Chapter 6

The Internet, Web Audio and Web Video

The basics• How would you define the Internet?

• Biggest use: interpersonal communication

• Effects on other electronic media: music and movie industries, television and radio

• Effects on entertainment: video sharing, gaming and social networks

• Effects on news

• Effects on promotion and marketing

• Mobile Internet

Effects on other media

• File sharing services

• iPods

• iTunes music store, a la cart purchasing model

• Decline in CD sales has led record companies to change their business model

Effects on other media

• MPAA estimates more than $5M lost annually due to piracy

• Netflix: more consumers are using streaming services

• TV: 8% of people regularly tune in to programs online only

• Radio: Internet radio/streaming services compete for the at-work audience

Effects on entertainment

• Recent research has shown people relying on social networks for diversion rather than the entertainment industry

• Americans spend an average of 3-4 hours a day on the Internet

• Video games: MMORPGs, motion-sensor systems (Wii, Kinect), online live gaming (XBOX Live)

• Trend: multitasking social media during other entertainment, e.g. Tweeting from a concert, on Facebook while watching TV

Effects on news• More than 60% of Americans get their news online (Pew 2011)

• Viewership of traditional TV news is down, cable news is up

• Traditional news outlets have devoted more resources to their web presence

• Social media has become part of the reporting landscape (breaking news on Twitter and Facebook)

• Reliance on citizen reporters

• Blogs

Effects on Promotion and Marketing

• Cross-promotion

• Glee: TV show, website, apps, concert tour, DVD sales, downloads

• News and Radio: available for podcast

The Mobile Internet

• More than 20 million laptop computers in the US; more than 50 million cell phones connecting to the Internet

• Tablet computers represented 10% of all computer purchases in 2011

• Pew Research Center predicts by 2020 mobile devices will be the primary tool worldwide for connecting to the Internet

The Mobile Internet

• What are people doing?

• Looking for news and info, play games, watch videos, check Facebook, Twitter, trade stocks, access bank information, check out movie times

• Future of mobile TV: many TV channels have apps, HuluPlus, MobiTV, etc.

Audio & Video on the Web

• Teletext was a type of early information service

• Ceefax was developed in Britain in 1973, used TV for content delivery

• 1970s: newspaper companies tried to develop videotex, using the telephone

• Minitel was developed in 1980, a videotext system using telephone terminals

• The U.S. Government developed ARPANET, but access was limited to those with proper military clearance

• 1978, William Von Meister started a home computer information service called The Source

• Eventually AOL and Compuserve would take the lead as home service providers came about in the 1990s

• Post 2000, AV changed on the web with the advent of new codecs (MP3), the growing availability of DSL speeds, and media players (RealAudio, Windows Media Player, iTunes)

• College radio stations were among the first to start experimenting with online stations

• Podcasting: the idea of sending personalized syndicated broadcasting right to a person's MP3 player

• Streaming was the key to growth for internet video

• Streaming vs. downloading?

• In 2004 the "Numa Numa" video was viewed more than 2 million times in three months, making it the first "viral video"

• YouTube debuted in 2005

• Established media companies recognized the potential of web video: CNN started Pipeline, ABC offered episodes of their shows, ESPN added video

• The rise of internet stars: Lonleygirl15 (later revealed to be fictitious, film making project meant to exploit "going viral")

• Hulu

• Streaming boxes & internet ready TVs

Types of Online Radio Stations

• Online stations that are affiliated with a broadcast station

• Aggregators

• Choice-based sites

• Format-specific, internet only stations

Online Radio Examples

• Affiliates of broadcast stations: usually offer live stream, podcasted content, cross-promotion with station events

• Aggregators: Sites that link to thousands of stations

• Choice-based: allows users to program their own stations

• Format-specific Internet stations: play narrowly focused genres of music (example: batanga.com)

Monetizing Online Radio

• Online radio makes money by selling advertising space, user subscription fees (or a combo of both), or from direct selling.

• They also sell email lists of subscribers to third parties

• Types of ads include banner ads on a site, audio ads as part of the stream

Audiences and Content

• More than 60 billion people listen to internet radio at least once a week

• 80% listen to the internet counterpart of a terrestrial station

• Those listening to AM/FM streams are listening longer than online only listeners (2.5 hrs/day -> 1.4 hrs/day)

Types of Online Video

• Most online sites fall into four main categories:

• Commercial video: Netflix, Hulu, CBS.com

• Video-sharing sites: YouTube, Vimeo

• Corporate Video sites: for the purposes of training and orientation, sales and marketing, public relations. Example: GCC VNR

• Microcasting sites: streams targeted toward a very specific audience. Example: Viva Las Vegas Weddings

Monetizing Online Video

• Advertising, subscription fees

• Subscription model: viewer pays a fee, is allowed access to a program (Netflix, iTunes, MLB.TV)

• Ad supported: Online receives only 6% of total advertising revenue

The Future of Online Audio and

Video• There will be MORE of it (as cameras become more ubiquitous, software is easier)

• It will become easier to find (advanced search and cataloging techniques)

• Much of it will come with a price tag (per episode fees, subscriptions, apps)

• Much TV viewing will be done via the Internet (move to an “on-demand” model)

• Internet radio will be the preferred method of listening in the workplace