It’s definitely fun and exciting to be part of an announcement that has the potential to modify or perhaps – OK, let’s be pompous about it - alter an entire industry: the generations-old television content distribution and advertising business. That’s where YuMe are today as we’re announcing a deal to provide ad management services to the new online NBC Direct service.

It’s no secret that the Internet has sent some shock waves through Hollywood and Madison Avenue as tried-and-true advertising models have been threatened by the arrival of online video. But this deal – which allows consumers to watch premium prime time content free via the Internet – reinforces the idea that that decades-old approach of offering free content in exchange for watching ads is not dead. Far from it.

Consider Deloitte Services LLP’s annual media consumption survey, which found that 31 percent of respondents said they are influenced by pre-roll video ads while more than 60 percent said they were generally willing to see more online ads if they could get valuable free content. At the same time, comScore, a leading tracker of online traffic, released its December figures, noting that ads served by YuMe are reaching 46.9 million unique visitors per month – not too far behind YouTube, which reaches 56.6 million.

From an advertising perspective, there’s no comparison between viewers of YuMe-served ads on NBC Direct and YouTube clips. Google-owned YouTube is doing what it can to break its reputation of being home to the video clips of amateur and sometimes sophomoric antics. On the other hand, NBC Direct is offering professional premium content – hit shows such as “Friday Night Lights,” “The Office” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” You won’t find any pet acrobatics or skateboarding wipeouts there. But what you will find are viewers who are loyal, engaged in the content and obviously tech-savvy – after all, they’re watching online, on their phones, on their handheld media players and even on their WiFi-connected HDTV sets. Seems to me that this is exactly the type of audience that NBC advertisers want to reach.

Combine that with the in-depth data that YuMe can provide – such as real metrics on viewership and ad performance in downloaded, as well as streaming, playback – and you’ve got the beginnings of a formula that could finally give the television networks the type of online monetization option they need to adapt to their changing industry.

Is our approach a strong, viable option for networks that are trying to develop a monetization plan for this new form of distribution? Of course, we think so. But we’re also not saying it’s the end-all method, declaring victory over other models. This is all new and it’s going to take time to figure out what works. Viewers, who have more options than ever before, are calling the shots these days. They will make or break the models.

Believe me, I sleep better at night when I hear that a large majority of consumers say they’d be willing to watch more ads in exchange for valuable free content, that’s something you can’t ignore. We hope to keep rocking the boat with more of these types of announcements in the coming months. As they say in TV, “Stay Tuned.”

Jayant Kadambi

A stork, clearly while en-route to deliver the package to someone more deserving, mistakenly dropped an LCD flat panel Sony Vaio  PC (VGC-LT16E) on my doorstep a few weeks ago.  Rather than take the time to return the Vaio to its rightful owner, I hurried back inside the house cradling it.  Oh come on, it was really cold outside. 

It happens to be one of those computers that everyone and their brother are selling that is really a PC masquerading as a sleek flat-panel LCD TV.  Or is it a TV masquerading as a PC.  In any case, this particular one can’t be differentiated from a mid-range LCD HDTV.  It comes w/ a TV tuner, has a myriad of TV inputs, as well as the usual complement of PC paraphernalia.  So, is this really a TV with an integrated web/Internet connection, such that I can lean back in my easy chair and watch live or time-shifted TV, as well as watch downloaded online videos from NBC Direct, streamed videos from Microsoft’s Internet TV or watch big screen versions of youtube?

 Almost, but we’re not there quite yet.  From a user standpoint it looks like a TV and works like a TV, but switching between the TV usage and the PC/computer usage is fairly cumbersome and definitely not seamless.  It’d be great to have a Picture-in-Picture (PIP) capability where either the computer would be visible in a window while the “TV” was running, or vice versa.  Also applications that let the online videos (either streamed or downloaded) appear, as it were, on the TV or DVR scheduling would be a great addition.  And if weren’t for the fact that my home has wiring for cable, phone, and wired Ethernet in every possible location, I would have had wires everywhere and the installation wouldn’t have been politically feasible at all.  

Now that I’ve stated why it isn’t perfect, I must admit, it’s a fantastic improvement on a PC.  The aesthetics are great and since I have pre-installed cabling in my house, I wall mounted the PC (or is it TV) where I normally keep my desktop computer and had an electrician install a plug point behind the PC so that there are no wires showing at all.    None.  Zero.  It’s wirelessly connected to my Internet router, and plugged into the RF satellite receiver plug behind the TV.

So, now, I can lean back and watch both traditional TV, as well as Internet TV and sort of flip back and forth between the two.  I wonder whether streaming Jackass 2.5 from Blockbuster onto my TV/PC counts as using the PC or TV?  And if we had an advertising network and platform that could figure out that when I watched Heroes on TV and when I watch the trailer or the next episode on NBC Direct and react appropriately, it’d be just fabulous.  Hey wait a minute, that’s what our vision at YuMe is.

Jayant Kadambi