Big-time media issues in small markets
I got a fair amount of flack from my site's users this past weekend - particularly those that enjoy the mixed-martial arts events that our sister company produces and couldn't download highlights from Pacific eXtreme Combat 8, which we by association covered. You see, we liberally release most (not all) of the video clips we show in our nightly newscasts as VOD exhibits and a video podcast. If you like what you see on the stream, download our stuff to your PC, PSP, iPod, PDA, other media device, burn it to CD, share it on an infinite number of web-based distribution services...whatever. But they key element is that we retain sole control over what clips we let people download, and what they can stream. Or so we thought.
Leading up to Fight Night, I let people download all the pre-fight interviews, weigh-ins, athlete profiles and analysis...but not the highlights of the event itself. This was intentional, to not promote the after-market community distribution of digital copies of what is and can be a hugely profitable DVD venture. So I can see how people would be pissed when the main exhibit can't be kept. I would be. VH1 does this all the time with V-Spot, which I've blogged about before.
Today, I saw that one of the fights is available on YouTube (see below). Set to a re-worked version of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name", it's very creative. And I'm totally digging the exposure, as I'm sure are my superiors. But this doesn't avoid the damaging effects on the potential revenue we could be realizing from DVD sales. Why pay when you can get them from a copy someone recorded, possibly pirated, or illegally copied? This is something a small market like Guam's is beginning to face more and more with Web 2.0 services bridging the logistical divide for media companies.
Consider another example: I previously covered the digital migration of Guam's cable company, hinting that Tivo-esque DVRs would soon be on the horizon. While the latter plan has been setback a bit, this still doesn't make affiliate companies like mine completely safe from the the fact that viewers can skip past commercials. The forthcoming brand of DVR, Scientific Atlanta, does this, and does it really well, from what I'm told (others would argue to the contrary). This is a major concern for me and my contemporaries.
So while technology continues to be progressive and make markets like ours more relevant on a global stage, it also introduces a whole new slew of business problems. At what cost success - allowing for viral dissemination of content, achieving unbeatable competitive advantage by the new audiences gained but lose out on monetary benefits, or limit the number of eyeballs to get your stuff, but maximize profitability?
Leading up to Fight Night, I let people download all the pre-fight interviews, weigh-ins, athlete profiles and analysis...but not the highlights of the event itself. This was intentional, to not promote the after-market community distribution of digital copies of what is and can be a hugely profitable DVD venture. So I can see how people would be pissed when the main exhibit can't be kept. I would be. VH1 does this all the time with V-Spot, which I've blogged about before.
Today, I saw that one of the fights is available on YouTube (see below). Set to a re-worked version of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name", it's very creative. And I'm totally digging the exposure, as I'm sure are my superiors. But this doesn't avoid the damaging effects on the potential revenue we could be realizing from DVD sales. Why pay when you can get them from a copy someone recorded, possibly pirated, or illegally copied? This is something a small market like Guam's is beginning to face more and more with Web 2.0 services bridging the logistical divide for media companies.
Consider another example: I previously covered the digital migration of Guam's cable company, hinting that Tivo-esque DVRs would soon be on the horizon. While the latter plan has been setback a bit, this still doesn't make affiliate companies like mine completely safe from the the fact that viewers can skip past commercials. The forthcoming brand of DVR, Scientific Atlanta, does this, and does it really well, from what I'm told (others would argue to the contrary). This is a major concern for me and my contemporaries.
So while technology continues to be progressive and make markets like ours more relevant on a global stage, it also introduces a whole new slew of business problems. At what cost success - allowing for viral dissemination of content, achieving unbeatable competitive advantage by the new audiences gained but lose out on monetary benefits, or limit the number of eyeballs to get your stuff, but maximize profitability?
posted by Jason Salas @ 9:57 AM
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