With the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) having their annual conference next week in Las Vegas, Nevada, television networks are getting ready to discuss what their plans on for the future of Internet video, and what they hope to accomplish with it.
Ryan Nakashima of the Associated Press is reporting today that, since the networks can now charge more from advertisers for online offerings than traditional broadcasts - between $35 and $50 per 1,000 viewers, as opposed to the $25 they get by more conventional means - it is becoming an increasingly lucrative venue for them. The trick is finding a happy medium between what they can do online while not cannibalizing their broadcast airings and DVD sales. An example of a success on the Web is when CBS saw that their pre-season airing of "The Big Bang Theory" brought in 90,000 viewers online, which possibly offered a promotional boost to subsequently increase the initial broadcast TV audience for the series to 9.5 million due to word-of-mouth.
While this may be a good idea for shows to build audiences, you do have to wonder whether this relatively young theory can prove true in many other cases. Does the launch of South Park Studios, a site at which every episode of "South Park" is put online help add to already successful DVD sales? Or, given that the episodes are ad-supported, can they possibly be making enough to offset any loss in sales? Considering every episode is up in their entirety, it's difficult to imagine that at least some DVD sales are diminishing. Even an episode of "South Park" aired recently dealt with the monetization of online content:
"Kyle: Yeah, but you know, I learned something today. We thought we could make money on the Internet. But, while the Internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn't matured as a distribution mechanism to the extent that one should trade real and immediate opportunities for income for the promise of future online revenue. It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to the extent that necessitates content producers to forego their fair value in more traditional media.
Stan:...Yeah."