"A year ago it cost at least 18 cents to transmit a gig; we got it down to $0.10 six months ago", Move Networks CEO John Edwards said. It means that it's starting to approach the point where you can make the same money showing something on TV as showing it online. "At 5 cents per gig occurs "a tipping point where it's really economic for content owners."
Move, with customers like Fox and ABC among other U.S. networks, says that right now it's adding over 150,000 new clients (who download their plug-in) a day, and they expect 1 million a day when integrated with Microsoft.
DailyMotion.com jumps until becoming second
DailyMotion.com, the video sharing site based out of Paris, has grown to be a global powerhouse, second only to YouTube. They had 4.7 million unique streamers in April (YouTube did 53.5 in March) according to Comscore.
The U.S. operations manager Joy Marcus has explained that DailyMotion has a channel strategy, with contents organized around various interests and groups. She likens it to a cable operator who offers specific channels.
They offer a mix of professional content, contextual advertising, and paying top content producers (companies or individuals) through their MotionMaker program. DailyMotion monetizes their video content with banner advertising and in-video advertising.
Fora.tv gets more funding from venture capitalists
FORA.TV, a San Francisco start-up which organizes videos of symposiums and conferences from think tanks, universities and other institutions, and is referred by many as the C-SPAN of the Web, has closed another round of venture funding with $4 million from William Randolph Hearts III, Adobe Ventures and other investors.
Recently they have just redesigned the site to allow a greater degree of personalization. Proceeds of the funding will be used to expand audience and content.
Now traffic to the site is modest, but their audience is highly educated and influential. Big corporations seeking visibility are buying sponsorships on the site. Present sponsors include Pfizer and Chevron.
So called intelligent programming is finding a place on Web. The most successful in terms of traffic is TED Talks. A notable newcomer is BigThink. The bid daddy of them all, with some 400 hours of content is Charlie Rose., who is about to unveil a redesigned site which will make the clips much more shareable.
ABC NEWS will train students at five universities
Last month it was NBC, and now is ABC NEWS who will train students at five universities. ABC NEWS has entered into a partnership with Arizona State University, Syracuse University, the University of Florida, North Carolina, and Texas, with the goal of training and mentoring students. The news media will open multimedia bureaus in where students will have the chance to produce content for programs like “Good Morning America,” “World News with Charles Gibson,” and “Nightline.”
This is an innovative program conceived as a win-win proposition: the student journalists enjoy unparalleled opportunities by working with ABC, and the network receives smart, original content from young journalists.
MSNBC.com debuts its news laboratory
MSNBC.como has launched its news laboratory called NewsWare. It is a laboratory for games, tools and other innovation.
"With the launch of NewsWare, msnbc.com combines its existing tools such as podcasts, RSS feeds and mobile applications with the unveiling of its latest news-infused digital innovations including Spectra, NewsBlaster and NewsScroller, intended to excite the imagination of msnbc.com’s news exploring consumers," they say. Read the press release here.
WEBBY winner announced
Webby winners have been announced. The New York Times, The Onion, National Geographic were big winners. Here is the full list.
