Three reasons why (profitable) web video is about to explode
Posted by Nick | Filed under Blog
1. The credit crunch.
With the world economy in the state that it is, advertisers will be seeking cheaper and more accountable mediums to reach their target audience. Advertisers want a higher rate of return and the internet is going to be like the second coming of Christ. Consider that a 30-second Super Bowl spot costs $3 million, who in their right mind is going to fork out that kind of cash today? Recent developments by large corporations in their attempts to create commercials “disguised” as viral videos, such as Nike’s Ronaldinho video have proven successful generating over 25 million views. With the return of the next slate of TV shows, NBC’s popular “Heroes” garnered slightly less than 6 million viewers (down 5 million compared to last season – more on that later). When compared to the budget of a typical television show costs between $800k and $2 million, the cost of producing an internet video seems like peanuts – averaging only $20k a video. And the internet’s reach is so much wider.
2. Shift in viewership and quality
With ratings going down, piracy going up, and the stock market taking a dive – television networks are basically screwed. Most people no longer want to watch pre-programmed television – whilst “Heroes” received terrible ratings in its latest season it still remains the most popular downloaded series. We are seeing websites such as Hulu.com really take over, and this is signifying mainstream acceptance that the internet is becoming the new home for video content. In previous years, the most popular internet videos were “viral videos” with cats playing on pianos, and dogs talking – and this is changing – audiences now expect to see professional content with relatively high production values (ie. CollegeHumour’s Sarah Palin trailer). If you are a filmmaker with professionally created, internet-designed content and have an audience – expect a knock on your door soon.
3. A level playing field
Where previously independent filmmakers struggled to get distribution, the internet has created a level playing field. Steven Spielberg has no higher chance of finding an audience on YouTube than you do. The biggest hurdle once facing filmmakers has been completely dissolved because the internet is ubiquitous. Release a video on the internet, and hundreds of thousands of people will instantly be notified via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. Obviously there are no costs involved, no prints to pay for, no cinemas to fill, no quotas. Web filmmakers need no longer worry themselves with distribution woes, and can now focus on content creation. Anyone can get their content out there.
Remember that as a web filmmaker you are in the advertising industry – create a regular web show that receives a substantial amount of viewers and you have created a platform for advertisers to directly speak to their target market.