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We’re entering the ‘post-hardware’ era of corporate video production.

June 8, 2013 by 2 Comments

 

 

Changes in Corporate Video , One Market Media

 

Very soon, hardware will cease to be a differentiating factor in corporate video production. 

Way back in the day (i.e. five years ago) the equipment you owned defined your place in the video production hierarchy. Big production houses had very expensive equipment and charged accordingly. Then, out of the blue, Canon added a basic video capture feature to one of their portrait cameras and the video production industry has never been the same.

Today, professional video editing software is virtually free – so cheap that the cost is immaterial. Premiere, Final Cut, Media Composer, Vegas… whichever NLE that suits your purpose – they’re all great products that do much the same thing. The differences between them now relegated to angry LinkedIn rants. Same goes for editing platforms. Nobody knows or cares if you edit on a Mac or a PC. It’s irrelevant.

Hardware still matters in corporate video production today, but not for much longer. Black Magic has just announced a $4,000, 4k camera with a global shutter. That’s astonishing. It’s not perfect, it’s not quite ‘full featured’ and folks with ‘real 4k camera’s’ will dismiss this new camera as something less than ‘professional,’ but that would completely miss the point. 4k workflow is still a bit of a kludge for many, tomorrow it won’t be. Technology is narrowing the gap quicker than any of us realize and the subtleties and nuances that we in the industry chatter about are lost on the average corporate video viewer. Granted, there will always be the need (or desire) to employ the most expensive camera on the market to shoot an immensely complex high-end video for theatre advertising of for broadcast but for the vast majority of corporate video projects the tools we need are readily accessible and they are getting cheaper and better by the day.

We never really see these things coming – we can’t. Our linear brains are not wired to anticipate or predict the effect of exponential growth in technology. The incredible change we’ve witnessed over the past few years in the video production industry is really just the beginning. In a few years we’ll all be shooting and editing in 4k. (Whether it’s one, two or three years doesn’t really matter.) The point is that the cost of hardware is going to follow a similar path to that of software. It will never be free, of course, but it will be cheap enough that hardware will cease to be a differentiating factor in corporate video production.  Everybody is going to have access to the same great equipment and the same great tools. What happens then?

 

1. A new pecking order will emerge

Each geographic market will continue to have a video production market leader or two – the big name production houses that attract top talent. That won’t change. Beyond and below that however, we’ll start to see a lot of change, in fact that change has already begun. There will continue to be a flow of new market entrants as the cost of production drops. I’m not referring to the steady churn of ‘dabblers’ at the low end of the industry. I mean creative people, marketing people and people with other strategic skills who will begin to take up video production on their own… because they can. We’d all like to think that video production is a highly nuanced craft that requires years of mastery and training but the truth is that if you have talent and drive today there is very little stopping you. You don’t need to work your way up in a production house spending years learning different skills. We’ll also start to see creative firms competing across service specialties. Most ad agencies are already experimenting with video in-house and you will also begin to see video production companies working in social media, marketing and other non-traditional areas. Video production will remain a specialty for some, but for others it will become part of a more integrated offering.

2. More sector specialization

Calling up a prospective customer and saying ‘we do video, would you like some’ used to bear fruit. Today it doesn’t. Being ‘everything to everyone’ isn’t how you want to be positioned going forward. The value in video used to be in production and post-production. Today and tomorrow the real value will be in pre-production. That’s where the ideas, the business logic and marketing strategy are developed. Finding someone who has good equipment and understands how to frame, light and edit won’t be the biggest challenge. The challenge will be finding firms that can help you create a storyboard that delivers some type of measurable business outcome. I’m not diminishing the need for great production and post production skills. I’m saying that these skills, to some degree, will become table-stakes and they will be abundant.  We’re already starting to see the first stages of specialization in the Industry. Video production companies are beginning to specialize in specific business verticals. This evolution is inevitable. As a business owner who would you rather work with; someone who understands the quirks and dynamics of your industry (and someone who might even teach you a few new tricks), or a firm that does corporate video for everyone or simply to finance their entertainment ambitions. As new (non-video production industry trained) entrants come into the market they will bring their business sector knowledge with them – and that will add value to the process. Making beautiful video won’t be as important as making video that achieves a measurable marketing objective. Prospective customers are going to start asking you what type of video you specialize in.

3. More accountability

Accountability is the thing that most production professionals don’t see coming. As the cost of production drops it becomes harder to differentiate yourself in the marketplace. Businesses are going to start to hold production houses accountable for results. “Hey, I just shoot and edit video, it’s your script” won’t cut-it. Similarly, winning awards, looking cool and being clever won’t matter the way it used to. As the web becomes the medium of choice for the vast majority of corporate video, feedback and measurement tools will have to become part of your service offering. And why shouldn’t they? This is exactly what business owners want. If you’re going to spend $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 or more on a video wouldn’t you want some way of measuring its value to your company? The production houses that bring some level of accountability into the process will thrive. A cool production reel won’t be enough.

4. Video Quality will improve.

I‘m not referring to the overall average quality (average quality has to drop as more people and businesses cycle through bad experiences in the vast lower margins of video production.) I am referring to the quality level of output from most professional video production houses (the folks and businesses who make a full-time living in video production ) – the quality level from full-time production houses will continue to increase. There are many reasons why:

Better tools (all other things being equal) better tools in the hands of professionals will result in higher quality products.

More experimentation. Access to high performance tools will result in more new methods, styles and uses of video. This will lead to better products over time.

Better and quicker learning. There is an unprecedented amount of great training available online either for free or at a very low cost. There are very few secrets in video production today. Just ask Phillip Bloom. Besides that, the best way to learn is by doing, and having access to all of the exciting new tools of production (not just classroom access as was traditionally the case) will result in much faster learning.

Better reference materials. Let’s not kid ourselves, just like in the movie industry; all corporate video production is derivative. We learn from others. We copy others. We do what other people are doing. The quality of reference materials and access to great video samples (i.e. on Vimeo) is accelerating and there is no end of people wanting to showcase their work. We will continue to learn from, and emulate others. The spiral is definitely upwards in this regard.

Specialization. As more people employ video in their marketing activities more specialists will evolve – both in-house and in production houses. This will result in better quality video because the content will become more focused and strategic.

Necessity. Owning equipment used to guarantee you work. Tomorrow it won’t. That means that only companies with initiative and talent will survive. By definition then, the overall quality has to improve.

Business demand. Video marketing will continue to grow in importance. Today video marketing is important mostly for web-based companies and large businesses who can afford broadcast advertising. Tomorrow virtually all businesses will be employing video in their marketing activities.

Allocation of funds will be more efficient. Money spent today on using expensive equipment will be put to better use in pre-production, distribution and measurement.

New and better ecosystems will evolve. As video production increases in use and popularity we’re seeing the development of new and exciting ecosystems develop. Amazon just introduced an automated storyboard tool. Hardware manufactures are all clamoring to announce new motion stabilization tools. All of these support and peripheral tools used in video production will quickly drop in price as competition and broad adoption brings in more money and technology to the industry.

5. Video Production Costs will continue to drop as video production becomes mainstream. (But the amount of work will continue to increase.)

My daughter learned video editing in grade 9 and she’s rather good at it – so are many of her friends. Basic video skills are already a commodity and the downward pressure on equipment prices will result in a hollowing out of the low end of the industry – much the same as we’ve witnessed in photography. Corporations will take simple video production in-house because they can and because it makes sense to do so – especially for basic point and shoot projects. Companies serving the vast and ever-changing middle market will also experience price erosion but specialization and new added-value services should help to alleviate some of this pressure. We’ve seen the same phenomena in website production over the last few years. There is little to no money to be made designing and developing simple/basic websites because there are too many free and DYI options available at the low end. Yet there is still a vibrant market for servicing mid and higher-end websites. The valuable work now for websites is where it always should have been – in creating compelling content. Video will play a larger role in future content creation priorities for corporate websites.

While prices at the high-end of the market have dropped the volume of work has increased dramatically. Television commercials and high-end corporate overview videos used to be the only high-end corporate video production opportunities available but today there are many different types and uses of corporate video.

These market forces will continue to cause production houses to become leaner (and yes, perhaps a bit meaner…) and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. New tech drives new efficiencies in every market it touches. Working out of your house is a good thing. A two-man crew that can do the same work that a three or four-man crew used to do is a good thing. Fitting all of your gear into a car rather than a panel van is also a good thing. Being lean and being nimble is a very smart way to run a business in an industry in transition.

As the cost of equipment continues to drop, talent, drive and specialized skills and knowledge will become critical success factors in corporate video production. What equipment you use won’t really matter.

Filed Under: Corporate Video Production, General, Online Video Industry, The Future of Corporate Video, Video Marketing Tagged With:

Corporate Video Production – What works today and why.

April 3, 2012 by 6 Comments

Over the last few years the use and application of corporate video has undergone significant change.  We’re moving inexorably from the text web to the ‘next web.’ Whatever this evolution may bring, one thing is certain – video and interactive media will play a growing role in how all companies position and promote themselves.

We’ve put together a chart to highlight some of the key changes that have taken place in corporate video production:

 

Traditional approach What works today What’s changed?
Focus of corporate video Your business or product Solving your customer’s problems The focus of video used to be just about promoting your ‘brand ‘- that usually meant a lot of talk about yourself.
Budget Large Small – Medium Production costs have dropped and corporations are being far more tactical with their use of video today.
Access to videos Tightly controlled by the sales team or marketing Created with the express purpose of being shared… everywhere. Social marketing isn’t just a trend – It’s now become a business necessity.  People trust friends and colleagues considerably more than they trust corporations.
Primary delivery
method		 - Tradeshows
- Meetings
- Sales Calls		 Web, as well as other traditional methods Soon, everything will be ‘online’ – broadcast media, corporate communications, presentations, etc.
Typical message delivery Actor, presenter or professional voice-over Real people saying real things Your customer is more skeptical than ever. Actors still have a place in video, but nothing can replace the value of a real employee representing your company in your corporate video.
Desired perception of a corporate video Authoritative  Informative  ’Pizzazz’ isn’t what it used to be. Sounding helpful is better than sounding important. ‘Important’ is about you. ‘Helpful’ is really about the customer.
Frequency of production 1 or 2 videos a year 10’s or even 100’s of videos It used to be that marketing would set aside $50,000 for one video. Today it might make more sense to set aside $50,000 for ten or more videos.
Scope of video production Broad – a single video covered as much ground as possible Narrow – video focuses on a specific audience with a targeted message There will always be a place for large scale video productions but the vast majority of videos will be targeted videos delivering a single message to a single audience.
Where videos are found on a corporate website In your ‘video’ section Wherever customers need to view video on your site No one comes to your site looking for a video (unless you are YouTube).  They come to your site looking to solve a business problem.
Where videos should be found On your website Wherever your client happens to be: YouTube, a business portal, on their mobile phone, searching, etc.) Your website isn’t the ‘destination’ you think it is. Creating content that can be viewed wherever your customer happens to be makes a lot of sense.
Uses of Video - TV Commercials
- Sales  Presentations
- Homepage of your website.		 - Customer Testimonials
- Video Case studies
-  Product ‘explainer’ videos
- Product FAQ
- Event promotion
- Recruiting
- Viral Video
- Content marketing
- Infomercials
- Interactive video
- Branded entertainment
- Video press releases
- Community relations videos
- etc.
- click here to discover  51 ways to use video to promote your business		 The number of uses of video continues to grow every day.

 

This is the first part in a two-part post. The next post will look at managing your next corporate video project by developing a video production brief.

 

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Filed Under: General, Marketing with Video, Online Video Industry, Resources, Top 10 Posts Tagged With: , ,

The changing face of the corporate video production industry.

July 2, 2011 by 8 Comments

Technology has had a dramatic effect on the video production industry over the last 5 years. A few years ago video production was a highly specialized service that required very expensive equipment. Today anyone can pick up some cheap equipment and start making videos. At the same time many businesses are starting to embrace video, primarily on the web, as a means of reaching their audiences with engaging and persuasive new content. It’s both the perfect storm and the perfect opportunity for providers and purchasers of corporate video production services.

I am often asked about the state industry – how it’s changing, where it’s going, so I created this brief summary of how I see the industry evolving.  The numbers are my own – based on observation, research and discussions with other video productions companies.

Level 1. Equipment Owners
(Trend – Growing number of providers, resulting in both new opportunities and risks for businesses).

For under $5,000 you can pick up an HD camera, a cheap three point lighting system, audio equipment, computer and software to edit the video and just like that, you are now a video production services supplier.  It may take you a few weeks or months to get the hang of it but eventually you’ll be able to produce some decent video: Simple point and shoot projects, talking heads and perhaps even a corporate overview. Most new entrants will start by providing free or virtually free services and most will exit the industry in under a year realizing that, in spite of hype, it’s difficult to make a full time living in video production. We’re bound to see a lot of churn over the next few years.  This trend is not new to the creative services industry. We’ve seen the same thing with photography and graphic design. When anyone and everyone can provide services the market has difficulty in discerning value and as a result, there is bound to be a fair degree of uncertainty and disappointment in the marketplace. Who benefits? – the businesses who find capable low cost video production suppliers and the video equipment manufactures. Those suppliers with both perseverance and talent will evolve to the next level:

Level 2. Experienced Videographers.
(Trend – numbers are growing but the capabilities of this group are also changing quickly)

The two principle distinctions with this group are 1. Experience and  2. They are usually one person businesses. Whatever their legal business structure (i.e. sole proprietor or incorporated business) this group have been shooting for a while – both for their own clients and also doing freelance work for larger video production companies. Some of these guys (over 90% are male for some reason….) specialize in weddings or events and some do mostly corporate work. The big change for this group is that they are doing more now than ever. They are having to sell and promote themselves in different ways. They are being squeezed by the equipment owners on price but they are also competing for the first time with the larger video production companies. It’s okay today if you are a one man band. It didn’t use to be -  primarily because it was very difficult (and expensive) to do it all. Today you can. Many videographers used to be just shooters, either because they didn’t want to do editing or they didn’t want to appear to be competing with their principle source of income -  the next group in the food chain – the video production companies. {Interestingly, you are also seeing video production companies downsizing to three, two or one man operations working from home – again, because the market and technology allow this to happen and also because the ongoing cost pressures demand it.}

Level 3. (Pure) Video Production Companies.
(Trend – this group is experiencing the most pain, the numbers of these providers are shrinking)

The traditional video production companies (two or more staff and lots of experience) are getting squeezed from both ends. They are seeing tremendous price pressure and are not able to sustain the same high rates that used to comfortably pay their overhead. Big studios, lot’s of expensive equipment, layers of management and admin are all luxuries that few production companies can afford today. Most people in this group started in video – doing sound, doing lighting, etc. The entrepreneurs eventually started their own production houses. Having experience isn’t enough, however. Sure, the market will still pay for experience – but what it will pay is a moving (lower) target. The other challenge this group is facing is that they are seeing people with other talents and backgrounds (i.e ad agencies, marketing consultancies, online media companies, etc) jump into the fray. The traditional video production companies will argue that these new entrants don’t have the required video production skills but the reality is that the market places more value on ideas and application than on technical competency. Shaky camera, focus hunting, imperfect lighting and a litany of other video transgressions are not only acceptable today, they are sometimes preferred. New entrants often shape a market in strange and wonderful ways…

Having great video production skills today are becoming table stakes for higher end productions. The next level is application – what do you do with the video.

Level 4. Value-added Corporate Video Production.
(Trend – this group will grow quickly over the next few years)

The ‘value’ in the video production industry used to be in the expensive equipment and the experience in using it. A few years ago ‘corporate video’ meant either a TV commercial or a ten minute video containing a whack of superfluous motion graphics. The number and uses of video are growing faster than anyone can keep track of (here are 51 different types of video being used by businesses today).

The value today is in how you apply video to your market, not in how you make the video. As such, there are a number of new market entrants to video production who are not only creating video but coming up with new ways to apply that video to specific business objectives. Social media, interactive video and mobile video are all examples of purpose-built content to solve a specific business problem. One size doesn’t fit all. You will start to see video production companies specialize in the creation and delivery (creating the video is only the first step) of video. You will also start to see video production companies specialize in certain types of video (like HR or PR) as vertical knowledge will become more important than general video production knowledge. As such, you are seeing either new hybrid companies with marketing or social media capabilities enter the video production industry of you are seeing very tight collaborations (sometimes evolving into new business entities) between creative or marketing agencies with video production companies. Ultimately all of these companies are trying to get to the top of the food chain:

Level 5. Regional Market Leader
(Trend – No change here, every region has a couple of leaders)

By ‘Market Leader’ I don’t mean “Our firm is a Market Leader that provides leading edge expertise in…”  Anyone can lay claim to leadership but there are only a couple of true leaders in every market. The leaders command the big budgets. They are the regional go-to companies for the biggest brands or government agencies. Every services company looks to become the leader for one reason (O.K…. probably more than one): Market Leaders command the largest budgets on jobs – and that means not having to compromise and that also means having the greatest latitude to do the best work. Sure, everyone is being asked to do more with less – but more is better.  These guys are easy to find. Their body of work speaks for itself. The reason they got to where they are will (most likely) be the reason they will also be able to adapt to new trends and changes in the video production industry.

Technology has had a tremendous impact on the corporate video production industry. That said, you still tend to get what you pay for ( you just get more now…)

Filed Under: Corporate Video Production, General, Managing Video Projects, Online Video Industry, The Future of Corporate Video, Top 10 Posts Tagged With:

Web video best practices? – Salesforce.com chooses YouTube

February 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

Salesforce provides cloud-based CRM tools and is a global leader in web-based services.  With over 1500 videos it’s safe to say that Salesforce is fully committed to web video as a means of reaching their customers and driving new business. If the internet is important to your business the above Saleforce video case study will show you how web-based video can support your ongoing business objectives. Saleforce presented this video at a recent Google B2B Think conference.

The video shows why Saleforce has chosen YouTube to manage their video assets,  promote awareness and drive new leads to the company. Some highlights from the video:

- YouTube is now one of Salesforce’s most important online marketing tactics.
- Saleforce equates their YouTube effort to adding 46 sales reps.
- Interestingly, one of the reasons Saleforce chose YouTube as their video delivery platform was that it was one of the most trusted by users.
- They have seen much greater success with video SEO since using YouTube to host their video.
- They have also tested YouTube Display Ads, Promoted Videos and on video Calls to action.

Many businesses today are considering what is the best option for hosting their marketing video. Obviously Salesforce isn’t concerned about issues such as YouTube being blocked by some sites or the possibility of other videos being shown around your video if you happen to click through to the YouTube site itself.  Should they be?

Filed Under: General, Marketing with Video, Online Video Industry, The Future of Corporate Video, Video Marketing, YouTube Video Tagged With: , , , ,

Is your TV Connected? If not, it will be very soon.

October 5, 2010 by 2 Comments

The internet is coming to your TV and it’s going to get ugly… for a while.

I  vividly remember the ‘experts’ confidently defining two distinct media participation modes – ‘lean forward’ (i.e. actively engage in a specific task… on a computer) and lean back’ where you consume passive entertainment (generally on your television). The experts were correct for a couple of years. Then we humans did what we often tend to do – we adapted. Check out your teenager today on a computer watching a video, texting their friends and updating their facebook status, all at the same time. Are they leaning forward or back, and does that distinction even matter? None of the experts even considered the third critical media consumption mode, ‘walk forward’ (mobile). “OK” the experts concede, the ‘lean forward/back’ paradigm really just applied to the television set. You still only lean back in your family room, right? Wrong…

Google has quietly been applying it’s considerable brain power to GoogleTV. Like Apple (and Apple TV) Google is betting that the most important and lucrative screen in the world (your TV) is going to open up into a platform for much more engaging ‘lean forward’ type of activities, and they are looking to put themselves in the middle of your family room.

Everyone is fighting for control. The networks are fighting for their lives to control when you can watch your favorite shows. Apple wants to own the big store that you get all your shows from. The cable companies want to limit what you can and can’t see. Google wants everyone to be happy, free and open as long as every commercial is served through their advertising delivery network. The TV manufacturers all want a piece of the action. The set-top box companies are all scrambling trying to figure out why nothing they have created to date has ever caught on. Microsoft is hoping they can spend their way into your hearts by making x-box the single device that solves all of your integration issues. Netflix wants to provide you access to every bit of media ever created for one low fee. Hulu isn’t really sure what they are doing but the networks that own Hulu are at least trying to stay ahead of the wave and not make the same mistake that the good folks from the music industry made. Exciting times!

What does it all mean? Very, very soon, your TV, if it is not already connected,  is going to be connected to the internet. New micro targeted channels, games, tools, applications,  the long tail of media, new services, cloud-hosted everything and a bunch of stuff we can’t even imagine are all going to be accessible on your TV. It’s the wild west for a number of years until Google or Apple (my guess) or someone else becomes the dominate interface to all content, gaming, applications, and other stuff that you will be leaning forward, backward and sideways to do on your family room ‘TV’.

——–

An example: Sony has partnered with Google and are introducing Google TV on some of their new displays:

…and a timely example of ugly:

Filed Under: General, Online Video Industry, Video Standards, Video Technology

How web video powers global innovation

September 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

video powers global innovation

“I’m convinced that the latest iteration of crowd-accelerated innovation, fueled by Web video, is about to ignite the biggest learning cycle in human history.”

Big statement… with even bigger consequences. Imagine the impact on productivity if it’s correct.  Chris Anderson, founder of Future Publishing and curator of the TED Conference  says the rise of web video is driving a worldwide phenomenon he calls Crowd Accelerated Innovation — a self-fueling cycle of learning that could be ‘as significant as the invention of print.’

True to the vision of TED (“Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world”) Anderson suggests that video sharing sites like YouTube are driving innovation in thousands of disciplines ranging from the ultra-niche to the sharing of truly world-changing ideas.

Today individuals are driving this radical innovation. Organizations on the other hand, still  have to contend with inertia and institutionalized bad habits. They also need to embrace radical openness in order to tap into the power of this growing phenomenon. That’s a big challenge.

The video is thought provoking and certainly worth a look:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/09/18/anderson.youtube.innovation/

Filed Under: General, Online Video Industry, The Effect of Video on Your Brand, The Future of Corporate Video, Video and Education, YouTube Video Tagged With: , , , ,

Adobe’s purchase of Omniture is a very big deal

September 17, 2009 by 1 Comment

adobe logo

Content is king, if you can track it.

Up until… this week, a large disconnect has existed between web-based content creation and content measurement. That chasm may have narrowed significantly since Adobe announced its purchase of Omniture – the online marketing, web analytics (and data collection) company.

Adobe has taken a significant step in moving beyond it’s digital content creation roots into what may turn out to be a much, much larger business. Network and cable television are closed systems. The Internet is an open system. The first company to establish smart, economical and trusted methods of tracking and monetizing any and all types of content on the Internet could become the new platform for web content delivery - that’s a very big deal.

Flash comes as close to ubiquity as it gets on the web (however, Google and Apple continue to shut Adobe out on their own respective ’mobile web’ platforms). Imagine if every flash player also tracked and reported usage, supported trusted digital watermarking processes, facilitated micro payments and helped to connect the social media and viral distribution dots. Adobe is trusted – especially by the creative and development community so it would be comparatively easier for them to set the standards and to ultimately evolve into becoming ’the platform.’

This acquisition could also be seen as a defensive move as Adobe will be under some pressure to add more value to flash because the implementation of the new HTML5 standard (whenever that happens) will include video tags which don’t require a video player plug-in.

The holy grail of marketing has been to find a way to track the results of your marketing program. Adobe has made a very strategic move in purchasing Omniture. Content developers and their customers should look forward to implementing new ‘commerce modules’ with future Adobe product releases.

Filed Under: General, Online Video Industry, Video Standards Tagged With: , ,

Nielsen reports online video and social media reshaping web

April 29, 2009 by Leave a Comment

 

 

Nielsen has released a new report  that looks at online engagement by Internet users. John Burbank (above), CEO of Nielsen, provides highlights of the study. Online video and social media lead the way while the rate of growth for  ’traditional’ online activities such as e-mail and search has continued to decrease.

According to the report online video and social media have now surpassed e-mail in terms of online activity.  Why is this happening? Johan Jervoe, CMO for Marketing at Macdonald’s summarized this new behaviour well: ” It’s not about technology and wanting to be online constantly. It’s about wanting to belong and be connected constantly.”

Filed Under: General, Online Video Industry, Video Statistics Tagged With:

Online video distribution companies struggle

December 18, 2008 by Leave a Comment

old-tv

The term ‘Online Video’ encompasses a broad range of business activities.  This has lead to confusion in the media and in the marketplace. For businesses looking to use online video as a means of communicating with their key audiences, the future of online video is indeed bright. For portals and services looking to commercialize the distribution of the millions of videos available online (entertainment, corporate, user-generated… whatever) through advertising or service fees, the future is at best, uncertain.

Déjà vu? We’ve already seen how things will shake out for online video distributors. Remember Napster, Yahoo Music or Viacom’s Urge? The music industry struggled though the same painful consolidation that the online video consolidation and distribution industry is experiencing today. (The Ad Networks are next… the Content Delivery Networks are still in their growth phase.)

The VC’s that invested millions in too many similar ventures have turned off taps. Consolidation in the industry has started and will pick up steam in 2009. That will leave a number of dominant players like iTunes and Amazon on the fee side of things, companies like Hulu and YouTube as portal players and a few other heavy weights like Microsoft and Facebook (and perhaps a couple of the major TV networks) to round out major services.

While the portals and distributors of online video sort themselves out, the use of the online video as a communications medium continues to flourish.

Filed Under: Online Video Industry