Thursday, February 14, 2008

TV Opens Up to Online Distribution

The TV networks are slowly recognizing that no website they will build is going to dominate video and that distribution is the key to success.

At a meeting of the TV networks discussing online distribution, execs from NBC and CBS awakened to the reality of the need for online distribution, accordingto Mediapost.

Self-containg media player widgets that can be distributed far and wide will win new viewers, the execs now say. This is a reversal of their protectionist and pay-only policies of a year ago.

According to Kevin McGurn, vice president-national sales at Hulu: "Those embedded players are our best marketing tool. We want people to come back to our content."

The networks' fears of ruining the already declining ratings have proven unfounded.

Despite initial fears that streaming its programs online would "cannibalize" NBC's television audience, NBC Universal Senior Vice President-Digital Media Sales Peter Naylor said it has actually added incrementally to it, capturing viewers the network otherwise would not have been able to reach.

Along with syndication from the top video portals, distributing clips, encouraging mashups, and providing behind the scenes video are the online tools for increasing the broadcast audience.

Posted By John Gartner at 09:05 AM
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