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The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

The network no one owns

8 comments on The network no one owns

The network no one owns

: Broacasting & Cable’s blog reports that the number of online streamers who watched pope coverage on MSNBC far outnumbered those who watched on big, old TV:

Earlier this week, MSNBC said there had been 850,000 accesses of Pope-related streamed video on its Web site, msnbc.com. By Friday, it said, that number had jumped to almost four million (3,989,000)….

Now, some of those hits are certainly repeat customers, but it is still an impressive number, particularly given that in March, MSNBC averaged 336,000 viewers per day to its cable channel.

Imagine how much bigger it would be if the audience didn’t have to stream and could watch anytime, anywhere… if MSNBC provided downloads the audience could distribute.

I’ll take any excuse to repeat my favorite stats: Jon Stewart’s Crossfiricide got a few hundred thousand views on big, old CNN but 7 million on iFilm and untold millions on Bittorrent.

: Now look at how Ian Schwartz, Trey Jackson, and others are making a name for themselves recording segments off TV and putting them up online.

Uh, hello, networks, you should be doing this (too). You should be putting up all your stories with permalinks so they can join the conversation.

If you did, you’d grow your audiences, improve your branding, add to ad revenue (if you attached ads to the videos), and build a new relationship with the audience. Simple.

8 responses to “The network no one owns”

  1. peter Avatar
    peter

    the problem with the stats is that the networks think they make money from those 336,000 viewers, but none from the four million…
    ur right tho, with some (unintrusive) advertising, there’s plenty of money to be made…
    …in australia the govt unfortunately limits the networks ability to put video on the net, because of cross-media ownership laws – wouldn’t want ppl controlling distribution on tv and the net! (i don’t think the govt quite understands the net yet… big surprise)
    is there anything similar in the States? (cross-media/anti-monopolisation laws)

  2. Scott Ferguson Avatar
    Scott Ferguson

    As usual, Jeff, you’re brilliant, and they’re stupid. :-)

  3. rich Avatar
    rich

    Are you talking about video.msn.com? I am actually surprised at the lack of advertising on there. They have one “ad” there that I saw, but that is for their own network, kinda doesn’t make sense.
    So what’s next to distance ourselves from the networks – vpodcasts? You’re right though, Jeff, if they saved everything and permalinked it, they would generate so much traffic they wouldn’t know what to do with it.

  4. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Have you noticed how MLB, NBA, and NFL will be broadcasting games online? go to mlb.tv … etc.
    I predict that all networks will eventually do this, but for the time being their afraid of people ripping it I guess.

  5. Paw Avatar
    Paw

    The only problem relative to your comments regarding networks making their shows available on the web is their relationship with their affiliated stations. If I were a broadcast affiliate (especially one that pays compensation as opposed to receiving it), I’d be pretty ticked if my program supplier were diverting viewing eyeballs from the TV (where I make money locally) to the web (where I don’t). Same goes for news – why should a station make a locally produced story available on the web and take viewers out of its revenue-producing market? and how would you localize advertising on the webcasts?

  6. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Good point PAW.
    But I am sure when you sign up you enter your zip code in .. and your local news is shown. I am also sure that they would allow you to look around other network affiliates. The same goes for advertising.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    I noticed how you pumped two right wing video blogs, without mentioning Crooksandliars
    a left wing site that triples both those nice guys blogs in traffic and did it long before both of them started. The idea was never lost on them, as they started the trend! I know that you’ve had some disagreements with some democrats, but where’s a little love to the left?

  8. Raymond Avatar
    Raymond

    >> but where’s a little love to the left?
    The left that took sides with saddam, the polpot of babylon, who never new an evil they didnt embrace ? who call good people NAZI’s because they disagree with them ?
    Yeah Jeff, pair it up with bitorrent and they could save on the bandwith bill and handle far more capacity, but then again, they would be showing a ligit use for those hated peer protocols, wouldnt they, and the MPAA et all would be all , like unhappy and stuff.
    Too bad.
    As far as MSMBC goes, i still have not forgiven them for that blonde turned brunette reporter crouching in the dark with some killers she had “embeded” herself with, laying in wait with them to kill some Jews, and getting all big eyed when some showed up.
    remember that ?
    The leftist media still paints the butchers of innocents in the best possible light, cant even call a terrorist a terrorist. They remind me of George Orwells Ministry of Truth.
    With morally obtuse or inverted such twisted mind you need to fit in there, perhaps they are a few miles away from having good ideas, infected with the disease that has them reflexivly condemn anyone of virtue and excuse evil.