While the TV networks are struggling to figure out a business model for distributing television online, a small company called Revision3 is actually doing it (disclosure: revision3 has been a client of my employer). They produce a whole bunch of shows, and the quality varies, but there are a few gems.
Their best show, by far, is a weekly movie/tv/game/comics review show called The Totally Rad Show. The show consists of three guys who stand in front of a green-screen and talk about the latest movies, tv shows, video games, and comics. This doesn’t sound great, but it is.
What makes this show so enjoyable is that the three hosts clearly love the stuff they are talking about. They grew up with movies, tv, and games - this is their culture. They are so enthusiastic that it’s contagious. It’s almost enough to make me care about comic books (but not quite).
This type of passion, even about something as trivial as movies and tv, stands out from the drivel of cable/network TV we’ve grown accustomed to. Most “entertainment” news consists of celebrity gossip and sixth-grade-book-report style movie reviews (plot summary != review). These guys watch the movies, watch the shows, play the games, and actually tell us how they feel about it. They are excited when they find something great, and disappointed when find a dud.
These guys talk about video games with more interest and sincerity than a typical cable-news anchor talking about a school shooting. Perhaps the formula for online video has more to do with making something you care about than distribution and subscription models.
Comments
Charlesp - January 26, 2008 4:50 pm
I completely agree, as much as I love me some Diggnation, TRS is the only show I could see myself actually watching on a "real" television.
(begin comic nerd rant)
On a side note, you'd be surprised with what you're missing in some comic books. Admittedly a good 95% of them are boobs and muscles - but there have been some things that have come out (recently and otherwise) that would completely surprise you in terms of content and sheer awesome-ness (with a little maturity thrown in).
(end comic nerd rant)
Tommy - February 5, 2008 3:51 pm
I think I got into the podcasting thing close to the beginning. I loved I could get content I wanted and listen to it when I wanted. And by content I mean very specific content. Not just a show on technology, but on the exact application I was trying to learn/master. From a mass media/TV POV creating a show on how to learn Dreamweaver just doesn't work. The audience is too small.
Now with that said, I read this post from you a few days ago and then saw this data from eMarketer about podcasting's growth in users and also advertising dollars. As a marketing guy it stuns me the numbers are this small. I've spent 20+ years working at b2b ad agencies on accounts like Lucent, HP, Peoplesoft, Unisys, and EDS. The market for a Unisys 5ES server is in the thousands of people, not millions. So the media where we promote the product I can almost count on my fingers and toes.
Podcasts change (or at least they should) this. If I have a new comic where do I promote it? An ad on G4's Attack of the Show or the Totally Rad Show? I think that is a pretty easy decision and I don't even have the demographics of each in front of me.
I mean for years we've heard "narrow casting" was how the Internet would allow firms to garner advertising dollars. I Think Revision3 gives all publishers the business model. High production quality with talent that has experience and knowledge about what they are talking about.
I mean think about it (I am). If a publisher could create shows like this that target a very specific market, maybe only thousands of folks, wouldn't that be a place to advertise. I am kind of all over the place here, but I hope you get what I am saying.
BTW: I love your Acts of Volition Radio shows.
Tommy - February 5, 2008 3:52 pm
I think I got into the podcasting thing close to the beginning. I loved I could get content I wanted and listen to it when I wanted. And by content I mean very specific content. Not just a show on technology, but on the exact application I was trying to learn/master. From a mass media/TV POV creating a show on how to learn Dreamweaver just doesn't work. The audience is too small.
Now with that said, I read this post from you a few days ago and then saw this data from eMarketer about podcasting's growth in users and also advertising dollars. As a marketing guy it stuns me the numbers are this small. I've spent 20+ years working at b2b ad agencies on accounts like Lucent, HP, Peoplesoft, Unisys, and EDS. The market for a Unisys 5ES server is in the thousands of people, not millions. So the media where we promote the product I can almost count on my fingers and toes.
Podcasts change (or at least they should) this. If I have a new comic where do I promote it? An ad on G4's Attack of the Show or the Totally Rad Show? I think that is a pretty easy decision and I don't even have the demographics of each in front of me.
I mean for years we've heard "narrow casting" was how the Internet would allow firms to garner advertising dollars. I Think Revision3 gives all publishers the business model. High production quality with talent that has experience and knowledge about what they are talking about.
I mean think about it (I am). If a publisher could create shows like this that target a very specific market, maybe only thousands of folks, wouldn't that be a place to advertise. I am kind of all over the place here, but I hope you get what I am saying.
BTW: I love your Acts of Volition Radio shows.
Dan Jensen - April 13, 2008 7:33 am
I think Revision has got it going on, the only place on the net that I have yet to have issues waiting for video to cache. Perhaps this will change as they get more popular, but for now, I've been enjoying it everyday. I wonder if they will have an option to switch ti audio only - sometimes I switch windows to work and keep the video going in another, I'd love to save the bandwidth with an audio only option!