IPTVe
One of your competitors, Brightcove has garnered a lot of media attention with large media outlet deals, does the Hearst deal signify a shift in the minds of media outlets and if so what is it?

Todd Boes

Absolutely. We’re witnessing a flurry of major media companies starting to break away from traditional distribution practices and go direct to the consumer via Internet TV channels they own and control. They are starting to realize the economic importance and financial opportunities that come with owning the customer and advertiser relationships, as well as the economic value of their massive content libraries and brand equity in the market. What’s really exciting for a publisher like Hearst Magazines is that Internet TV represents a natural outlet for their magazine’s original and exclusive rich video content, and an entirely new distribution outlet that generates new advertising inventory that didn’t exist before.

IPTVe
Why do controlled syndicated networks run by content owners represent such a big opportunity?

Todd Boes

At the end of the day, it’s still about audience reach. By establishing large scale syndication networks that media companies manage and control themselves, they gain the benefits of mass audience reach with the peace of mind that their content and brand is protected and only appearing on sites and portals that have been approved and where a business relationships exists. Controlled syndication is a win-win for the media company, the affiliate and the consumer. The media company gets mass scale distribution, increased ad revenue and full measurability and control, the affiliate obtains valuable content on their site, increased traffic and allocated portions of ad inventory or revenue, and the consumer gets convenient access to valuable content on sites and portals they are accustomed to visiting.

IPTVe
If self-directed syndication is an opportunity for large media outlets smaller content creators are struggling to make the on-line model profitable and aggregation across many sites is their best opportunity for exposure, that said does your company offer solutions for these Indie creators?

Todd Boes

As a pure technology enabler, Maven Networks does not directly offer smaller content providers or Indie creators a distribution outlet for their content. In other words, Maven itself is not a portal or a consumer destination site that hosts content, and we do not sell advertising against customers’ content. Rather, we provide the technology (Maven Internet TV Platform) that enables content owners to create and manage their own direct-to-consumer Internet TV channel and syndication network. As a result, most of Maven’s customers tend to be larger media companies that have their own ad sales teams and advertiser relationships in place

If Maven is positioning itself to be seen by large media brands as more of a tools company offering flexible platform development then Brightcove might be said to be moving somewhat in the direction of a consumer web portal. With the news they are developing an online edit solution much like Jumpcut which while intriguing is not what I would call an Enterprise solution or even professional editing, think pro-sumer.

With On-line video, ITV or whatever you choose to call it has become viable for larger media outlets to move their brands to their own sites as well as other portals. It remains to be seen however if Indie producers can find a similarly sustainable model given current CPM's and the fight for eyeballs, I think their best bet in the short term is with players such as Akimbo and to try and generate as much buzz as possible.