This is exactly what I mean when I say “In the aggregation game, the only people who win are the aggregators.” Revver is announcing that it has now paid more than $1 million to people who have posted their videos on its site since last September. (PDF here.) Indeed, there are a few big winners, as the Long Tail would predict - the Diet Coke and Mentos guys grossed $50,000. But the million bucks (paid as a 50-50 split, along with a few other considerations) is spread out over 25,000 people - that’s an average of $40 per person. More than you’ll make from YouTube, yes, but just keep in mind that what you’re really doing is making money for Revver. The company is the only part of the equation that can reap significant cash.
For one week, the Project for Excellence in Journalism compared the news agenda of established media news sites with user news sites Digg, Del.icio.us and Reddit. The PEJ also looked at Yahoo News’ most viewed, most emailed and most recommended categories. The results? Stories on the user sites were “markedly different” than mainstream press with barely any overlap. Seven out of ten stories originated from blogs or other sites like YouTube that did not focus on the news. User sites were “more diverse, yet also more fragmented and transitory.” Which leads PEJ to the conclusion, “These user sites may be supplemental for audiences. They may gravitate to them in addition to, rather than instead of, traditional venues.” In my experience, that’s more often the case — with the exception of young men, perhaps.
And many online newsies will not be surprised by the Yahoo News analysis, which mirrors most news sites: “Most Recommended stories focused more on ‘news you can use’ such as advice from the World Health Organization to exercise one’s legs during long flights; the Most Viewed stories were often breaking news, more sensational in nature, with a heavy dose of crime and celebrity; and the Most Emailed stories were more diverse, with a mix of the practical and the oddball.”
An impressive new offering from washingtonpost.com offers an aggregation of news stories on the presidential campaigns. The site is linking to news coverage on many websites, including those of competition. I even noticed some TV stations linked to, including my employer’s Boston station, WCVB. The most notable feature of the tracker is the ability for sites to embed a widget on their own sites. You can see an example of this below. Sites dedicated to a particular candidate can even embed the widget with a focus on their favorite politician. More companies should be looking at how you syndicate your content to other sites. It gives your content a much larger reach, and on sites that allow you to place ads, it expands your own ad network.
TitanTV is most known for its online program guides that local TV stations use on their websites. Now TitanTV wants to get into the crowded video player field and is using it’s connection with the stations to make that happen. The video player beta is not flashy, but it gets the job done. One of the technologies in the player has lead syndicated show “Jury Duty” to select the TitanTV player to help it stream the show. Syndicated programs have always been challenged to adapt to the Web since the shows make money from their market exclusive rights that stations pay big bucks to own. If the show is streamed on the Internet for free, their business model is at risk.
