Webseries Viewer Retention is Terrible – Yes, But Why?

Image via CrunchBase

AdAge takes a look at what nearly everyone who has tried to launch a webseries has discovered:

What it [TubeMogul] found is that the series lost 64% of their audiences, on aggregate, from the first to the second episode. The decline becomes less steep from there, but it shows why many series don’t last past the 10th episode; by then there just aren’t many viewers left.

Of course, there are plenty of logical explanations for this syndrome. On obvious one is highlighted at the end of the AdAge post:

Lance Podell, CEO of Next New Networks, said the company categorically doesn’t buy advertising to distribute shows, instead relying on cross-promotion, PR and search optimization to build audiences.

Now, Next New Networks has been doing pretty well, but it would be tough to argue they were doing anything close to TV numbers in terms of consistent viewership.  Without any true advertising it is not hard to understand why so few people have heard of NNN or any of its shows – outside of the tiny circle of New Media webheads like me, of course.

There isn’t a single TV show that could succeed without some traditional marketing and that’s with the built-in kind of reach that TV already provides – not to mention a less “noisy” environment.  Oh, and even with huge marketing budgets many TV shows fail, too.

The idea that one can count on “going viral” and build the kinds of audiences needed to maintain an ongoing series is just plain absurd and ignorant.  That might work, rarely, for a standalone video, but it will never support a series.

There are a slew of other challenges for webseries success beyond marketing.  Only recently have distributors tried out things like releasing a full “season” at once, instead of relying on an audience finding their way back to the series a week or a month after watching a single 2-5 minute video.  This makes a lot of sense, as would a better way to “push” new episodes to interested viewers – such as via an iPhone app…

The one major thing the AdAge article fails to mention is that a vast amjority of new webseries aren’t really that great.   It’s a new form and creators are just getting the combination of experience and support they need to make things that are truly worthy of commitment from a sustained audience.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Affine Systems and TVbytheNumbers.com Launch YouTube Broadcast Statistics Page
• Determining Media Values for Blogs

Data Indicates Women are Pirates, Too

Image via Wikipedia

Probably due to my own prejudices, I have always assumed that men were more likely than women to be downloading pirated materal.

However, according to TorrentFreak, the top two TV shows downloaded last week were “Desperate Housewives” and “Gossip Girl.”  Now it is completely possible that these numbers are due to men who don’t want to admit they watch these shows but I don’t think so.

Instead, I think this indicates that women are quickly becoming just as active in pirating video as men.  More and more, I believe that the generation growing up right now will be the first to demonstrate little gender difference when it comes to the use of technology.

None of this explains why “Prison Break” remains one of the top pirated shows every single week…

Webseries on TV – Breakthrough or Backdoor Ripoff?

Image via Wikipedia

Full disclosure: I produced the webseries MY BEST FRIEND IS MY PENIS for Comedy Central‘s Atom.com.

This original series was produced for the web and Comedy Central paid pretty much what was industry standard for an original webseries (read: not much).  It was known at the time that Comedy Central might air one or all of the episodes on their TV network as well, as part of what they call AtomTV.

On one hand it is nice for a webseries to get that sort of TV exposure.  At the same time, it is going to increasingly become difficult for all of us to distinguish what is a “web” series and what is a “TV” series.  The main difference of importance at the moment is that TV producers are paid a fair amount of money to make shows for TV while web producers make much less.  This is mostly due to the relative revunue each can theoretically generate but when a “web” show is used on a TV series and ads are sold around it the web producer does not get any monetary benefit.

Let’s not even talk about the issues relating to SAG/AFTRA and how union actors can do a small webseries under non-union conditions (for now) but shouldn’t be doing the same if it is going to be on TV, right?

As the notion of what is “online” and what is “on TV” blurs it will be interesting to see what happens to the once standard models used to budget and finance original programming.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Resurrecting the WB as a Web Contender

2009 – The Year of Bowling

Image via Wikipedia

Every year I like to make a few predictions about the year ahead.  The beauty of a blog is I can actually be on record in case any of these things comes true.

So, in that spirit, please let it be known that I believe 2009 will be the Year of Bowling.  I think we are going to see a large rise in the visibility of the sport and a major uptick in youth participation.

I think we will see at least one major TV show that is centered around bowling.  In fact, I would not be surprised if we see both a bowling reality show and a scripted sitcom set, at least in part, at a bowling alley (yes, I remember “Ed” but that was really not about bowling at all).

There you have it, folks.  If anyone is interested in help creating any of these shows, please drop me a line. I’ve got a bunch of ideas…

Children’s Hospital, That Guy and Others Try All-You-Can-Eat Distribution

Let’s face it – it is not easy at all to keep an audience coming back for more.  Even major TV programs, complete with critical acclaim and plenty of marketing, can’t make the cut (I’m looking at you “Pushing Daisies“).

For episodic web shows this can be even harder.  Sure, you loved episode one of that new webseries but it was 3 minutes long and now you are suppossed to wait a week or more and then come back and check for episode 2.  Not a very appealing proposition and a major reason, I believe, that many webshows fail to get out of the gate and see massive downturn in viewership after the first episode.

Now, a few of the bigger players in this game, WB.com and Sony’s Crackle.com are both releasing series with “full seasons” available for immediate viewing.  That means, if you dig episode one of “Children’s Hospital” you can sit tight and watch all ten of them.  Same goes for “That Guy” on Crackle.

It will be interesting to see what impact this has on overall viewership.  Knowing all the episodes are there and waiting is a lot like having a good show stacked up on TiVo – you know it’s there waiting when you are ready to watch.  Maybe you will watch just one episode or maybe all ten but either way you know they are there.

Additionally, by releasing multiple episodes at once we get to decide how good the show is, not just the premise, which is all one can really hope to get if there is just one episode to see at launch.  It is, perhaps, too much to ask of your audience to commit to a new episodic program based on one 3-minute episode.

MyDamnChannel Presents Agency of Record and I Have Some Questions

From the guys who brought us the best screencast webshow ever, “You Suck At Photoshop,” comes “Agency of Record,” a slick-looking new webseries over on MyDamnChannel and sponsored by Adobe.

Here’s episode one (it’s the only one so far…)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

A few questions:

1) Why is the first episode so long?  Over 9 minutes seems like a lot to ask for a webseries pilot.

2) Why so industry-insider? Unless you happen to have a lot of exposure to the world of ad agencies (sadly, I do) you might not even know what these guys do until well into the first episode and then you will be left wondering why you are supposed to care.  It reminds me of the great and short-lived Fox show “Action” with Jay Mohr – incredibly funny skewering of the Hollywood producers and agents but completely over the head of most Americans.

3) Why is there a 40-second opening credits?  Even real TV noticed people no longer have patience for things like that.  Get to the show. Fast.  Porn is just one click away.

The show has really nice production value and a positive attitude but I can’t see how the setting or the characters will help build the kind of audience needed to sustain an episodic webseries.

more about “Tilzy.TV » Blog Archive » ‘You Suck a…“, posted with vodpod

How Many Video Portals Does It Take To Screw In A Lightbulb?

Image by The Rocketeer via Flickr

The NYT has a good look at the ever-growing number of sites on the web offering you, the viewer, the chance to watch high-quality programming and wonders if they are all just a flash in the pan, much like the portals of yore:

“Now it feels like the same thing is happening with Internet video. As good television programming has become more available to online providers over the last year or two, new video sites have been popping up faster than “Law and Order” reruns. And as with the portals, big companies as well as start-ups are trying to get into the game.”

As I mentioned yesterday when I begged for an invite to Boxee (got one, too! thanks Boxee!), there is a big question as to whether or not any of these efforts will be around this time next year.

The biggest problem they all face is that they all offer the same basic content.  Now that the TV networks have decided to set a vast majority of their shows free via syndication, embedding and the like, it no longer takes a genius to find last weeks “Grey’s Anatomy” online.

Basically, everyone is just a rebroadcaster of some sort and none of them own the core product – the shows.

I think that the idea of everything on demand and on one screen is where we are headed, it’s just a question of time.

We Get the TV We Deserve – Fox Mates Candid Camera with Cops

Image via Wikipedia

Sure, it’s fun to complain about the state of TV programming and especially the state of reality TV but the networks are only interested in producing shows people watch.

Since people seem to like to watch other people being tricked AND arrested, Fox is bringing us (via BB):

“Smile, You’re Under Arrest features people with outstanding warrants getting tricked for the audience’s amusement before being arrested.

Fox President of Alternative Entertainment Mike Darnell calls it “a reverse Punk’d. Instead of the worst day of your life and then a joke at the end, this is the reverse. This is the best day of your life, and then we arrest you.”

From the network that canceled Arrested Development… We have nobody to blame but ourselves.

Related articles by Zemanta

• New reality show “Smile, You’re Under Arrest”
• Mike Darnell Attempts To Make Amends For ‘Moment’ By Busting Deadbeat Dads [Family Values]

Strike.TV – Big Names and Big Ideas but Audiences?

Image via Wikipedia

So, Strike.TV launched this week.  Founded during the WGA strike as a place for Hollywood creatives to flex their muscles, the site is now home to a huge list of original short-form web shows featuring everyone from SNL‘s Kristen Wiig to TV vet Bob Newheart.

That would be big news except that it isn’t.  Having been up now for over a week I can tell you this much: not one single person in my life has mentioned a single one of these shows.  Why?  They had no idea they existed.

This is the big failure right now in online original video – nobody is bothering with true marketing.  You would never launch a show on NBC without marketing so why does everyone thing they can launch a show online, where it is noisier and more crowded (and one click away from porn!), with no marketing?

Viral is a myth.  Want proof?  Ask your friends if they’ve seen that new show from the people who bring you THE OFFICE (“House Poor”).  Spoiler Alert: They haven’t.

Related articles by Zemanta

• StrikeTV Launches Quality Online Distractions in HD

We Love TV on the Web, Why Not Originals?

A much commented upon study has come out that shows quite a big jump in online viewership of episodic network television shows:

“With over 12 billion videos watched online in the U.S. during the month of May, its hard to argue against the ubiquity of the PC as the king of media. To further this claim, market research company, Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI), has released a study that claims that almost 20 percent of primetime “episodic” television shows are watched online.” (via)

So, the argument that people only watch short clips online no longer rings true.  However, it would be tough to argue that there have been any legitimate orginal online “hits.” (ok, some will argue LonelyGirl15 but even at it’s height it has never been widely viewed)

The question is why.  The most obvious reason is that there haven’t been any great online originals yet.  Sure, there have been some mildly entertaining bits out there (Wainy Days?  The Guild? We Need Girlfriends?) but nothing that has been strong enough and consistant enough to build a solid audience.

The second reason is that nobody knows what’s online.  There is no advertising or marketing.  Relying on the “viral” nature of the internet might work for a one-off but it will never build the kind of audience that could some day be self-sufficient.

With the networks and bigger-name creatives placing more time and money into online originals things might change but for the time being the best way to be a hit online is to be a hit on TV.

Related articles by Zemanta

• TV Viewers Migrate to Web for Primetime Programming
• 20% of Primetime Television Now Watched Online
• Online Viewing Leads 20 Percent To Skip Primetime Shows On TV: Report
• Survey: Fifth of U.S. TV viewers watching shows online