Did You Know About the Big Podcasting Divorce at iTunes?

I just noticed the big break up at
iTunes Podcasts between Video and Audio Podcasts.

This is a very interesting move that I think will make both video and audio content creators happy.

Happy? Yep. Happy.

There are many audio content creators who use to be on top of the iTunes charts until the likes of Dr. Tiki, Johnny Johnny and the very sexy La La hit the iTunes Store with Tiki Bar TV. Since then other video scum like Ask A Ninja, Good Night Burbank, Happy Tree Friends and even that silly video show with those French Maids that explain products have derailed the exposure audio podcasts have in being listed as the most popular on iTunes.

Similarly independent video content has had to compete with big name brands of audio content being distributed as audio podcasts. Now that iTunes is separating audio and video things might look better for independent video producers as well.

Why Would You Care About Video Views if You Are Selling on iTunes?

Well I'll be...

As of 11:15 AM PST Dr. Horrible's is the number one TV Show on iTunes'"Top TV Seasons."

Even though it's FREE on Hulu and at drhorrible.com people are buying it on iTunes for $1.99.

I was hopping that Dr. Horrible would change things for the Independent online content creator but it hasn't. We can't sell our videos on iTunes the way Joss Whedon can so nothing has changed... yet.

Is Michael Eisner Still Pissed at Steve Jobs?

Last year Michael Eisner said, "Steve Jobs, not the studios, is the one making money on digital distribution," Eisner said at the Media and Money conference according to Remy Davison at Insanely Great Mac.

Yesterday Michael Eisner’s Vuguru and book publisher Putnam, launched the first of a 50 episode online video series called Foreign Body. It's a prequel/promotional vehicle for the soon to be released Robin Cook novel title Foreign Body. The video series is produced for Eisner by my paintball buddies over at Big Fantastic who also did Prom Queen for Michael and sold him their original series Sam Has 7 Friends.

I have great hopes for the Foreign Body series not only as an online video series but as a ground breaking business model for monetizing online video. Eisner has always been and continues to be a man with a vision of the future. (I like to tell this story so if you've heard it before please bear with me.) Years ago I had the fortune to work as a production assistant for Michael on the opening segments of the Disney Sunday Movie where Michael would say, "Hello, I'm Michael Eisner and Welcome to the Disney Sunday Movie." I was a terrible PA, always trying to do more than I was asked to do, but I did manage to learn a lot watching the leader of the Disney empire and how he handled things while he worked.

Way before the Internet, each morning Michael would be handed several sheets of paper that listed all the news worthy items of interest to a CEO of a entertainment conglomerate. Now you can subscribe to Emails, Blogs and RSS feed readers that assemble all the same information but back then when I was a kid I thought this was WAY cool. Another thing I saw Michael do was that he never got mad at anyone. Well at least not that we could see. If something or someone was bothering him he would call over his assistant Art who was also his pitbull. Art would take care of all the dirty work and Michael would smile and say, "Hello, I'm Michael Eisner and Welcome to the Disney Sunday Movie."

Years later as a producer I had the pleasure of traveling the country interviewing Michael Eisner's teachers. I video tapped his kindergarten teacher, the head master of his all boys school and even the professor that Robin Williams' character was based on in Dead Poets' Society. During that project I learned that Ethan Frome was Michael Eisner's favorite book as a young man. Knowing that really makes me examine the way Eisner is playing with online video.

Now I've not spoken with the Big Fantastic boy since they started working on Foreign Body and I sure hope I don't get them in any trouble with this post but I have noticed that the man who seams to be putting the most skin into the original content creation /online video game at the moment is not playing with all of the players.

You can find Vuguru's videos on Youtube, Blip.tv and of course on Veoh the video site that Eisner has invested in but you won't find Prom Queen, Sam Has Seven Friends or Foreign Body on the iTunes Store...yet.

If you visit Foreign Body's website you will find a link to iTunes but when you click on it you get a message, "iTunes Podcast coming soon. Check back June 3rd."

This makes me wonder, Is Michael Eisner still pissed at Steve Jobs? Or has he moved on? Or are there other reasons Michael hasn't been using the iTunes to get the views of his online video up?

Most of us online video producers have found iTunes to be the best thing in launching our viral video successes, including the Big Fantastic guys but for what ever reason Eisner hasn't been embracing Steve Job's wonder toy.

Any ideas?

Are People Ready To Pay Money for Long Form Niche Content?

Jules Watkins from the UK writes in with the following email:

Hi Tim,

Read your blog with interest.

I wanted to get an opinion. I am a TV Producer Director based in the UK and shoot and make shows for all the major networks eg BBC, Channel 4. Sky, MTV UK etc.

I want to break out of this and make shows I own the rights to. My idea is for 30 mins shows to put on download services like BT (as cable network that charges per view) as well as itunes and even direct from a purpose built site.

I realize short videos do well over time..but is there a demand for longer episodes especially as some download services play straight to your TV.

The shows will be niche eg video gaming doc with an entertaining twist and I am sure the exact angle isn't really available on mainstream TV.

My question is do you think people are ready to pay money for niche long form content other than big brand shows like Ugly Betty etc! or like ebooks and niche blogs will people pay say $4 - 6 $ for a show they just cant see anywhere else.

i estimate each 30 mins show to cost between $20000 and $30000 dollars to make, I will direct and shoot and rough edit and get an editor to polish and get a proper sound mix.

I can finance the first myself..am i taking to big a risk? Can I make a good profit?

I realize it would be good to get a sponsor first but as this would be a first for me doing it under my own name not via an established company it could be tricky to get cash in advance..maybe it would come after when I could show them it finished?

many thanks,

jules





Thanks for the the email Jules.

I think it is possible to make long form niche content that people will pay for but you have to be very careful about what you make, how much it costs and how you market and promote that content.

My advise would be to do a test first of something that emotionally moves you personally is in a niche that you are passionate about and doesn't cost more than $5,000 to produce. For the sake of this conversation let's say that your child has been diagnosis with autism.

Creating a video that explains to parents what they can expect in dealing with an autistic child and how to cope with it as a family might be a long form niche video that people would pay for now. It wouldn't cost a lot to produce the video and if it was informative and actually gave good take away advice people would buy it for themselves and for friends and family.

In creating this Coping with Autism video I would also create a blog and an audio or video podcast that would build a conversation to develop an audience through contextual search. (I apologize to those of you who came here through search hoping to find a video about Coping with Autism - I'm just using this as an example.) This "audience conversation" is what makes the Internet so different and so much more powerful than traditional Television. I wish I could have a conversational audience with French Maid TV but the conversation that my viewers want to have with the French Maids are not the types of conversations that advertisers want to see their products next to - so I'm still noodling that one. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

A few other things to consider are:

1. Selling Long Form Video Online is Still a Pain in the Ass
Even though there are some download services that play straight to your TV, currently you can not sell long form independent videos on popular download sites like iTunes unless you are a major distributor. There are small sites out there and you could sell your own video on your own site but if you need to sell thousands of copies to recupe your costs it ain't going to happen unless you have lightening in a bottle, you are an expert at online viral marketing or you have a huge marketing budget.

2. You Don't Have a Huge Marketing Budget
Studios and TV Networks are the biggest costumers of Television advertising. TV Networks use their own air time to promote their own shows and movie studios use TV advertising to get your butt in the theater seat. You will have to come up with a marketing plan and incredible "Key Art" that will cut through the clutter or no one will ever find your long form video.

3. You Don't Have a Huge Marketing Budget
I'm writing this one again because most of us independent content creators are passionate about our creations to the point of impairing our hearing and our good judgment. We love our own projects so much that it's hard to believe that no one would consider buying our interactive DVD / digital yarn about a woman getting revenge on her married ex-lover through building a "tell all" Vlog with videos and photos of his escapades with other women. (Let me know if you want to buy a copy for $10. I still have a few left.)

4. The Market Place Isn't Built Yet
This point pretty much echoes the fact that it's a pain in the ass to sell long form video online but the fact of the matter is most people like to watch long form video on their TV and there is still no easy way (as in changing a channel easy) to get content from the Internet to your TV.

All that said, I think it's fairly unlikely that right now you could spend $20,000 on a long form video and see a return on your investment unless you have something that is really, really, really great, people want it and they can't get anything like it anywhere else, you are a master of viral marketing or you have a huge marketing budget.

I am aware of several new websites that are creating portals where you will be able to sell your long form online videos and audiences will be able to watch them on TV without a ton of hassle so the market place is being built. Think of the music industry and study who has been a successful online artist and what they have done to sell there songs online.

Once you are able to discover and watch any Internet video on your TV with the same ease of use of discovering and listening to music on your PC you will be able to produce and sell your own long form content but until then I say keep your content short, use it to set the stage for your long form videos and start putting that viral marketing plan together because you are going to need something really special to cut through the clutter.

I'm not saying, "Don't do it." I'm saying, "Don't do it just yet."

Someone is going to be able to produce and sell a video online that is going to make millions of Pounds and that someone might be you.

Thanks again for the email Jules. Let's keep the conversation going.

Flash vs QuickTime is it Like Obama vs Clinton?

Well it looks like Flash has won the video player wars when it comes to site embeded streaming video but QuickTime is still king when it come to downloadable video to play on an iPod, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Now when it comes to placing ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll) in and around video I've found that Ad-Networks are shying away from QuickTime and downloadable media because it's hard to tell in real time if someone has watched an ad in a downloaded video.

iTunes, iPods, iPod Touches and iPhones don't play Flash because Apple has made them that way but they do support video podcasting where many of us online video producers get our views. On the other hand advertisers, media buyers and ad agencies like Flash because they can see real time stats.

When will we be able to sort this out?

When will we have our National Convention and decide on our video player candidate?

How will BARACKY: THE MOVIE end?

Navigating Episodic Internet Shows

With the exception of Apple's iTunes Podcast subscription I have yet to find an enjoyable way of watching Episodic Shows on the Internet.

When Prom Queen launched earlier this year it was a pain in the ass to watch the shows in order and catch up if you missed one. Eventually team Vuguru created a weekly recap show but it was hard to figure out where I left off and it still required some work. When the Big Fantastic launched their Summer season of Prom Queen called Summer Heat, Vuguru sent out a daily email and this made it much easier to catch up if I missed an episode. I could just go to my Apple mail and sort my messages from Prom and click on the shows in order.

If you go to Youtube or Revver or Veoh or Metacafe or any other video site and search for your favorite Episodic Show you will find it and it's trailers/promos in some crazy order. If you are at work trying to find that episode that you missed before your boss walks by and busts you for goofing off at work you are going to bail and wait till later to find that episode if you ever get around to it.

So far there are no Episodic shows on the front page of Youtube's Most Viewed (All Time) All: page. This says a lot about how we are still in a time of "spectacle" and have not yet moved into "Story" as far as Internet video goes. Even the Internet's biggest "Hit" story Lonely Girl 15's most popular episode only has had 1,708,683 views and if you want to start from never having seen an episode of LG15 and get all caught up, good luck. There are over 21 pages of search results for "Lonely Girl 15" on Revver and I couldn't find Episode number one so I went to LG15.com. There I found a place to start and a recap video of season one that brought me up to speed but that was work.

We need to speak with our contacts at the video sites and ask them what they can do to help. One viral video could bring a ton of viewers to your show but if that viewer can't find the next episode or the previous ones in a nice neat way that is easy to navigate it will take us all a lot longer to build audiences. The big boys in Hollywood already know how to make a programming dial work. It won't be long before they figure this out too and make it even harder for us little guys to break through the clutter.

Sure there are work-arounds but that involves "work".

Tiger Woods and Hot Women in Music Videos

The 2007 PGA championship has been a smoking hot topic in this weeks news with Tiger Woods leading in this year's 89th annual major golf event, taking place in Tulsa, Oklahoma and that makes me think about sexy women in music videos and DRM.

DRM is failing. DRM is falling apart. DRM doesn’t work. Universal Music who said they would never ever, ever get rid of DRM is testing getting rid of DRM . Google is Shutting down paid Video .

What does this have to do with Tiger Woods and Hot Women in Music Videos? Tiger Woods is a Brand. People pay to see Tiger Woods play golf but Tiger Woods doesn’t make a ton of money from the people that come to see him play at a golf course or even the money he wins from playing in the golf tournaments (it is a lot of money but not his big bucks). Tiger makes his money from endorsements, TV commercials for Nike and Buick. That’s where his big bucks are made.

What the hell are you talking about Tim? I’m never going to sign a 100 million endorsment deal . No you probably won’t but if you produce viral video content that people want to steel you can use that to sell something else. Well Mr. French Maid TV smarty pants what am I going to sell? What are you going to sell? How about selling something that doesn’t cost you money? What? That’s right, sell something that doesn’t cost you money. How about referrals? What if you could get $100 per month from one dog groomer in every city in the world by putting a link to their site on your video site? At that rate you would only need 100,000 cities to have an endorsement deal that matches Tiger Woods’.

What about the hot women? For years record labels have been giving away music videos with sexy women in them for promotion. Now they are selling there music videos on iTunes but they are also placing them on FREE Music video sites as well. Using that promotion to build their brands and sell other things like popular ring tones.

So put your thinking caps on and start thinking how you can produce viral videos that make people want to steel them and promote your online videos, building your brand into something that you can use to sell a lot of something that doesn’t cost you money.