Not rocket science
It came at the end of a very frustrating day.
I had spent the day meeting with a major television network.
It used to be that meetings like these were like banging your head against the wall:
The equipment they use isnt’ professional
The product they produce isn’t professional
It’s not possible for an ‘average person’ to make good quality. You need professional crews
We don’t have those conversations anymore.
Now, it’s like banging your head against a marshmallow
We’re already doing it. We have 3 people on staff who shoot and edit all their own material…. Thanks for coming by.
Really? Three people. At a major network in the USA – after 5 years of ‘meetings’ and ‘training sessions’. I am not making this up.
When it comes to TV networks, you can’t move too slowly.
But then, I came home to read in The New York Times that Google was buying Next New Networks.
No price has been revealed as yet, but the very fact that Google (Youtube) was in talks to buy an indy web producer company was interesting in and of itself.
Google, (no dopes), are clearly by-passing the conventional content producers.
And good idea, too.
Let’s look at the numbers.
As of now, ‘average people”, (like you and me) have posted a jaw-dropping 26 billion videos to Youtube (and that’s just Youtube).
26 billion videos.
How much is 26 billion videos?
If each video were 2 minutes long (and most are longer), that would be 52 billion minutes of content, posted in about 5 years.
And how much is 52 billion minutes of content?
That would be 866 million hours of content.
Now, if NBC, for example, were to produce 8 hours of original content a day, every day, (Sundays included – and that is much more than they actually produce), it would take NBC 296,308 years to match what Youtube has created in 5 years.
Let me say that one again, this time in BOLD.
IT WOULD TAKE NBC 296,308 YEARS TO MATCH WHAT YOUTUBE HAS PRODUCED IN 5 YEARS.
Does this tell you something about the future of media?
It should.
It used to be, if you were a talented person, you would go to work at NBC or CBS or DIsney. You had no choice.
But if you are a talented person now, why in the world would you go and work there?
Now when you can set up your own production company and sell the content direct or sell the company (better) to Youtube?
Now, let’s take this logic one step further.
Michael Eisner used to say ‘content is king’.
Well, if content is king, who is it in the future that needs the content.
It’s not NBC or ABC. Who, after all, are they really?
They are old model content creators – expensive, complex and not terribly creative.
But who needs the content in the future?
iPhones. iPads. Cable. Online like HULU.
The people who make the products that are the platforms.
What, after all, is the iPod without iTunes? Nothing.
And do you need Arista Records to sell iPods.
Nope.
What do you need?
Music.
And what do you need to sell iPads or iPhones?
Content.
And who makes the content?
Actually, looking at Youtube…. You do.
See a connection here?
I do.
3 Comments
Michael Rosenblum December 18, 2010
Dear Nino
Always such a pleasure to find you here.
I was a bit worried after I had abandoned b-roll that I would not see you again, but here you are.
Yes, the TV News business is certainly dying and the many craft cameramen along with them. Nothing I can do to stop that one I am afraid. Ironically, almost all networks now are grasping at the VJ model, whether they hire me or not – I am getting pretty much universal praise over there for being ‘ahead of the curve’ and ‘seeing the future before anyone else’. Of course, if they actually hired me I would like them a lot better, but frankly, I don’t care one way or the other. I have many other fish to fry these days.
What I really like in all your postings for the past 8 years is how you keep telling me I am going out of business. I am sure 8 years from now you will be posting the same thing. In fact, as I closed out my business for the year last week I was delighted to see that I have, in fact, had my best year ever. And I think 2011 is going to be even bigger. Of course, this is because there are now so many more people who want to either create video or use it. Just astonishing. The notion of ‘selling’ to the news business is now really marginal, if at all, so whether they hire me or not, I could not care less.
I also note as an aside that you like to post how the folks who work for me on the various Hyperlocal news projects are getting taken. How dumb they are. How you make 12 times what they do in a year. Well, looking at the books, it would seem that I make 12 times what you do in a year. You can draw your own conclusions.
Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I don’t think you’re going to see much snow down there in Tampa but here in England we just got 6 inches, so the outlooks is pretty bright for a white Christmas.
Nino December 18, 2010
“Dear Nino
Always such a pleasure to find you here.
I was a bit worried after I had abandoned b-roll that I would not see you again, but here you are.â€
Life would be boring if I did. I would however like to see someone else joining these conversation like it used to be, too bad they all went out of business.
Let’s take it from the top.

“Yes, the TV News business is certainly dying and the many craft cameramen along with them. Nothing I can do to stop that one I am afraid. Ironically, almost all networks now are grasping at the VJ model, whether they hire me or not – I am getting pretty much universal praise over there for being ‘ahead of the curve’ and ‘seeing the future before anyone else’. Of course, if they actually hired me I would like them a lot better, but frankly, I don’t care one way or the other. I have many other fish to fry these days.â€
Whatever the reasons, and there are many, of why broadcasting news is dying, VJ did not rescued it like you predicted. If you look at the news industry like a businessman instead of like a broadcaster the reason for the demise isn’t very complicated. There are too many of them doing exactly the very same thing, it would be like having 10 car dealers selling the very same car on the same block, there just isn’t enough clients (viewers) to go around. Add the other news outlets to the mix and now nobody is making any money, it’s the law of supply and demand. By creating billions of new videos like you are proposing will only make things worse and nobody at all will make any money in news. The real looser here is the public who with all this greed going on behind the scene isn’t getting any more of that quality of news that they need to know. In this mass of stupidity, newsmakers of all levels, VJ creators included, have forgotten that the real purposes of news is to give information that the public NEEDS to know. You tell me of how those millions of crappy little stories done by VJ are providing the type information that “the public needs to knowâ€.
“What I really like in all your postings for the past 8 years is how you keep telling me I am going out of business. I am sure 8 years from now you will be posting the same thing. In fact, as I closed out my business for the year last week I was delighted to see that I have, in fact, had my best year ever. And I think 2011 is going to be even bigger. Of course, this is because there are now so many more people who want to either create video or use it. Just astonishing. The notion of ‘selling’ to the news business is now really marginal, if at all, so whether they hire me or not, I could not care less.â€
You might have hard time finding any posts that I said that you’ll be out of business, on the contrary, I always said that your kind will always survive and succeed. What I have been saying is that you will fail in whatever direction you were going, this is why you have been changing direction countless of times.
What I’m saying now, and you know well that I haven’t been wrong yet, when it’s easy to do it is also easy to learn; providing of course that there’s some level of intelligence on the learning end. Your level of teaching, or any teaching that will not generate any revenue, can be found everywhere for free. Those videos that people are uploading to server like Youtube will work against you instead of in your favor. Search anything about making a videos and you’ll find it in many and many version, but you are a smart boy, you know all this already, but don’t worry, the supply of unintelligence appears to be unlimited.
“I also note as an aside that you like to post how the folks who work for me on the various Hyperlocal news projects are getting taken. How dumb they are. How you make 12 times what they do in a year. Well, looking at the books, it would seem that I make 12 times what you do in a year. You can draw your own conclusions.â€
We are talking about apples and you are selling oranges.
We are talking about making a living with a camera and the skills needed to make video projects that will generate a comfortable living versus living on poverty wages. When I make comparison I don’t include what I got from my lighting web site or from my workshops. What you do as a full time for a living for me it just a part time activity.
Let’s put it in this way, I could make a very comfortable living if I would ever decide to stop doing video productions go into teaching video production, but you could never make a living with your camera alone like I do.
I would say that in terms of credibility learning from someone who has achieved success as a photographer would have considerably more value to a student that learning from someone who could never make a living from what he teaches.
Read about my post on B-roll about the “Power of Learningâ€. I never said that the people that work for you are dumb. They just don’t understand what it takes to make a good living today in this business. Thousand of photographers are generating ten times the revenue of your VJs at Verizon. In spite of all your negative predictions about the television industry, outside the news business there are more money being spent on generating new programs than ever before, photographers are being compensated more than ever before, and at this level of productions VJ are non existent. I would say that your VJs are dumb for not opening their eyes. The key ingredient in any business to succeed is to see what others are making money with. You can keep talking about Youtube and the billions of videos that nobody is paying for and are not generating any revenue or you can look at the everyday TV and see what others did that is generating a substantial income, then learn how to do it; or does this make too much sense?
As I said many times before, in spite of our disagreements you still have my admiration for what you have been doing. And this will never change.
Best wishes for a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.
We will not get any snow here in Florida, and that’s just fine with me.
Nino December 18, 2010
“It used to be that meetings like these were like banging your head against the wall:
The equipment they use isnt’ professional
The product they produce isn’t professional
It’s not possible for an ‘average person’ to make good quality. You need professional crews
We don’t have those conversations anymore.
Now, it’s like banging your head against a marshmallow
We’re already doing it. We have 3 people on staff who shoot and edit all their own material…. Thanks for coming by.
Really? Three people. At a major network in the USA – after 5 years of ‘meetings’ and ‘training sessions’. I am not making this up.
When it comes to TV networks, you can’t move too slowly.
But then, I came home to read in The New York Times that Google was buying Next New Networks.â€
Michael, you are throwing a tantrum because the networks don’t want to play with you by your rules, this isn’t a spoiled child playground anymore, this is business.
You are smart enough to realize that your run is quickly coming to an end.
I’m sorry to tell you this but you are a victim of your own teaching, when is so easy to do it like you’ve been saying; is also so easy to learn, like I’ve been saying.
The reason that broadcaster are not listening to you is that your projections have failed on all fronts, even the best salesman BS will come to an end when there are no positive results. The VJ that were supposed to rescue the news industry hasn’t done so and there isn’t anything to project that they will.
You can’t spend the rest of your life making projections, soon or later you’ll have to start showing results, and after these many years you haven’t got any to show. There’s only one success that business are looking for and that’s $$$$ for them, not just for you.
VJs or not the news industry is dying. Those few stations that you converted to VJ are doing worse than ever and the VJ system that was supposed to rescue them financially never happened. I told you that this will happen the moment that you replace intelligence quality with unintelligent quantity.
The public do not have the time to look at billion of insignificant little. The public will give you 30 minute of their valuable time in order to be informed and they expect the program provider to give them the very best or they’ll go elsewhere; and this has been the downfall of the news industry: cheap quantity instead of the intelligent quality that the public needs.
Go back on this very blog of yours and see all the post you made about the NYT moving to videos and all the praises you had for them and you of course taking credit for their transformation. Now, four years later and things are not looking any better. The same goes for The Newark Ledger, you claimed that you made a fortune converting them to videos, where are they now financially? This is the problem when you oversell yourself and cannot live up to the expectations. Once you get that reputation you are done, and you are done. But you are still expecting people to listen to you even thou you have nothing positive to show but more and more projections? Why should they?
Try to hang on to the NYVS because I’m sure you are smart enough to see the obituary. Again, when it’s easy to do it’s also easy to learn. Vimeo already started their free video training programs, Youtube isn’t far behind it and when they’ll do it you know well that it will be without sparing any expenses, they would never let Vimeo or anyone else be better. Product manufacturers have already hundreds of videos created for consumers and prosumers on Youtube. These are mini lessons produced by professionals hired by the manufacturers, they promote the products as well as teaching video techniques, and I can tell you that they are far superior than those cute little lessons at the NYVS.
I know all this from my personal involvement; and like the song goes:
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”