2008: The Birth of Online TV - Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1:  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CHAPTER 2:  WHAT THE REPORT COVERS

Criteria for including studios and production companies

Criteria for including shows

Industry experts interviewed

• Marc Campbell – Independent Comedy Network
• Brad Curtis – Science + Fiction
• Geoff Goodwin – BBC Switch
• Kathleen Grace – Dinosaur Diorama Productions
• Garrett Law – Attention Span Media

About the authors

CHAPTER 3:  WHY ONLINE TV IS BOOMING

The new Internet video environment

• Ubiquitous broadband
• Tables: US demographics of Internet users visiting video-sharing sites
• Falling television viewing
• Table: Internet access reducing television viewing globally
• Audience aggregators – YouTube, MySpace, Bebo
• Internet TV platforms
• Video search engines
• New funding, revenue and advertising opportunities
• Plunging production costs

The new production and funding environment

• From independent filmmaking to online television
• The Hollywood writers’ strike – the catalyst for online television?

The new producers behind the boom

• Studios 2.0
• Independent production companies
• Talent-led production
• New entrants
• Talent agencies

CHAPTER 4:  HOW DOES ONLINE TV MAKE MONEY?

Funding for studios

Revenue for shows

Advertising and sponsorship

• Ad-supported
• Branded entertainment
• Product placement
• Sponsorship deal after start of production
• Table: Sponsorship fees and revenues

Commissions

• Broadcaster commission – online-only
• Broadcaster commission – online and TV
• Broadcaster commission after online launch
• New studio commissions
• Social networking site commission

Other revenue

• Destination site
• DVD and download sales and rentals
• Format sales for online shows
• International distribution
• Social networking site direct payment

CHAPTER 5:  PRODUCTION IN ACTION

Budgets

• More for the money
• Can established producers produce to low budgets?
• Budget inflation
• Table: Estimated studio budgets for 2008
• Table: Total show budgets per season
• Table: Per-minute show budgets
• Profitability

Production: show and season lengths

• Very short forms vs narrative
• Table: Episode running times
• How many episodes?
• Total running time
• How many seasons?

Production: interactivity

• Interactivity within shows – Signs of Life
• Interactivity from the viewers – In The Motherhood, Where Are The Joneses?
• Interactivity from the community – KateModern
• Community interactivity – safety net or straitjacket?

CHAPTER 6:  FINDING AND BUILDING THE AUDIENCE

Distribution

• Own site vs third-party sites
• Distribution deals
• Table: Types of third-party distributors and revenue
• What windows are emerging?
• What is the shelf life of an online show?

Marketing and promotion

• A continuing role for offline promotion
• The big bang launch – promotion via broadcast television
• The slow burn promotion
• Preparing to go viral – but avoiding the “viral fallacy”

Online and television – competing or co-operating?

• From online to television
• Co-ordinating online with television

What about copyright?

CHAPTER 7:  HOW TO EVALUATE SUCCESS?

Creative criteria

Commercial criteria

Recommissions – proven success

Engagement criteria

Evaluating popularity

Video viewing statistics

Table: Self-declared show viewing figures

Public statistics

Limitations of viewing figures

Social networking and online buzz

CHAPTER 8:  PREDICTIONS

Shows and production

• Different drama formats are emerging
• Rise of the online soap
• Global breakout hits
• More simultaneous production for online and television
• More reality television drives viewers online for scripted shows

Funding

• Branded entertainment is the best funding model
• More productions with high budgets
• Funding is moving from broadcast television to online

Distribution and promotion

• Networks begin piloting online for television
• Producers start more online shows that transfer to television
• Widgets – new distribution opportunities, but also new gatekeepers?
• More sophisticated promotion for shows

Studios and producers

• Increasingly innovative production companies
• Increasingly innovative joint-ventures
• Growth challenges for studios
• Mainstream media will buy start-ups

APPENDIX I: EXPERT INTERVIEWS

• Marc Campbell – Independent Comedy Network
• Brad Curtis – In the Motherhood
• Geoff Goodwin – Wannabes and Signs of Life
• Kathleen Grace – The Burg
• Garrett Law – Dorm Life

APPENDIX II: SHOW PROFILES

• The Burg
• Clark and Michael
• Crescent Heights
• Dorm Life
• Dubplate Drama
• In The Motherhood
• It’s a Mall World
• Prom Queen
• Quarterlife
• Where Are The Joneses?

APPENDIX III: NEW SHOWS IN 2008

• The All-For-Nots – Dinosaur Diorama Productions and Vuguru
• Buzzed – Endemol for Metacafe
• California Inc – by Kush.tv
• Foreign Body – Vuguru
• The Gap Year – Endemol for Bebo
• The Gym – Hub TV for ITV
• Sofia’s Diary – SPTI for Bebo
• Upstaged – Endemol for the BBC

APPENDIX IV: NEW STUDIO AND PRODUCTION COMPANY PROFILES

Studio or production company?

New studio profiles

• 60Frames
• DECA
• Independent Comedy Network
• Jackson Bites

Production company profiles

• Attention Span Media
• Bedford Falls
• BermanBraun
• Big Fantastic
• Dinosaur Diorama Productions
• For Your Imagination
• Funny or Die
• Founders Media Group
• Go Go Luckey
• GoTV Networks
• Hollywood Disrupted
• Imagination
• Iron Sink Media
• LG15 Studios
• Mint Digital
• NextNewNetworks
• Revision 3
• Science + Fiction
• Virtual Artists
• Vuguru
• Worldwide Biggies

2008: The Birth of Online TV
About | Sample Pages | Price and Delivery