If you were wondering what was said on my panel at the IAB’s Leadership Forum on Online Video, check out OnlineVideoWatch’s recap here.

It was a lively (and often humorous — that Patrick Keane @ CBS is a hoot, I say) discussion about whether the future of video is online, on-air, or both. I tried to be as disagreeable as possible to keep things interesting.

Check out the coverage here.

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Don’t miss the IAB Leadership Forum on Online Video @ 11:30 am on Monday, 5/5. You’ll see me participating in what is likely to be a lively one-on-one debate on future of video, online and/or off.

The Great Debate: Buy Broadcast? Buy Online? Buy Both?

There’s been plenty of discussion in the industry about a perceived tension between buyers of online and broadcast video. But is it real? Does it matter? Hear this point-counterpoint debate between two senior executives as they argue from opposing perspectives about the value and future of broadcast versus online.

Moderator: Patrick Keane, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, CBS Interactive

Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus

Steve Robinson, President & Founder, Panache

Register here.

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The series Gossip Girl was returning to the CW network, and was under some pressure to deliver ratings numbers higher than the previous season’s. After realizing that hundreds of thousands of people were watching the show online (gasp!), they figured that last season’s gradual decrease in viewership from (2.5 million viewers to 1.8 million viewers) may have fallen victim to the nasty, horrible, clutches of the internet.

Seriously.

So the CW, to avoid the wrath of technology, decided to pull the series from the web entirely. No Gossip Girl for you. That’ll teach the internet. Now you ‘internet-people’ are going to have to watch it on the television.

Well, the results are in.

The premiere of the series scored 2.44 million viewers. It got 2.5 million last year. CW’s spinning this as a victory somehow, by saying that ratings for the series were 8% higher than the series it replaced.

Seriously.

Haven’t we learned anything, class?

The availability of your content on the internet is not why your content’s TV ratings have slipped. On the contrary, it’s probably why ratings didn’t slip more than they did. I find it painfully ironic that a show with the word ‘gossip’ in its title is ignoring — nay, shunning — the medium that could facilitate and channel the most buzz about it.

This show started out poorly. Even at its peak in its first season, it lost about half of the audience from its lead-in, America’s Next Top Model. And to make matter worse, Gossip Girl premiered after the ANTM’s season finale. It started off week, and didn’t get much better.

Gossip Girl’s 2007 Lead-In Audience Lost from America’s Next Top Model.

Here’s what the blogosphere’s looked like over the last few months:

See that spike after April 15th? That’s outrage and wonderment about why the CW was pulling this series from the web.

One thing I’ve learned is that in this world of many, many options, audiences will not tolerate inconvenience, and are more likely to punish those that prevent an enjoyable experience.

Case in point, check out what the #5 most searched-upon content is on isoHunt, a Bittorrent search engine:

Not exactly what the CW had in mind, methinks.

I’ve seen firsthand how a good content distribution strategy work wonders online — not only in terms of generating buzz, but generating ratings, not to mention ad revenue.

Hopefully, the continued ratings slide is enough to encourage other networks to keep making their content available, however and whenever people want to consume it. Even if it continues to be ad-supported, as long as it’s easy to get, it’s good enough.

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I’m on the advisory board for the IAB”s Leadership Forum on Digital Video, which is happening at The Roosevelt Hotel on May 5, 2008. The entire board has been working hard on ensuring that the program and speakers are of the highest quality. Personally, I’d like for this conference to start getting us closer to answering some questions, rather than just rehashing old conversations.

I’ll be part of the program as well, debating the value and future of broadcast vs. online video:

The Great Debate: Buy Broadcast? Buy Online? Buy Both?

There’s been plenty of discussion in the industry about a perceived tension between buyers of online and broadcast video. But is it real? Does it matter? Hear this point-counterpoint debate between two senior executives as they argue from opposing perspectives about the value and future of broadcast versus online.

Moderator: Patrick Keane, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, CBS Interactive

Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus

Steve Robinson, President & Founder, Panache

This should be interesting, folks.

And there should be a whole lot of other interesting things going on at this conference, so if you’re in any way involved with online video, from an agency, advertiser, or publisher side, it’s got my seal of approval.

Register here!

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Today I spoke on a panel @ Contentinople’s Content Delivery Economics on the topic of Monetizing Content Through Digital Syndication & Advertising. My fellow panelists were:

Moderator: Mark Kapczynski, VP of In-Stream, EyeWonder

Scott Bender, VP Advertising Sales, IGN Entertainment Consumer Group, Fox Interactive Media

Brian Wieser, SVP, Director of Industry Analysis, Magna Global, Interpublic

Patrick Mahoney, Senior VP Digital Media, Entertainment Studios

Ian Schafer, CEO & Founder, Deep Focus

Julian Zilberbrand, VP Group Director, Technology & Ad Operations, MediaVest Worldwide

Travis Howe, Senior Vice President, Digital Sales, Sony Pictures

This was a lively panel filled with discussion about the future of content monetization. Key takeaways?

* Convergence is closer than it’s ever been technologically, but is suffering from a bit of ‘Who Killed the Electric Car’ artificial growth-stunting.

* The model for the monetization of video content will ultimately be some combination of ad-supported and subscription revenue.

* There’s no ‘right way’ to buy online video. For some advertisers, it’s all about breadth and scale. For others, it’s all about depth and experience.

* Advertising networks may very well represent the best shot at the potential for online video content to match up against TV in terms of reach.

* Brand integration doesn’t scale well, but it’s what lots of advertisers are looking for, especially when working with the large media companies.

* The monetization of content is actually quite dependent upon the hardware and platforms it will be delivered to.

No big surprises here, but no one professes to have all the answers. But I suggest we get a heck of a lot closer before we start wondering about ‘what’s next’.

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On April 22nd, I’ll be speaking at the Content Delivery Economics conference at The Westin Times Square here in NYC.

Here’s the info:

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Media Roundtable: Monetizing Content Through Digital Syndication & Advertising

New business models are emerging for the syndication of content through a variety of online digital distribution services. This panel, made up exclusively of media and advertising experts, will explore different options and the routes to monetizing your digital content through advertising solutions.

Moderator: Mark Kapczynski, VP of In-Stream, EyeWonder

Scott Bender, VP Advertising Sales, IGN Entertainment Consumer Group, Fox Interactive Media

Brian Wieser, SVP, Director of Industry Analysis, Magna Global, Interpublic

Patrick Mahoney, Senior VP Digital Media, Entertainment Studios

Ian Schafer, CEO & Founder, Deep Focus

Julian Zilberbrand, VP Group Director, Technology & Ad Operations, MediaVest Worldwide

Travis Howe, Senior Vice President, Digital Sales, Sony Pictures

Check out the full conference program here. If you’re at all involved with the monetization of video content, this conference — and panel — is for you.

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In what is probably my last post on the McCain girls (see here and here and here), I present some closure on the mystery surrounding the creators.

So yes, I did go to elementary school with the long-haired brunette in the video.

And the comedy site 23/6 (owned by IAC) was the producer of the content, as outed by the NY Times today.

Case closed.

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Improv Everywhere, the group behind the Grand Central Station and Best Buy stunts have just launched a new one: turning a Little League baseball game into a major league-style event.

Somebody get these guys some damn online sponsorships.

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Earlier, I discussed the campaign to get Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up played at Shea Stadium.

Well, it happened. The song got over five million votes.

I caught it on my mobile phone at the game. The fan reaction was pretty harsh. Watch it here:

Here’s what it looked like on TV:

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So YouTube launched their original series Living Legends, featuring an introduction from The Rolling Stones (as I was the first to announce here).

So what do I think?

First of all, the art direction on this thing is just not good. If YouTube wants to be a player in the original content space, they are going to have to choose some good fonts and title treatments, and start making these channel pages a whole lot better looking. Ironically, this is something that MySpace is actually doing right. Check out BBC WOrldwide’s channel on MySpaceTV as an example of sub-channeling content and integration of community elements.

Secondly, I’m a huge Stones fan, and it just pains me to see Mick Jagger so obviously reading the simplest of lines from cue cards.

Thirdly, when I click on the ‘Ask a Question’ button, it just opens up a new tab in my browser and reloads the page.

Maybe it’s just me, but if you land the Rolling Stones (even in an obvious shill for their new movie), do it right.

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