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Even after prior posts, more posts are rolling in.
The title of the Market Watch article was apparently misleading.
Rocketboom will always remain free and easily available to obtain. That’s our #1 foundational principle of being and I don’t ever foresee needing to change that.
This is not an issue that is determined by money, it’s just the way it is and you can take that for granted.
Also, we have had plenty of chances to completely smear advertising all over our videos and websites all day long every day so thats not the issue either. I can imagine how post-roll ads could work, we have done this in the past. We’re holding out for the best way for the long run.
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I have been really disappointed lately with the state of videoblogging. Without delving into the details, I’ll try and just state the obvious. I don’t have all the answers, I just notice that something is starting to go wrong.
1. One thing that makes the business of videoblogging problematic is the contrasting paradigms of business at play. The notion of “blogging” suggests that the medium may be informed by blogging practices and yet the application of video opens up the medium to traditional TV and Film business methods.
I’m only putting forth a hypothesis here formed more from a birds eye view and a feeling, but it seems to me that most bloggers who are leaders in the blogging world would consider their weblogs to be loss leaders where the activity of blogging does not bring in enough revenue to sustain their site’s effort but does lead to other related activites that generate revenue. And where in many cases the activity is so close in nature to the weblog, and is so desirable by the blogger anyway, a beneficial and fulfilling lifestyle can be obtained.
On the other hand, there is the TV and Film industry which seems to be built on a completely different set of business practices, different motivations and morality and of course where the potential for fortune, power and fame attract the most intense types of personal human interests, leading to a completely different kind of culture with different principles and policies.
So what’s going wrong here is the collision of these two worlds. It happens in blogging, sure, but it’s common place right now in videoblogging and I believe this is ultimately where we will start to notice a separation between “videoblogging” and “tv”.
As of now, we have not seen the influx of major talent from the established media industry adopting the experiences, technologies or practices realised in videoblogging over the last couple of years. This is the area where we have recieved a lot of consulting interest lately. Our intent is to help bring these two worlds together, for as I say, it not really working out so well right now.
2. Journalism is at play as one faction in all media. Sometimes (video)blogging and journalism are closely tied, for the most part, consequently; It just so happens that there is a lot of unintentional cross over. The main glue that keeps the affinity between blogging and journalism, it seems, is a sense of integrity that can be felt and shared by both. There is a desire to find “the trurth” and to be objective while continuing to remind one another that objectivity is futile.
Many bloggers aspire to journalistic standards and yet they also feel comfortable with blogging standards and seem to have a good sense of how these two worlds look when put together. A lot of work has already been done in this area. Yet when bloggers say they are not subject to the rules of journalism, something I have said before, it doesn’t mean that we don’t continue to share many of the same qualities as journalists anyway, such as a sense of integrity and a willingness to value our work and our social contibutions higher than money, for instance. These are human qualities that influence our work. These are the types of qualities that I believe will illuminate a major fork in the road for what type of videoblogger one is, if they choose to identify with videoblogging, or what kind of person they are, regardless of what they call themselves.
Now we have major networks doing it, and I think they are doing it wrong, and actually causing a disservice to journalism and blogging in some cases. For instance, a network often has a news division and then has other programing that is non-news (like sitcoms, and other entertaiment content, family, etc). You can imagine that there are different styles, methods and reasons for a network to implement vidoebloggging and right now there seems to be some confusion about how to do that. It reminds me of one of my favorite albums by the Volent Femmes, The Blind Leading the Naked. “Anything goes blogging” is not the right kind of blogging style to suppliment for a trustworthy news division, but just might work for the family type of division within a network. Similarly, there are a lot of new lessons the established news industry and other family divisons can learn from videoblogging when the two work together to inform one another.
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Warning the below is not true:
“Rocketboom fans may have to pay to see Joanne Colan, now that show co-creator Andrew Baron has told Marketwatch that advertising isn’t working out as he would like. No decision has been made, but Baron said advertisers “are just not happy to do small deals” like Rocketboom has been doing.”
Its not true at all. Rocketboom will remain freely available. The point I was making is that we are not happy with advertising right now. The advertisers are not being very flexible and down-to-earth and we are just not happy with the idea of mass advertising on Rocketboom. Its not ruled out, it just feels wrong so far.
I think pre-roll/mid roll commercials on content like ours is a terrible mistake, product placement will not work for us (LonleyGirl can get away with product placement because the whole show is full of myth and psychological mayhem already), groups like Federated Media while helpful to talk to, haven’t addressed video advertising just right yet, and so we have been exploring other ways to do more than just merely sustain, without advertising, or taking hold of people with venerable mental states.
Some kind of sponsorship model, more along the lines of NPR or PBS might be best for content that exists for the sake of content itself.
The real success story lay in obtaining finantial support from the active and participatory audience – I continue to refer back to a build upon/turbo version of Jason Kottke’s mico donation experiement.
I think there is a difference between a reader of a link blog and an audience member/fan of a daily show, and it’s that loyal audience/fan mentality, one which I seem to express myself for others as well, that could inspire progressive support of the show.
A combination of audience support and museum-like sponsorship support could work together to keep centain kinds of content free.
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Today I watched a super creative and interesting video on a new site, Wreck and Salvage, decided to bid on their ebay auction for Rocketboom, and won!
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It’s getting close to my favorite conference in my favorite place to be during my favorite time of the year, SXSW Interactive. Joanne and I will be in Austin from Friday-Tuesday.
Panel Name: Production Companies 2.0: Taking Online Video to the Next Level
Date: Saturday, March 10
Time: 5:00pm-6:00pm
Description:
With the advent of videoblogging, independent producers are exploring boundaries and using technology to create professional content in their living rooms. In this panel we’ll explore the ins and outs of forming a new media production company, the technology/content marriage, building online communities, the aesthetics of video on the web, the trials and tribulations of working with a limited staff and budget, and the challenge of ultimately becoming profitable.
Moderated by Zadi Diaz: Smashface
Doug Sarine: Ask A Ninja/ BeatBox Giant Productions
David Prager: Revision3
Ryanne Hodson: Ryanne Is Hungry/Podtech
Andrew Baron: Rocketboom/Abbey Corps.
This year Rocketboom is teaming up with 30boxes (which our company uses daily) and Satisfaction to host an official SXSW party on Saturday night, just post the Frog Design party. The theme is 8 Bit!
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There is a new article in the LA-Times this weekend on the tired issue of Amanda leaving Rocketboom. The article was scheduled to run in 2006 and I appreciate Rushfield’s attempt to assess the situation. It’s still not quite what I was hoping for but . . . I left all of this behind. I said it was over then and the commitment stands. By now, I wish Amanda well and hope she is happy.
In other news of my past, I sat down with my accountant last week (I’m trying to get used to the fact that I actually have an accountant!), and for the entire period of 2006, I managed to bring in $247,412 via Rocketboom. $210k of that was in advertising and licensing and the rest was mostly from consulting and merchandising. I realize its unusual to report this kind of information and I may not have the luxury of doing so in the future (and may not even want to myself) but I’m hoping to emphasize the point while I can – a point that I have often tried to make – which is that you can do this. Considering that I had almost no business experience when I started (yet just enough to know I would need to bring on a business partner), most of the incoming potential was never even realized and fell into the pending issue folders due to the lack of having the resources or know-how to accommodate all of it, the production became unstable half way through the year and then went into the dreaded mode of “sustaining” for many months (where over 6 months elapsed just keeping afloat with no innovation which is where I am today – Joanne and I are only now about to roll out what is essentially an RB 3.0) and then finishing off the year with the absolute best possible scenario with regards to Abbey, all-in-all, its carpe diem folks.
The ballpark is still wide open. If you have tasteful content that people respond to and half a business mind, you should be fairing at least this well.
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Joe Lewis at WebProNews picks Joanne as a top Web 2.0 personality.
“When it comes to researching topics and reporting breaking news in the Web 2.0 world, one has to be careful to avoid falling into the trap of monotony. Sometimes, the news isn’t all that exciting, but it’s often the people associated with the story that makes all the difference.”
“[Joanne] is sharp as a tack, charming, and has a delivery style that you simply can’t teach; it’s just a gift. ” – More.
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