As Transemdia Brandcasting Catalyst I have been predicting that more content will be geared towards the Web. I think Google TV, Apple TV and ultimately Facebook TV could empower indpendent producers to create content which would allow for non intrusive product placement on the Web. Viewers will appreciate the limited commercial interuptions and invite advertisers by clicking on their products and services that are woven into the Transmedia Story.
It would appear Youtube may get out of the blocks first. Since the networks have all but tried to kill Google TV, the smart money is on the strategy for them to attract advertisers and viewers collaborations.
YouTube’s New Sell: Want to Buy a Web Series for $3.5 Million? A must read Article on the Future of Television
WCN Transmedia Group has a Hunch about GoogleTV, Youtube and hope the message gets to the powers that be. Take a look at this great video about how ideas are formulated and turned into viable business. I think you will find it fascinating, then after reading the article take a look at my comments below.
Pursuing TV Dollars With Big-Money Projects From Howcast, Endemol, Ben Silverman‘s Electus and Others
Published: July 14, 2011
And, most ambitious, a live Lady Gaga concert in New York proposed for 2011, streamed on the web through YouTube and Vevo. Price tag to sponsor the one-off event? Nine million dollars for a sponsorship along with Samsung, inclu
- YouTube’s Premium-Content Strategy Starts to Take Shape
- Talks of Providing $2M-$5M Seed Funds to Agents and Producers Who Commit to Episodes
YouTube has pitched advertisers on funding big-budget web shows featuring stars like Kobe Bryant, Lady Gaga and “Dancing with the Stars” host Brooke Burke, asking millions of dollars to make them happen.
The pitches are part of YouTube’s foray into Hollywood for polished, TV-style web video that can attract the kind of advertisers that devote most of their ad budgets on TV. The concepts were pitched as branded entertainment, shows created for or in conjunction with advertisers. YouTube is separately trying to seed the market for professional web video by funding as much as $5 million in startup costs for producers to create YouTube content channels around advertiser-friendly categories like food, fashion, sports and comedy.
The celebrity shows that YouTube recently proposed to advertisers — so-called YouTube Originals — would make the video site, best known for user-generated content and music videos, look more like a traditional TV network than ever before, according to pitch documents obtained by Advertising Age.
For instance:
- “Dream Makers,” a series in partnership with “Big Brother” producer Endemol that would feature Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant rewarding “outstanding young people” with with the “dream of a lifetime.” YouTube is asking marketers for $1.7 million to exclusively sponsor a run of six to eight five-minute episodes.
- “The Incubator,” a series from Ben Silverman’s Electus featuring 36 short webisodes with 10 entrepreneurs as they turn ideas into businesses. The price tag: $3.5 million for six months of exclusivity.
- And, most ambitious, a live Lady Gaga concert in New York proposed for 2011, streamed on the web through YouTube and Vevo. Price tag to sponsor the one-off event? Nine million dollars for a sponsorship along with Samsung, including a presence on Lady Gaga’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Some of the series pitched by YouTube will never see the light of day, or a studio may opt to get their own sponsorship and proceed on their own. Some have already come to fruition: Howcast’s “Chief Household Officer,” pitched by YouTube as a 10-week series for $2.8 million, is running on YouTube with a sponsorship deal from HP.An exec close to the deal said these series are distinct from the “channel” strategy being pursued by former Netflix exec and now YouTube VP-Programming Robert Kyncl. Rather, they are pitched as branded entertainment that wouldn’t get the go-ahead without a big-ticket advertiser attached.
YouTube has been in the branded entertainment business for some time, but its involvement in selling the shows and working with Hollywood studios signal new ambition to win major marketing budgets. Indeed the price tags suggest YouTube is seeking higher ad rates than seen typically on TV. Assuming YouTube can deliver a hefty 100 million views to a series for $3.5 million in six months, that’s still a cost-per-thousand viewers of $35, higher than a typical TV ad rate of $20, and more in a league with Hulu, which sells TV spots on the web for $40.YouTube can’t be faulted for a lack of ambition. Top YouTube execs like to say they’re creating the next generation of cable TV, built and scaled for the web. But instead of 500-odd channels on TV, YouTube is making a play for the “next 10,000,” appealing to all sorts of niches and interest groups.
Despite all that, outside executives involved in the talks argue that YouTube still isn’t thinking big enough. “I’d rather see them take a more aggressive approach, and get brands involved earlier, rather than re-create the cable model,” said one marketing exec involved in the talks.
Key to driving views to shows, and revenue to producers, is a redesign of YouTube itself, which hasn’t changed much since it was founded in 2005. YouTube has already released an iteration of the redesign, Cosmic Panda, which owes a lot to Hulu in its look and feel. This relaunch, targeted for January, will redefine navigation to rely less on search algorithms and more on human curation of video.
While not unheard of, YouTube’s asking price is significantly higher than the typical budgets for web series. If YouTube can get its asking price, it will change the economics of online video and add another significant player in the market, along with Hulu, Netflix, and perhaps soon, Amazon.
“Every time you see a YouTube or Hulu or Netflix move into original content creation, it’s more opportunity for brands,” said one agency exec. “It’s a bigger playing field and more ways to reach an audience.”
And while Madison Avenue may get off on 100 million people watching a webisode, I believe Real World Sales will always determine the real value of the content. This is why Social Reality Programming is the future!
With Social Reality Programs YouTube would be able to offer major marketers 3 things:
1. Viewers
2. Simplification
3. Real World SalesJust stop for a moment and ask yourself what does an Advertiser wants more than High Rates or Page Views? Real World Sales! Social Reality Programming permits you to place sales on the table first! Until advertisers start demanding some type of sales being apart of a Hollywood Venture, Madison Avenue, Yahoo, MSN, Google, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube will continue selling them on Social Buzz, Page-views, Click-thru’s, Email Blast and Banner Ad’s that hold little value.
And believe it or not YouTube is running out of time! Other than Music Videos & Movie Trailers there’s nothing original about the content on YouTube. And the system they are trying to build creates a secondary risk for them?
Now which one of these projects do you think will generate any type of real world sales for an advertiser?
1. Dream Makers
2. The Incubator
3. Lady Gaga concert in New YorkNone of them! For $2.8 million YouTube should be offering a Advertiser about $20 million in Direct Sales from their investment. And for a $9 million they should be offering a advertiser about $50 million or more in direct sales from their investment.
Charles Allen
Co-founder
Moviegazoo.com
Why Go Alone?
I look forward to further comments to this post and the opportunity to monetize streaming video. God knows we are tired of paying for Reruns and Commercials which is all that seems to be on existing traditional TV.
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