Veoh and founder Dmitry Shapiro are the subjects of an article in today’s NYTimes about the upcoming release of their VeohTV player, which is similar to Joost in that it’s a downloadable app that offers a more television-like experience in viewing internet video. Unlike Joost, however, and as TechCrunch notes, Veoh isn’t asking permission and striking deals with all the content creators up front — if it’s available on the web as Flash video, the promise is you’ll be able to shift it from its original website it and watch it with VeohTV instead — from YouTube videos to Heroes episodes from NBC.com. Hence the NYT article: Veoh’s basically onto something I think people will want — a convenient single way to watch their favorite web videos — but we won’t know until the software’s out whether the many content owners on the web will cooperate, or whether the public will respond in droves.
For one thing, I feel like the world is moving away from downloadable apps, and towards the browser for everything, whether its technically feasible to power something like VeohTV in a browser or not, and this could limit early adoption. More importantly, when Tivo disrupted the TV industry, there was a prevailing business model and billions in advertising revenue on the line; Veoh’s now offering similar tools for online video viewers at a time when most major media sites make very little off advertising on their television content online, and instead use the shows to attract visitors to their own destination websites, and keep them there. Many will see the idea of web users watching individual shows elsewhere, whether advertising goes with them or not, as a threat to their web traffic and banner advertising, which they use for cross-promotion and merchandising as well. Rick Cotton, the EVP and general counsel of NBC Universal, already has a starting position in the article to that point, stating, “this material has value… The notion of taking it and generating traffic with it needs to be negotiated and needs to be done with the agreement of content owners.”
But big media could benefit by letting Veoh run free for a little while, especially because their download-only experience will limit the application’s use to early adopters and tech-savvy customers who probably avoid or dislike watching video on big media’s portal sites already, and are sophisticated in how they avoid and ignore online advertising. You can pretend not to see the elephant in the room and try to lock your customers to the way things are done now — or you can take a risk and try to give them something new. That’s what little startups are supposed to do, and what big companies have a very hard time doing. So if VeohTV’s any good at all (I confess I haven’t had enough time in front of a Windows PC to try it myself yet), they’ll be the first of a wave, and should inevitably create new opportunities for big media to do what it does best, and make even more money. I think there’s a direct line between the availability of Tivo — which allowed people to easily find their favorite shows on their own time and grow incredibly loyal to them — and the explosion of TV show DVD sales, which are now a major revenue stream for networks and studios. Making web video easier to watch could create a lot of opportunities for all of us, big and small.
Of course, my company is partnered with Veoh and distributes our videos there, and we share some investors in Spark, so I’m rooting for them. What they’re doing is so natural, it seems inevitable — but big media companies are extremely well-practiced at fighting the inevitable, so Dmitry’s probably in for a scrap.
