NewTeeVee Live! – Summary of the day

I spent the day at the NewTeeVee conference in San Francisco. It's a one day event organized by GigaOm's NewTeeVee blog, focusing on the world of online video. I sat in most of the sessions, and even participated on the VC panel that ended the day (Check a quick summary of the VC panel on NewTeeVee).

Overall, most of the sessions I attended were great. The highlight of the event was the conversation with Lucas 'Fred' Cruikshank. This 15 year old kid was a real natural in front of the crowd (No wonders – he does produce a megahit online show with millions(!) of viewers). He made me feel very old (I guess that's reality) while providing a real view into the future of online TV. The best part was his reply to a question on how Fred changed his life: "I get attention from the senior girls in school, which is cool". Excellent.

Beyond Lucas, I enjoyed the panel moderated by Mugs Buckley on broadband video and the excellent presentations by Reed Hastings (NetFlix), Anthony Zuiker (CSI) and Blake Krikorian (Sling media). The biggest disappointment was the online advertising panel. As a board member in Adap.tv, I had real expectations for this panel. Instead it was a real slow and boring discussion, led by 3 agency executives with no counter view from anyone from the ad networks or the publishers. Overall, zero insights on the space.

So – what are my key takeaways? 3 Points worth mentioning:

1. As Anthony Zuiker pointed out, the future lies in a converged multi-screen/multi-experience video solution. You watch an episode on TV, and then follow-up with additional clips online (or on the mobile) or with relevant games and quizzes. The PC will NOT REPLACE the TV, but will work together with it to create a better experience for the consumer.
2. Silicon Valley has no chance to compete in the content game. Hollywood rules in that space, and this means our best chance is to create the right underlying technologies that will enable the great Hollywood content to be more compelling to the user. I mentioned this point during my panel as well.
3. Finally, there are still real opportunities in monetization, beyond video advertising (which is going to be huge). Product placement, sponsorships, complementary products and other new business models will make the online video world extremely compelling in the next 3-5 years.

Comments

[Michael]

Daniel -

I just watched the video of the panel you participated in at NewTeeVee. I just wanted to comment that I appreciated your willingness to stick to your guns on the question of whether you would invest in YouTube. I agree with your analysis of the video content space (that there is enormous opportunity around it, but that content creation and aggregation are best left to those entrenched businesses that are already monetizing). I thought the question directed at you was essentially asking if now that you had seen someone buy a lottery ticket and win, do you feel bad about not playing the lottery.

That said, I have to disagree with your observation that the 3D hologram that CNN used on election night was interesting. This may be personal and not indicative of broader views, but I thought that the CNN hologram was a) decidedly unimpressive from a technical perspective (it didn't look very good/real) and b) a rather naked ploy to incorporate some (any) tech into their show that was not embraced by the audience.

Regards,
Michael

[Marissa Louie]

Hi Daniel,

Interesting thoughts about video advertising and the next 3-5 years in the online video world. I'd been asking a similar question about the direction of the online advertising industry lately. Folks from AdECN, Yahoo Ads, ValueClick, Google, Pubmatic, Blackstone Group, and Redpoint Ventures have been making nods to video advertising.

BTW I've linked to you at marissalouie.com too, under VCs!

Cheers,
Marissa

[Daniel Cohen]

Michael – Thanks for the comment and the compliments. Regarding the hologram – I actually agree with you. But, I wanted to point out that there is innovation in 3D, and that is a place where potentially exciting company can emerge.