The game isn’t over.
by Michael HoffmanMonday, July 16th, 2007
You might think that YouTube has all but won the online video game. Just as Google seems to have search locked up, so too YouTube would seem to be the only destination you need for online video. But just as Google has a batch of new competitors for search, YouTube has some competition on the video front. (One of these is our very own DoGooderTV – the home to nonprofit video.) The game is far from over.
While YouTube may always be the best place for America’s Funnies Home Videos, it seems doubtful that they will win the battle for IPTV — streaming professionally produced content through the web to your computer and eventually to your TV. On one side of that battle is Joost – from the people who brought us Skype. They have a really cool interface and are doing deals for all kinds of content. This is like cable TV — Joost has channels and if you want your content on Joost you have to do a deal with them.
I tend to think the Joost approach is bad. Why recreate cable TV online? Why have a limited number of Joost channels when you can have an unlimited number of channels in the open web? The approach I find to make more sense is that of Veoh. They are saying “we will give you a single player and aggregate content from all over the web for you.” There was an article in the Sunday Business section of the Times about their launch of VeohTV.
Once the software is downloaded to a computer, it offers an easy-to-navigate directory of 114 video channels, including listings for CBS, NBC, Fox and YouTube. On the NBC channel, there are dozens of episodes of “Heroes,” “30 Rock” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” On the Fox channel, there are several full-length episodes of the dramas “Bones” and “24.”
Those shows are free and available for streaming on the NBC and Fox sites. The VeohTV player, Mr. Shapiro said, is just giving them a new audience.
“There are full-length episodes at Fox.com, but many customers don’t know how to find them,” he said. “The Web browser is fine for short clips. But if you just want to sit back and watch video on the Web, this is what you will want to use.”
The content providers are nervous about this approach because while VeohTV will include whatever video ad the content provider has in the stream, the content provider no longer gets the benefit of the page view — and the non-video advertising there. We will see how it plays out.
Just remember, YouTube isn’t the only game in town. Here’s a sample from Veoh which is pretty good quality.
