Can Big Media Pals Help YouTube Turn a Profit?
So according to an analysis by Credit Suisse, Google will lose about $470 million this year operating YouTube. Clearly, selling ads around user-generated and illegally-posted content isn't really working.
Plan B seems to be trying the strategy that Google's own Google Video site tried a few years back: bring in some professional media partners, offer up longer-form shows, and possibly even experimenting with paid downloads and subscriptions a la iTunes. (There's also pre-roll advertising in front of the new content, which YouTube's founders had sworn they'd never do.)
Those are all worth trying, but YouTube will need a broader selection of content than CBS' "Harper's Island" and the 1980 feature film "The Blue Lagoon." (Though there are a couple good Werner Herzog films available...)
Plan B seems to be trying the strategy that Google's own Google Video site tried a few years back: bring in some professional media partners, offer up longer-form shows, and possibly even experimenting with paid downloads and subscriptions a la iTunes. (There's also pre-roll advertising in front of the new content, which YouTube's founders had sworn they'd never do.)
Those are all worth trying, but YouTube will need a broader selection of content than CBS' "Harper's Island" and the 1980 feature film "The Blue Lagoon." (Though there are a couple good Werner Herzog films available...)
Labels: advertising, CBS, Google, paid downloads, YouTube
posted by Scott Kirsner at
9:10 AM
3 Comments:
i believe they can after reading some more into the situation.
jay
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By
Cyber Monday Deals, at 12:25 PM
I don't know. YouTube got big based on illegal content. I think it is too over saturated with bad content to make it economically viable. Many of the best gems of YouTube are lost in the mix while the inane video of the week gets a million hits. Hulu has a much more viable model. Does anyone have numbers on Hulu's income?
By
GBH, at 11:11 PM
Mark Cuban agrees
http://news.cnet.com/newsblog/?keyword=Hulu
By
GBH, at 11:16 PM
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