There have been many theories of how to incorporate advertising into online video content. Many people have been against adapting the traditional/old media’s 30-second ad for online content, myself included.
Other theories have been, having a watermark (currently used for many television stations logo), lower 3rd text and pre/post-roll. All of these approaches still having the intrusive approach of the 30-second TV spot.

Videoclix is a tool that will allow the viewer to have more control over the advertising. Using a method referred to as “Hypervideo”. It allows the viewer to click on particular objects within the video and gain further information. For example, you’re watching a James Bond film. You like the Rolex watch he is wearing, so you can click on the watch. A box appears to the side, giving you further information on the product, whilst the video continues to play. If you would like further information, click on the hyperlinks, which will open in a new browser window and pause the video.

From all the online video advertising methods that are currently being used, this is by far the best from a viewer’s point of view. It is less intrusive, incorporates the interactive and hyperlinking that the Internet is known for and allows the viewer to have control. Unfortunately many of these points could be a deterrent for advertisers using it. For an advertiser, traditionally it has been about eyeballs, control and that “In your face” approach.

The effectiveness of this method is yet to be determined. I look forward to seeing this product develop. Currently it is in Beta testing, but I’m sure it won’t be long before we see this product take off.

Related Articles:
Video Clix
http://www.videoclix.tv/

Babak Maghfourian, CEO of VideoClix
http://www.tvweek.com/talking-tv/dealmakers/2007/12/babak_maghfourian_ceo_of_video.php

Two Mp3 players (iPod Nano and the Sandisk Shaker) were put to the test. The devices were securely placed in a paint tin and then placed in a paint mixer to be shaken up and down at about 1000 times a minute.

Although this is testing the devices to the extreme, interestingly they both survived the test. The iPod Nano coming out slightly on top.

First I must take my hat off to the ABC, as finally someone in Australia has done a little more than just dip their toes in the water of online distribution. I’m still questioning why ABC has beaten the 3 commercial networks in doing so.

Although this is a great step forward, there are few issues, which need to be addressed. Currently it is in Beta testing, by willing volunteers. I have unfortunately not been able to use it yet (So ABC, pick me! I am registered). It’s for this reason I will speak about issues others have raised.

The Others
Although this is the first development of this kind in Australia, there are a number of players already for online distribution. Joost, Hulu and BBC’s iPlayer are just a few, all launched in the second half of 2007.

Joost is a video aggregator and includes a number of channels, Comedy Central, Ministry of Sound and Sports Illustrated to name a few. Anyone world wide has access to this service, although in Australia it can run a bit sluggish due to slower broadband speeds.

Hulu is the NBC online distribution player, which has a large library of programs, but is limited to people within the United States. BBC’s iPlayer is also limited to people within the UK and is arguably the model ABC have based their new Playback system on. ABC’s Playback also has a Geo-blocking in place that restricts people outside Australia from viewing the content.

Image Quality
Sam Doust, Creative Director of ABC Innovations, told Richard Fidler (612 ABC Brisbane), the quality is “Pretty Acceptable”. He went on to say the image quality is better on a LCD TV screen than a computer screen. Which is obvious, due to the difference in image resolution and quality between a TV and computer screen.

Considering most people conduct their web browsing on a computer, not on a computer connected to the TV screen. ABC has stated that the high compression is so they are able to provide the best service possible for current Australian Internet standards.

Current Program Selection
The current programs available aren’t that appealing to many people who arguably the target audience, currently using this type of technology (Males 18 – 34), The Bill, At the Movies, How Art Made the World and New Inventors. They do however have Good Game, which could be considered, to be targeted at the male audience.

Expiring Episodes
Now I may have missed read, but I thought it was called ABC CatchUp? If I turn the TV on and see episode 3 of a particular series and think to myself, “That’s a great show, I might go see the previous episodes to catchup.”, I can’t do this as the episodes expire once another one is released. This takes away the possibility of sitting down one day and watching an entire series, but this may have to do with one of the other options on ABC’s Playback, the ABC shop. Why show the audience the entire season, when you can make them buy it on DVD.
My question is, I don’t have to pay for it when I watch it broadcasted on the network, so why should I buy the entire series on DVD? Why am I unable to watch the entire series online?

The Player
One of the biggest issues many people seem to have is the player itself. Unfortunately form has been put before function. The Flash interface has been excessively over used, this having an impact on usability.

Another issue is you can only use the ABC Playback player to view the media. Using other program like iTunes or Miro is currently not an option. Therefore there are no RSS feeds to allow you to get updates of when programs become available.

The player also has a clock on the top right hand side, Why?
Computers have clocks.

I hope that the ABC will take into consideration many of the issues, which people have raised. Ask people not only about ABC Playback, but also about their online media viewing habits.

Good start ABC, but I’m afraid the light at the end of the tunnel is still along way off.

Related Articles:
ABC Playback: so this is the future of television…? Nope!
http://stilgherrian.com/media/abc_playback_impressions/

Playing with ABC Playback.
http://idents.tv/blog/2008/04/08/playing-with-abc-playback/

ABC Playback service leads new digital media strategy
http://informitv.com/articles/2008/03/12/abcplaybackservice/

ABC Playback
http://www.abc.net.au/playback/

Hulu
http://www.hulu.com/

BBC iPlayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

So it seems the final K.O for the DVD format battle has been dealt. Blu-ray has been pronounced format of choice. In an earlier entry “DVD killed the video star”, I spoke about the life of VHS being 30 years prior to DVD overtaking. We now see DVD being replaced after only a 10-year life span.
Are these format wars really worth the hype?
Consumers, mostly in America, now have access to downloadable media through iTunes Store, and in Australia we have sites such as Big Pond.
Is the format of choice really Blu-ray or could it be hard drives?

An article on iLounge “Apple TV 2.0 vs. Blu-Ray, DVD & HD Cable: The Comparison” shows the differences between a number of formats, including Blu-Ray, HD Apple TV, HD Cable, DVD and SD apple TV. The difference in screen image quality is not something I suspect an everyday consumer would be disappointed with.

When we look at the technical side Blu-Ray runs at about 40mbps, Apples HD movies run at 4mbps. When you take this into consideration whilst viewing the image quality you can see that the quality of downloadable video will only get better. The key at the moment is to get the right balance of image and audio quality vs file size. iLounge’s “The Complete Guide to iTunes Movie Rentals, Part 2” article show The Simpsons Movie in HD as being just under 3GB, when purchase from iTunes.

We can see from these figures that online video distribution has a bigger future than the user-generated content we see on YouTube and other video aggregations sites. The technology will only get better day by day. So the question is how long of a life span does Blu-Ray or even HD DVD really have as a video disc format of choice?

Related Articles:
DVD killed the video star
http://mediachemistry.com/?p=26

Apple TV 2.0 vs. Blu-Ray, DVD & HD Cable: The Comparison [updated]
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/apple-tv-20-vs-blu-ray-dvd-hd-cable-the-comparison/

The Complete Guide to iTunes Movie Rentals, Part 2
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-complete-guide-to-itunes-movie-rentals-part-2/

There has been mass discussion about the recent court case that has seen Channel Nine’s Underbelly banned from being broadcast in Victoria. Many articles have mentioned the ease of being able to get access to this series through the Internet along with DVD copies being passed around. 3AW had people calling is to say that they had purchased the entire series for under AU$90. One person being offered the series, whilst stop at a North Melbourne intersection.
 
Although the Internet has given Victorians and in fact anyone in the world illegal access to this TV series, we should look back to 1995 when the ABC was banned for 6 years from broadcasting Blue Murder in New South Wales. Although there was a ban, VHS copies were shipped down from other parts of Australia giving NSW access to the series.

Viewers getting access to a series which isn’t broadcast is not by any means a new thing, Blue Murder is evidence of this. What is clear is that, if viewers don’t have access to the broadcast of a particular TV program, they will find other ways in which to source it.
 
What the Internet does for this process, is speeds it up. We now find that the full series are available prior to being broadcast. This not only affects the Victorian Ban, but also the other states who now have access to the episodes prior to broadcast.
 
Related Articles:
Illegal Underbelly DVDs Firing Up
http://blogs.theage.com.au/entertainment/archives/2008/02/illegal_underbe.html
 
Net to undermine Underbelly ban
http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/net-to-undermine-underbelly-ban/2008/02/12/1202760287024.html
 
Court ruling on Underbelly could cost Nine millions
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23205003-2862,00.html
 
Underground underbelly download
http://alexmalik.blogspot.com/2008/02/underground-underbelly-download.html

Many people continue to think YouTube when it comes to broadcasting their content online. Yes they are arguably one of the originals to increase the usage of video online. But what if you want to take it a bit further, what if you want to have your own channel and be able to mix graphics and multiple video content live or pre recorded all within a web browser.

Mongulus is a site that allows you to broadcast your content 24/7. It can be live footage, pre-recorded or a mixture. You can use multiple cameras, which could be used in a web chat/interview scenario. You can use footage you have shot or search YouTube and integrate footage from the mass available.

The down site I see is this is the same as standard TV we currently have. There are no DVR types functions and therefore I must watch what is being aired at the time I login to the channel. This linear broadcast model is arguably one of these reasons people are moving to the internet for video content. Viewers now want chose and no longer want to watch a linear broadcast, especially on a ”lean forward” medium. The technology has amazing potential especially the studio section. My suggestion is a DVR like technology is integrated into it to give the viewer chose.

Below is a Channel that I set up in under 30 mins.The footage is from YouTube of Mark Pesce at an industry event talking about distribution.

Related Articles:
Mogulus
http://www.mogulus.com/

Well we have seen a huge increase in people viewing consumer-generated content. Channel Ten have decided to do something about, no they aren’t going to add their shows online, their going to bring “the funniest, naughtiest and probably the most disturbing material on the web and deliver it right to your television screen”. Yes it is Funniest Home Videos 2.0.

I began to watch, until the repetitiveness of “Don’t do this at home” was too much, which didn’t take long. I managed to see a few funny videos, which I had already seen online weeks, if not months prior.
There were a few I wanted to see again, so I thought, well this is a show about videos online, surely they will have links to the clips they have aired on their website (I then laughed to myself, as I knew the chance of this would be small). I went to the official Friday Night Live site anyway and there were 3 videos of the host talking, a poll, a how to send your videos, that’s it.

Yes they had decided not to allow the viewers to actually see the videos on the platform they were pulled from.

I feel the show is just taking one platform and attempting to show it on another, which defiantly is not working. As many people have said, if they want to see this content they would turn on their computer. Channel Ten have done little to adapt the show further online. The official site not showing the clips they play on air, not even a link. Overall it’s a step in the wrong direction.

Related Articles:
Official Friday Night Download Site
http://ten.com.au/ten/tv_fnd.html

Ten have recently begun airing ads to promote their HD channel, which will be launched in December. The ad is done very well and showing the differences between standard definition and high definition in a way that everyone can understand. That fact that you will get 4 time the picture quality and instead of stereo sound you will now receive surround sound.
This is all good, but the major key factor they leave out is you need a HD TV and surround sound to benefit form these changes. Anyone with a standard television won’t benefit from this. The first step is for consumers to add a digital receiver to their current television so they can receive the digital signal.

Although I find the ad slightly misleading, I also applaud channel Ten for attempting to promote the HD channel and help to push consumers across to digital television. Who knows if more people cross over they might fix it so I can get a decent digital signal.

Ten will this week speak with OzTAM about providing separate rating information for its analogue and digital channels. It comes just after both Ten and Seven have announced they will begin digital multi-channel broadcast later this year.

Media buyers are still not ready to make the leap in purchasing air-time without the networks backing up their claims with rating information.

Ten are yet to release how advertising will be used on these new channels. Could we see a change from the old 30 sec ad?

With Ten signing with Foxtel and Seven announcing a TiVo deal, I would argue they need to look at smarter ways to use advertising. Both Foxtel IQ and Tivo allow the viewer to get past ads quiet easily, so a change is needed.

Related Articles:
Ten seeks separate ratings for digital TV
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/
0%2C24897%2C22428502-7582%2C00.html

Seven have announced that they are genuinely interested in purchasing the “Big Brother” license over Ten. They have denied the rumor that this is to lift the price that Ten will pay. It is estimated that Ten receive

This could be a way for Seven not only to shift the 18 – 40 demographic from Ten to Seven, but also a way to show off their new fancy tools. “We have the capability with Yahoo, TiVo and Engin to build a fully integrated broadcast model,” Mr Francis said. Having Big Brother would allow Seven to build “interactivity” with its audience, he said: “It brings together Seven’s broadening array of delivery platforms to content.”

Questions are being asked as to which time slot Big Brother could fit into, as the 7pm slot, which Ten used, on Seven is taken by Home and Away.

Could this be a chance for Seven to use there multi-channel broadcasting? Having a channel dedicated to Big Brother 24/7.

Related Articles:
Seven ’serious’ about evicting Ten from Big Brother franchise
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/
0%2C25197%2C22419990-7582%2C00.html