Bencredible

I recently heard something along the lines of, “Internet television and traditional television are the same thing, but with a different pipe.” This caught me a bit off guard as I have never viewed Internet video and television to really be the same thing. There are a few reasons why video produced for your television is and should be very, very different than video produced for the Internet.  Not only does this change how we view our content, but it also changes how we, as content creators, monetize. Allow me to explain.

The Medium Matters
When compared to television, Internet video has much more constrained bandwidth. This means that fast moving pictures, large and beautiful frames and motion in general will get squashed by the compression for the Internet. The end result is a smaller picture, lower frame rates and a much blockier image than what you would get on TV. In addition every bit matters online. If you have 10,000 people watching a television broadcast there is no more load on the TV tower than if 5 people were watching. In fact TV broadcasts can scale to an indefinite amount so long as everyone is within range of the tower. Internet video on the other hand has to serve a unique stream to each viewer which means that 5 people watching a video is 5x harder than 1 person watching a video. 10,000 people watching takes 10,000x more bandwidth, more server power and more resources than is 1 person is watching. However, unlike television the viewer of my Internet content can be just about anywhere in the world. There is no need to be within range of a powerful and expensive broadcasting antennae.

While both TV and the Internet are using digital information to transmit the data, that’s about where the similarity ends. Not only can a TV station broadcast to more users easier (although with a much smaller footprint), they also have a lot more bandwidth to work with. Today Spacevidcast targets around 1Mbps for our 720p video, which is about as large as we can make it before users stop being able to see it due to Internet congestion. Television on the other hand has around 20x more available bandwidth. To this end they can simply push out a better picture and not have to worry if the end user will have a fast enough computer, a fast enough connection or the proper plugins installed.

All of this technical stuff adds up to a difference in how the content is produced. Internet content generally allots for the smaller distribution pipe whereas TV does not. This directly impacts what the video looks like, how many shots are moving, etc., etc. The very feel of Internet video is completely different than that of traditional TV.

The Mindset Matters
I refer to television content as ‘lean back’ or sometimes ‘brain off’ content. That is to say television is not a participatory event. You watch television to be entertained, not to interact. You will generally lean back in your chair, turn off your brain and relax. There is nothing wrong with this (so long as it is done in moderation) but it is very different than what you would do on a computer.

A computer and more specifically the Internet is a very different mindset. This is what I call ‘lean forward’ or ‘brain on’ content. You generally use your computer to accomplish a task. You’re there to look something up, engage with someone, chat on Facebook, Tweet, or actively do something. You’re leaning forward, typing on your keyboard and using your brain. What you’re looking to do on your computer is very different than what you’re looking to do with your Television.

What this all means
When you combine the medium and the mindset you get a very different picture of how video works online vs offline. Online videos are often short and creative (or at least viral) because many of them are watched at work during a few minutes of downtime before the user has to go back off to make money (read: stop screwing around on YouTube). When that same person gets home they are not looking to search for a bunch of clips, create a playlist and watch TV that way. Rather, that user would like the content to be sent to them in longer chunks so they can sit back and relax. The content is very, very different, the mindset is very, very different.

So what then of Spacevidcast, TWiT and other long form shows on the Internet? These shows seem to fly in the face of this entire post. TWiT is a very successful radio podcast turned videocast. You’ll note that even Leo states that today the Podcast portion is where the money is all made but it is slowly moving to video. Spacevidcast Live is an hour long video show, far too long to watch at work. What gives?

This is where understanding that the Internet is not just another pipe is critical. Spacevidcast is a live, interactive and worldwide show. We won’t have the viewership of traditional TV because of technology limitations as well as the fact that we’re a more focused niche. We will be available to anyone on the planet that has an Internet connection and flash plugin. Traditional television won’t be able to easily accomplish this and certainly can’t accomplish it at the low price point we’re able to do Spacevidcast at. If we just look at Spacevidcast as another TV show that will use traditional advertising to fund everything, then we’re already dead. We are not traditional TV. Someday you may find us on TV, but it may be a slightly different beast than what you see today. What makes us different, unique and better than traditional television is our ability to do real time stories, streamed around the world, with audience interaction that can all be viewed on-demand at any time of the viewers liking. None of these things can be done with traditional television.

You’ll note that Spacevidcast really has 3 different shows: Live, Daily and Podcast. Each one serves a purpose. Live is a long form show that is fully interactive with interviews, community involvement and launch events (dare I say some of the best launch coverage in the world). Daily is a 2 to 5 minute clip designed to allow you to get your fix of space at work via YouTube. Podcasts are designed to let you listen in your car, while you’re working out or whenever you’re on the go and can’t sit to watch but can listen. We know what the Internet allows for and have created a show that fits each category. Something you simply won’t see traditional media doing. And just as the Internet is not just another form of TV, it also is not going to make money the same way as traditional television.

Monetization
Either make money or the show will die. Sounds harsh, but an Internet show can be self funded for only so long. The problem is that traditional advertising as seen on TV is not really working on the Internet. I can point to maybe 5 shows online that have been able to successfully bring this ad supported model over. The problem isn’t just the Internet but a shift in mentality when TiVo was introduced. Users are used to being able to fast forward through ads and don’t have the patience to sit through them much anymore. For traditional TV it is no problem since that is really hard to measure. For Internet TV we can see exactly how many people viewed the ad, how many skipped it and how many converted to sales. This is both a blessing and a curse! Great for the advertiser, terrible for the ad agency selling the ad. Alas it is also bad for shows like Spacevidcast that have a very tech savvy audience who have become immune to online ads. Add in that the Internet shows generally have a much, much smaller viewer base and, well, you don’t have a winning recipe.

So what is the solution? Oh how I wish I knew. I would be worth billions! In the end I think it is understanding that these mediums, while both use moving visuals, are inherently different. What works on one may not work on the other. Hulu looks to be suffering pretty badly this last year whereas TWiT is doing fantastic! People are not afraid to pay for their content. Apple has this figured out with iTunes. I believe that the future of online media won’t be one outlet like advertising but rather many outlets. A little bit of ad revenue, a lot more subscribers to a freemium option (in our case Spacevidcast epic), merchandise sales and even things that have not been thought up yet! The key here isn’t that advertising online won’t work. In fact it will, just not to the levels we had seen before. The point to take home is that advertising is just one small piece of the much larger monetization puzzle.

Crossovers
Generally you don’t see radio on TV, but there are a few exceptions. Howard Stern is one of them. In much the same way, there are Television to Internet crossovers as well. These are the exception to the rule and as of yet are generally not as successful.

Advertising and older methods of monetization will cross over as well. The irony of all this is that TWiT is an advertising based show that has been doing so well that the only paycheck Leo will take home is that of donations from the community. Lets not forget that TWiT is the ultimate crossover… A radio show on the Internet in the form of video. Makes my head spin a bit. But TWiT is one of the 5 shows I can count that are really making the traditional model work. I have a feeling that new models will also be introduced in TWiT and eventually could even replace the ad revenue they see today. Only time will tell.

The best Internet shows seem to be those where the talent came from a traditional media spot and already had a following. TWiT is a great example of that and I’m pretty sure This Week in Space will be another. These are brilliant people who are leveraging their own personal brand to gain market share on the Internet. It seems to work well, but these people are also a finite resource. Miles O’Brien and Leo Laporte are, in my opinion, the diamonds in the rough. Eventually we will run out of these personalities and we’ll all have to build our online shows from scratch. I am all too familiar with this process through Spacevidcast. It is emotional, irritating, expensive and insanely fun.

Conclusion
So why write this mini novel about TV vs Internet video? On the last epicsode of Spacevidcast during post show we debated the chat room being burned on the screen. A long portion of that debate revolved around the idea that it may scare advertisers off in the future. In traditional television it would. Some day we’ll grow past the chat room and we simply won’t be able to have it on the screen anymore, the text will scroll by so fast it won’t be useful at all. Until then, building our show around what advertisers would want will be the instant death of Spacevidcast, and if you have an Internet show, then the death of your show too!  Advertising revenue will be one of many different areas that money will come in. Don’t be afraid to be true to your community. Work and build a product that is right for them, not designed around your (yet to be) advertisers and what they want. Once you have that, then money will come in via many different avenues. I do believe epic will work without the need for advertisers. I also think we’ll bring on advertisers as soon as it makes sense. We will do many things, but we won’t change the show, our Internet show, to do what would work on Television. The medium matters, the medium changes things and Internet TV is nothing like traditional Television. For better or for worse.

Be true to your show, your community and your passion. The rest will fall in to place.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Bleeding Edge, New Media, Spacevidcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.