Category: New Media

Blip.TV vs. YouTube

I’ve been experimenting a bit with Blip.TV over the weekend. At first blush it seems to have some significant benefits as compared to YouTube.

Unlike YouTube, Blip.TV doesn’t have its own graphic identity or “bug” inserted into your video when you link to it from your blog. For example, here’s how the video I produced from the Austin, Minn. girls basketball team’s win over Rochester Mayo Friday night appears in YouTube:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiN2dTq_EB4]

For organizations that may not want to be tied with the YouTube brand, that little “bug” in the lower right corner may be less than desirable.

I do want to stress, as I have earlier, that YouTube is ridiculously easy to use and has a great interface. For individuals who want to just share their fun and quirky video, it’s a great place for self-expression. And CBS has found it a worthwhile place to post clips, and that it has increased broadcast viewership for featured programs.

Clearly the potential traffic that can come to clips from being on YouTube, with its huge daily traffic, also is an advantage, although a file I recently uploaded to both services has gotten more views on Blip.TV. Maybe the larger volume of available clips on YouTube means those on Blip.TV get more exposure because the field isn’t as crowded.

Blip.TV, on the other hand, lets clip owners maintain all of their ownership rights, and share 50/50 in any advertising revenue. It also seems to have lots of options for posting video in different formats. The progress bar on uploads also is more helpful than what you see in YouTube. YouTube never lets you know how much longer the upload will take, until it suddenly is completed.

Blip.TV seems a lot more complicated than YouTube. That’s probably as it should be. If your main goal is to quickly and easily get your video to the web to share it, YouTube is easier (although uploading through Blip.TV is just a one-screen simple entry.) For people who want to clearly and unambiguously retain rights in their video creations, the added complexity of more options will likely be worth it.

As I said, I need to explore some more with Blip.TV to better understand its power and how it works. One good place for more info is the company’s blog.

For example, I haven’t yet figured out how to incorporate Blip.TV videos directly within this WordPress.com blog. The best I can do right now is link to it. You need to click to see it instead of it being an in-line graphic. I do like the higher quality of the QuickTime, though.

I just remembered that Jeff Jarvis did a post a while ago comparing various on-line video services. It seems his observations are similar to mine, that Blip.TV has respectable traffic and better quality, but YouTube is really easy. He also reviewed some other services that I haven’t yet tried.

TechnoratiTechnorati: , , ,

Dr. Brent Bauer on Complementary Medicine

Brent Bauer, M.D. is Director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine progam at Mayo Clinic, and is an expert at sorting out what has been scientifically established about various herbal supplements, vitamins and other complementary medicine alternatives.

Dr. Bauer is the medical editor for a new Mayo Clinic book on this topic, which will be coming out soon. Below is a sample news story we did for our content task force earlier this year, to show what kind of stories we might be able to produce on a quick turnaround with a miniDV camera. Dr. Bauer is an excellent resource for news stories about complementary medicine, and the book will be a good resource for consumers who want to know which supplements have scientifically proven benefits, and which ones may have interactions with medications.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmDvp_-3zJo]

TechnoratiTechnorati: , , , ,

67 Billion Reasons

Wired magazine has an outstanding feature on why Google spent $1.65 billion to buy YouTube, explaining that with a broken TV advertising model (shrinking audiences of people who skip the commercials with their TiVos) but still nets $67 billion a year in revenue, the YouTube price for a place where millions of people gather to watch “Monkeyvision” doesn’t seem such a huge price. The trick will be figuring out a way to incorporate advertising without killing what people love about YouTube.

The videos highlighted by Bob Garfield on the first page of the story (especially the Ball State University sportscaster and the Evolution of Dance) are worth the price of admission all by themselves. Actually, that’s part of the problem for on-line video so far. There isn’t any price of admission. The only price is the time it takes to watch. And as my former boss used to say, there is unlimited demand for free stuff.

The main point of Garfield’s story is that TV isn’t just threatened; the decline is inevitable. The only question is what will replace it and how its owners will find a way to make it profitable.

TechnoratiTechnorati: , , ,

The Long Tail: Turkey Edition

If you came here for my family Thankgiving/Christmas letter, just click here to go straight to it. Otherwise, taking a few minutes to read this post and watch the video below will put a smile on your face…and at the end you can scroll or click to our holiday greetings.

In keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, and on a much less serious note but one that is more in keeping with the general subject matter of this blog, here’s a blast from my teenage years made possible by YouTube:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZByndN_ffyw]

I also recommend that you bookmark the Viral Video Chart, where Mr. Carlson’s ill-fated promotional stunt is currently at number five on the top 20 chart. I guess that makes it something of a hit, which means right now it is not in the Long Tail, but it’s an example of how the Long Tail works.

The Long Tail essentially depends on inventory cost approaching zero, distribution cost approaching zero, and a mechanism for people to find what interests them. Search engines obviously help enormously to make this possible, but sites like the Viral Video Chart help drive items toward the head. I’ve added it to my blogroll, too, for easy reference. As of this writing, Thanksgiving Turkey Drop has had 103,301 views through YouTube.

WKRP in Cincinnati was one of my all-time favorite shows. Les Nessman, winner of multiple Silver Sow Awards for agriculture reporting, and is unforgettable for his masking tape office walls. Herb Tarlek was the archetypical sleazy salesman, complete with red blazers and plaid pants. From what I understand, WKRP can’t be syndicated because the rights to the music spun (yes, that’s what they did back then) on turntables by Venus Flytrap and Dr. Johnny Fever would be too expensive. That’s a pity; my kids have missed a really fun, mostly clean show.

As the popularity of this episode as a viral video shows, maybe it would make more sense for the music companies to just let WKRP be syndicated without exhorbitant music licensing fees. Then people would hear snippets of the songs, have their memories triggered, and go to the iTunes store and buy them. Maybe the iTunes purchases wouldn’t be huge, but I would think there would be some…particularly if WKRP got lots of local affiliates.

I’m just thankful to be able to see this music-free snippet on YouTube. Thanks also to Jeff Jarvis for putting it in his feed. It doesn’t crack my personal Top 10 Reasons I’m Thankful, but it has brightened my Saturday morning.

TechnoratiTechnorati: , , , ,

CBS, YouTube and Affiliates

Lost Remote has a post in which it examines concerns from CBS affiliates that the network, by posting programming to YouTube, is putting them at an unfair disadvantage…because they are prohibited from posting clips from, say, Latenight with David Letterman, until 24 hours after they run.

But if the clips are on YouTube, anyone can stream them from their site. Even me.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryTnUijXW0Q]

Maybe the affiliates don’t want the YouTube bug on their sites, but if I can put this clip on my blog in 5 minutes or less, certainly the affiliates could. And, as CBS has found, placing clips on YouTube has raised the broadcast ratings…which will be a benefit to the local affiliates.

So, CBS affiliates, why not take advantage of the situation, and post YouTube clips on your station web site, instead of complaining that you’re being bypassed again?

TechnoratiTechnorati: , , , ,