or field, technological and independent study will bring about an understanding of scientific logic based on both experimental and historical patterns and processes. The faculty has special strengths in the disciplines of morphology, organismal physiology, animal behavior, biomechanics, ecology, systematic biology, paleobiology, population genetics, and evolution.

Final Cut Pro through a browser... Yahoo buys Jumpcut

Now Web 2.0 is in full gear. Final Cut Pro is a huge application with tremendous horsepower requirements. The latest rumor has Apple offering it as an online service. This screen shot is all I have to support the rumor.

Not to be outdone, Yahoo is getting into the online editing game by buying startup Jumpcut.

“As part of Yahoo, we’ll be working on bringing video editing and remixing to everyone with an Internet connection,” Jumpcut said on its blog today.

Producing semi-professional videos, cont.

In the second part of a series, this article explains how to create good looking "stuff" without paying for lots of software. It does a good job explaining the basics of editing, using Windows Movie Maker.

DivX goes public

According to Paidcontent. org, DivX raised over $100 million by going public. They went out at between $12-16 per share (9.1 shares were offered for sale), and the price reached a high of $20 before settling to $18.70.

Not bad for a codec maker, which is now producing online services to help users to share their files.

Excellence: HD Expo videos

So much value from events can't easily be presented in press releases, white papers or brochures. This page from HD Expo illustrates how video can capture the value and communicate effectively in an "always on" environment.

The videos were shot last year. HD Expo opted to stream the video, which is nice but more expensive than podcasting or delivering via video blog "fast start" practices.

I expect other events to produce and distribute video highlights. The Stanford Professional Publishing Course did it this way, showing you don't have to be a huge show to deliver the experience through video.

Makes you want to sign up for their upcoming events, doesn't it?

Video U: MIT, Yale and UC Berkeley

Free video of courses have inherit value, it seems. PaidContent.org ran a nice story of Yale working with Yahoo, which elicited a very thoughtful response from Mara Hancock, of UC Berkeley's Educational Technology Services.

Her take:

"Our webcasts are meant to enhance the face-to-face course. Most of our students recognize that you don’t get the “UC Berkeley Experience” by sitting in front of your computer. That said, with webcast.berkeley, you certainly get a nice window in. In fact, MIT OCW found that many students who choose to attend MIT cite that OCW contributed to their positive image of the school.

"We have done some research into how our campus learners are using video at Berkeley, and it is primarily as a study tool. Partnering with web 2.0 companies and developing tools to help them scaffold their learning and engage around this content is the next frontier.

"It is also important to be looking for sustainable models to carry this work forward beyond grant funding and looking toward long-term preservation of this valuable content."

Video blogs gaining

Out of 54.2 million weblogs tracked by Technorati, videoblogging representation in the top 100 chart has gone from zero to four in the last two months. . .and it's climbing.

This is a very big indication that the reach for consistent, entertaining, informative, independent, short-form video is on the rise. [*note, mainstream media projects are no where to be seen on or near this chart].

- as reported by Dembot.com

True HD coming to your camcorder soon

This fall, Micron technologies will distribute a CMOS sensor to camcorder manufacturers that can capture 60fps video at 720p or 30 fps at 1080p. That promises to improve video quality way beyond what you now see on YouTube! Engadget has the story.

Tracking video embeds

The new paradigm, embedding videos through syndicated feeds, blogs, emails, etc, now is being tracked. The Viral Video Chart feed is updated daily. It crawls the internet, looking for embedded videos, and then tabulates what's being distributed. Right now, it's a bunch of humorous clips that people "just have to show" their friends.

I predict the site will be a "must see" within media companies. From their "blurb":

"How big are the biggest viral videos?

"Big. The most viewed video on YouTube is currently The Evolution of Dance, which was watched by 10 million people during April 2006 and has now been viewed over 30 million times. The guy doing the dance medley, Judson Laipply, is now not merely a motivational speaker from Cleveland, Ohio, but an internet superstar.

"This is why ad agencies wet their pants. Imagine reaching 30m people for the cost of a round of drinks in your favourite watering hole? Rarely happens, though. While some agency work is pretty good, most of it is staggeringly awful."

Pigs are starting to fly again...

The recent wave of success, introductions, and positioning around media has investors doing more than investing. The meltdown of 2000 came about primarily through circular relationships: ie, a consulting company would create a "workshop" to explore an idea, participants would include a VC, entrepreneur, etc. Several "fundable" ideas would be hatched. A company would be funded. And, of course, the consultancy would then be hired to build the site! Hmmm... Now this, from PaidContent.org:

Social Media Site Jacked Gets $0.5 Million Funding [by Rafat]

Stealth social media site and service Jacked, launched by former American Greeting Mobile head Bryan Biniak, has received $0.5 million in seed funding. The round was done by the new VC firm Provenance Ventures, also founded by Biniak.

Dell opens up with video

What will become of "corporate communications" when mid-level managers can produce their own videos? Even with rough productions like this, the commitment and expertise comes through. One piece by the same author steps you through the battery recall process, and has been viewed over 17,000 in a week!

MotionBox tags deeply

Getting to the "good stuff" is a great challenge for video. One of several tagging technologies comes from MotionBox, which provides illuminating examples on their blog. The "cool feature" is to provide a horizontally scrolling series of thumbnails (taken every 5 seconds) below the video window. It's quite easy to scroll to an interesting picture and then start the video at that point. They also provide direct jumps to previously-tagged segments.

I don't know what formats they use for uploaded videos. The end resolution is "acceptable" on a web page, but not downloadable and certainly not useful on a living room TV. Someone has got to tie the whole system together!

Apple, Disney pull the trigger

So now it's out of the bag: an end to end online media delivery system. CNET covered the announcement and provided more pictures.

This will be talked about ad nauseum. Basically, Apple has simplified online delivery for everyone. Now video podcasts can play on a big screen, in "acceptable" resolution. Podcasts that have been cramming things down to H.264 and 512x384 (maximum size possible), can now target 640x480. It's still SD, but now the same number of pixels as most sources (DV, DVCam, DVCPro, etc).

The device that enables this is tentatively called "iTV" and is tentatively scheduled to ship in the first quarter of 2007.

Producing semi-professional videos

Now that the distribution issues are solved by Google and the other video sharing services, semi-professional productions seem destined for huge growth. As an example of what organizations can do, this article says "How I did it myself". The case is a sales video to land a multi-million dollar deal. The value is the sales guy himself can do the work!

Maybe DVDs aren't so bad after all...

After reading one user's experience with Amazon's new UnBox movie download service, Walmart has nothing to fear (Walmart distributes close to half of all DVDs sold in the US). On Monday, we will learn about Apple's entry. Something's got to give.

And behind this curtain... Apple and Amazon to launch movie download services

Now the Wall Street Journal is speculating alongside every blogger known to man. What will Apple unveil next Tuesday? They've sent out invitations to an event at a performing arts theatre in San Francisco, with the headline "It's Showtime!". OK. And it's safe to say that Disney is on board.

But now it seems that Amazon has signed up the other film studios to a competing services to be unveiled "soon". These two pioneering companies are betting they can get a jump on everyone else to catalyze the market. Some don't agree.

Mark Cuban offered this view:

"I personally think that the optimal connection will be personally managed hard drives. In five years, a terabyte or more of storage on a hard drive will be less than $100. We should be able to fill that up with music and whatever content we want in HD format, connect it to the TV and, using our remote, choose whichever movies we want.

"Everyone thinks content delivery will come from the Internet. It won't. It's too expensive and far too slow to deliver HD content. You just bought your 50-plus-inch LCD that is hanging on the wall. Do you want standard definition over compressed HD or the best-possible picture quality from your content?

"Blu-ray Disc- or HD DVD-quality content or better will be possible, but you won't get that quality from a download. The reality is that it's cheaper and faster to send (hard drives with terabytes of) content overnight via UPS than it is to download it over the Net. Brown is faster than the Net."

Google admits to overlooking user content

In a presentation in Australia, a Google executive says they didn't see YouTube coming. They were focused on selling premium content and didn't realize how much stuff people wanted to see that was created by other users.

I certainly buy that, but are traditional TV and internet video complimentary? Google says they are, and are partnering with content providers. Maybe I'm cynical, but I sense the two worlds will merge quickly.

Google's ability to make money from ads produced worldwide and displayed on content produced worldwide will move from computer screens to internet-enabled TV screens. Traditional TV will eventually use the same systems to create programming that Google is pioneering with users.

That's the big shift.

Embedded HD video from Dovetail.tv

Now this catches my attention: a no-nonsense video site that hopes to attract independent producers who can't get distribution otherwise. It's free, and new, and seems to have done many things right. A production's materials are grouped together, each item is nicely displayed. Each video has a URL, and they make it easy to send emails to friends or embed a video into a website or blog (like this). It DOES require a player download (a fairly smooth process, though I understand a bit ungainly for Mac users right now). This embedded version is in Flash (lower resolution than the .wmv files that are distributed via the P2P network).



Here are some interesting items from the FAQ:

How does Dovetail utilize peer-to-peer (P2P) technology?
Dovetail can afford to distribute high-resolution video, including HD quality, because it uses a peer-to-peer technology. This means that when you download a file from Dovetail you are not downloading the file solely from Dovetail servers: you are also downloading pieces of the file from other users, like you. As a user of Dovetail, this also means that you will take part in the network, so that other users will download pieces of content from your computer as well.

Dovetail software is actively utilizing P2P when the content engine is on, and only accesses files associated with the data that you are downloading. Dovetail will not access or upload any other files, or obtain any personal information about you as a result of this activity.

Is it safe to leave the content engine running when I'm done working with the Dovetail Showcase?

Leaving the content engine running (the Dovetail icon in the system tray) is safe and it is important for Dovetail to function properly. You should always leave the Dovetail content engine running, because that is how we download content to your computer. As long as the engine is running, we will be providing you with new high-quality content.

Note: If you have selected content that you want to download using the Dovetail Showcase, you do not have to leave your browser open. Leaving the content engine running will allow downloads to complete.

Why is Dovetail encrypted?
This means better films and shows for you, the viewer. We believe in supporting the rights of content owners. The filmmakers and producers who use our system have the right to trust that their content will be watched under the terms of their agreement and through Dovetail only. If a filmmaker chooses to remove their content, we want to support their choice by removing it. If we didn't encrypt the content, filmmakers would lose their ability to remove content from our system. Because they can remove it and because they trust us, filmmakers are willing to share better films and shows, and that means better content for you, the viewer.

Media "free -fall" examined at Beyond Broadcast conference

As we grapple with new forms of participatory media, conferences provide an intriguing source of materials, illuminations, and tests. The themes touched on here are being discussed repeatedly and simultaneously all over the globe. It is fascinating to me that whenever something new takes hold, such a huge and vibrant population is already engaged.

"Held at Harvard Law School in May 2006, the event was organized by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Center for Social Media, Center for Citizen Media, Public Radio Exchange, The Project for Open Source Media, and New York University.

"The 13-minute video features interviews with several conference speakers including: Peter Armstrong of Oneworld.net, videoblogger Jay Dedman, Jake Shapiro of Public Radio Exchange and others. The video provides some of the flavor of this event, including the ‘shadow conference’ on Second Life, an online, three-dimensional virtual world.

Produced by Martin Lucas for the Center for Social Media"

Click picture to watch video.

DivX now in the game

For years, the DivX codec has rendered high definition movies of pirated films, which were sent through irc sites and bittorrent distribution. Now, DivX itself will handle the upload, storage, distribution, and monetization of materials that are legitimately owned by the uploader. It's called Stage 6.

College sports bypassing TV for web distribution

Smaller Colleges Bypassing TV for Web from PhysOrg.com

More evidence that "if it's not being broadcast, it can't be that important". Web distribution is being provided by athletic conferences and ESPN (see Big Sky TV, WAC TV, and ESPN).

And, the bigger schools are making it into a revenue producing activty.

From a recent notice to UC Berkeley alumni:

The Golden Bear Sports Network will be covering Cal Football from every possible angle this season. Sign up today and catch every Press Conference, Post Game Interview, game recap, highlight, and much much more. Membership is only $9.95 a month or $79.95 for the entire year! The Golden Bear Sports network will have coverage of all the Cal action you can handle! Whether it be Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball, The Golden Bear Sports Network will have you covered.

Google links video service

After releasing their new terms and conditions, Google has put Google Video on the search page. Obviously, page views have gone through the roof, according to Hitwise.

While YouTube is hoping to lure content producers (promotional videos from music companies, for example) with some new business model, Google will sell ads on MySpace and will wrap ads around it's own Google Videos, which will play on web pages, blogs and in emails.

Video as marketing tool: Tesla motors

I had no idea there was a Tesla motors, and now everyone does. Why? They posted a nice video announcing their electric sports car to YouTube. Now 128 articles about it come up in a Google News search, including this article from the Los Angeles Times informing readers that the first production run has been sold out. Not a bad way to create news!

BitTorrent has big plans... stay tuned!

Online video archiving will come with Bittorrent's new site this fall. Brian Taptich was interviewed by CNET.

The view from Technorati: video at AO conference

Peter Hirshberg has always found himself in the thick of things. The former Apple exec runs Technorati, and gave this presentation at a recent AlwaysOn conference in Los Angeles. He points out the major trends with humor, albeit with a bite.

An example of Google's reach: Marketwire

Today, media releases went viral. While not a big player, Marketwire distributes press releases and today announced a Google embedded video solution. So, I can put that video on my web site or email newsletter, and Google can figure out how to make money from it.

The example release contains a party video, with links back to its Google Video origins. From there, anyone can choose to embed the same video in emails or web pages. I might as well just embed it here:

Google gets serious... again

Today, Google sent out a notice to everyone who has posted materials to Google Video. Their new "terms and conditions" for participating in their upload program squarely positions the company as a publishing partner for anyone producing moving image materials and seeking to distribute them over the internet.

Basically, you can embed what you upload to your blog or web pages, and give Google the right to similarly distribute your videos through other sites. If your videos generate revenue by either a sale price or ads being displayed alongside them, you get 70% of that revenue (with some possible adjustments).

WOW. Certainly this is a completely different approach from "video sharing". Hosting is free, distribution/bandwidth/streaming is free. Each video can be picked up and placed on other sites, and the same rules apply.

Casualty report: Podguide.tv

One of the early video podcast pioneers has called it quits.

"I still think the video podcast, as an emerging medium is one of the most exciting forms of entertainment currently being created, and I'll remain a viewer, if not a reviewer :)"

I've enjoyed learning about new video services through PodGuide. It will be interesting when and where this idea resurfaces. However, this field is so fertile... the makers of PodGuide have a bright future producing new, high-impact services for clients like Ford.

"For anyone interested, one of the reasons that PodGuide.TV wound down was the long hours I spent working as one of the Creative Directors who created the videoblogging project for Ford - Ford Bold Moves. A lot of the things I learnt while watching all those podcasts and videoblogs already out there informed our thinking when it came to defining the site functionality. Although I've now moved on to other projects (including a very cool video podcast idea for a major newspaper), Ford Bold Moves will continue, at least until he end of 2006, so check it out, and let me know what you think. I believe it's a brave step for Ford, and kudos to the entire team who put it together, including JWT, Radical Media and the guys at GMDStudios."

And now... Google distributes on Fox

On the heels of its deal with MTV, Google will now place ads across all Fox properties, including myspace.com. If traffic stays on target, Variety reports the deal promises at least $900 million to Fox, and possibly over $1 billion.

"As major media congloms move aggressively onto the Web, partnering with them is a key factor in Google's growth. While its Video Store has thus far failed to line up nearly as much TV content as competitor iTunes, deals with Viacom and Fox show that it is moving aggressively to link its ad sales network to the huge amount of content media companies are putting on the Web."

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Google syndicates MTV video through AdSense

Moving in an entirely new direction, Google will enable blogs and websites to carry MTV videos (and collect a portion of the ad revenue generated with each play). A new twist, to be sure, and one which sparks green pastures once again for Google.

The Washinton Post story contains this snippet:

"The revenue-sharing idea, which is set to launch later this month, piggybacks off of Google's already popular AdSense program, which allows Web site owners to cash in on their popularity by running ads on their sites that are placed there by Google. In the case of the MTV deal, every time someone clicks to watch a video off blogger's site, the blogger will get a cut of the advertising revenue made.

"In exchange, MTV expands its online audience and Google increases traffic to its video site, the companies said.

"This gives us access to top video content, plus a new source of revenue for our content partners," said David Eun, vice president of content partnerships for Google."

Forbes-Bono deal points to WebTV2.0

Today's article in the New York Times brings to mind an emerging trend, particularly when forcasting the merging of magazine properties with TV distribution via the internet. Magazines have access, and the internet has distribution. Roger McNamee led a team of investors in acquiring a reported 40% of Forbes for between $250 and $300 million.

"...it was clear from talking with Mr. McNamee that his group was buying into a Web site with a magazine attached, as opposed to the other way around. Forbes.com had 10 million unique visitors worldwide, a very robust number, in June, according to comScore Media Metrix."

Bono is one of six partners in Elevation, which raised $1.9 billion within the last 2 years. This is their first media investment.

"Mr. McNamee said that Forbes’s edge over its competition in the digital realm was very real, in part because the family came to understand the nature of opportunity on the Web more quickly than its competitors."

Propoganda now

It's official! In an investigative piece, the Wall Street Journal looked behind the 73,000 downloads of this YouTube short, and found a public relations firm with links to Exxon.

Here are a snippet of comments posted by viewers today:

fortyfourprimer (47 minutes ago)

Hard to imagine being either young naive or maybe just plain dumb to actually think Exxon or some conspiracy would bother with Owlgore bunk. But then desperation does odd things

(reply to this)

chesterdog5 (46 minutes ago)

Busted!! Turns out, the creators of this video, while posing as amateur spoofers, actually work for a Washington lobbying firm whose clients include Exxon. (see Wall Street Journal, 8/3)

(reply to this)

KevinDeanNicewanger (45 minutes ago)

Was this a satire of Al Gore or of climate change deniers? The quality is so poor, the jokes so lazy, it's like they're spoofing themselves. That picture of David Spade and Heather Locklear was funny though.

(reply to this)

casunray (44 minutes ago)

Is the Wall Street Journal article correct? Is an ExxonMobil pr firm behind this?

(reply to this)

KevinDeanNicewanger (44 minutes ago)

But criticism should be contructive, right? So how about a heat wave caused by the hot air eminating from Gore's speeches, a tidal wave caused by his beastly sweat (remember that post-election dance?). Gross, but funnier than telling someone to take a cold shower or "walk everywhere (no matter the distance)."

(reply to this)

casunray (43 minutes ago)

I knew it...HUMMER HUGGERS!! LOL

(reply to this)

chesterdog5 (42 minutes ago)

Actually, more people voted for Gore than Bush.

(reply to this)

chesterdog5 (33 minutes ago)

Read the article in the Journal. Sneaky, how they tried to hide their involvement Or, call the DCI Group in Washington, (202) 546-4242. Ask them if they produced this video, or paid for it.

(reply to this)

EarthEngineDOTnet (24 minutes ago)

To all those reading this blog, conservative or liberal. Please do not form your opinions from reading one conservative/liberal article. A true opinion takes time and research to form. Jumping the gun on your opinion proliferates propaganda and ultimately hurts us all. In the case of Global Warming, the evidence overwhelmingly points to the negative impact our lives have had on this planet and how it will effect future generations. cont...

(reply to this)

EarthEngineDOTnet (19 minutes ago)

The blood of our future generations are on hands of those who fight to keep our population ignorant to the facts. I ask you all if you have any love, gratitude, just plain descency, please do all you can to enlighten those around you with the truth you have found through proper research. Thank you.

Movie distribution now

Moving online, studios are lining up distribution like any good packaged goods manufacturer. Today's Wall Street Journal story calls it a time for fact finding and model building.

Dateline Beirut... video sharing comes of age?

A SF Chronicle article shows where professional "news coverage" ends and amateur videos begin. With a billion cell phones in distribution, most capabable of video capture, what will TV networks do to "cover the story" with the immediacy of what amateurs can produce? And, will newspapers become the new editing desk, pointing users to newsworthy videos posted by amateurs? Indications will come from where advertising dolloars go. Maybe the predictions concerning the death of newspapers have been premature, again?

The Wall Street Journal points out that major search platforms like MSN, Yahoo and Google might be the default hubs for video stories. In it's series on Internet video it mentions that expectations are running high:

"Demand is so strong for video ads -- typically 15- or 30-second spots that run before or during an online video -- that prices are now on a par with TV. The average cost of reaching 1,000 Web viewers, the standard TV-ad-pricing measure, is about $25 to $30, about the same as a 30-second ad on ABC's hit show "Desperate Housewives" for the fall season, according to a media buyer.

"Advertisers say there aren't enough ad spots to go around."

Video ads lagging online spending for now

With all of the excitement of the internet becoming a true multimedia resource, advertisers are finding ways to get in front of highly fragmented market segments. Jupiter Research has some figures distributed through this article. It recognizes that "much of the video inventory (currently) online is haphazardly placed and users have not developed predictable viewing habits".

And, the Wall Street Journal is starting a series to chronicle the health of this trend as it matures. The first installment focuses on how the major TV producers are honing in on internet audiences. They have also provided a very well done overview, called Moguls of New Media, which examines several popular new productions, suggesting raw internet-delivered materials might become vehicles for the stars of the future.

Now we know: the Secret

What a way to launch a movie! The Secret starts from nowhere in March, as a web site, with an option to watch the 90 minute feature for $4.95 in high definition, over your broadband connection, or to buy the DVD for $29.95. An Australian production, it will be fascinating to see how much of an audience this film reaches.

We will know if others follow suit. We're months after the launch, and the buzz is still happening.

YouTube gets the center stage

Forbes recently estimated that YouTube is paying over $1 million/month for bandwidth from Akamai and other content delivery networks. Given that they acquired $9 million in funding, and rumors have them quietly getting maybe $25 million more in May, is it a matter of months before this great experiment hits the wall?

Click on the picture and see CNET's "Ten tech-related YouTube clips you shouldn't miss".

Movie distribution through "video sharing" starts in earnest

Local Web video firms team with Hollywood was featured in today's SJ Mercury News. Essentially, it's a move by filmakers and studios to choose amongst many potential distribution partners. This looks like a game where many will play (no "Blockbuster" or "NetFlix" with a clear lead), and there are many more questions than answers.

New video code generator

For playing multiple (a multitude?) of videos on a web page without clogging things, there is a new bit of free code for vloggers and web publishers. Here are some example QuickTime sequences.

Play video from a UK-based television station. The experience of living with a family in Henley must have made a lasting impression on the Freshman team from the University of California. Play to see the final portion of the Cal race against Oxford Brookes B. Cal won "easily", understroking their opponent throughout the race, and received a warm reception at the finish. The second race was against Glasgow, and again Cal won "easily". Full race coverage of the race between the Cal Freshman and the Varsity lightweight boat from Cornell. What a smooth launch ride! It's pretty clear which boat moves more efficiently, as Cornell never gives an inch.

The tool is called "videos Playing in Place". It will allow me to embed videos into this blog without taking away from the overall presentation. CAVEAT: It doesn't work correctly with Macs yet!

Publishing lessons migrating to internet video

Online Video -- Moving Forward..? points out that TV networks are getting publishing lessons. Whether they pay attention or not doesn't matter, someone will. Among the lessons pointed at in this post about a NY Times article about a sitcom called "Nobody's Watching" that got posted on uTube and now has 300,000 views:

"Publish first, ask questions later". What good is market research if, for the cost of a full survey, you can publish a project and get real feedback?

"Small is beautiful". A publication might have an audience of a few thousand, but that audience might become so vested in the production as to actually transcribe episodes so others can more easily find it via search engines. (Corellary: some books you can't kill, the audience won't let you).

So, "let Frank think so you don't have to". Check the comments under the video, and note that he inserts an ad/buy page at the end of each viewing. I wonder what kind of yield he's getting so far?

Comments within video clips

ITP Research has produced Video Comments, a WordPress Plugin. It's the first stage towards making video searchable. True, it's not automatic. It requires the efforts of users to "tag" video at certain timecodes. However, it's done in a blog interface, which promotes natural language descriptions of the video.

Whether this "brute force" method of identifying segments within videos will be more useful than automated audio track translation will remain to be seen. It's just nice to see both methods surfacing.

Pando: A BitTorrent app for sharing large files

Try this on when you have to send or receive raw footage to/from someone who doesn't really understand ftp servers. Up to 1 gig transfers are free, from one email address to another. I recently had to get materials from the UK into a video podcast and I can say it was not straightforward.

"Little" media friendly apps like this actually hide some powerful functionality under the surface. CEO Robert Levitan hints at becoming a huge distribution partner with media companies.

Veoh becomes the test case for video sharing services

And who would have thought the Wall Street Journal, of all publications, would cite bloggers so openly? The reference to a site like Uneasy Silence must send traffic skyrocketing.

Is this where newspapers and traditional media find their new position? Think of the WSJ and other "must read" publications as grown up "slashdots" that energize the news hounds of the world to unearth all the story that is summarized so professionally in print.

Post-Advertising Era?

Advertising In the Post-Advertising Era leaves the scent of death in the air. Are we over-reacting to all the attention being given YouTube and user-generated content? Maybe not.

In Flavors of Grassroots Video, JD Lasica took notes on a presentation by Mary Hodder of Dabble. Considering all the marketing-oriented TV we've grown accustomed to, it's a relief that no one says they watch commercials on the internet.

The WSJ examines video sharing

There is no doubt now... the Wall Street Journal tends to get stories right. I can only imagine the advertising budgets being re-evaluated... and many new advertisers getting into the game.

From the article:

"YouTube is a classic Silicon Valley garage-to-glory tale. Two friends, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, started a company in a garage to tackle an issue they were grappling with personally: how to share home videos online. They maxed out Mr. Chen's credit card on business expenses before a financier bankrolled them. They built a huge consumer following under the noses of richer, better-known companies with vastly larger payrolls. The young company burst forth as the dominant player.

"But for every Apple Computer Inc. or Google Inc., Silicon Valley's history is filled with dozens of hot startups that gained 15 minutes of fame but couldn't sustain their brief success. YouTube's executives, including some alumni of Internet flameouts, are now furiously planning strategy and making deals to sustain their upward arc."

How CNET mixes video and blogs into their sites

Online Video Revolution is Here and Some Online Publishers are on it, and wouldn't you know that CNET's Dan Farber is on top of it all. He was behind the original MacWorld magazine, in 1984, and he has ridden every publishing trend to hit since then.

I'm impressed how a short video presentation of his perspective does more than reading several "analysis" pieces. I want to know what CNET sees and how it moves forward. Dan shows and tells how they do it.

Things are taking shape: Beet.tv

Beet.TV: Believe it: The Video Revolution is Here

This group seems down-to-earth and aware of video as content (not just entertaining moments of dancing Christmas lights or dorm room pranks). If a picture is worth a thousand words, it only stands to reason that 30 frames a second has more potential to inform, educate and persuade.

The interviews seem newsworthy and heart-felt. I am drawn to hearing the CEOs and VCs do their own reporting on their own views. They know they are documenting their own voices with their own voices, and are willing to stand behind what they say.

We are disintermediating the editorial function and I can't think of an endpoint to this trend.

Print reporters shoot 'em themselves

'Wash Post' Reporters Get Digital Video Cameras for Online, says Editor and Publisher. The Washingtonian reports how remarkably easy it has been to just "do it".

DV Guru adds:

"Newspaper reporters are starting to be outfitted with video cameras, hinting at journalism's further expanding into the multimedia realm. Reporters who have had no shooting experience are now juggling between jotting notes and taking video clips in the field. This journalist-shot video is now popping up online, with clips accompanying news articles. If anything, it's interesting to see how the individual reporter is now taking on the role of two or three people with the proliferation of widely available and cheap digital video technology. It also goes to show you just how much emphasis and importance is put on the moving image itself."

Finally, CBS news says, "With fewer people buying the dead-tree versions of newspapers and more turning to the Internet for news, it’s no surprise that newspaper Web sites are exploring all the options available on the Web to distribute their content -- just as television outlets have expanded into more written stories on their sites. So the question becomes … how much of a threat does video on newspapers' Web sites pose for television?"

This revolution will be televised!

Drama in the living room

From BusinessWeek we get Apple's iTunes Movie Muddle, which touches on some core technology opportunities. Someone, somewhere is going to come up with a box that allows access to HD videos from the internet. But, it's simple to say and hard to do.

First of all, most "video sharing" sites present materials in less that HD, and most videos on those sites are less than 10 minutes long. Myspace.com actually restricts videos to that length, unless a user registers themselves in a special publisher's program.

Second, as the article points out, watching videos on an iPod or even a computer screen gets old. Why not video walls, retail video displays, and the old living room mainstay?

Finally, Hollywood makes far too much money the old fashioned way to want to switch. Someone has to show them how they can get even richer (or lose their shirt) before they change their "first release window" practices.

Will a breakout product cause the dam to break? Or a "must see podcast"? My bet is at the other end of the chain. Those HD flat panels are showing up in all sorts of places, playing all sorts of materials. Increasingly, they are fed by efficient, internet-sourced content.

Chevy Tahoe's online ad contest backfires

Chevy Tahoe's fiasco will have marketers scratching their heads for effective ways to harness creativity. The attack ads all use the same footage, which probably means that Chevy set the creative bar a tad low. Without much effort required, what was a "viral marketing" idea turned into a disastrous erosion of a valuable brand.

Yahoo and citizen journalism

Yahoo Wants Citizen Journalism: "Yahoo hopes to become the best-known brand name in citizen journalism."

This article raises questions about what news stories citizen journalists will cover. It sounds like Yahoo is working out a way for Verizon, Cingular and others to enable their subscribers to send videos and pictures from cell phones directly to a new Yahoo service as news. Leaving aside questions about accuracy and completeness, I would hope that cell phones are not the only source! The video clarity on digital cameras is often quite impressive, to say nothing of DV and HDV materials.

First there was "all the news fit to print", followed by "all the news that fits", and now "all the news"?

Corporate podcasting at National Semiconductor

National Semi Makes iPod Standard Issue according to Internet News. To me, this is the starting point: the iPod as a lure to get people to use iTunes for more than entertainment.

From the story:

National Semi spokesman Jeff Weir said his company has very real productivity expectations. He notes that half of the employees work in chip fabrication and test facilities where they aren't near a PC.

"They aren't checking emails from management all the time," said Weir. "This is another method for us to communicate information to employees, whether it's corporate speeches from the CEO, flash podcasts or new product snippets. It will all be available on iTunes for them to view at their leisure."

Video blogging event

Videoblog about videoblogging and Vloggercon appeared from a San Francisco Chronicle reporter. I went to the conference, and was amazed. It felt like early Macintosh days, or maybe even home brew stuff. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, even when someone was presenting something from the stage. In the chaos was an underlying expectation that this was big, even though no one seems to be making money yet.

One guy who might make money before others is Robert Scoble, who has been Microsoft's "blog guy" for years. He's just left MS for Podtech.net in Menlo Park. They have his announcement on their home page.

TiVo casting

New service from TiVo will start with the New York Times and the NBA and promises to bring internet content to the living room TV.

This sounds just right, and I'll investigate. Would be great to send out the Cal Crew Video Archive this way, in addition to iTunes. Many alumns and family members of the crew would rather watch our work on TV than on their computers.

Tagging video steps forward

Sure, video is a great entertainment medium. But when we start extracting value for future uses, then tagging video elements becomes paramount. One interesting startup is Veotag, which allows you to browse through longer segments by way of an outline of tags. They have a marvelous example online, Wynton Marsalis talking to the National Press Club about the state of cultural education and it's meaning in the US.

I wish I could direct URLs to specific segments! How many times have we seen video programs that create a huge impact, yet we are unable to link to specific points within them and share just those easily? Maybe Veotag's system will enable this at some point.

Google's new video advertising network

Now Google is offering "Click to play" video ads via it's AdSense network.

Don't you just love how Google makes everything seem easy? Video is a very powerful medium, but has been incredibly expensive to distribute. Google senses that their advertising distribution mechanism might encourage more advertisers to embrace video:

"But, you may say, video is only for big branding oriented advertisers. We beg to differ. This feature makes video ads much more accessible to all advertisers. Now, an owner of a small bed & breakfast in Lake Tahoe can put a video tour of his beautiful chalet right next to an article that talks about skiing the epic slopes of Squaw Valley".

Fortune predicts growth

The big picture Forget the dire predictions: The U.S. entertainment and media market is still strong. 2005 (billion) 2009 projected (billion) TV distribution: Subscriber fees paid to cable and satellite networks $90.3 $109.0 TV networks: Advertising revenues of broadcast and cable networks $57.3 $73.2 Filmed entertainment: Box office, DVDs $37.2 $48.1 Total $184.8 $230.3

The transformation is underway, although it will take years to unfold. We are a media society. Our kids wear what they see on TV, we build workplaces and retail environments that look like movie sets.

This article, part of a multi-part feature in this month's Fortune magazine, looks at how Hollywood movies and TV content is changing. It pays no attention to media ditributions into retail, workplace, and educational environments.

The numbers are still huge: and you can double the figures to come up with a world wide market size.

So, the question becomes: where do "the studios" end and "user generated content" begin?

This blog has highlighted changes in technologies and process that enable media production and distribution outside the studio process. These trends will only continue. Ultimately, users will find the content that interests them, and they will deliver it to their viewing environment of choice. The financial ramifications of this are huge.

So, if you own a chain of movie theatres, your business will become more efficient, displays in retail stores will become more flexible, and students will learn from the best teachers in their chosen discipline.

Will we still watch TV and movies? Looks like we will.