I can see it now... You were in the shower, taking a walk, driving in your car or sipping a latte' at Starbucks when all of a sudden - WHAM! - inspiration struck. You were moved. Your emotions were stirred. You felt your creative juices flowing with ideas that quickly transformed themselves into visual images. You took notes, sketched out a rough storyboard, or just picked up your video camera and started filming. Your creative talents started to evolve the mere idea into video form. What started out as simple words or thoughts were transformed into a 'living' entity of visual entertainment. Not everyone shares your enthusiasm for it. So what. They aren't the ones you made it for. You made it for the ones like you - the ones who with one glimpse of your video come to experience the same emotional connection that first stirred your soul. If people don't 'Get it' that's fine. You simply say, 'Next'. Because although within walking distance of you there may only be a handful of people who see it the way you do... on the Global stage there are hundreds of thousands if not millions who will embrace your creation with the passion it deserves. The worldwide marketplace is waiting for you and your video creation. But there's a problem isn't there? How do you get your video from it's current point out to all those people? How much will it cost to store it, promote it, allow people to download it, take payments for it? The real question is... why should you have to care? You're the creative genius who is best left to creative environments like developing the video experiences. So where do you turn? Good question. Several years ago there was only one choice... you found an agent, crossed your fingers and hoped to get a shot at Hollywood. In the past few years you could spend a few thousand, make a DVD and try to sell it yourself - counting anything above 'break even' as a success. The truth... Oldskool 'broad'casting just doesn't cut it any more in the digital age of internet opportunities. Let's examine why. The Limitation of Oldschool Broadcasting If you stop to think about the word broadcast, when it was created back in the oldschool radio and TV days of the 20th century, it was true to its meaning. The word broad obviously means a wide range. Reaching out to millions in one nation was considered broad. This is why we have NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX in nearly every home in America. Now stop and think about all the limitations of traditional broadcasting. The extensive budgets, actors, contracts, licensing, etc In the US there are also FCC regulations these broadcasts must fall within. Think about how few channels and how few hours in the day there really are to broadcast shows. Even in the age of cable and satellite systems broadcasting hundreds of channels there is still a finite limit. Typically licensing issues bound the broadcast to one nation. The US doesnt broadcast in Canada or across the pond in the UK and vice-versa. Sporting events are more restricted with blackouts in specific regional areas. Now HDTV is beginning to pick up sales as prices drop yet thanks to DRM technologies the studios are putting a stranglehold on how much control the consumer has over the cotent they have payed for. It is all too limiting. The consumers are ready for a change. A newer, better way of receiving their entertainment. Free Video On Demand (VOD) - The New Broadcast Platform. Residential broadband access has penetrated over 50% of US households. Broadband access is expected to more than double this decade, reaching 71 million US households by 2010. As more and more households bring high speed internet access into the home studies have shown their viewing habits of television have dropped on average of 3 fewer hours of TV per week. This number is only expected to grow. More and more people are turning to the web instead of their TV for their entertainment needs. This fact is especially strong with the young teens and twenty-something market who have grown up with computers in the internet age. The Law of Increasing Audience With the increase in broadband access and affordable video hardware and software more and more people are creating their own video content. There are a lot of unknown, talented ividividuals out there doing a very good job at creating engaging entertainment. Its crazy when you stop and think about it how new technologies like video podcasting and portable video entertainment are revolutionizing traditional entertainment outlets. Now anyone can get their message heard or seen with the power of the internet. Stop sitting on the sideline and letting your video gather dust while others get credit and profits from entertainment far less valuable than yours. |
