Time spent watching up big in ‘09
Posted on June 18, 2009
Filed Under Online video traffic | Leave a Comment
Online video use has grown by as much as 50 percent in the past year, according to traffic reports for the month of May.
Nielsen’s VideoCensus reports that the Time Per Viewer metric was up 48.9 percent year-over-year for the month of May. The time figures out to 189 minutes of watching video streams in May, or just over three hours.
Total online video streams were up roughly 35% over the 2008 figure.
The all-mighty Unique Viewers stat for online video showed a 12.8 percent increase May-to-May.
The top online video site remained YouTube, followed not-so-closely by Hulu, Yahoo!, Fox Interactive Media and ABC.com.
Nielsen’s online video ratings have come under fire from content providers, who feel the overall numbers are far too low. A recent observational study of media habits funded by Nielsen found the online video numbers are too high, estimating time spent watching online video at something like two minutes a day.
Too high, too low — the only thing that seems right is they have it wrong.
Weird Al YouTube channels Jim Morrison
Posted on June 16, 2009
Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment
Weird Al somehow finds a duality between Craigslist and the Doors in his new psychedelic music video. Heavy.
The “Craigslist” single and video were released today, and spread like light-my-wildfire.
What does the Lizard King have to do with Craigslist?
“I thought it would be anachronistically weird to have me as Jim Morrison screaming about Craigslist,” Yankovic said. “That just seemed so completely wrong that I thought I had to do it.”
Tune in, turn on and get stupid. Weird Al details on this psychedelic music website.
‘Home’ video debuts on YouTube
Posted on June 4, 2009
Filed Under Movie studios, Xbox 360, YouTube | Leave a Comment
The Luc Besson-produced visual feast “Home” opens Friday in theaters across the U.S. and Europe, in celebration of World Environmental Day.
Best to catch this “stunning visual portrayal of Earth” on the biggest screen you can find, but there’s a quick, easy and free way to see the film as June 5 dawns.
YouTube is set for a one-day-only streaming of “Home,” which was directed by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. (Update: The movie started streaming on schedule. YouTube’s presentation is in widescreen with the viewer option for what it calls HD.)
The production claims the title of first simultaneous online and offline premiere for a major film. The 90-minute feature is narrated by Glenn Close.
The ambitious and well-executed YouTube channel for “Home” includes the making-of extras we’ll probably see on the Blu-ray and DVD, as well as short videos about shooting locations. There’s also a stash of press conference videos. Google France worked with the producers to create five map “layers” with interactive and dynamic content.
The film is available in English, French, German and Spanish. Some international viewers are reporting messages that the stream is not available in their countries.
Director Arthus-Bertrand’s eco-friendly canned quote says, “The message in this film is incredibly important since it underscores the question of survival. It needs powerful and accessible platforms like YouTube and Google Maps to reach the largest audience.” Besson, of course, is known for visually driven movies such as “The Big Blue” and “The Fifth Element.”
“Home” also will screen in outdoor settings around the planet, such as Central Park, and on some TV networks.
Previous filmmakers debuting their works online include Michael Moore (”Sicko” on BlipTV) and Wayne Wang (”The Princess of Nebraska” on YouTube).
Hulu Labs cooks up Desktop player
Posted on June 1, 2009
Filed Under Boxee, Hulu | Leave a Comment
Hulu has lifted the curtain on its beta-driven Labs section — and more importantly its new desktop application for home computers.
The Hulu Desktop, billed as “a lean-back viewing experience,” works with robust Macs and PCs (view system requirements). The app is downloaded from the Hulu site. Beyond that no browser is needed. You’ll need a current version of Flash for the thing to work.
The Desktop will feel familiar to fans of Boxee, the open-source media center app that Hulu unplugged from its video stream months ago. Unfortunately, the Hulu Desktop starts playing a video upon launch, a feature that’s drawing complaints from beta testers.
The Desktop takes commands from remotes for the Windows Media Center and Apple devices (as well as keyboards and your mouse). Linking the computer and your TV monitor would bring Hulu to your living room, of course.
Although you don’t need a Hulu account to use the Desktop, it looks like a good thing to link up for those who want access to their queue, histories and playback preferences. “Friends” aren’t welcome, so far.
The beta is very much for real. A lot of people are looking for bugs in the Hulu Desktop, and finding them. There seems to be a pattern of crashing after a few minutes of playing. Interesting comments in the thread.
Other products on the Hulu Labs page include a Video Panel Designer, which produces embeddable widgets. Webmasters can select a design from a fairly robust panel, with six color schemes. The width and size are customizable as well. There are various options such as full-length programs or clips.
Some shows and movies are only available as clips. Hulu says that “generally speaking” all of its content is available via the desktop client, but gives itself an out due to content providers’ wishes. There are ads on the videos (”limited commercial interruption”).
There are persistent reports that Hulu’s iPhone app is on the horizon, but this Flash-dependent client is of no apparent help. (It’s conceivable that the Hulu-iPhone app could be revealed at the Apple Developer Conference next week.)
The Labs page also has tryout versions of a recommendation system and a modest page for “time-based browsing” that allows users to search by date. The recommendation-feature preview, oddly, requires a login to view.
Macworld has a good overview and basic review of the Hulu Desktop.
You may recall that CBS Labs launched a similar page last year, but it hasn’t provided much beyond the preview of the CBS HD player.
System requirements for Mac include “Intel Pentium Core Duo 2.0GHz (or equivalent), Mac OS v10.4 (Tiger) or later, 2 Mbps Internet connection or greater and 2 gigs of RAM. For PC, it’s Intel Pentium Core Duo 1.8GHz (or equivalent) and Windows XP or our old friend Vista.)
Viacom boss: Online audience uncounted
Posted on May 29, 2009
Filed Under Movie studios, Piracy | 1 Comment
Viacom’s president and CEO agrees with Hulu: Measurements of online video audiences are off. By a lot.
Noting that “you get paid on measurement,” Philippe Dauman charged that streaming-video tracking done by online ratings services are “extremely inaccurate.”
“What we see internally is very different than what the measuring services have,” Dauman said, making the same points as Hulu executives did in their leaked complaint email to Nielsen. Viacom also uses Nielsen for its streaming video properties, such as fare from Paramount, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV.
Dauman made the comments during his Q&A session Wednesday at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. The majority of the talk focusing on streaming video, to no one’s surprise.
Dauman, among the most savvy of the old-media chieftains when it comes to online video, is on board when it comes to the multiplatform digital universe, at least in theory:
“We’re agnostic about how people view our content as long as we get paid for it,” he said, envisioning a time when TV and video releases were day-and-date across all platforms.
“Consumers certainly want to have access to content on different devices,” Dauman said. “We have to adapt to that world.
“We on the content side have to work with the distribution community to make that happen (but) it’s not going to happen overnight. … It’s not a lightswitch moment.”
Far from hurting broadcast television, he said, online appears to be strengthening it.
“When we have a hit, our online presence actually builds the show. It draws in fans, it gets them more committed to the show. It increases the intensity of the relationship. And, importantly, we can monetize our video and online presence very well.
“We are getting more viewers than we ever had on our shows. When we get strong ratings … we get a tremendous number of views online. … Our programming skews very highly, both online and VOD.
“As we go forward, we’ll be able to modify that better (with new ad models).”
He said establishing appropriate price points for ads and premium online video fare was especially difficult now because skewing from the sick economy.
Keeping network affiliates happy and in the loop is an important part of online development, Dauman said. “We manage content so it’s not cannibalistic. We’re very conscious of this because of our affiliate relationships. Broadcasters until now have not had to be very conscious of (online).
“We’re very careful how we window our product.” He said a “very robust” premium product for distributors and customers was doing well in beta.
On the seamy side of video downloads, he noted that “peer-to-peer networks are still a problem. The studios have to be vigilant.”
Dauman cited the pirated version of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” that appeared online before the film’s debut. (And, incredibly, was the source for a gushing review by a Fox TV movie critic, now an ex-Fox TV movie critic.)
Viacom is working closely with online distributors, he said, because the practice of P2P piracy “is a bandwidth hog.”
Overseas, he said, countries with local film industries tended to be good allies in the piracy fight — such as India, France and Sweden. “Piracy has always been an issue in our business.”
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Watch Instantly, on Windows Media Center
Posted on May 21, 2009
Filed Under Netflix | Leave a Comment
Those TV shoppers who just can’t bring themselves to pay good money for Apple’s good products will be pleased to know that Netflix’s streaming videos are coming to the Windows Media Center.
Only catch is, users have to be running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate. You basic Vista won’t cut it … another reason to regret that operating system. Also out in the cold are the XP diehards and downgraders.
Netflix and Microsoft previously partnered on Xbox 360 delivery of “Watch Instantly” streams, available to the game console’s Live Gold subscribers.
“We’re building on our broader vision to alleviate the need to jump from Web site to Web site to find TV shows, movies, sports and news,” Microsoft said in today’s freshly cooked canned statement. “With Windows Media Center, (viewers) can now find it in one place.”
The Windows Media Center elite must also have a basic or better subscription to Netflix. The streaming catalog of 12,000-some (mostly dated) movies and TV shows comes at no additional cost. Microsoft’s Silverlight video platform will do the heavy lifting.
Home Premium runs about $60 more than Basic, while Ultimate adds another $120 or so to the tab. Microsoft, meanwhile, is ready to trash Vista with a highly anticipated OS, Windows 7.
WMC added a sports channel in March with content from CBS and Fox.
Update: Silicon Valley Insider looks at the Netflix deal from the Apple perspective. The post notes that “Netflix support makes the Xbox 360 a more attractive movie machine than Apple’s sad Apple TV. … And it makes Windows Media Center more attractive than Apple’s “Front Row media center software.” The dagger gets slipped in thusly: “Apple admits its home entertainment business is a ‘hobby.’ But right now, maybe ‘joke’ is a better word.
Meanwhile, live streaming site Mogulus has redubbed itself Livestream, reflecting its function rather than, uh, some futuristic executive whose bit was left on the cutting room floor in “The Matrix.”
Max Haot, Livestream CEO and co-founder, lets slip this bit of promo-talk:
Livestream is doing for live video streaming what YouTube did for on-demand video clips. While we didn’t invent live streaming, we’re removing the barriers — making live video production and streaming easy and affordable for anybody to use and experience. … Live video streaming is well positioned to become a key force moving us toward richer, more immersive content experiences and communication.”
Hulu steamed over Nielsen’s numbers
Posted on May 16, 2009
Filed Under Hulu | 1 Comment
Hulu lost 1.5 million viewers in April, but streamed 25 million more videos than it did in March. Total video streams increased a whopping 490% year over year. Or … maybe not.
In email messages obtained by the New York Times, Hulu executives have been busy this week complaining to Nielsen about April’s reported loss of unique viewers, down from 7.4 million in March. “Uniques,” of course, is the stat that matters most to advertisers and the media these days.
ComScore, a competitor to Nielsen’s online ratings, reports Hulu’s total audience much higher, at 42 million for March — a spread of 34 million or so compared with Nielsen’s number for that month. (None of the ratings services have direct access to Hulu’s server reports, so one way or another, they’re all estimates.)
The Times weighs in on the mess:
The wildly divergent numbers demonstrate the nascency of the market for online-video measurement. It’s “still the wild, wild West,” said Rob Davis, a leader of the interactive video practice at OgilvyInteractive. … “Industrywide, we need to solve this.”
Meanwhile, Nielsen found some good news for Hulu, as it must:
Streaming-video consumers in the moneyed 35-to-49 demographic hiked their time spent on the site by 154% in the past six months, making it the top demo in viewing hours — an average of almost 7 hours. The 18-24 demo came in second in time spent, while the 25-34 group placed third.
Nielsen Online’s Jon Gibs does a spin drive-by: “Despite what many believe, it is not the young, tech-savvy, early-adopters who are attracted to long-form video. In fact, we see that it is the older crowd, viewers 35-plus, who gravitate toward long-form video, with sites like Hulu acting as a perfect example of this.”
Nielsen said Hulu’s total streams (online videos engaged by viewers) grew from 63.2 million in April 2008 to 373.3 million in April 2009 — some sort of land-speed record.
Hulu ranks second on both Nielsen and comScore’s key charts for online video, far behind Google’s YouTube.
Hulu’s uniques hit a high in February, the month in which the video service announced that its bad self had arrived with this snarky Super Bowl ad featuring Alec Baldwin.
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