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Interview with Mitch Berman, Co-founder, ZillionTV
Last week I had a chance to catch up with Mitch Berman, co-founder and Executive Chairman of ZillionTV, the early stage online entertainment service. Mitch is a long-time Hollywood veteran and will be speaking at next week's NATPE LATV Fest (VideoNuze readers get a special discount). An edited transcript follows.
VideoNuze: What are the 2-3 key trends in digital media we should be watching?
Mitch Berman: I often talk about the growing role of influence, sharing and reward which are tied to social networking. Reward is both the influence you get with other members of your social circle as well as "points." Another trend is the rise of casual games which are becoming very popular with examples like Farmville. Then I'm also watching the trend toward over-the-top video. Now you have retailers, CE makers, independent over the top players like Roku and others, plus software providers. They're all attacking the traditional video subscription model.
VN: Is the threat of cord-cutting real or imagined?
Categories: Events
Topics: LATV Fest, NATPE, ZillionTV
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Next New Networks Poised to Hit 1 Billion Views Since Inception
In July, independent online video creator Next New Networks will hit 1 billion views since its inception, company CEO Lance Podell me in an interview last week. Next New Networks is now generating 60 million views/mo across its whole network. Lance shared this statistic and more in the following interview, in preparation for NATPE's LATV Fest, scheduled for July 12-15. Lance will appear on a panel titled, "The NEXT new Network: The Intersection of Cable and Web Programming." An excerpted transcript follows.
VideoNuze: Which of your networks are doing the best, and why?
Lance Podell: The biggest are Barely Political and Barely Digital. The primary reason is because we've really tapped the mix of pop culture currency and comedy. A majority of our viewing is on YouTube and the discoverability on YouTube is still around comedy. Comedy is really, really strong.
Also interesting about YouTube is that success is relative. For example, our IndyMogul network which is about movies, but from a different angle at what's hot, is in a different vertical and at 5 million views per month, does very well there. A recent network we launched is HungryNation, which is real food for the YouTube generation has doubled and trebled over the last few months. We give new networks 90-120 days to really take off or not. YouTube and others are working hard to make new content more discoverable which is really important to launching new shows.
VN: There's been recent discussion of online video gaining viewership in primetime. Are your networks gaining in primetime?
LP: Primetime is a thing of the past - it's just not relevant any more. People can watch video-on-demand. Their lives are very different. Our viewership, at 60 million views per month, is the same as some smaller cable TV networks in primetime. So we're getting big enough to compete. Something that is interesting for us is "anytime" viewership. For example, we did some research recently and people said things like, "I come home from work or school and turn on YouTube." It's like they think of YouTube as a network. They tell us they find our humor more real and authentic. They also tell us they don't like being committed for 22 or 44 minutes or more.
Importantly, over the last 2 years web-only programming has become more reliable. Our shows come out at the same time every week. So people are tuning in, not just relying on people sending email links. And because all episodes are available they can really get into it.
Categories: Indie Video
Topics: LATV Fest, Next New Networks
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