VIDEO NOW
A Tow Center Report
The Year (s) of Video?
Video = Web & Mobile Video
source: visual.ly
2014: Really The Year of Video?
IN 2013…
 Chicago Sun-Times Lays off all photo staff to be
completely replaced with video team
 Time launches “Red Border Films”
 Netflix launches documentary division
 Frontline pushes digital initiative
 New York Times launches documentary division and
Op-Docs. Premieres Hers to Lose
 Lerer Ventures launches NowThisNews
 Vice goes to North Korea
 EVERYONE hiring video producers
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Three Questions:
1. What is video? What is the form?
2. How do is video made? Resources?
3. What is the ROI? Money? Traffic? Branding?
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Where We Are Going & Why?
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
What We Found Out:
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
What We Found Out:
NO ONE HAS THE ANSWER
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
What We Found Out:
VIDEO NOW
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
No tradition 90-second TV spots.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
“Nothing longer than 15 seconds.”
Started off as proprietary app with
traditional 2-minute videos.
http://instagram.com/nowthisnews
Vine / NowThisNews
NO PRE-ROLL
PLAY REPORT
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Strategy: Co-Branded Content
Produced by creative services team.
Ben & Jerry’s and Ben & Jerry’s 2
Success! But what about harder
brands like Oil companies?
Income: Estimated $200K for 5-7
videos.
Cost? 4-6 hours to complete one 6second Vine video.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
“Must Become a YouTube
Network”
Two streams of video: On
mashable.com and networks like
AOL and on YouTube.
Must make 1.6 Million Views/Month
to monetize on YouTube.
Currently showing these numbers:
Occasional Hit
Most Common Numbers
“Under 20K views is a failure.”
PLAY REPORT
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
The Third Party
Newsy produces quick videos of the
days events, aggregating original
reporting.
Strategy: Sell services to clients
such as Mashable.com. Will produce
a news story in two hours.
Example
Fee: Undisclosed.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Fastest Growing News Brand
Fox bought 5% for $70Million
James Murdoch joined Media Board
Vice.com 15MM unique visitors
HBO Series. Growing Vice News.
Hired 70 journalists recently.
Long-form docs.
Funding by sponsorships.
Creators Project
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Print Brands Producing LongForm
Driving long-tail traffic.
Creating Brand Differentiation
Prestige Stories
Confusing in terms of regular
videos. Red Border Film’s future ?
Hers to Lose
Healing Bobby
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Alternative Funding
Foundation Grants
Client Work / Long Form Ads
Subscriptions
Training
Software
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
Two Strategies: The Short and The Long
Not Video At All? Video only used as a
part of a larger multimedia project.
The Guardian: NSA Decoded
NY Times Magazine: Game of Sharks
and Minnows
“Cinemagraphs”
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Get Together. Share Ideas.
Video producers need to get together to share
ideas. Newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters all have
their conventions and conferences. Online video news
teams should, too.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
2. Subject Not Medium
People consume news by subject, not by
medium. Audiences don’t say “I want to watch news
video.” They come for information on specific topics: Syria,
Ukraine, Obamacare, sports.
Video should be embedded with other content, inside a
blogpost, next to a graphic. Videos posted with other media
get more plays. Those left in segregated “video” sections
get ignored.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
3. Sports & Explainers
Sports and explainer videos did well in every newsroom we
visited. Like the old days of print newspapers and TV,
people come for sports, especially local sports. They also
come to be informed about hard-to-understand topics.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
4. Be Evergreen
Breaking news has a short lifecycle. To get long-tail views,
videos should be repurposed often, whenever appropriate.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
5. Long and Short
Videos don’t have to be short, but shorter videos tend to get
more play. That said, viewers will watch long videos -- 10,
20, 30 minutes -- or an entire series if the content is good
enough. Length of video does not predict success.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
6. Social Engagement
You can’t produce a guaranteed, viral hit. Instead of
gimmicks, develop a consistently growing audience.
Newsrooms should engage new viewers through social
media. Learn how these platforms (and their users) really
work.
Make a shareable graphic for Facebook. Edit a 15-second
explainer for Instagram. Shoot a 6-second raw clip for
Vine. Make content specific to the platform.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
7. Two Teams
In your newsroom, have everyone shooting video, just not
the same types of video.
Print reporters should shoot fast, raw iPhone clips to
accompany their text. These unpolished videos should be
posted instantly from the field.
A second team of highly-trained video journalists should
produce in-depth, more sophisticated video stories.
Avoid the in-between. Stories should be up-to-the-minute
fast, or deeply important.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
8. Not Just Page Views
Page views are one metric of success, but not necessarily
the best.
Engagement, shareability and time on site are also
important stats. Also, videos that serve the community and
add value to your brand are not always rewarded with big
numbers, but loyal viewers will watch important, long-form
journalism and stay on your site.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
9. Better Pre-Roll
Pre-roll ads are still a major strategy for making money, but
they are terrible for the user. Make pre-roll fit the videos
they precede. An ad for Disney World before a story about
Syria does not make sense. Also, make pre-roll shorter and
skippable.
Video Now: A Tow Center Report
RECOMMENDATIONS
10. Other Funding
Pre-roll ads will not pay the bills going forward. Newsrooms
have to look elsewhere. Some are already successfully
crowdfunding, winning grants, and syndicating content to
pay for video production. This will be even more important
as advertising CPMs continue to fall.
VIDEO NOW:
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A Tow Center Report