Watch online video comes away with higher brand awareness

Online video ads are superior to TV ads. And people who watched online video pre-roll ads are less distracted and come away with higher brand awareness than those who watch traditional TV ads. This is the conclusion of a MillwardBrown study, which encourages advertisers to spend more on Web video advertising.

Online viewing led to 82 percent brand awareness and 77 percent brand recall compared to 54 percent awareness and 18 percent recall for TV. This reason is simple: Online viewers are more engaged.

And this study is a with a 30-second pre-roll, which is considered too long. However, study’s authors warn that online publishers should be careful not to run the same pre-rolls over and over again or they will dilute the value of online video advertising.


Sirius will transmit TV signals over airwaves allocated to satellite radio

Sirius Satellite Radio has figured out how to transmit limited TV signals over the airwaves allocated to satellite radio. Satellite TV is the latest step in a continuation of information technology moving from home to vehicle. The system, called Sirius Backseat TV and unveiled this week in New York, operates with an in-vehicle satellite video receiver and two small roof-mounted antennae.

For the moment, the system will be available in 2008 for three channels (Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network) because there are bandwidth limitations, but more TV channels may be coming soon.
First users will be families who buy in 2008 new Dodge and Chrysler minivans and other models continuing DaimlerChrysler Group’s plan to turn the vans into family rooms on wheels. This satellite video receiver will cost $470 and a monthly fee of $20, although the first year of service is included in the package.


The Onion News Network, a new channel to poke fun at mainstream media

See how funny is this news channel: The Onion News Network, which has gone live this week end. A fake news network which pokes fun at the mainstream newscasts. The Onion, the known weekly satirical newspaper, launched the first installment of its long-awaited Onion News Network posting video clips to its Onion.com Web site and encouraging users to spread those clips via YouTube, MySpace and other blogs.

It updates weekly with a handful of new video clips, all ranging from one to five minutes and hosted by ONN’s fictional “respected newsman”. One clip available exposes the immigration problem. The ONN TV launch comes only weeks after Viacom sued YouTube.

Another popular satirical program came live this week brought by talented JibJab creators. It is a new animation called, “What We Call the News.”


NBC introduces community features with networking tools

NBC.com has become the first broadcast network site to introduce-social networking features to improve its video functionality and create an interactive web experience. User can invite their friends for online viewing parties and chat while they watch. They can build their own fan groups around their favorite shows, share video with friends and embed clips on their blogs.

In a new personalization feature, users can select their favorite shows so every time they log on they will be updated with the latest related video. Also, NBC.com allows users to upload and share their own video and photos. Users can access community pages from their cell phones and receive video and content recommendation based on the activity of other like-minded visitors.

The NBC.com player has been expanded to a full-screen experience with a companion window that can display relevant facts about the show, live group polling or fan trivia. In some cases, users who watch a show can even select their choice of a pre-roll ad from a single advertiser. \"By adding these tools, we\'re allowing fans to create a community around our content, get to know each other, share their ideas and theories and simply have more fun,\" NBC vice-president said.



Best Video sites, according to Edward R. Murrow

Take a look at the list of Edward R. Murrow award winners for excellence in journalism in TV, radio and the web.

Here are the TV website winners: KING5.com, KTVB.com, KSL.com, KUAM.com, NBC4.tv, KARE11.com, Channel3000.com, KSDK.com, 49ABCNews.com, KHOU.com, KVUE.com, 10tv.com, 14WFIE.com, WBIR.com, WCNC.com, NBC13.com, WAFF.com, TheBostonChannel.com, NBC10.com, 9WSYR.com ,WVEC.com, WSLS.com, FirstCoastNews.com, CityNews.ca

And here is the complete list.

An online video platform for thousands of U.S. media outlets

Microsoft and the Associated Press have developed an online video platform for thousands of U.S. newspapers, television and radio stations to upload, publish and monetize locally-created video. The new system is in beta with some 30 publishers and broadcasters. The publishers can monetize content through a revenue split between MSN Network and the AP. They also have the option to monetize ads locally using the Atlas adserver platform.

One year ago, Microsoft and the AP launched the distribution platform Online Video Network and started to establish what has become a successful online distribution model. AP is streaming about 7.5 million clips per month. CPM (Cost Per Thousand Views) is above $20. Associated Press has 7,000 newspapers, television and radio stations affiliated.

This news agency projects that as many as 50 percent of affiliates, or some 3,500 local news organizations, will eventually participate in the new video program. In addition, AP and Microsoft see a potential market of the nation’s 1000 television stations and 1500 newspapers and 4500 local radio stations.

They can publish and monetize video. AP and Microsoft are providing the uploading tools, infrastructure and monetization, and clips are viewable in both Windows Media Player and Flash.

Joost launches its new shiny brand

Joost has launched its new website, much in tune with the software new image. It is a new shiny brand. Joost.com put in the \'What\'s Joost\' section a video explaining who are they. They are about to launch their new software with loads of new channels, but they don\'t provide any specific date.

For the moment, the last version is available for beta testers for download. (More about Joost)

On YouTube copyrighted clips are far less popular than non copyrighted material

YouTube’s copyright clips are a few. Vidmeted.com, which tracks the online video business, determined that the clips removed for copyright violations comprise just 9 percent of all videos on the site. And even more surprising, those video make up just 6 percent of the total views.

So the finding is that big Media videos are far less popular than we thought.

China is going fast into web TV market

Chinese P2P-powered on demand video sites are raising a lot of money from venture capitalists. Xunlei, UUSee and PPStream have all closed funding rounds in the last few months, above $10 million each. UUSee.com attracted interest from VC like Sequoia Capital China among others.

UUSee users download an application for their desktop, allowing the machine to become a node in their peer-to-peer network. Installed base is over 30 million. They offer over 60 live channels, including China’s largest network, CCTV. They have developed an application for mobile market.

NBC.com will launch in June its social network

After introduce some community sharing features, NBC.com has announced that in June, they will launch NBC.com social network. It will allow to their fans to connect with each other and interact with NBC’s shows in new way.

Some of the features expected will include: Personalized Profiles, Buddies, Video Galleries, Blogs, Groups, Message Boards, and Widgets.

VideoJournalist, a new way to earn a living

”Every day, more a more young journalists pick up the camera, grab the laptop and head off to report stories in video just the way young writer would have gone off in the 19th Century to be real correspondents in the age of print,” says videographer Michael Rosenblum, who has announced a project called The Videojournalist Registry, intended to lists of VideoJournalist (VJ) for people who are looking for their services.

VideoJournalism is becoming a way to earn a living, it’s a new profession. Michael Rosenblum has more than 750 working VJs registered so far.
“We are a rising tide - the wave of the future. Now, for the first time, we can join hands, share ideas, opinions, insights and work opportunities,” says.

Google has acquired ad agency DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, beating Microsoft in the bidding and cementing its dominancy in the online ad world. Google wanted to get into the display advertising business in a big way, and now they got the relationships with Web publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies to make it happen. In addition, the sale offers Google access to DoubleClick’s advertisement software. And keeping

This early pioneer company, founded in 1996, was the leading providing ads on Web sites ($300 million in revenue last year), while Google made its name from search and contextual text ads. For Google keeping Microsoft away from DoubleClick is worth billions, according to analysts.


CBS will distribute its best programming for free

CBS has decided to distribute much of its best programming across the web to a new host of online distribution partners: MSN, AOL, Joost, CNET (TV.com), Comcast (Comcast.net and Fancast), Bebo, Brightcove, Sling media, Veoh and Netvibes.

All content will be free and ad-supported, and the distributors will get a 10 percent cut of the revenue. In essence, people will be able to watch CBS shows just about everywhere online.

CBS’s Interactive explained: “Each of these partners offers value to our audience and our advertisers, who can now come to CBS not only for the most watched network on television, but for the most widely distributed professional content online.”

“It’s really all about the user and in building the CBS Interactive Audience Network, we are bringing our content to each unique platform of their choice.

Some partners will implement their own features. For example, Brightcove’s user will be able to post comments, interact with other users, remix content through interactive editing tools, share video through personal channels, and the watch shows in a full-screen mode.

TV.com will create an interactive environment for CSI allowing its audience to discuss the latest buzz around the show. Joost’s viewers will enjoy a variety of plug-in applications, such as instant messaging, message boards and news ticker.


Drudge Report keeps growing just doing the same aggregating job

Drudge Report, launched 12 years ago, producing very little original content (and many time inaccurate) and never undergoing a redesign, keeps growing. Last month it set a traffic record, with 425 million home page views, up from 287 million last March.

Drudge Report makes thousands of ad dollars a month; just consider a $1 average for 425 million page views is $425,000, almost five million dollars a year. The secret of Matt Drudge, founder of the site, is to do a great job aggregating interesting stories and keeping them fresh.


LonelyPlanet.tv, a merge of user generated video and original clips

LonelyPlanet has launched a social site that combines user-submitted travel videos with original clips produced by the travel media company and mapping location. It is called LonelyPlanet.tv. Users who upload their clips are entered to win $5,000 plus a HD video set up.

Some of the user clips will end up in LonelyPlanet’s TV programming at Discovery or Current.


ComcastCh1.com features an original way to promote its On Demand service

See how fresh is the entrance at the control room of the newly created Comcast Channel 1, ComcastCh1.com. It is a way to promote their On Demand service.