Programming Culdesac

[Marc Pease]

With online video pacing a fast growth rate of 70% over other sources it is no wonder that new media is focused on seeking the opportunities and potential that lay ahead. As described by Eileen Naughton of Google in this week's video link this whole avenue is in its infancy with the consumer and change in viewership culture in total play. The authors of Media Economics in Chapter 14 on International Trade depict that " an hour of U.S. drama programming costs $1.5 million to produce and might be sold to a U.S. network for $1 million, to a Canadian network for $70,000 and a broadcasting organization in Trinidad or Tobago for $400." Programming production and advertising production are now more aligned with online video media sources a predominant combining agent. Ms. Naughton says that "online video advertising is complimentary to TV video in three distinct areas: format , targeting, and scale. Formating being the methods such as YouTube, Google and others for video, marketing strategies using the foundation of media mix matrix measurements ( say that three times fast), and the aggregation of user engagement. "Whatever, whenever, wherever" is the mantra of the new media exposure for online video. Haven't we heard this before? Oh yes, it was heard from some of the telco turned cable operators and visa versa that just had replaced that old one-way coax and twisted pairs serving the homes and businesses across the U.S. with the hybrid-fiber mix for the quadruple play through their "massive investments in time and money" to get their high-profile video services off the ground.
Where is programming going in all this? What is the show? One place: VOD from the providers of video platforms. Is there any programming difference between the premium online video channels and the premium cable TV channels? Aren't they all focused on us, the audience, and our numbers, assuring us to be informed, entertained and enlightened? From the base originality of the informercial and the board chairperson's short teleconferenced weekly in-house produced meeting is where programming is ending up. And, just as always, it is the quality of the content that will drive the pricing model of flat-rate, limited tiers, simple video-on-demand , bundled services and promotional tools bringing programming from a new vision into reality. This whole programming vision has to follow the convergence of more bidirectional, real-time, service and usage based policies shaping the media world. As Google's Eileen Naughton emphasized; "there are numbers of opportunities and, of course, challenges leading online video programming to the unique viewing experiences we all want."