Velocity Interactive VC: Web Video Needs a ‘30 second spot’
By DONNA BOGATIN • Jun 16th, 2008 • Category: CONFERENCE CIRCUITIs digital advertising inventory more valuable than traditional television commercial time?
I had the pleasure of attending Jonathan Miller’s private equity panel appearance at the Media Summit in NYC last March (see Velcoity Interactive to Startups: Ditch IPO Dreams). This morning, I once again enjoyed Miller’s refreshingly direct, real world discussion of how his own investment firm seeks to capitalize on the present day Internet opportunity.
Internet usage is on a seemingly unstoppable growth trajectory, according to Cisco Systems, and so is online video, in Miller‘s Velocity Interactive view of the Web. In his OMMA Video keynote today, Miller shared why he has green lighted investments in four distinctly different types of Web video plays this year:
Broadband Enterprises–Digital video advertising network
NextNewNetworks–Niche Web video channels
Generate–Talent management and video production
MixerCast–Video Remix and viral distribution
For Miller, video generalists are NOT winning propositions: Velocity Interactive considers targeted, “specialist” plays to be more certain investment opportunities.
The entire Web video ecosystem, however, is dependent upon the same thing for future growth, according to Miller: Standards for measuring viewership and formatting ads.
Ironically, while Miller is betting on a “big shift” of ad dollars from television to online video, he nevertheless looks to one anchor of the franchise TV advertising business for monetization inspiration: The tried and true “30 second spot.“
Miller is not advocating for a direct import of the TV commercial to the Web. Instead, he hopes online video will creatively develop its own unique ad vehicle that will enjoy the same scalable growth as the “30 second spot” has provided the television industry.
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DONNA BOGATIN is the Founder & CEO of STARTUP ALPHA
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