Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Why dotTV Rises to The Top of New Extensions; and why selling backup batteries for iPhone trumps all MOBI and TV ideas
Some of you may have seen some of my recent dotExtension debates on Berken's and Silver's blogs.
That led to a meeting with a bright guy that had an opposing viewpoint.
The result was a tour of his dotTV empire and I was more then impressed.
But I also uncovered a "hidden dotTV goldrush" --- flying under the radar-- until now.
Average-Joe and Jane's are building content around dotTV sites and from fixing toilets to making curry or selecting wine, their "how to" broadcasts, leveraging YouTube to drive traffic to their dotTV base camps, are attracting bigger audiences then networks.
To put this all in context, consider the tale of WBZ-TV.
When I grew up in Boston the television branding on VHF Channel 4 was "WBZ-TV 4; an NBC Station."
It was "must see TV".
Then it became a CBS station. It was still "news 4 at 11". But your news was now coming from the station they moved your favorite shows to.
Then comes cable and channel 4 retains its branding but is found on Comcast 46 and Adelphia 247.
Today if you have HDTV, WBZ-TV 4 is broadcast in HD on 446. I can't keep up. If someone says quick turn on "law and order" there's repeats all over the map. No one is on the same page. Plus iTunes, Hulu and more.
The only time WBZ-TV 4 will matter is during a blackout when a battery powered TV with antenna will make or break the experience. With analog TV ending, I'm not sure what the plan is for disaster broadcasting. Yes, I do- it’s the iPhone.
Perhaps that’s why Richard Thalheimer took a small part of his $30 million Sharper Image windfall and bet it on an online start-up selling armories of iPhone battery back-up power. To me that non-domain strategy delivers beyond the best expectations of either DOTmobi or DOTtv investors.
But back to WBZ…. for a second...
But the only reason WBZ-TV4 mattered at all even now- when the brand that doesn't match the address, is because advertisers trust it and they could sell local spots to a large audience built from national programming. And sports.
"Now a word from your local station." "Let's rejoin Cheers on NBC already in progress."
These don't serve the consumer, only the salesmen who can make the time worth more in this context.
But now GEO owners are the local stations.
Just ask my friend Brian Berke at MCB.TV which includes Santa Monica.TV and many others, along with the production experience, content and Hollywood connections to fill them in a way that will be compelling to advertisers.
Today there is another new network- TIVO. You could care less what the times and addresses are because content comes to you-- without the annoying ads.
In the very near future networks will be irrelevant as all of us have TIVO-plus-- when your pc or mobile will become a gateway to any and every type of content, on your terms and schedule. You won't be tuned into Fox waiting for 8PM and American Idol.
You'll type American Idol in your browser and watch it whenever you want, interacting in a variety of ways and sharing the experience the same way I post a clip on my blog.
American Idol won't have to compete in a time slot, or split revenue with syndication because it will live forever on its dot COM plot.
And that's why after years of living without it, of being foxbroadcasting/entertainment/americanidol.com, they bellied up to the bar and acquired americanidol.com. Same with todayshow, ac360 (formerly ac360.blogs.cnn.com) and more. But the difference is that the production company owns it not the network.
As well as a piece of every dollar generated by anyone launched there. They own their future. And that's what dot COM is about.
As producers develop shows, they will skip networks all together and go "direct to domain." This is the day I am hoping for because starting fresh, instead of having to workaround a show name that doesn't match the domain, they can choose a domain, build a show around it and own it.
They already are.
And they are not alone. As we recently covered in our "hidden goldrush" piece, Average-Joe and Jane's are building content around dotTV sites and from fixing toilets to making curry or selecting wine, their "how o" broadcasts, leveraging YouTube to drive traffic to their dotTV base camps, are attracting bigger audiences then networks.
You'll never build an American Idol but you could probably sell American Idol the domain they need in order to invent a stage name giving them total control of their next rising star.
Elliot Silver did a great blog post about a 5-year plan which investing in names for friends or relatives who don't know they need them yet. For example I have a niece that I know will be a big star. Her stage name is already secured.
I know that Ellen DeGeneres probably wishes she had an uncle like me. And it's the Ellens and the music and software players that are the ultimate prospects for domains. Because that's where the money is.
For the same reason that Harrison Ford, Spielberg, Batman and their Oscars can drive $300 million dollar revenue in the blink of an eye. It's why they call it "Marquee Names."
Now imagine the potential when a movie can open on a domain and be accessed by everyone in the world-- projected on his or her Plasmas with a near-real theatre experience.
Why send that traffic to a dot Disney when the production stakeholders can make the most of it all for themselves?
They can develop content and demand as no domainer can.
What they can't do is brand it for success.
And that’s where you and I come in.
Source:
http://fragerfactor.blogspot.com/
Best,
A
