Last week, YouTube introduced Screening Room: a program that broadcasts independent films on YouTube and gives their creators a majority share of the ad revenue generated. This is a fantastic idea, and one that I believe will be central to the 21st century business model for media. I am anxious to see what the Wikinomics community has to say about this, but let me share a few of my observations.
YouTube plays the role of editor in the new program, selecting films from a pool of applicants. An interesting role for them to adopt, but one I am guessing they will abandon in due course by providing revenue sharing to all their content providers (or at least those who attain a sufficient audience).
Its interesting that this program is being rolled out with independent films and not mainstream TV and movies. I’m curious to know the reasons behind that. But what’s so crazy is that it means that its easier and cheaper (and more legal in many cases) for me to watch an independent movie from Norway (one of the films currently featured) than anything the major studios are creating. Could this be another nail in the coffin for the “established” content providers?
So what do you think? What does YouTube’s Screening Room signify in our evolving media environment?
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This is a step in the right direction, though I can’t imagine that even the largest portion of advertising revenue in YouTube’s current setup will help the content creators cover their production costs. It’s a good alternative revenue source to be sure, and hopefully it will act as a way for independent artists to be “discovered”. What I would really like to see is a collaborated way for creators to raise money for their future projects(a la kiva.org), as even a modest independent films can cost 7+ figures.
Comment by Shaun - June 26, 2008 2:33 pm
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Pingback by iJump.co.nz » Helpful Links » links for 2008-06-27 - June 27, 2008 12:34 am
To make money with YouTube, this is what Google has to do…
On the most viewed clips (clips with, let say, at least 1000 views) (doesn’t matter who posted them) you implement a 5 seconds overlay ad, that appears over the player and blocks out (darkens) everything else. (It gives a bit of time for the clip to load in the background as well).
This overlay is a 5 seconds spot (can’t be longer than that and it doesn’t link to a company website if you click on it. It’s like a really, really short TV spot. It can be a still picture for outfits with very little budgets…)
Now, people don’t like ads… but they like GAMES and they like to COLLECT stuff.
Each overlay ad is a mini 5 seconds GAME. You have three colored dots on the overlay. The viewer clicks on ONE of them. One is a winner, two are duds. If you’re lucky to pick the winner (you only have one chance) during the 5 secs, you receive a TOKEN that is automatically added to your YouTube account. (It encourages you to stay registered…)
Now, you COLLECT these tokens. If you win a certain number of similar tokens, you can EXCHANGE them against full-length HD Hollywood Films or TV shows on YouTube. The fun part could be that you have different categorires of tokens. (Some would be for specific film genres or just for one TV show and some could be really hard to find, worth maybe ten tokens, etc.) (Tokens are generated randomly by the system.)
Now, you have the problem of guys posting shows and seeing Google make money off their film. Well, they need to be rewarded too. For a succesful posting (ie lots of viewers) they receive TOKENS as well to be exchanged to watch high-quality HD movies or TV shows…
Now, these HD movies or TV shows can also be sponsored with a longer lead-in spot… That’s even more money for Google.
Now, we have the problem of big brand names not wanting to have their spots stuck on “Jimmy and his weird cat”… Well, they could “control” where their 5 Secs. spots go by teaming with content suppliers through YouTube. Example, a Coca-Cola campaign with Viacom clips… Viacom takes all the succesful shows they own like, as an example, “Spongebob”. They cut out little “gems”, two to three minute clips and they post them on YouTube to watch for free… Viacom via Google sell their 5 second spots to Coca-cola. Everybody is happy. The viewer, who enjoys these mini-clips, can even link to the full episode of Spongebob on YouTube. He can pay by redeeming TOKENS or he can PAY with a CC for the full episode or combine both. (It’s all streaming! It’s like TV a la carte.)
Now, what about the “Jim and his weird cat” clips. Who pays for these 5 secs ads? Well, it’s like Google’s Adsense, it’s small outfits who purchase so many spots. You can buy a thousand spots or ten thousand spots to be randomly placed on clips or based on the clip’s TAGS. The outfit supplies the spot or the still and pays Google directly up front.
A system like this is not that difficult to implement. It’s fun for all involved. Everybody is a winner especially Google who makes tons of money from the big guys but also… most importantly…from the long, long tail of all the little guys. Viewers are hooked to YouTube forever!
Here, you have it.
Comment by Twowan - November 6, 2008 8:29 pm