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Video Blogging and PodcastingTutorial
June 20, 2006Corporate Podcasting SummitSofitel San Francisco Bay
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13.45 Presentation: Podcasting 101
“Podcasts leverage existing infrastructure - database driven blogging content management systems and conventional web hosting. No complex streaming architecture is needed. Thus it ユ s easy for any corporation large or small to dabble in the new medium - internally or externally - without a tremendous outlay or infrastructure upgrade.”
This talk gives an overview of all the major technologies that go into videoblogging and podcasting, and looks at how quickly a podcast can be integrated into an existing web presence. Topics covered will include:
• The “blogosphere” and how text blogs form the basis of podcasting and video blogging
• Quick start - bootstrapping a video blog or podcast• Importance of targeting iTunes, iPods, and other portable devices• Hosting and infrastructure requirements for podcasting• Business models in and near the podcasting ecosystem
Damien Stolarz, AuthorHands-On Guide to Video Blogging and Podcasting
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Understanding The Technology
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Audience Survey
• How many bloggers?
• How many podcasters?
• How many video bloggers?
• How many corporate vs. entertainment use?
• How many making money?
• Expertise level?
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Part 1:Video Blogging and Podcasting Overview; target platforms and
RSS syndication
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Definitions: Streaming Media
• Streaming vs. Download– Streaming Media, for our purposes, will mean
“Internet audio and video” or even, “audiovisual media carried over IP networks”. If it didn’t, this presentation would not belong at this conference.
– Download is of course, content that is pulled down from a web server and saved to the hard drive
– Streaming, generally still refers to content served from a media server to a media player, with VCR controls, etc. But the term is so sloppily used that we’re not going to quibble.
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Definitions: Video Blogging & Podcasting
• Fundamentally, simply the automated downloading of primarily ad-supported audio MP3s or video files for later consumption
• An organic extension of blogging
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Podcasting Definied
• [jobs clip] Definitions of Podcasting
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc05/
4:17 into the program
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Traditional Internet Video Ingredients
• Content Creation• Compression/Codecs• Multiple File Formats• Streaming servers • Network transport issues• Digital Rights management
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Video Blogs & PodcastIngredients
• Content Creation• Compression/Codecs• Multiple File Formats• Streaming servers • Network transport issues• Digital Rights Management• RSS/Syndication• Blogging Software/CMS (content
management systems)
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Blogging & RSS
• RSS = “real simple syndication” “rich site summary” and various other things
• Very rapid adoption• Introduced a significant new Internet standard (RSS)• (conceptually)
– 1990s - HTTP– 2000s - RSS
• RSS strikes the right balance of extensibility vs. standardization like HTTP did
• RSS = syndicated web• RSS 1.0, 2.0, and Atom are different ways to do the same
thing (syndicate & update content)
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Feeds enable Automated Downloading
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RSS feeds Aggregators, Search Engines and News sites
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Feed Flags
• Provide links to RSS/Atom as well as direct links to aggregators which automatically hand them the RSS feed information.
• Adding feed flags makes it easier for users to subscribe to your content
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Podcasts: A New Format
• Podcasts are a personal format– “Keep it real”; keep it informal; bald faced
advertising will not fly in the format• Why are you podcasting?
– Reach new audience?– Create a plaform?– Promote products?
• Viewers & listenters– Want production value– Don’t want market-ese
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Major Differences: Streaming vs. Podcasting/Videoblogging
• Audio/Video production– Since it’s often a talk-radio format, you have the talk radio
learning curve– Lengths are are short, on-the-go for video
• Webpages vs. Template-driven blogs– CSS, XML, RSS, Blog templates
• Encoding for new targets: – not Win/Mac/Linux but PDA/Phone/iPod
• RSS production– RSS not quite standard; iTunes music store vs. aggregators
vs. podcatchers vs. yahoo RSS
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Length
• Podcasts– Audio can be anywhere from 3-5 minutes
to 45 minutes or longer– Video needs to be fairly short form; 3-5
minutes works, 15 minutes works; 30 minutes is on the long side
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Anatomy of a Blog
A – posts
B – links
C – archive
D – recent posts
E – search
F – blogroll
G – ads
H – syndication
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Key Podcast Terms• Blog = short for web log, a date-stamped, serial news/content
distrubution and display format• XML = eXtensible markup langauge - a human-readable successor
to HTML that can be reliably interpreted by programs as well as people.
• RSS = Really simple syndication/Rich site summary. An XML file that gets updated everytime content changes on the site, and helps other programs automatically interpret and receive and even re-transmit those changes on a schedule (syndication)– RSS 0.9x/2.0 = various incarnations of the RSS standard– Atom = a reformulation of RSS in the standards soup– RDF = Resource Description Format, XML standard for describing
website metadata– RSS 1.0 = an RDF-based variant of RSS
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Key Podcast terms• Aggregator/podcatcher = software, or online service, used• OPML = Ouline Processor Markup Language, an XML format for
holding outlines. Used to hold lists of subscribed blogs, like a favorites list
• Narrowcasting = sending niche content to a highly targeted set of consumers
• podcast badge = one of the 80x15 banners on the side of podcast sites linking to other blogs/podcasts or to RSS feeds
• Podroll = like a blogroll, a list of the partner/favorite other podcasts, listed on the side of your podcast
• Creative Commons = a nonprofit that developed the various content licensing terms favored for podcasts
• Podsafe = music or other content that is legally permissible to be used in podcasts
• ID3 Tag = any of the metadata (title, artist, website) that is attached to an MP3 so people will know where it came from
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File Formats(the box the video is stored in)
• Containers are not video formats
• Box types: ASF, AVI, MOV, MP4, SWF, and FLV
• Packing materials: WM9, DivX, Spark, MPEG-4, Sorenson, and Real Video
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Key Audio Terms
• MP3 = one format to rule them all (MPEG-1 Layer III)
• AAC = MPEG-4 audio format (iTunes/iPod)• WAV = usually, uncompressed raw audio (PC)• OGG = Green party of audio codecs• AIFF = uncompressed raw audio off CDs (mac)• WMA = windows MP3 competitor• MP3plus = enhanced MP3 format
(used for some digitla broadcasting)• AACplus = enhanced MPEG-4 audio
(used by XM radio)
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Key Video Terms• MPEG-1 = .mpg files; venerable video codec• MPEG-2 = DVDs, almost all Television• MPEG-4 = newest member of MPEG family
– MP4 = file format to hold MPEG-4 video in• Usually contains MPEG-4 part 2 simple or advanced
– DivX = MPEG-4 part 2, advanced– XviD = open source DivX-compatible codec– AAC = MPEG-4 audio codec– H.264/AVC = MPEG-4 part 10– M4V = iTunes name for MPEG-4 H.264/AVC
• AVI = old, tired, common container file format for audio/video• MOV = Apple’s container file format for video and multimedia• ASF = Microsoft’s container file format for video• WMV = file with Microsoft’s MPEG-4-like video codec• Flash Video = different for various versions, good web codec
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Podsafe Music Sources
• Garageband.com
• Magnatune.com
• music.podshow.com
• archive.org/audio/netlabels.php
• podsafeaudio.com
• ipodarmy.com/2005/06/how-to-find-podsafe-music/
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Key Podcast Distribution Terms
• Directory = “portals” that will take submission and attempt to list all sites, or sites of a given interest
• Trackers = automated sites such as audio.weblogs.com that can be “pinged” with site updates
• Aggregators/Podcatchers = applications to collect all the podcasts on the client
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Podcast Aggregators/Podcatchers
• MAC– ipodderX– iPodder– FireAnt
• PC– Doppler Radio– Jpodder– Pluck– Feeddemon
• Symbian– Mobiedge Radio
• Web– http://www.newsgator.com– http://www.yahoo.com– http://www.bloglines.com– http://reader.google.com
• Pocket PC– Egress– FeederReader
• Palm OS– Quicknews
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Podcast Directories
• ipodder.org• Yahoo! Podcasts• iTunes• iPodder.com• odeo.com• Podcastalley.com• Podcasting.net• Podcastdirectory.com• techpodcasts.com
• Podcastpickle.com• Podcastcentral.com• Podfeed.net• Podnova.com• Podcastbunker.com• musicpodcasting.org• Vlogdir.com
• mefeedia.com/feeds/• vlogmap.org
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Videoblog Sampler Plate
• Anything in iTunes Podcast Directory• http://noservicecharge.com/videoblog/• http://davemedia.blogspot.com• http://www.tikibartv.com• http://www.rocketboom.com• http://node101.org• http://www.backstaging.com• http://stevegarfield.blogs.com• http://www.mnstories.com• http://mediamatters.org
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Client Platforms
• RSS aggregator/clients are available for– Mobile phones– PDAs– Portable media devices– Anything that can play an MP3 and plug into a
computer
The trick is to make the process seamless for users on the target platform, and “find them” on devices they have already integrated into their lifestyle.
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Podcasting Brief History
• Several attempts to plot its recent birth and the responsible parties: consult– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
for a history
• Term “podcasting” coined and popularized in 2004
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Podcasting & Videoblogging books
• Podcasting do-it-yourself guide (May 30, 2005• Secrets of podcasting (Aug 9, 2005)• Podcast solutions (August 22, 2005)• Podcasting hacks (August 19, 2005)• Absolute beginners guide to podcasting (Oct 17, 2005)• Podcasting for dummies (Nov 7, 2005)• Secrets of Videoblogging (April 2006)• Video Blogging & Podcasting (April 2006)
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Video Trends
• Premium Internet Video Services To Reach $2.6 Billion By 2009. (In-Stat)
• 40% of young adults are interested in mobile video; Interest in mobile video more than doubled in each of past 2 years (Forrester 1Q05)
• 27% of online users use video regularly• 22% of online adults have downloaded a movie/TV show in past
year (Jupiter Research 2Q05)
• Online Video use doubling every 6-8 months (Forrester)
• 1/3 of Internet traffic is estimated by various sources to be digital video (Bittorrent)
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Comscore.com (Media Metrix)• In June 2005, more than 94 million people in the U.S., or 56 percent
of the domestic Internet population, viewed a streaming video online.
• Over the three months ending June 2005, the average consumer viewed 73 minutes of streaming video content per month
• This research confirms that streaming video is now part of the Web experience for a broad base of consumers
• Male users, who represent 50 percent of the total online population, account for 61 percent of all video streamers
• Male and female viewers spend virtually the same amount of time viewing online video content (72.4 and 70.6 minutes respectively).
• However, the 18-34 year-old male segment, which has proven difficult to reach through other media, views a significantly greater 84 minutes of online video content per viewer.
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Is there an online video bubble?
• “Well, there is good reason to believe that online video is not just a fad. According to a study of more than 1,200 Internet users released by the Online Publishers Association, 24 percent said they watched online video at least once a week, while 46 percent said they watched at least once a month.”
• “What's more, two-thirds of those who regularly viewed online video said they also watched online video ads, and 44 percent of those users said they have taken action on what they've seen, i.e. they went to an advertiser's Web site and, in some cases, even made a purchase.”
source: http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/18/commentary/mediabiz/
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iPod/iTunes music Store
• Over 56MM iPods sold (as of Q1 2006)– 75% of the total player market– 90% of hard drive-based media player market
• iPod with video/iTunes– Broke the floodgates for online big media
content delivery– Podcasting & Video podcasting are built in
features to the iTunes music store
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Podcast Listener Statistic
• Techpodcasts.com survey of 1,200 people: – 75% listened via portable media device (iPod,
etc.)– 15% laptop or desktop– 10% using PDA
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“Safe” Online Distribution Models(Cooking without DRM)
• Distribute low quality versions, with moderate protection but no encryption (such as streaming without allowing save to disk).
• Distribute high quality versions, with lock box encryption. Allow redistribution because the content has to be unlocked on every machine or device.
• Distribute only teaser, filler, or “exclusive” content that is not provided on other media channels. Disincentives people from copying it by freely distributing it. Use it to promote the sale or consumption of other similar or related media.
• Distribute a small subset of the high quality media unlocked; use it to advertise a greater body of media that is locked with stronger encryption.
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Why now?
• The technology for podcasting has existed, arguably, for
• Key points:– Digital music market awareness– Availability of enabling tools/services
• Blogging + mp3s
– US “broadband” over 50% of US households
– iPod, 15% of US households
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Personal Podcasting
• Personal Blogs– Great outlet for creative people to showcase their
work in a linear timeline with fresh material– Keep family and friends updated without having to
tell the same story over and over again.
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Media Podcasts
• Media– Provide a blog for on-air talent to go deeper into subject
matter– A place for talent to editorialize– Linear archive of news shows for people who might want to
see a previous broadcast– Outtakes and raw feeds to give an "insider" look to viewers
• Small Media / DIY News Shows– With high production values and good writing, small news
organizations can develop a large and dedicated following– Low overhead and linear format works in a familiar news
pattern (newspapers) freshness and content drive traffic but the format allows for archival footage.
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Corporate Podcasting
• Internal communications– keeping employees informed of new initiatives– demonstration videos– new publicity
• news clips• commercials • media mentions
• Company meetings / board meetings• External Communications
– putting a human face on your company with a less "corporate / formal" communication channel
– keeping customers in the loop with an alternative to the standard press release format
– serializing products in development to get people interested in it before release
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Podcast Monetization
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Hosting
• Like any large media, podcasting and videoblogging create huge hosting bills– Fortunately, downloaded content is tolerant of
delays that streaming media would never tolerate
• Sizes– MP3s are 1 meg a minute– Video, around 10 megs a minute– 1,000 30-minute podcasts =
1,000 3-minute videoblogs = 30,000 megs = 30 Gigs of transfer
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• Most sites average .50/gig• Liberated syndication (libsyn.com)
– Storage fee instead of per gig
• Podbus.com (.40/gig)• http://www.prodigem.com/ - free bittorrent hosting
– RSS distrubition of attachemnets
• http://blip.tv/ provides a complete hosting and blog portal solution
• Cogent - Flat-fee bandwidth perfectly suitable for podcasts, $3000 for a 100MB connection
Hosting
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Podcast/Videoblog Income
• Generally, subscription revenues have been unsuccessful
• Interstitial, sponsored ads work– Podcast/Blog culture sensitive to overhyping– Commercials often integrated into verbal narrative
• Paypal “Tip Jar” works for some independents• Sponsors/Advertisers successful model• Standard web ads for the associated portal:
Google AdWords, etc.
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Monetization
• Podcasting: Do-it-yourself guide and• Podcasting Solutions
– Both have good sections on money– Oft-cited example is $4000/month
Gatorade sponsorship for enduranceradio.com– Their kit is at enduranceradio.com/
• http://podtrac.com/ provides professional Media Kit and demographic measurement
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Blog/Podcast/Videoblog Hosting Apps
• Free + Easy: – Blogger + Feedburner
• Easy + $– Wordpress
• Flexible + $ + Multiple blogs– Movable Type + RSS extensions
• Free, Difficult, and Unnecessary– Hand-coding– Feed for all
• $ + complete control– Roll-your-own RSS (programmed)
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Tracking
• Feedburner does some of this, tracking subscribers• Traditional site tracking tools fall at disadvantage
– RSS feeds, different kinds, don’t contain the little hidden tracker URLs used by these services
• Use the web host logs + webalyzer to track downloads of the files themselves
• Use hosting services that provide this data
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Key Licensing Terms• Copyright = automatically, all created works are copyrighted, meaning you
generally have get permission to reproduce it for others.• Creative Commons = nonprofit group that standardizes a number of
licensing terms so that creative works can be disseminated with their author rights clearly defined and declared
• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) & BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) = Who you need to pay (goes to the song’s composer or author) for performing or covering a song on radio
• RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) = Who you need to pay (goes to the record labels) for playing the original of a song
• Podsafe = music that is not under ASCAP/BMI/RIAA, and that has been specifically licensed (such as Creative Commons) for free promotional or paid use in podcasts
• FCC = Federal Communication Commission, who keeps the !@#$% out of your radio broadcasts and the !!! off your TV
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Licensing/Legal Issues
• Podcasts/Videoblogs are not regulated by the FCC– This means that podcasters can speak about anything– Still a good idea to avoid slander, threatening heads of state,
inciting revolution against the government, threatening hate speech
• Podcasts/Videoblogs are regulated by the RIAA– Always avoid commercial music without written permission
• Videoblogs can run into other issues– Showing products/trademarks within video blogs will become an
issue as it is in movies
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Video Blog Resources
• Vlog Directories– www.VlogDir.com
• The Discussion Group– http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/
• Vlog Reviews– http://del.icio.us/tag/watchthis– http://videoblogging-universe.com/
• VloogerCon– http://vloggercon.blogspot.com
• Vlog Tutorial– www.FreeVlog.org
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Appendix: Video Blog and related site
examples
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FreeVlog.orgFreeVlog.org
Welcome to Freevlog 2.5A step-by-step guide to setting up a videoblog
for free
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Standard Software
iTunes & Fireant
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GOOGLE• Video Search As First Step
In Video Blogging Initiative.
• Relies on closed-captioned transcripts for text-search.
• Has Relationships With; PBS, C-SPAN, and Fox News.
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• Search, Download and Watch Video.• Aggregates video from user selected channels. (Drag and Drop)
Fireant
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Dave.TV
• Entertainment On Demand With Targeted Advertising.
• Narrowcasting Strategy: Plan To Offer 100 Channles With 100,000 Hours of Licensed Programming.
• Submit Content, Set Pricing And Usage Rules.
• Transfers Content To Proprietary Set Top Box (Similar to Akimbo).
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Yahoo!
• Media Company With A Strong Focus On Content.• Pursuing long marketing strategy for less popular
content Leveraging “Buzz” Related MetaData And MediaRSS.
• Video Search
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AOL / Singing Fish• Singingfish
– Singingfish 5 year old audio-video search engine.
– Syndication, Advertising– 7 million hits a day.
• Business Model– Syndication– Advertising
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Brightcove• Online Video Production Tools
To Enable Small Operations To Distribute And Monetize Video Content Online.
– Believe low cost digital production and distribution will allow internet TV to thrive with audiences as small as 100,000.
• Starting A Network That Will Sell 30 Second Video Ads In Front of The Video.
• Transcoding To Windows Media Center.
• Leveraging Open Standards DRM To Monetize Content.
• Founder: Former CTO of Macromedia.
[Brightcove] has developed a platform to allow commercial video publishers of all sizes to distribute their video content over the Internet. Smaller publishers can use a self-service interface, while larger ones have access to more advanced tools used by traditional broadcasters. ... Publishers will be able to monetize their content either by selling and serving their own ads, by running ads from Brightcove's ad network, or by selling their content for purchase or subscription.
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VideoEgg
• Akamai-hosted, automatically posts video captures from variety of sources to an existing blog
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BlinkxTV.com
• Video Search via Close-Captioned Text• Save Sequences of Clips from Results• Voice Recognition Technology Tests• Watch Search Results in Sequence• Personalized Video Channels and Blogs• Partnership with iFilm
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Lycos.com
• Embarking on a three year strategy to position lycos as the internet hub for consumer created content.
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ManiaTV
• IPTV With 24 Hour CyberJockey’s Targeting The Youth Market.
• Search Partnership With Blinkx.
• Funding: $12 Million, Series B.
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YouTube
• Upload, Tag, And Share Your Videos.
• Channels
• Invite Friends.
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Blip.TV
• Share And Watch Video For Free.• Turns Your Existing Blog Into A Video Blog, Video
Aggregator Ready.• Free yourname.blip.tv• Optional Automated Uploading to archive.org• Creative Commons Licensing.
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Veoh Networks
• Veoh.com• Downloadable Software That Creates “Virtual
Television Network” Through P2P Software Distribution.
• Advertising And Commission sales Business Models.• Development Team From Akonix.• Series A Funding From Shelter Capital.
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Current.TV
• Al Gore’s Interactive Cable TV Channel.
• Viewers Can Eadit and Upload Digital Video To The Current Web Site.– The most popular
content is broadcast over the cable TV Channel.
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Kizash
• Content Submission And Management Platform.• Frontsteps.com Is The Flagship Portal In The
Kizash Network.• Parent is Intellidreams.com.
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Grouper
• Share Personal Media With Your Friends.• Similar to YouTube, but uses Windows Media
instead of Flash embed• Executive Team All Former Spinner/AOL
Employees.
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Audioblog.com
• Audio, Video, and Podcast Publishing Service.• Obtained Funding From Transcosmos Investments To
Expand In Japan, Korea, and China.• Technology Partnership With J-Stream Tokyp A Media
Infrastructure Provider.
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Mefeedia
• Video Aggregator
• Currently Free But Planning “Pro” Premium Services.
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• IPTV
• Launched “NewsViewz”
ChannelBlast
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www.omn.org• “PBS For The Internet”.• Kontiki P2P/Grid As An Alternative
To BitTorrent.– Trickle download to email inbox.– Uses Microsoft DRM that disables
the files after a week• Features Include:
– TiVo functionality, DVR integration is planned.
– Downloadable Program Guide, User Reviews, Parental Guidance Ratings
– Syncs With iPod, WMP, and Tivo; developing cell phone, TV, and DVR support.
• Corporate Accounts– Allows Ernst &Young to show full
screen, high resolution videos on their Intranets.
• Founder Is A Netscape Veteren.– Marc Andreesson is on the
Advisory Board.
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Ourmedia
• Non-Profit– Open source project, built and staffed by volunteers.
• Grassroots Media– Free storage and bandwidth for your videos, audio files,
photos, text, or software.
• 24,000 Members Have Joined So Far.– Believe online communities will begin to from around
shared interests.
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ParticipatoryCulture.org• DTV Open Source IPTV.
– Download plug-in.– Create your own channel.– Channel Guide– News and Updates.
• Broadcast Machine– Software plug-in for websites that
allows you to publish video files and create IPTV channels.
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Streamload• Streamload.com• Send, Receive,
Store, and Access Large Media Files.
• Downloadable Software.
• $9.95 a Month
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Revver• Revver
– Inserts RevTags in video
– Allows you to monetize video when people click on the ads