Microsoft to Become a Television Producer. Again.
Microsoft has snapped up Ben Silverman -producer of shows like The Biggest Loser and The Office- for a one year deal to produce web pilots for MSN.
The company has been down this road before and it has lost a lot of money. MSN produced onriginal TV style content in 1996 and 1997 and cites bandwith as one of the several reasons the initiative did not take first time around.
This time around could be different. Could be different. For a start more people have the bandwidth now. Also the idea that you can watch television over the internet is no longer so freakishly nerdy it makes sane people laugh.
A lot of it depends on how they are planing to monetise it. If the revenue is simply coming from display advertising on the MSN sites and the odd pre-roll before a clip then it stands a chance. If you have to pay to download it then it will be strike two for MSN the producer. According to Lorne Manly's New York Times article, Silverman is a master of product placement. I imagine Microsoft will want to make use of that as a revenue stream as well.
I am cautiously optimistic, however. It doesn't appear there are any plans to charge for the content -and considering they are less than two months away from total war with competitors Yahoo and Google this is a good move. It is all part of their campaign to get people to stay on their sites longer than it takes to complete a search or start up a web browser. Marketers and advertisers need users that stay on a site for a good long period of time. Microsoft plans to offer them those kinds of users.
Other causes for optimism: They are being a little bit cleverer this time around. The video content is web focused. It will be based around things people look for on the internet and how they use the internet. For instance Face Off -which is apparently going to be a pop culture debate/ talking heads style program- while have the most searched entertainment enquiry as its topic of the day. If they pull that off it well it could prove to be really popular. It would definitely be somewhere near the top of my video podcast list.
There will also be comedies, more reality shows involving chefs and programs about famous musicians. The usual stuff audiences seem to have a ceaseless appetite for. And good content if you are planning to monetise product placement.
What I find most interesting about new development is that Microsoft is fully prepared to migrate any particular show to our televisions. It's media convergence swimming in the opposite direction. The possibility that I could see a Microsoft logo at the beginning of a television program has me intrigued. I will write more on this.
The company has been down this road before and it has lost a lot of money. MSN produced onriginal TV style content in 1996 and 1997 and cites bandwith as one of the several reasons the initiative did not take first time around.
This time around could be different. Could be different. For a start more people have the bandwidth now. Also the idea that you can watch television over the internet is no longer so freakishly nerdy it makes sane people laugh.
A lot of it depends on how they are planing to monetise it. If the revenue is simply coming from display advertising on the MSN sites and the odd pre-roll before a clip then it stands a chance. If you have to pay to download it then it will be strike two for MSN the producer. According to Lorne Manly's New York Times article, Silverman is a master of product placement. I imagine Microsoft will want to make use of that as a revenue stream as well.
I am cautiously optimistic, however. It doesn't appear there are any plans to charge for the content -and considering they are less than two months away from total war with competitors Yahoo and Google this is a good move. It is all part of their campaign to get people to stay on their sites longer than it takes to complete a search or start up a web browser. Marketers and advertisers need users that stay on a site for a good long period of time. Microsoft plans to offer them those kinds of users.
Other causes for optimism: They are being a little bit cleverer this time around. The video content is web focused. It will be based around things people look for on the internet and how they use the internet. For instance Face Off -which is apparently going to be a pop culture debate/ talking heads style program- while have the most searched entertainment enquiry as its topic of the day. If they pull that off it well it could prove to be really popular. It would definitely be somewhere near the top of my video podcast list.
There will also be comedies, more reality shows involving chefs and programs about famous musicians. The usual stuff audiences seem to have a ceaseless appetite for. And good content if you are planning to monetise product placement.
What I find most interesting about new development is that Microsoft is fully prepared to migrate any particular show to our televisions. It's media convergence swimming in the opposite direction. The possibility that I could see a Microsoft logo at the beginning of a television program has me intrigued. I will write more on this.
posted by Gordon White at 6:28 am
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