It used to be that it cost millions of dollars to produce high-quality programming, and it was only possible by the privileged few. Nowadays, everyone with a mid-range Apple and an HD camcorder can become producers, directors and, if necessary actors. Of course, most made-for-the-Internet productions or webisodes are not 22 minutes with built-in story breaks at particular times suited for TV. They tend to be shorter, and the lengths vary.

The trend towards this type of programming has hit the studios as well, with Stage 9, an offshoot of ABC announcing a series of programming tailored for the web. It makes sense. It’s cheaper, far cheaper, than a TV show, and so this programming choice requires less money from advertising and sponsorship in order to break even. And the syndication choices are far greater, Stage 9 can release the show on ABC.com, a couple of other sites, give advertisers some sort of share of voice or exclusivity and then make a further release (think reruns on TV) all over the place.

What is the best form of advertising for this type of content? Sponsorships are going to be the norm for a while, but we at YuMe will be trying everything, to see what user’s respond to the most. Maybe a combination of a 15 second pre-roll, with a few contextually placed overlays, followed by a post-roll announcing the next episode? We’ll let you know.

- Jayant Kadambi

Tags: abc, Stage9, syndication, webisodes

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Networks & Studios, Online Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.