Voices

Building Loyalty on the Web

Companies rushing to develop original video series for the Web are scrambling to solve one of the industry’s biggest problems: building an audience. The challenge, which has stumped creators since the dawn of Web video, is getting more urgent as many producers shift their attention from creating one-off viral hits to online video franchises.

Another TV Guide for Web Video! But Shufflr Wants Your Friends to Do the Work

So let’s say you do want to watch Web video from your couch. Who’s going to find the good stuff for you? A new start-up says it can–by getting you and your friends to do the heavy lifting.

Blip.TV Raises $10 Million for More Web Video You (Probably) Won’t See on Hulu

It’s no YouTube, but Blip.TV is turning five, too. That’s impressive enough for any Web video outfit, but CEO Mike Hudack also has a good story to tell: He’s figuring out how to make money from the clips small-time producers make–and how to get the producers enough money to make more clips. Repeat.

Voices

Getting Web Video Beyond the Web

Blip.tv announced a slew of distribution deals with both new-media and old-media companies, including NBC and YouTube, that it hopes will expand the reach of its online programming.

Why Online Video Ads Still Don’t Work

From the funny-and-true! department: A biting clip from the dudes at College Humor satirizing the lousy ad options and mind-numbing ad jargon that dominate the online video business.
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Are Americans Surfing More Because They’re Working Less?

Think of how much time you spend on the Web when you’re gainfully employed. How much would that increase if you weren’t? Something to think about as you ponder data from a variety of sites reporting increased traffic in January–the same month that 600,000 Americans lost their jobs.

Blip.tv’s Mike Hudack Survives “The Video”–Now Trying to Keep His Video Site Afloat

Yep, Mike Hudack was in the video that’s supposed to symbolize the excess–and end–of the Web 2.0 era. And no, he doesn’t care what you think about it. He’s got bigger things on his mind. Like convincing more advertisers to take Web video seriously and making a business out of it.

Dear Web 2.0: You Might Want to Stop Believin'

All in good fun, right? I am sure this will be the dumb-as-a-box-of-hammers reasoning this group of Web 2.0 folks gives for this odd video effort, doing a lip-synch romp on their group vacation in Cyprus to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and then posting it for all to see on Vimeo. It is titled: “Twenty world Internet citizens met in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in October of 2008 for a week of reflections on life, love, and the Internet.” Um, kids, here’s a reflection: While you swim in that pricey infinity pool in your luxury villa, Silicon Valley is tanking all over the place. You might want to check your email and see if Sequoia Capital or Ron Conway has cost-cutted you out of a job!