YouTube to Offer Users 'Insight'

Google has introduced a new, free tool to YouTube that will provide
those who post video clips on the mega-popular site--whether they are
semiprofessionals or media conglomerates--with deeper insights into
when, where and how often their video clips are viewed.

Using YouTube Insight, publishers are able to analyze the viewing
patterns or individual videos far more thoroughly than in the past,
when only total views and users ratings were available. For example,
with the new tool, any content producer who posts videos on YouTube
can examine what days of the week or hours of the day traffic spikes,
what U.S. states account for the most streaming and how long
particular clips remain popular.

Theoretically, content publishers can use the tool to determine
programming strategies. Advertisers can use it to test the popularity
of several different ads in different parts of the country. Media
planners could use it gauge when and where their best spending
opportunities lie.

"Effectively, we've become the world's largest focus group," said
YouTube product manager Tracey Chan. "There are so many use cases.
This really enables programmers and marketers to optimize their
presence on YouTube."

One use case that is not available up front is a measure of total
audience reach for an individual video – something that many in the
burgeoning online video space have been clamoring for, but something
that is not available upfront in YouTube Insight. However, Chan said
that several innovations to the new tool are already in the works.

It's even possible that YouTube Insight could be used to measure video
traffic on other sites – something that is mostly Nielsen or
comScore's domain at the moment. "If there is a strong desire, there
is the ability to take it to other platforms," he said. "We're really
open."

Alternative Flash Servers Follow H.264 Path

Last week Wowza introduced live H.264 capability in a preview version
of Wowza Media Server Pro; Red5 promises live H.264 to come in an
upcoming release of Red5 Server.

"As the popularity of Flash player video delivery increases, fueled by
Adobe's support for the H.264 video codec and the release of the Flash
Media Server 3 family of streaming servers, two alternative servers
that have also been growing in popularity continue to add features to
keep pace.

One of those alternatives, the Wowza Media Server Pro, staked a claim
last week as the first Flash media server to support live H.264
encoding using, as Wowza puts it, "readily available H.264 encoders
that support standard RTP/RTSP protocol." While the server won't be
available for final release until April, the preview version has
already begun to create interest. The Wowza Media Server Pro 1.5.0
preview release is available for download from the company's website
and, according to the company's press release, has been tested for
interoperability with Apple QuickTime Broadcaster, Vara Software
Wirecast, and HaiVision SD and HD hai1000 series network video system.
The last encoder mentioned, from HaiVision, is a high-definition H2.64
encoder, which means that Wowza also has provided a path to live HD
H.264 streaming.

Not to be outdone, the team at Red5, makers of the Red5
Server--another alternative Flash server--have also announced their
intentions to put H.264 into their product.

"Red5, or more specifically, our team member Paul Gregoire, is
working on the h.264 support," said Chris Allen in a February 14 post
on FlashComGuru. "We are releasing Red5 0.7 today or tomorrow, and the
h.264 stuff will follow soon thereafter in 0.7.1."

One of the reasons that alternative Flash servers have found a
footing was Adobe's previous pricing policy for Flash Media Servers.
Along the way, though, these alternative servers began to add features
that appealed to certain content delivery networks and broadcasters.
So, while the pricing on the Flash Media Streaming Server has fallen
to the same price as the Wowza Media Server Pro ($995) the market for
alternative servers has not completely disappeared.

Video Search News Conference

There is an upcoming conference I'd recommend you to check: they have lined up great panels, great speakers and great topics! Check it out, it's on April 7-9 in San Francisco.

Click here: VideoSearchNews.com

Should television and Internet ratings for shows be combined?

From Venture Beat:

With more content making its way from the small screen to your computer screen, it was only a matter of time before television executives realized the number of viewers watching a show on the Internet is probably important too.

At the OMMA Global conference in Hollywood yesterday, CBS Interactive's vice president and chief marketing officer, Patrick Keane, suggested that perhaps shows should combine television and Internet ratings, reports Online Media Daily.

The case Keane cited was CBS's show "Jericho," which was once — and still is — near cancellation. The show's 4.2 rating (meaning 4.2 percent of homes with televisions in the U.S. were tuned in) is hardly stellar. However, when factoring in the audience watching it online, the rating jumps almost a full point to 5.1. This difference can literally make or break a show.

Another example is NBC's hit show "The Office." That show was not always a hit and was, in fact, teetering on cancellation when NBC saw an explosion in popularity via Apple's iTunes store. That audience has since helped the show translate into a blockbuster on the network as well.

A combination rating would seem to make sense on the surface, but monetization remains somewhat of an issue for online programming — and a show's life or death naturally boils down to money. iTunes offers direct revenues to networks, but NBC backed away because it felt it was getting a raw deal (somewhat ironic given the above-mentioned salvation of "The Office" via iTunes).

For streaming video, newer services such as Hulu offer a nice online experience with advertisements that are not too intrusive, but the jury is still out on whether it will succeed or not.

Going the other way, a show that originated online, "Quarterlife," was not able to translate its online success into viewership on a network. The show was yanked after just one airing on NBC last month.

Video company Clearleap raises $9 million from Trinity Ventures and Noro-Moseley Partners

Video technology company Clearleap claims it is expanding viewer
options for "what's on TV." The details are vague as the company
appears to be in stealth mode, but it says it is working a new model
for bringing the near-infinite range of online video content to
television.

The Atlanta, Georgia company has raised $9 million in a round led by
Trinity Ventures and Noro-Moseley Partners. There's also a regional
digital media angle here. Atlanta is also home to Noro-Moseley, which
invests in companies based in the South — and to Turner, the large
cable television arm of Time Warner. Notably, individual investor Jim
Chiddix also invested: He's a former chief technology officer at Time
Warner Cable (a different cable division of the Time Warner
conglomerate). So did individual investor Sig Mosley, who's the the
president of Atlanta-based investment firm Imlay Investements.

The company itself boasts a number of founders with experience
building video technology.