Veoh and its founder Dmitry Shapiro were profiled in an article in today’s NYTimes about the upcoming release of their VeohTV player, which is similar to Joost in that it’s a downloadable app that offers a more television-like experience in viewing internet video. Unlike Joost, however, and as TechCrunch notes, Veoh isn’t asking permission and striking deals with all the content creators up front — if it’s available on the web as Flash video, the promise is you’ll be able to shift it from its original website it and watch it with VeohTV instead — from YouTube videos to Heroes episodes from NBC.com. Hence the NYT article: Veoh’s basically onto something I think people will want — a convenient single place to watch their favorite web videos — but we won’t know until the software’s out whether the public will respond, and the many content owners on the web will cooperate.
When Tivo disrupted the TV industry, there was a prevailing business model and billions in advertising revenue on the line; Veoh’s offering similar features to online video viewers at a time when most major media sites make very little off advertising on their television content online, and instead use the shows to attract and keep viewers on their own destination websites. Many may see the idea of viewers watching their shows elsewhere, whether advertising goes with them or not, as a threat to their web traffic. Rick Cotton, the EVP and general counsel of NBC Universal, already has a starting position in the article to that point, stating, “this material has value… The notion of taking it and generating traffic with it needs to be negotiated and needs to be done with the agreement of content owners.”
But big media could benefit by letting Veoh run free for a little while. You can ignore the elephant in the room and try to lock your customers to doing things they way they’re done now — or you can take a leap and try to give them what they want. That’s what little startups are supposed to do, and what big companies have a very hard time doing. So if VeohTV’s any good at all (I confess I haven’t had enough time in front of a Windows PC to try it myself yet), they’ll be the first of a wave, and should inevitably create new opportunities for big media to do what it does best, and make even more money. I think there’s a direct line between the availability of Tivo — which allowed people to easily find their favorite shows on their own time and grow incredibly loyal to them — and the explosion of TV show DVD sales, which are now a major revenue stream for networks and studios. Making web video of all kinds easier to watch could create a lot of opportunities for all of us.
Of course, my company is formally partnered with Veoh as a distribution point, and we share some investors in Spark Capital, so I’m rooting for them. What they’re doing is so natural, it seems inevitable — but big media companies are extremely well-practiced at fighting the inevitable, so Dmitry’s probably in for a scrap.
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