How will local TV stations monetize Google Video?
Corey Bergman started a discussion about something I've been long interested in as a guy in charge of interactive media development at a local TV affiliate. He projects local stations really going hardcore in making content available through Google Video, subsequently selling such material in the Google Video Store. I agree.
I knew Google Video was going to be big for major content producers the first time I used it; but the service couldn't survive on "Canon in D by Jerry C." forever - it had to have commercial appeal to be legitimate. So therein lies an interesting problem: should we be selling newscasts...and would people buy them?
Corey's post has generated some awesome feedback, the overwhelming majority of which opposes the notion that local stations might sell their programming in the GVS. Most comments appear to be from viewers who want to enjoy a new way to access news, sans cost; there are also a couple of industry guys cheering on the GVS model, obviously seeing the opportunity to make a buck. (I actually play both parts simultaneously, being both devoted consumer and content creator.)
So what exactly can we sell? Special produtions, like holiday extravaganzas? Possibly. Sports shows? Certainly. How about telethons, musical performances, cooking shows, comedy skits? Whatever the market will bear. But local newscasts? Some will try and may be able to get away with it, but I don't see this taking off. I don't see affiliates becoming hugely successful selling nightly casts, and I don't plan to do so with mine.
As the current model for the GVS implies that videos can be purchased on a per-clip basis, bulk purchases - a concept I've long favored for e-tailing VOD - wouldn't be possible. Also, the clips would have to be uploaded, tagged, approved and published at breakneck speeds to have any relevance (the review process as it is by Google is typically at least a couple of days), and then removed for just as quickly due to datedness. Also, the volume of clips is most stations deal with will be pretty sizable...I would think the effort of putting tons of clips online would outweigh the actual profits generated.
I jumped on the Google Video bandwagon early, publishing several longform clips that appear in my station's webcast archive to Google Video (here's a sports editorial I did). It's certainly broadened our reach to a larger market, and hey...it's Google's bandwidth and storage, so watch all you want. It's a great service.
If viewers really want footage or a story, they'll record via VCR and/or DVR; or because most stations are small, they'll catch an near-infinitesimal number of rebroadcasts. Or get it from their competitors. And it's a foregone conclusion that most TV stations producing news online have at least streaming video of their casts available, and possibly video podcasts.
Some stations favor the Google Video model for selling newscasts because it lets them reap monetary rewards for giving people video, empowering a news producer with on-demand asynchronicity, always a problem for any broadcast organization. This solves the concern many face in dealing with viewers who can't download permanent copies of read-only streaming media, or the give-it-all-away problems of a vidcast. My station does both. While we're considering selling special productions or compilations through Google Video, we're avoiding the newscast route for now. It just doesn't make sense at this point.
(See more of my thoughts and projections on how TV stations are going to adopt Google Video.)
I knew Google Video was going to be big for major content producers the first time I used it; but the service couldn't survive on "Canon in D by Jerry C." forever - it had to have commercial appeal to be legitimate. So therein lies an interesting problem: should we be selling newscasts...and would people buy them?
Corey's post has generated some awesome feedback, the overwhelming majority of which opposes the notion that local stations might sell their programming in the GVS. Most comments appear to be from viewers who want to enjoy a new way to access news, sans cost; there are also a couple of industry guys cheering on the GVS model, obviously seeing the opportunity to make a buck. (I actually play both parts simultaneously, being both devoted consumer and content creator.)
So what exactly can we sell? Special produtions, like holiday extravaganzas? Possibly. Sports shows? Certainly. How about telethons, musical performances, cooking shows, comedy skits? Whatever the market will bear. But local newscasts? Some will try and may be able to get away with it, but I don't see this taking off. I don't see affiliates becoming hugely successful selling nightly casts, and I don't plan to do so with mine.
As the current model for the GVS implies that videos can be purchased on a per-clip basis, bulk purchases - a concept I've long favored for e-tailing VOD - wouldn't be possible. Also, the clips would have to be uploaded, tagged, approved and published at breakneck speeds to have any relevance (the review process as it is by Google is typically at least a couple of days), and then removed for just as quickly due to datedness. Also, the volume of clips is most stations deal with will be pretty sizable...I would think the effort of putting tons of clips online would outweigh the actual profits generated.
I jumped on the Google Video bandwagon early, publishing several longform clips that appear in my station's webcast archive to Google Video (here's a sports editorial I did). It's certainly broadened our reach to a larger market, and hey...it's Google's bandwidth and storage, so watch all you want. It's a great service.
If viewers really want footage or a story, they'll record via VCR and/or DVR; or because most stations are small, they'll catch an near-infinitesimal number of rebroadcasts. Or get it from their competitors. And it's a foregone conclusion that most TV stations producing news online have at least streaming video of their casts available, and possibly video podcasts.
Some stations favor the Google Video model for selling newscasts because it lets them reap monetary rewards for giving people video, empowering a news producer with on-demand asynchronicity, always a problem for any broadcast organization. This solves the concern many face in dealing with viewers who can't download permanent copies of read-only streaming media, or the give-it-all-away problems of a vidcast. My station does both. While we're considering selling special productions or compilations through Google Video, we're avoiding the newscast route for now. It just doesn't make sense at this point.
(See more of my thoughts and projections on how TV stations are going to adopt Google Video.)
posted by Jason Salas @ 8:11 PM
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