What Makes for Good Broadband Video

It's all the rage but don't think of it as TV

Lights, Cameras, Broadband!  These days, everyone in the media business is creating a broadband channel.  Even the broadcast networks, once indifferent to the web, have plunged in to create "broadband experiences."  The Disney Channel; USA Network, Sci Fi Channel, Bravo,  Discovery Channel, CMT and The History Channel have all started or announced plans for broadband channels in the past 6 months.

Lights, Camera....wait a second!  Cut!!!! Just what are these broadband channels supposed to be anyway?  Many of these broadband channels seem like mini-clones of existing networks with miniaturized videos of abbreviated lengths -- sort a leprechaun's version of the TV schedule. 

But watching low-resolution video clips on a computer is hardly as engaging as watching real TV shows on a large TV screen. Yes, we may go online to find a TV show we missed, but it’s rarely our first choice – and we're hoping to see a whole show, not a clip. 

Soon we'll download a full show and port it over to our real TV screens, creating our own personalized TV network- but then, that’s not broadband.  It’s TV, even if it's TV coming through our high-speed pipes.

When we're online, we're searching for information and connecting with content that interests us, from news to sports to political spoofs.  Sometimes, not always, we expect video to be part of this experience.  We'd like to offer a few suggestions (along with some praise for companies who are getting it right) about a real broadband experience:

1.  Broadband videos should be part of an overall web experience, not placed in a video silo.   While video can be an exciting part of the online experience, it's usually not THE experience.  For starters, not all content is improved when video is added – and not all user groups (think: time-stretched business news users) have the luxury of watching video. 

And, the kinds of video that most sites offer – namely short format videos-- invariably work best when they are integrated with text, community, and communications.  Too many sites dump their videos into a separate enclave without context to the rest of the site – the video viewer is suddenly sucked into a dull video library, without all the cool stuff that's on the rest of the website.   Even worse, the library's filled with a whole bunch of other unrelated little clips:  huh? 

The PBS website for the program, Frontline, is a great model for video integration.  When we watch a Frontline show we've missed, we get an upgraded viewing experience:  PBS has enhanced the video by making it modular -- and enhancing each video module with transcripts and related articles on the same screen.  Even better, on Frontline's site, we don't have to stop watching video to see what other options the site offers:  we control when and how we get more information.  Now, that's better than TV.   

2.  Broadband sites shouldn't be  used exclusively as another release window for content that’s already out there.  That's what almost killed pay-per-view TV, and it will surely kill audience interest in broadband.  Archives of older shows have their place online, but at the least they require additional exclusive content (interviews, scripts, TV history) that goes beyond "plain TV."  We're hoping that more companies take their cue from sites like Animal Planet's Beyond, which offers web-only videos about pets, perfect for kids and pet-lovers.  It's original fresh content that ultimately will create new audiences for these sites. 

3.  Start thinking in terms of the small screen and the type of short formats that work online.  It's a new screen size and a new medium – use it.   Talking heads may (or may not) keep our attention on a TV screen, but they're far less compelling on a small screen, especially when we don't know who's talking – sometimes simple text is a better choice online.  And new short formats require experimentation as well: what's too long for a blooper (visit the BBC UK site for some hilarious classic TV Blue Peter bloopers), may be ideal for a cooking video.   Our guess is that companies need to study what works in these tiny screens (and while they're at, can they just figure out which media player we're using?) 

4. Short formats and the online experience create a different environment for ads.  It's one thing to sit through a :30 ad before a 30 minute TV show – quite another to watch a :10 ad before a :30 clip!  Forcing users to sit through ads (especially before short clips) is especially annoying in a medium where users are used to control.    Let's not take a giant step backwards in broadband to a world of spot advertising where people have to endure ads they don't want to see —in the very medium that has given users complete control of what they do ( and through search engine advertising, given advertisers different tools). 

Instead, let's move forward with advertising that works with -- not against -- this user-controlled medium.   American Idol's site places the ad alongside song performances, so fans can see both – not a bad solution.  WebMD's videos are placed alongside relevant sponsors whose products are related to video content – another good solution. 

5.  It's truly two-way – create environments that allow -- even encourage -- users to contribute to the broadband experience. In fact, users seem to be figuring it out faster than media companies—because they're unhampered by the old-media assumptions.  Users intuitively seem to grasp that short formats ideally lend themselves to fast, funny video – and that highly topical, music-driven videos are fun to watch online.   

Youtube, with its clever short-format videos created by an ever-inventive user community, is a blast.  It's fun to see how other users rated these clips and it's fun to rate them as well.   And,  Turnhere's site blends user-generated locally based videos with maps and links (some sponsored) to local places and stores – a kind of home-grown travelogue site that we're likely to use before our next trip. 

6.  And here's our final suggestion: make sure the video works.  If we have to download a new video player or wait forever as the video loads, maybe we'll go back to checking email instead.  Remember, it's not TV, it's broadband --- and there's a whole world of content that's a click away.

By Robin Broitman and Carla Sarett

About The Authors
Robin Broitman is the President of Interactive Insights Group, Inc. in Reston, VA and Carla Sarett, Ph.D. is the President of the Internet Research Group, LLC in Wayne, PA.  Together they provide a range of strategic research consulting services.  For more information visit www.internet-researchgroup.com.