Content made for online video may never be possible to monetise, Yahoo7’s audience director Kath Hamilton has predicted.
Speaking at the final session of Adtech, Hamilton said that while there was a model for getting new dollars out of existing TV content, the online audience numbers made it harder to make the case for creating dedicated content.
Asked what her advice was for producers contemplating a move from TV to online, she said:
‘Stay on TB. That’s where the money is. It’s really difficult to get the revenue return for creating the content. There’s just not the numbers.
“It’s very difficult to get people to view content.
“There are always going to be one-offs that get 1m views globally but it’s very difficult without promotion.”
Fellow panellist Todd Forest, director of content and experience at NineMSN, added: “When we talk to producers who think about the TV model, we do the maths and they don’t work out.”
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He added: “Anyone who thinks they can even make a living are going to find it quite challenging.”
Asked about NineMSN’s biggest piece of viral video, featuring “Chk-Chk boom” girl Clare Werbeloff, Forest said that although the clip had not been monetised, not much could have been done differently.
He said: “Eventually it got onto YouTube. There are certain situations where we are not going to want to monetise. I don;t think we would do it any differently. It’s about creating great consumer engagement so they come back.”
Hamilton also acknowledged that media owners often lack insight into who is watching online video. She said: “The measure is pretty rubbish. I would like our platform to be much more insightful.”
Forest said that one value that online video ads for media owners with TV properties such as the Nine-aligned NineMSN and Seven-aligned Yahoo7 is to offer viewers behind the scenes access to shows such as Today which recently featured a live stream with the key presenters.
Forest said: “If done the right way, there’s an interest in the behind the scenes stuff.”