Web video has arrived. Are you watching?

Posted September 19th, 2006 at 9:29 pm by Jason Zajac, Yahoo! Video

 12 Comments / Filed in: Trends & News

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s some video playing on the Web these days. A lot of it, in fact.

Some clips offer exactly what you’d expect – snippets from TV shows and movies, news and sports, and high quality independent productions from film enthusiasts and animators. The big players are starting to jump onto this trend, and many studios are doing deals with companies like Apple and Amazon to provide full-length TV shows and films online. Some of the studios and networks are convinced that this time is different and their own websites will finally gain enough traction and audience to serve as valuable distribution points. We’ll see.

Other clips offer something a little more unexpected. For example, video blogs (or vlogs) covering everything from the surf conditions in Hawaii to how to properly taste a great California cabernet are cropping up all over the place. There’s footage depicting the lives of soldiers stationed in the Middle East, and the poignant ramblings of zefrank on The Show. Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what RocketBoom, one of the biggest vlogs out there, is all about. There are the caught-on-tape antics of the Star Wars Kid and the Crazy German Kid, the Numa Numa Kid, and the behind-the-tape viral marketing tale of lonelygirl15 and Creative Artists Agency. There are entire movies called machinima that are constructed using characters and sequences taken from video games. This is not to be confused with a whole other genre called Anime Music Videos (or AMV) which mixes Japanese anime with popular music.

Speaking of mixes, remixes, and mashups, there is absolutely no end to the creativity (and apparently, free time) of some of the people out there. This clip of George Bush doing his rendition of U2’s “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” is pretty impressive, but my personal favorite display of editing prowess features James Earl Jones as Darth Vader explaining his nervous breakdown in the Vader Sessions.

Why is this all happening now? There are some obvious reasons — broadband is getting faster and cheaper, and digital video cameras are cheaper and easier to use. There’s a good chance your cell phone even has a video camera. A little less obvious is that TiVo, and all DVRs, are stocked full of hundreds of hours of video practically crying out to be uploaded and set free on the Web (you know who you are).

And then there’s MySpace. Not just the actual social network, but the mindset — share with people we know and people we don’t. This phenomenon is behind an incredible amount of the activity and engagement online today, and we’d better not ignore it or pretend it isn’t there. MySpace itself drives over 50% of all usage of YouTube today, and if you’re a studio with a new movie, TV show, or song to release, you’ve got to be there.

The good news is we are there. Yahoo! is a big player in online video. Offering music videos to sports and news clips, movie trailers and TV previews to thousands of user-submitted videos, Yahoo! is one of the largest destinations for watching videos on the Web. We help you track down the videos you’re looking for, whether they’re on YouTube, independent sites, or our own network. But we’re not stopping there.

This week we joined with Doritos to offer users a chance to create their own commercial that could potentially air during the Super Bowl! And today, we launched the Yahoo! Current Network on Yahoo! Video. Together with Al Gore’s CurrentTV, we’ll be creating a truly unique network featuring video content from users alongside professionally produced segments in a range of cool categories. Check it out, and (sorry, I have to say it) stay tuned for even more!

Be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you think, or just tell us about some of your favorite videos.

Jason Zajac
VP/GM Social Media

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12 Comments Add your own

Tery Kelly | September 20th, 2006 at 11:19 am

I see that Yahoo is teaming with Current TV. Have any of you tried to watch Current TV? When it first came on I attempted to watch it with an open mind. I quickly had to close my mind to keep it from being permanantly damaged. I have watched paint drying that was more entertaining. If this is the content that Yahoo is intent on providing, you as a company are in trouble and I probably better start looking for a new homepage. Check the ratings, no one is watching it on TV, what makes you think anyone will (more than once) on Yahoo?

navin | September 21st, 2006 at 4:25 am

Glad, Yahoo! has realized users have moved from text based to multimedia online experience. I believe, short duration but buzz filled media is the way of the future.
Create your own commerical is an awesome idea coz nowdays its not find a celebrity to promote but its create a celebrity to promote.
I guess we are ready for live relay of content. Live relay of concerts, conferences, press meets, public meets etc.,

Scott Miler | March 17th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

With the working of Joost with DirectTV, we are going to see more graphic content move through the cable connections and would soon be more challenge for the content providers as the eakest link will slow them all down. In other words, I expect much more demand for much faster delivery but this will take several years.

tekglow | April 25th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

i agree there is great potential with direct TV , i am looking foward to seeing this site with updated information about it . i will book mark it and come back for shure.

Good job on website. it looks great too

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Jerry | September 8th, 2007 at 1:05 am

We’ll just have to see what happens with the whole DirecTV /iTV thing. Meanwhile, I found a new site that I think looks pretty interesting. It’s called webcastr.com. Mostly internet only TV channels. No network stuff and no amatuer clips (thank god.) If you want to see it, it’s at http://www.webcastr.com. It’s more newsy and not so silly as YT. See what you think.

Video Music | October 10th, 2007 at 2:26 pm

Indeed this it agreat idea. I wonder how the music and TV entertainment world will react.

Rem | October 13th, 2007 at 12:35 pm

Video is the way to go. The problem is that people are getting video blind just like they became adsense blind…
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mario | October 15th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

I enjoy goodvideos. That’s why my blog has a bunch of them.

Learn Affiliate Marketing | October 27th, 2007 at 2:31 am

What are the chances of this idea being viral if Current Tv has a bad reputation. Well, user-genertaed video is still the bomb.Just a tactic for Yahoo to give Youtube some competition. Though people like us will still make money from online video.
Like here: http://www.squidoo.com/cbpro

estetik | December 6th, 2007 at 4:48 am

Making video is hard if people are doing it in a sustainable way they are modeling, where people are engaged in it. People are creating because they want to build reputation, like text bloggers, want to be known as creating something that’s interesting and getting attention. Not the way we’re used to in the broadcast and analog world. Getting a lot of juice as it were from making the video. And web video is a successful application of internet video.

malta | February 10th, 2008 at 6:30 am

I enjoy goodvideos. That’s why my blog has a bunch of them.

otogaz | March 26th, 2008 at 5:46 am

Indeed this it agreat idea. I wonder how the music and TV entertainment world will react.