A couple of years ago, only a handful of Internet sites existed for publishing videos uploaded by users. Today there are more than 225 such sites, providing the infrastructure to deliver videos created by amateurs and professionals alike.
What's next? As video content -- the distribution of which has been historically controlled by a few broadcast networks and cable companies -- meets the decentralized, user-centric worldwide web, are we seeing the dawn of a new medium, a "videonet" that will redefine the media landscape? At the recent Supernova 2006 conference co-hosted by Wharton in San Francisco, a panel of video entrepreneurs and industry experts predicted that virtually every organization marketing to consumers -- from TV stations and sports teams to soft drink and detergent makers -- will rapidly develop a video presence on the Internet. And it may not stop there. If video publishing grows at rate similar to that of websites and blogs in recent years, what does it mean for traditional broadcasters, businesses, and users alike?
For the time being, amateur productions dominate. The most popular video hosting site, YouTube, receives 50,000 video uploads a day and streams some 50 million videos to about 6 million viewers each day. That represents more than 40% of the current market; MySpace, a social networking site, accounts for another 25%. The remainder consists of major Internet players like Google, MSN, Yahoo and AOL, each of whom have just a fraction of the overall market. Most sites provide free uploading, and are attempting to generate revenue through advertising or distributing commercial video content from traditional broadcast networks, movie studios, and other content partners.
The user-generated content runs the gamut from thought-provoking interviews to comedic parodies to brutal scenes of street fighting, as amateur videographers work in areas that are both accessible and interesting to them, largely eschewing mainstream content and production styles.
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