Sponsored Video Streaming: Is change a-comin'?

I mentioned in my last post of this series the lessons to be learned from the music industry, one of which was changing your mindset. I argue that this is absolutely critical, because consumers are already changing their ways. We need to be prepared to change with them, just learn how to corral their behaviors into ways we can also benefit.

Just yesterday I read this article from AdAge about how the cable networks won't be getting a site like Hulu anytime soon. David Sazlav, CEO of Discovery Communications, was quoted saying: "The cable channel business is a good business model, and we want to continue to be partners with distributors. We don't want to train [viewers] to watch our best shows on [free online] platforms. Most of our research shows if we move our content mostly in clips, we can create an environment where we can mostly satisfy our viewers with consumer content on other platforms but do it in a way that doesn't take away from our core business."

Just sayin', this is the most frustrating thing for people like me who really like to watch content online. I'll spend way too much time trying to find the whole thing only to discover my time was wasted.

Zaslav argues that the model doesn't need fixing just yet. But in this industry (and really any industry,) getting ahead means thinking ahead. Don't wait for necessity to force you into taking up strange bed partners. See this opportunity and grow with it.

Remember this? "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." Yeah. The people who hold onto the ship while it sinks are the ones that get sucked down once it finally submerges. Just jump.

Sponsored Video Streaming: A Series

It's no secret that there have been quite a few growing pains within both the entertainment and advertising industries with the overwhelming increase in online video content. It seems that the entertainment industry has tried a number of solutions, from trying to shut down anyone sharing the content (and this goes all the way back to Napster), regulating the content by sharing it themselves, and finding ways of using it to their own financial benefit. This final solution has certainly been met with its own roadblocks (we all grimly remember the 14-week writer strike) but it seems the dust is finally starting to settle and some truces have been called.

Many of the major networks began streaming some of their shows online with full episode players, including ABC, Fox, The CW, CBS, and NBC. Not all were as quick onto the train, but now most channels offer their shows in this way. Some only have a few episodes, while others have entire series. Some require that you be a registered member, and others let you flit in and out at your pleasure. And MANY frustratingly only will show you previews and clips, driving you to your television, however begrudgingly.

More recently, Hulu came out as a new hub with sponsored content much like the network sites. 

Even more recently, CBS has decided to take this further by finding viewers where they already are. In a new partnership with YouTube, CBS is sharing full-length shows on the site with ads before, during, and after the videos, allowing both CBS and YouTube to cash in on the online viewing trend.

But what about Surf the Channel, Ninja Video, and all the sites these hubs collect their content from? The world may never know...

...but until then, there's a lot going on with these sponsored episodes. Some innovative, some boring, some downright maddening--it's time we look at what works, and what's gotta go.