Even Prostitutes Get Paid

Last week, Gary Vaynerchuk told the audience at SocComm that FOX, CNN, The New York Times, etc., were all "dead" because any one of us can use the internet to become a media mogul tomorrow, without anyone's help.

I disagree.

Not because I think FOX, etc., are thriving right now, but because I don't believe the problem is a matter of content control. It's a matter of distribution and awareness, and those are two areas where the multinational corporations have such a head start over the little guy that it isn't funny. (And I won't even get into the trust gap between well-funded, well-researched news sources and a guy with a blog in the middle of nowhere.)

So what's an independent media creator to do?

For starters, here's one way social media can start to level the playing field between "us" and "them":

Stop Putting Your Videos Everywhere That Videos Can Possibly Go

Quick - where's the best place to find web video? YouTube? Veoh? Blip? Vimeo? Viddler? No matter your answer, you're still right, and here's why: because they all show the exact same thing.

Imagine if traditional TV were to suddenly adopt that model, in which you could watch CSI: Miami on any channel, at any time of the day, in multiple formats and resolutions. Well, that's great... but why would we need 500+ channels?

We wouldn't. And we don't need 50+ video distribution channels, which continually pollute the already-impossible-to-navigate web video world with ever-more duplicated content.

Divided, We Stand

TV stays alive because each channel has a stable of shows that can't be seen anywhere else (until they hit syndication). Web TV hasn't made that connection yet because it doesn't believe in its own quality or validity. It's so desperate to be seen, it's willing to give itself away for free across dozens of websites, and then it complains privately that it isn't making any money or being taken seriously.

Here's a hint: if people can get you for free anytime, any place, they'll never consider paying for you at your own convenience.

Someday in the very near future, Blip TV (or one of their competitors) will step up and tell their top 20 shows, "Hey, here's some money. Keep producing one new show a week for the next year -- and DON'T cross-post anyplace else (besides your own homepage) -- and we'll take care of the rest." Then we'll finally see Web TV reach a valid adolescence, where audiences will pay for ease of reliable access to quality content, and show creators will begin to earn what they're worth.

Until then, if you want to see quality web video, just spin the Google bottle because the kisses are all the same -- free, wet and desperate.

Image by slowburn.

Big Noise, White Noise

Two interesting news bits made their way across my sphere of awareness today.

Blip'd

On twitter, Schlomo Rabinowitz asked Charles Hope from Blip TV what the website "Blipd" was. I noticed the message and went clicking around myself.

Turns out that Blipd is the brainchild of Ty Graham. An easy Google search pulled up this blog post from Startup Booster, in which the specifics of the Blipd concept are discussed.

In a nutshell, Blipd appears to be a patented way to monetize social networks. Graham's ultimate goal is to sell the idea, which he's been sitting on since 2005, to Google for use in YouTube.

Despite the bravado in his claim -- phrases like "It’s stunning how no one has thought of this yet" and "I hold the ultimate key for more tremendous Youtube success" do nothing for the cause of humility -- it could be interesting to see how this all plays out...

... especially since I find it odd that someone would coin a phrase ("blipp'd") to describe something so startlingly similar to the existing Blip TV that he even used the same color scheme on his own site...

Pyro TV

Speaking of borrowing ideas...

Jeff Pulver received a phone call from the folks at Pyro TV today, asking him to promote their site. During the phone call, Pulver noticed that Pyro TV seems to have all the great shows on their homepage -- Ask a Ninja, Rocketboom, Diggnation, even the evening news from ABC and CBS!

When he asked if the gent on the other end of the line had a working relationship with these content creators, he was told that, no, because the RSS feeds are just "out there," he felt they were free for the taking.

I have a sneaking suspicion the Ask a Ninjas and CBSs of the world may beg to differ -- especially because the Pyro TV logo is all over their content...

Onward and upward...