Sunday, May 31, 2009

Lost Ad Revenue

I kept CNN playing in the background while I was working on class project today. As I listened intermittently, I heard the segment about Susan Boyle’s defeat yesterday on the British television show, "Britain's Got Talent".  Her fans seemed to be disappointed, but others should be for a different reason.

Several weeks ago, the American media hype about the unlikely contestant’s performance on the show generated over 20 million views online. The video clips of Susan Boyle’s performance has made her a worldwide internet sensation. Her performance on  "Britain's Got Talent" was one of the most viewed videos on You Tube ever, but the producers of the show have not been able to capitalize on the success of the of the internet viewership worldwide. The primary reason is the producers of the show did not roll out online video strategy and the second reason is the video uploads to You Tube were done illegally, so no advertising revenue streams were generated. The video host as well as the content provider missed out on a significant advertising revenue stream. 

So why do many  video content providers  fail to execute on a strategy to generate online revenue streams as video advertising has become one of the fastest growing advertising mediums? One reason may be the producers are concerned with the cannibalization of TV advertizing dollars as more TV viewer convert to online viewers. One solution could be to broadcast original programming on TV and in syndication upload online. Another approach may be to upload original programming online to target a secondary geographic market.  Moreover, established content producers view online broadcasting as  experimental and do not quite understand what works effectively. Besides, one could argue that there are no established revenue models for online video.

As for Susan she still has a chance capitalize on this phenomenon and perhaps land projects such as a book deal, recording contract or a movie about her life.

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