Has Hulu figured out the online video game?

The Economist had a great read the other day about Hulu's fight in the online video space. The take away points are simple but easy to understand. In the article, Hulu Who?, the author makes several key points:
1) UGC is hard for advertisers to wrap their minds around or even want to be part of. The video quality is often poor and content can be less than desirable. This makes it hard to monetize.
2) While Apple may have had a great model for music it does not work for video. User only watch video once or twice and are often stationary when consuming video. This means that browser based video players are winning.
3) Finally in the doldrums of today's economy Hulu's inventory is sold out. They are now trying to find ways to generate more content and page views. WOW what a problem to have!

What does this mean for radio you ask? Opportunity, as I have spelled out in my last two posts. Radio is getting better at delivering quality (not professional quality but somewhere between UGC and professional) video content to their users but we need to get good at selling it. How can Hulu be sold out yet hyper local radio websites are only selling 25-40% of its video content? The answer lies some where between education within the industry, evangelizing these assets to advertisers, and making an investment in better video platforms. I personally am excited about what the coming years hold for online video........

Radio Reinvention?!?!

If you are close to the radio industry in any way you always hear the rallying cry of "radio can always reinvent itself", my question is can it really? It seems to me that more often than not we are following the leader instead of truly trusting our guts and stepping out.

Example you ask; Display banners on traditional media sites, how old and stale is this technology. For certain and far between events they make sense. Imagine if you visited a website once or twice a week that had no display ads. Then one day you show up and a full takeover with 300x250's are there. Bet you can recall that brand or message? Instead radio continues to place display banners (sometimes in the most odd and strange ways that it makes you ask yourself who is running this show) within their sites and claiming to investors, if we can just sell a little more of banner inventory we'll get through this hitch. My contention is that you are in a declining market already; what have CPM's done over the last few months?

Yet we have new emerging technology that deals directly with assets that our listeners are most ravenous about, video! Mass interactive video is just around the bend and radio could be the medium that owns it. Instead the minds are focused on selling just 10% more display inventory or streaming inventory. I'll bet you that when this masses finally have it radio will adopt it.... mark my words. Just one more thing we will look back on as an industry and say damn missed that one.

If you would like to check out a company doing this right now check out Video Clix

For more supporting evidence check out this read today in the WSJ, Video Site Entice Viewers to Stay and Play.