Broadband Jungle Blog

The Broadband Generation: The revolution will not be televised.

From an article I wrote for the current issue of Documentary Magazine:

The Broadband Generation
The Revolution Will Be Digitized, Webcast, Streamed, Vlogged, Podcast...

The broadband video age actually already started back in the 1970s with the invention of the VCR. Rewind, Pause, Record for the first time in the history of the moving image, viewers could adapt their viewing pleasure according to their lifestyle and not resign themselves to the limitations of "live" exhibition and broadcast.

The audience quickly rid itself of linear viewing habits and hungrily requested technological innovation from entertainment giants like Sony, Philips and Apple. The resulting digital development boom still ripples through to this day.

 

The only difference today is this: The consumer is in charge and dictates what, when, where, on which platform and in which type and file size the industry is allowed to serve up video and entertainment. Within 24 months, thousands of video portals have launched to quench the audience's insatiable thirst for short-form video clips, movie downloads and television programming delivered through the Internet pipeline.

On-demand, speed and portability are the new standard for the broadband generation, and the parallels to the early days of television are remarkable: Back in the 1950s, a new technology was introduced to the mainstream with the tube, spawning innovative ways of storytelling, distribution, advertising, financing and monetization--just like today.

The audience consumed moving images at home instead of visiting the neighborhood movie theater. Today, computers, iPods, game portals and mobile phones lure viewers through their ability to display moving images on the go.

Even if broadband video might not quite equal the lasting impact of the dawn of the television age, it's certainly comparable to the advent of cable television in the late 1970s and early 1980s. From one day to the next, a handful of trusted broadcast entities exploded into dozens of analogue networks, eventually leading to hundreds of digital stations.

Click here for the entire article.

HBO dismantles 'This Just In'

What’s the matter with television networks in the broadband space?
Even the storytelling masters at HBO can’t seem to get a popular portal off the ground?

Steven Zeitchik in Variety.com about the site's departure: HBO comedy site shut down.

This Just In, the comedy site HBO envisioned as both a brand extension and a potential development pipeline, is being shut down just six months after launching.
HBO announced the site in late 2006 to much fanfare, saying it would allow advertisers to work with the company and also serve as a breeding ground for new talent. Former Icebox CEO Steve Sanford was brought in to run the site, which offered a mix of celebrity riffs and goofy videos from assorted standup comics.

Here’s how the cabler plans to play it safe instead: Back to the proven distribution models.

HBO has been developing a broadband site together with cable operators that will allow users to access on-demand programming via the Web.

Discovery Networks warms up to rebrand

Early word about Discovery Networks’ re-branding and relaunch effort expected for October. SoCal based 72 and Sunny just won the account.

 

Gregory Solman in AdWeek: Discovery Picks 72andSunny

The Discovery brand "is still caught up in the intellectual space," Dan Bragg, (client vp and creative director at Discovery,) said. "The brand itself is not as heartfelt as our programming. So the marketing will try to move the brand to being more culturally relevant and more emotionally engaging."

Glenn Cole, partner and creative director at the El Segundo, Calif.-based agency, said the rebranding push would "speak from a place of enthusiasm as opposed to the point of scholarship."

Added Greg Perlot, agency partner and strategic director: "We have a feeling that the culture is in a really curious place right now. It's interested in adventure, experience, the planet itself and stewardship of it, so we'll position Discovery at the center for those who are curious."

Yahoo's Steve Mitgang new Veoh CEO

Has Dmitry Shapiro's pioneering VeohTV broadband network finally found who it needs to  turn into a portal that really matters? Niche talk is on.

Abbey Klaassen writes in AdAge: Yahoo Veteran Looks for Veoh's 'Great Business'

Steve Mitgang arrived at Yahoo via its Overture acquisition in July 2003. aBut now as Veoh CEO, he believes there's a big business in online video advertising. That is, if marketers can figure out how to target the intentions of viewers.

Ad Age: Why has it been so hard to create a viable business around online video? It seems to be wildly popular among consumers.

Mr. Mitgang: According to the reports, YouTube only sold $30 million in ads last year because they didn't build a system to support ... that healthy tension between editorial and advertising. They just didn't build it.

The flip side of understanding those user behaviors and recommendations is for targeting purchases. We can say, look at the car enthusiasts ... [these ones] are primarily interested in German cars or muscle cars. Being able to tell that to the brand manager of Mustang or Mini, we'll be able to help them better than anyone else. Whether watching user-generated or premium content we'll help target against the right users.

Welcome to GoGooroo Blog

It took us 2 months into our public beta to finally launch the BIG blog. Go figure.
Anyhow--we've been more than pleased by the warm embrace we've received from the blogging community and trade journalists around the globe. Take a look.

A big shoutout goes to Kristen Nicole at Mashable to get the ball rolling. Looks like there really was something missing in the marketplace and a lot of video fiends out there were suffocating under the weight of all their bookmarks. I know we did.

So here's the goal: We're determined to create the most useful and user-friendly platform for all these great and inspiring broadband video channels out there. In spite of our efforts, a lot of them still get lost in the shuffle. We believe in niche programming, and we believe in monster blockbusters to keep the industry's momentum going.

Not so sure how we feel about television, though--it might be the golden age of TV writing, but the platform itself seems tired and stale. We'll just have to see how far the broadband revolution goes. Creatively we certainly are experiencing an eruption of visual content not seen since the advent of cable, maybe even television.

Don't get me started about the movies -- broadband video might be what independent producers have been waiting for since the creatively insane ran the asylum in the 1970s. I do believe that. It could also mean the end of distribution and exhibition as we've known it for the past century. If you're pumping HD on demand broadband into your home theater, who's going to drag their butt into a poorly run theater anymore?

GoGOOROO is clearly a company with a global mindset. It's no coincidence that we launched parallel in  the US and Europe, and we have big plans to add more localized portals as we build this community. We also have aspirations to take a leadership role when it comes to syndicating and hosting video content for our viewers.

While we're currently indexing every channel known to man, we're also determined to create and curate some of these great new channels nobody had thought of. We're big on collaborating with other video portals and aggregators, because we're all Davids in the same boat struggling with Goliath.

And that does include Michael Eisner, a recovering Goliath. He's new to it just like we all are and that's probably what he likes about creating Prom Queen with the skills he learned in the good old TV days.

Anybody who claims they have it all licked, whether it's production, advertising, distribution, finance or storytelling is simply telling a lie. Nobody has a clue and we're all learning and making it up as we go along, just like it should be.

Gary Carter, CCO of the company who brought us American Idol, expressed it extremely well at January's NATPE conference:

“Technological development is a story which runs through human history and which shapes and is shaped by it. And part of that story is the rise (…) of what we call ‘media.’ This is about us, in a very deep and a very profound way, and it’s about the way in which we as a species are driven by creativity.”

That said--follow the Gooroo and have a great time!

Andrea Allen on Vimeo

Vimeo is one of the most intriguing viewer-generated  video platforms out there right now. Founded in 2004 by Jakob Lodwick in New York, it’s managed to attract 85.000 registered members who provide unique spirit, spunk and discerning taste.

The site’s entire demeanor is an open invitation to create and share content with like-minded folks. Somehow word got around that there’s a place for curious people creating interesting, funny and very personal material, and it’s keeping the copycats and mindless copyright-infringers away.

Wichita, Kansas, hipster-gal Andrea Allen is one of Vimeo’s more frequent contributors who passionately answers its call. Her 100+ clips and vlog entries from the last 10 months provide remarkably personal insight into the life of this twenty-something and what must be the most self-amusing group of friends east of Las Vegas. 

A born entertainer, she’s resisting exhibitionist impulses but displaying cheerful charisma. Her quirky motto is: "Hello! My name is Andrea Allen. Turns out the universe is an accordion. I take this as vindication of the polka."

Andrea creates quick vignettes around the house, at the office and the public pool, usually starring her and a friend in lighthearted conversation. She’s at her most unique, however, when the camera’s taping unattended from the corner of the living room and she’s simply delighting in sock-dancing to a corny Neil Diamond track.

My favorite so far: Andrea performing the catchy ‘Istanbul (Not Constantinople)’ with the help of 2 regulars to quite unforgettable results. A new career in the making?

Lip Dubbing: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) on Vimeo

BudTV

Yes, they finally launched and once you make it past the velvet ropes in the form of a strict age verification process, you’ll reach the promised land of broadband television, ca. 2007. Looks like AB did everything right here, BudTV will quickly represent a new quality standard for any type of original content on the web, whether it’s sponsored, ad supported or re-purposed.

Lorne Manly explores this new phenomenon at great length in this in-depth NY Times Magazine article:

“Bud.TV may be a marketing venture at heart, but it is marketing sotto voce. The shows’ plots won’t revolve around the quest for the perfect beer and a beautiful woman to share it with. Characters won’t declaim the virtues of Budweiser’s freshness at every opportunity. The site won’t be cluttered with banner ads. Anheuser-Busch executives are banking on a more subtle connection. Attach a brand name to something cool, something entertaining, and that elusive young man (and to a lesser extent, young woman) may check out Bud.TV’s offerings again and again, send them along to friends, even take a stab at creating his own minifilm for the site. Cultivate that warm, fuzzy feeling about Budweiser, and the company may cement the loyalty of the existing customer, or better, woo the uncommitted or hard-to-reach drinker to a Bud Light or a Michelob or a Peels malt-liquor beverage.”

Super Deluxe opens its doors and features Brad Neely

Super Deluxe, Turner’s new and extremely accomplished comedy channel that’s apparently been12 months in the making, has finally launched in January. Check out the player’s back-story and promises for future updates on Super Deluxe’s blog.

The team over there seems to be a particularly talented and ambitious crew with an ‘intense drive to innovate the sandbox we’ve all played in for many, many (embarrassingly many) years.’ Seems to be working out just fine!

In terms of talent associated with Super Deluxe—also picked up by Creativity’s AdCritic.com—offbeat cartoon genius Brad Neely of George Washington video–fame finally gets not one, but two of his own little platforms there.

Professor Brothers—Bible History #1 ‘breathes new life into the Sodom and G-town yarn.’ Baby Cakes on the other hand, in his very first diary entry ‘introduces us to his wizard father, his role-playing friends and expounds on what it's like to be a man-child still living at home.’

StimTV

StimTV is a quirky channel streaming from Oxnard, California. Launched in the fall of ’05, the player exclusively serves up short clips of movies, television and music videos with some interviews thrown in, sort of like a multi-DVD player stuck in shuffle. If a clip catches your fancy you can play it full length if it’s in the archive. Most certainly sending every viewers ADD into overdrive, I also wouldn’t want to run their legal department and deal with Rights and Clearances issues.

Their StimTV promos are highly original and alone worth the click: Located under ‘tutorial video’ you can find promos that are shot like old fashioned educational films with the occasional low-tech effect thrown in, and there are more hilarious tutorials hidden in search. My absolute favorite—cardboard cutouts of StimTV templates to demonstrate how to navigate the site.

Forbes on YouTube

Your future’s so bright, you’ve got to wear shades? If anyone, that’s YouTube’s wunderkind-CEO Chad Hurley smiling from the cover of the October issue of Forbes. The old school flagship runs with seven (!) articles on the Internet video phenomenon.

Video Fixation is the cover story by Scott Wooley, and he recounts the fine line Hurley and partner Steve Chen have been treading on their way to becoming broadband revolutionaries.

You Tube for Grownups by Cesar Suero has all the stats and provides a map to navigate the site for the uninitiated. More than Words examines the fledgling video search industry, while Can YouTube Grow Up And Stay Cool? by Peter Kafka deals with licensing issues and upcoming solutions like the arrangements with Warner Music and NBC.