According to David Eun, Google’s vice president for Content Partnerships, video has a different look and feel for his company than for traditional broadcasters. “As we think about video in 2007, we see a clip-driven culture,” Eun said.
Eun delivered the keynote address for a Tuesday NAB2007 Super Session entitled, “The Revolutionizing Impact of Broadband.” The event, sponsored by Level3 Communications, brought together Eun and a panel of broadband-linked industry executives who described the ever-shifting landscape of content distribution.
The inclusion of video content in the Google search suite, according to Eun, was in line with the company’s stated mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. ... [Google’s mission] is really at the core of everything we do,” Eun said. “We want to think beyond the Web page, and go to other types of information.”
For Eun, “other types of information” means video.
DISTINCTIONS
He drew distinctions between Google’s two video offerings — Google Video-accessible content, impartially indexed across content types and formats, and the content uploaded to YouTube, intended to be shared among users as a means of interaction.
Calling them “parallel but complementary paths,” Eun suggested that there was great value to Google, its users and partners in tracking both modes of delivery.
“We want Google to partner with content owners,” Eun said, offering a nod to his NAB2007 audience, presumably consisting of content owners such as local broadcasters. He described several partner relationships in which proprietary branding is applied to a YouTube player, offering a unique identity. “We want to let content owners create channels,” Eun said.
But in this open, public space, according to Eun, viewers’ true feelings tend to matter more than the hype that may surround content. “It’s not about channel positioning,” he said. “It’s about what the community thinks of your content.”
Eun also sought to assuage broadcasters’ fears about the unlicensed use of copyrighted material. As an example, he described an automated “notification and takedown” mechanism used at YouTube to proactively detect copyright infringement, notify the offending party and summarily remove the content.
But for Eun, Google’s mission of making information accessible and usable is in no way incompatible with the monetization of content owners’ assets. “We see ourselves as a conduit, connecting advertisers with audiences worldwide,” Eun said.
“We help them to find each other in an information-driven way, with metrics and data.” With this focus on collecting and reporting viewing habits, Google recently announced what is termed an “early trial” of Google TV Ads, a service intended to deliver data on the frequency and demographic distribution of spot playouts.
Eun stressed that Google’s ability to serve its core constituency relied heavily on having content its users are searching for. “When our content partners do well, we do well,” he said.
BROADBAND FOR BROADCASTERS
Broadband Directions President Will Richmond then chaired a panel discussion among industry executives whose responsibilities all relate to content delivery via broadband channels. Under Richmond’s guidance, the panel explored the complex task of managing and finessing the multiple venues used today to reach audiences.
WorldNow President Gary Gannaway cited his company’s high volume of locally originated streams as evidence of continued opportunity for local broadcasters. “All the video streams we have are local,” Gannaway said. “On the revenue side, that’s the exciting part [for local stations]. Local TV kicks butt!”
Shawn Gold, chief marketing officer for MySpace, acknowledged his firm’s role in the content revolution. “If MySpace has done anything well, it has combined community with content.” The theme of community-building resonated with all the panelists, some of whom noted that local broadcasters built and nurtured community long before the Internet was a dominant force. According to Blake Krikorian, CEO of Sling Media, the challenge in aggregating content is to “ overlay social elements to make it a more engaging experience.”
Several panelists described a two-way synergy between broadband delivery and more traditional media. George Kliavkoff, NBC Universal’s chief digital officer, offered encouragement to broadcasters: “The studies have shown that watching network shows on the Internet doesn’t cannibalize ratings — it drives ratings,” he said.
Still, vertical, single-source content delivery sites represent missed opportunity, according to Daniel Scheinman, who heads the Cisco Media Solutions Group. “This is the golden age of the aggregator,” Scheinman said. “It’s a new type of content, shorter form, but there’s more of it.”
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