Viacom boss: Online audience uncounted
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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Burn baby burn: Download copying OK’d
Downloaders soon will be able to legally burn discs of movies and TV shows they buy from CinemaNow, Movielink, Unbox and some of their rivals.
The industry watchdog DVD Copy Control Association said it will release software allowing the burned discs to be played on home system DVDs players. The content burned onto a disc cannot be daisy-chained, or copied again.
“This is great news,” CinemaNow chieftain Curt Marvis told the L.A. Times. “We expect the proliferation of burners that can burn these types of discs.”
The process of linking computers to TV screens to play movies hasn’t thrilled many consumers. Even using a device such as Apple TV, the images can look crappy and weirdly framed — good for Starwars Kid but not “Star Wars.” Presumably, the download-to-burn content will permit reproduction that’s competitive with studio DVDs.
The DVD CCA is the same bunch that enforces regional controls on DVDs, allowing distributors to control release patterns around the world. Multiregion DVD players, common overseas, are needed to override that control.
Update : Audio good guys Sonic Solutions detailed their download-burner software technology and said players should be hitting the market in the first quarter.
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‘Sicko’ downloads making their rounds
Right now, I’m watching Michael Moore’s “Sicko” on Google Video. Good documentary with the usual hard-left slant on the reporting. Video quality is just OK, of course.
A high-quality DVD screener (DVDSCR) copy is widely available on BitTorrent outlets. The Google download is a no-hassle, zero risk way to see the film. As of this writing, it’s located at this Google Video url. If that link goes dead, use the search or just nose around.
Moore has said “I don’t have a problem” with P2P sharing of his films, as long as the networkers aren’t making money. “I do quite well,” he explained. “I make these movies because I want things to change.” He compared it to someone lending a DVD to a friend.
In this case, though, “Sicko” has another week and half until it makes it to U.S. theaters. Moore’s backers at The Weinstein Company may not be so enthused.
Update: Lionsgate, the distributor of “Sicko,” said Tuesday it would open the film on one AMC screen in New York this Friday, a week before the wide premiere. A Weinstein exec told The New York Times that the move was not related to the premature Internet distribution of the film.
Update: “Sicko” is set for Sicko
Studios, vid biz gather to scratch their heads
The movie and video industries trotted out their latest thinking on beating back free P2P formats during the recent Digital Hollywood conference.
They see the pain-in-the-ass factor of P2P networks such as BitTorrent as a major opportunity for sales of legal downloads. “Free is really not free,” said David Caulton, of Microsoft. “It takes a lot of time (to download) and the quality may not be great. BitTorrent is painful.”
Availability of many more titles, flexible price points and short content designed for the iPod crowd were all cited as ways to grow the legal downloads market.
Home Media Magazine has the Digital Hollywood report. (Sorry, no permalink.)
