Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Blip.tv Announces Major Distribution Partnerships with YouTube, Vimeo, Roku and Others; Launches New Show Creator Dashboard

For independent online video creators, the key to a successful business model is content distribution. Today, online media company blip.tv -- who's mission from day one has been to make independent Web shows sustainable -- today announced major distribution capabilities, new partnerships to monetize and track advertising and viewership across its distribution network, along with a completely redesigned show creator dashboard. Blip says their building a next-generation television network in order to accomplish their mission.

The major announcements include:
  • A completely new Show Creator Dashboard (this is being rolled out slowly, starting with about a hundred show creators)
  • An expanded distribution network that now includes YouTube, Vimeo and NBC Local Media in New York.
  • Expanded television distribution via Verizon, Roku, Sony Consumer Electronics and TiVo.
  • New technology partnerships with FreeWheel Media and TubeMogul to drive richer analytics and smooth advertising trafficking across the entire blip.tv network.

According to CEO Mike Hudak, blip launched four years ago with only two web television producers but today blip currently hosts 38,000 shows as part of its online television network. Blip is focused on featuring, promoting and monetizing the best original, serialized shows on the Web and offers free hosting, a variety of video formats and advertising with a 50/50 revenue share. The announcements today solidifies blip as the television network of the future. With YouTube on board content creators will be able to publish directly to YouTube for the first time.
"Before today we used to say that Blip reaches half of the video Internet," said Mike Hudack at the press conference. "Today I'm really happy to announce that we probably reach about 80 percent of the video Internet.
Blip shows reach 22 million viewers and total more than 72 million video views per month. According to Techcrunch, the average CPM that blip gets are between $10 and $20 and the YouTube deal should increase views while "putting downward pressure on CPMs. But if views go up faster than prices go down, Blip will end up better off."















TubeMogul will be powering the analytics in the new dashboard and will give content creators a second-by-second graph that shows drop off rate and rewind. "We're excited that TubeMogul InPlay audience and engagement data will be available to blip.tv show creators within the blip.tv dashboard," said Brett Wilson, TubeMogul CEO. "This is an important step towards bringing objective measurability to the creative process while maintaining the art of Web show creation."

Watch the replay of the press release powered by Livestream below

The blip.tv vision is that content creators should focus all of their efforts on creating great shows, and blip.tv can help with the rest: technology, distribution, marketing and publicity, and monetization. Shows on blip.tv range from scripted sitcoms and dramas to newsmagazines, and top titles include WallStrip, Alive in Baghdad, Epic Fu, Break a Leg, Channel Awesome, Unleashed, and The Show with Ze Frank.

Robert Miller, producer of blip shows Political Lunch and That Sports Show said, "The days before blip were like being flogged in a medieval torture chamber when we treid to distribute. It was very painful."

Web producers Zadi Diaz and Steve Woolfe, creators of the former Next New Networks and Revision 3 web show Epic Fu, relies on the ad sales from blip and YouTube to support their staff of three, says Michael Learmonth and that the show is their sole source of income. "It's tough to make a living off these shows at the moment," said Steve Woolfe. "We've been lucky to be able to hang on."

While online video has a long way to go to be able to bring the kind of revenue that network television brings in Mike Hudak said on the blip.tv blog,
"We’re on our way. We envision a future — a not too distant future — in which the majority of video consumed by Americans is created by talented and hardworking independents. A world in which anyone with a voice and talent can create a self-sustaining masterwork of a show. A world of infinite channels where any show, created by anyone, can be viewed by anyone on any device and any relevant Web site. A world in which individual network executives no longer determine which artists are graced by the good fortune to be put in front of the public."
While blip has not provided a a roadmap regarding revenues and profitability the company says with these new partnerships it will be profitable by the end of the year. Read the full press release.

See the following news sites for in depth coverage:

About blip.tv
Blip.tv is an online media company with over 38,000 original Web shows and 72 million video views a month. Shows on blip.tv range from scripted sitcoms and dramas to news and how-to programs. Blip.tv hosts and syndicates shows to iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo, AOL Video, Verizon FiOS, TiVO, Sony Bravia, The Roku Digital Video Play and Facebook. Blip.tv splits all advertising revenues with show creators 50/50. For more information about blip.tv please visit http://blip.tv/.

Updated: 7/29/09

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