Archive for the ‘Online Video Platform Space’ Category

Online Video Platforms, Like Brightcove Grow with Viewership

March 9th, 2010

Online video continues its break-neck growth rate with video views hitting 119% Year over Year growth in 2009 according to comScore. While January 2010 fell a small percentage from the final month of 2009, we still saw massive adoption as B2C behemoth YouTube continued its dominance over the space owning a whopping 39.5% of all US video views of over 32 billion served.

YouTube’s B2B equivalent in online video hosting services is Brightcove. The Cambridge, MA based OVP has seen similar growth in recent months. While not at the same scale, Brightcove continues to dominate the professional Online Video Platform space signing new customers to their video hosting service both domestically and Internationally. In fact, since launching it’s Express product just a few months back, opening offices in Japan, and launching localized versions of their web site in Japanese, French, and Spanish, Brightcove has closed more deals in the past two quarters than in all of 2008.

In Spanish speaking countries Brighcove has signed deals with Tuenti, Grupo Vocento, Sony Music Spain, Condé Nast Digital Spain, Grupo V, GEC, GX Magazine and TQMadrid. In Japan we’ve seen deals done with heavy-hitters such as Nikkei, one of Japan’s largest media corporations and publisher of the country’s top business daily newspaper, as well as Rakuten, Tokyo Metropolitan Television (Tokyo MX), Television Osaka, Shizuoka Asahi Television, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), CHubu-Nippon Broadcasting, PRESENTCAST, Asahi Breweries, Sony Music Networks Japan, Shueisha webUOMO, and orangepage.net.

Other enterprise focused OVPs such as Ooyala, the younger upstart to Brightcove, has also seen tremendous growth Internationally. While Bismarck Lepe, Ooyala’s co-founder and President of products denies that they’re specifically targeting Brightcove customers, they too have experienced massive growth in Japan with it’s localized online video platform, signing companies such as NTT SMARTCONNECT, and Brosta TV as well as in Europe signing Telegraph Media Group, the UK’s leading newspaper chain.

With the growth and International expansion of these US-based OVPs, I wonder how foreign video platforms such as vzaar, Stream UK, Flumotion, Ipercast, and Kewego (to name a few) feel about their turf being trampled upon. I personally have spoken to a few of these International OVPs and at this stage of the game there are no hard feelings. It’s just too early and there are far too many companies out there needing video hosting services to concern themselves with the competition at this point. In fact, I see a lot of camaraderie within the space with OVPs referring prospective customers onto others whom better fit the needs of a customer and OVPs cheering each other on as they grow into new and exciting spaces.

Exciting times are upon us in OV.

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Introduction to Monetizing Online Video Free Whitepaper and Video

March 1st, 2010

Online Video Platform (OVP), Delve Networks launched their online video hosting and streaming services in early 2008 with the goal of helping small and large business manage their video content in an easy to use interface. They’ve succeeded over the past few years to further develop their platform services while collecting some high-profile customers along the way. In fact, just recently in November of 2009 Delve landed NFL.com powering their video portal.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with Delve CEO, Alex Castro at the Online Video Platform Summit where we discussed the definition of an OVP. Alex is a bright and determined guy who was a pleasure to meet and speak with while at the show. He told me about some new customer wins that would shortly be announced as well as a plethora of new services like mobile video streaming, geographic location and domain control, and new APIs.

A few weeks ago Delve hosted a webinar on the topic of Monetizing Online Video, a high-profile subject matter in our space today with some industry pundits shouting from the rooftops that OV advertising will, is, and has changed the way we monetize the web today while others state that until real standards are in place OV advertising will fail to deliver real revenue.  I personally am of the belief that many positive strides have been made over the past few years with some highly effective ad units and ad models that will surely change the face of online revenue generation for years to come.

With that said, Delve and VidCompare offer you the FREE webinar and video, Introduction to Monetizing Online Video where Reed Terry, head of marketing discusses three compelling solutions including Pay-per-view, Subscriptions, and Advertising. Click the link below to download your free whitepaper and watch the video:

Introduction to Monetizing Online Video

Enjoy and thanks for tuning in…

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What to Look for When Searching for an Online Video Platform

January 31st, 2010

A while back I wrote a guest post for Mark Robertson at ReelSEO providing some insight into what to look for when searching for an online video platform. The piece was based loosely off of an interview Mark and I did at the Online Video Platform Summit back in November. Here’s the video interview which covers three basic ideas when considering an OVP:

  • Know your use case
  • Kick the tires
  • Have a backup plan

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Video from OVPSummit, Streaming Media West Show

January 25th, 2010

Back in November I attended the first annual Online Video Platform Summit which ran in conjunction with StreamingMedia West down in San Jose. I was fortunate enough to be asked to sit on a panel kicking off the show called Defining Online Video Platforms. It was an honor to sit on the panel with three distinguished CEOs of well-established OVPs; Bismarck Lepe of Ooyala, Ron Yekutiel of Kaltura, and Alex Castro of Delve Networks. Below is a video of the panel in it’s entirety (thank you StreamingMedia and OVPSummit):

Be sure to also check out Larry Kless’ post on the Summit and this panel specifically, he covers it well even including some popular Tweets. Larry co-hosted the OVPSummit and did a fantastic job promoting, organizing, and managing the first ever show with Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen. Here’s Larry’s piece at his blog, KlessBlog.

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Zappos Big Believer in Online Video

December 7th, 2009

package_from_zapposThe ultimate Case Study for online video; Zappos.com believes in video in a big way according to Rico Nasol, Senior Manager on their Content Team. Rico was interviewed at the recent Streaming Media West show where he divulged plans to build out mass amounts of original content in 2010 as well as why video is so important to Zappos.

As you know, Zappos was acquired by Amazon earlier this year for a whopping $840M, which is not surprising based on the fact that they (Zappos) did a whopping $1.2B in sales last year. Rico attributes a good percentage of this success to online video stating that products with accompanying video sell better than those with static images alone. Here are a few key facts from the interview:

•    6%-30% increase in conversions when SKU has video
•    Zappos has 45 full time employees working on video
•    They have 5 dedicated studios (in Las Vegas and Kentucky)
•    They currently have 8,000 videos, producing 60-100 new videos per day, and want to produce another 50,000 in 2010

These are amazing statistics further proving that online video is for everyone with a web presence. Whether you’re an online marketing manager, a publisher, or an ecommerce business, video can and does enhance your business by extending your brand, engaging your customers, and increasing revenue.

So, what are you waiting for? Find the OVP that best suits your business needs NOW!

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Online Video Platform Summit Was A Good Show

November 29th, 2009

ovpsThe inaugural OVPSummit went well in conjunction with StreamingMedia West which supposedly had record breaking attendance this year. Overall, there was not a huge turnout for the OVPS portion of the show with only 47 registrants and 90-ish OVPS + SMW registrants. The bulk of the floor was occupied by OVP booths and the attendee list was mostly the same. It was basically an inside industry event which had its benefits for me as I was able to meet many of the people running the platforms which make up the VidCompare database. It was a pleasure to speak with everyone and to hear their resounding support of VidCompare.com.

A personal highlight of the show was sitting on the opening panel, Defining Online Video Platforms, with Ron from Kaltura, Alex from Delve Networks, and Bismarck from Ooyala. Following are the questions which were asked of us and my responses:

1. In 50 words or less, define what an online video platform is.

-          An OVP is typically a SaaS based business offering top to bottom video solutions including ingestion, encoding, storage, management, analytics, syndication, and playback of video.

2. What are the main functions and features customers should be looking for when evaluating online video platforms?

-          It’s important to know your use case for online video prior to getting started with your search. Identifying the purpose of your video effort be it a start-up marketer looking to extend brand reach and increase time spent on site, a large media publisher looking for content management, syndication, and distribution, or a SMB looking for an internal training solution with multiple log-ins, and administrative rights. Once you’ve identified your needs you can look for a provider who can accommodate the top 4-5 features that address your goals.

3. What about as we look down the road two or three years? What sort of features will online video platforms be offering then that aren’t available now?

-          2 – 3 years is a long way out but I think by then TV everywhere will be adequately addressed as well as the movement towards TV and OV oneness therefore OVPs will need to provide more holistic solutions to further blur the lines between them. I think OVPs will grow beyond partnerships and meld with the CDNs, search and discovery players, and the ad networks. I don’t think it’s going to be a features race but rather a movement towards ubiquity and completeness.

4. Does it make sense for some organizations to simply use free players like YouTube? And at the other end of the spectrum, does it make sense for some businesses to build their own platform? What factors go into the decision to build your own, use a free service, or invest in the kind of online video platforms that are being shown here at the summit?

-          Well, we’re attending the OV-P-Summit, not the OV-DIY-Summit so I think the argument is in favor of the Platform today. Online video, for the most part, is a strategic purchase made typically by a marketing manager with light technical skills and little to no engineering resources at their disposal. That said, the top-to-bottom solutions that an OVP can provide are invaluable to the VP of marketing with a tight budget. YouTube does not address B2B needs completely and is therefore not an option in my opinion other than to test the video waters and to get your feet wet. Today marketers need to expose their brand in new and far-reaching ways with built-in viral and social tools, they need to drive traffic to their site, not someone else’s, and they need to know exactly what their content is doing and how it’s performing at any given moment.

5. We’ve got an entire session devoted to monetization tomorrow, but what are the most effective ways for business to monetize their video? Should most organizations even be looking at video as something to be monetized directly?

-          We’re still in our infancy as an industry especially when it comes to monetizing video with very few standards, and not enough premium content to turn a profit. CNN can demand $75 CPMs but not many others can do the same without a million streams a minute. Businesses should look to their already high value web pages and rather than monetizing video directly, monetize pages with video turning 3.2 second bounces into 2.3 minute clicks to Leaderboards, skyscrapers and high-value site sponsorships.

I’m looking forward to next year’s event, Eric and Larry did a fantastic job organizing and managing OVPSummit and I’m sure learned a lot to add to next year. According to Joel, SM Publisher, SMW will be in LA next year so I guess we’ll be traveling next go around.

I’ll soon have video of the opening panel which I will post shortly along with an interview by Mark Robertson of ReelSEO.

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Exciting Times for Online Video Platforms

November 3rd, 2009

315x100_OVPS_2009_speakYou know an industry is on a serious growth trajectory when a conference is created to support it. We’ve all seen the numbers; 41% YOY growth in online video views as reported by Nielsen last month, and more than 168 Million U.S. viewers watched online video in September, streaming nearly 26 Billion total views according to ComScore. Online Video Platforms (OVPs) continuing to receive funding, and open source and mobile video trends are making headway, just to name a few catalysts further validating the space.

In just a few short weeks the Online Video Platform Summit will take place in sunny San Jose highlighting the OVPs, and providing them with a much needed platform to demo their services, discuss important trends and topics, and to meet their users. Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen and Larry Kless, co-chairs of OVPSummit, have been working hard to orchestrate a stellar line up of panel topics and panelist. A bevy of industry thought leaders, and executives will address hot topics such as video monetization, ROI, syndication, and video analytics as well as a panel that I will be sitting on entitled, Defining Online Video Platforms with Ron Yekutiel, CEO of Kaltura, Bismarck Lepe, Co-Founder and President of Ooyala, and Alex Castro, CEO of Delve Networks.

As stated by Eric himself regarding the great need for the OVPSummit, “There have never been more people publishing online video, and there have never been more online video platform solutions on the market. But with choices comes confusion, and the new Online Video Platform Summit is a two-day event designed to help organizations of all types, not just those for whom video is their core business”.

The inaugural OVPSummit will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, November 18-19 in conjunction with Streaming Media West at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Be sure to register right away to save $100! If you plan on attending please let me know so we can set up a time to meet (kdrey at vidcompare.com).

See you there!

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Green Flowing in OV, Ooyala Gets Funding

October 13th, 2009

ooyalaFinally, some good news in the wide world of Online Video. Enterprise video publishing platform, Ooyala has secured another round of funding in a rather hostile VC environment. Coming off a quarter where only 17 of the total US VC firms were able to raise money themselves, Ooyala convinced Rembrandt Ventures as well as their previous investors to pony up a whopping $10MM C-round to be used to further product development and to expand over seas.

The timing couldn’t be better, recent announcements of fire sales, Kit Digital acquired The Feedroom for pennies on the dollar, and business model changes, PermissionTV renames to VisibleGains, suggest that times are tough for OVPs. But Ooyala shines a light on what’s good in our world ensuring that indeed there is still money to be had and business to be done in OV.

Ooyala is coming off of string of announcements including new product lines with Live Streaming, and the hiring of a new high-profile CEO, Jay Fulcher formerly of Agile Software. Let’s hope they can do some good with this injection of cash and further increase the value of the space.

Congrats Ooyala team.

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Specialization in Online Video Platforms

October 3rd, 2009

van_2010_logoIn the early days of 2009 I thought this was to be the year of OVP mergers, acquisitions, and shutterings. Turned out only a few shut their doors like Maven Networks killed by Yahoo! only 16 months after being acquired for $160MM, and there were only a couple mergers, Pixelfish took over EyeSpot’s assets for example (end of ‘08 to be precise). But the latter half of the year seems to be picking up a bit with the Google/Brightcove rumors, and the Kit-Digital/theFeedroom proposition. So it looks like 2010 is shaping up to be the big year of definition for our beloved OVP space while some providers fail to get further funding, and others swallow lesser competitors.

What will be most interesting about 2010 is how providers differentiate themselves from the pack, and what direction they choose in specialization. The writing is on the wall, there’s a slowing in the sector as a result of overcrowding and a stagnating economy. So where will providers turn, how will they change their game? Analytics, syndication, advertising and monetization? Or will we see even more drastic changes in the form of deep partnerships and unique product offerings?

I don’t know for sure but what I do know is that it’s exciting and I’m happy to be in the middle of it. My guess is there will be some interesting insights from the incredibly intelligent men and women who run these businesses at the Online Video Platform Summit in November. See you there.

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Google to Gobble Brightcove?

September 17th, 2009

brightcoveYeah, yeah, you’ve all been reading about it…how one Tweet set off this tidal wave of press regarding the potentially large purchase of Brightcove by Google. An “insider” close to Mark Glaser tipped him off and the Net went wild. And Twitter’s to blame? Dan Rayburn spurns Twitter stating that it’s a “dangerous” tool, but I struggle with that statement asking, what the heck is new here? It’s the Internet, we live in the era of mass communication! Of course rumors fly and gain unsubstantiated, roller coaster-like momentum. It’s not Twitter’s responsibility to weed out the chaff, it’s ours…the writers AND the reader’s.

Before Twitter it was the bloggers who were to “blame” for all the atrocities of the Internet. But readers have come to love and embrace the bloggers of the world with great passion. I spend every morning of my life reading blogs. And look at blowhard Arrington for crying out loud, the man is adored (stretch) and more widely read than most of today’s outlets, traditional or new media.

Back to the point at hand. Is Larry right, are the rumors false? I’m still not convinced. The fact that people close to Brightcove are being told that they, “do not comment on rumors” is a rather bold statement in and of itself. And they’ve been very vocal lately, especially about the Brightcove Partner Alliance. Seems interesting to me that Jerry himself flew out to California to host a Meetup with a handful of partners rather than having them meet in MA where Brightcove is headquartered and where Jeremy lives. They weren’t here for TC50 and decided to make a week of it. So, who were they here to meet with other than partners…Google? Brightcove has over 200 partners in their Alliance whom they say they are very close with and have even go so far as to offer free training to their partners to help them gain traction in reselling or adding value to Brightcove customers. These would be valuable relationships to Google, expanding their reach in new avenues, exposing them to new revenue streams.

I’m an optimist at heart (hahaha) and my gut is telling me that this rumor is not dead yet, and deep down inside I hope it’s true. This would not only be a well-deserved victory for Brightcove but also for the online video platform space in general. Further proof that the economy is coming back, companies are willing to spend again, and online video is worth the investment. IMHO (H is for humble), this might open the doors for what we thought was coming in 2009; buy-outs, mergers and acquisitions, high valuations, etc.

Per my Tweet yesterday, Go Jer, Go!

Peace

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