Hollywood Meets New Media

  By Aamir Lakhani —

Web site hosts will benefit because they will be able to choose several forms of advertising and how it appears in the video. It could be ads that are played before the video — much like what Hulu does today — or banner ads when the video is playing, which is a format YouTube is currently experimenting with. All the ads will be delivered by Google’s powerful AdSense network.

Advertisers will benefit in this scenario as well. According to MSNBC, MacFarlane has a $100 million contract with 20th Century Fox TV. The network had originally cancelled “Family Guy;” however, strong DVD sales made it think twice and resurrect the show. The popularity of MacFarlane’s shows has increased greatly since then, and Fox has been satisfied with the advertising revenue they bring. Suffice it to say that advertisers would like to expand their success with MacFarlane’s shows to the Internet.

Google and MacFarlane may succeed because they will give viewers what they want in a format that appeals to them on the Web. As more people get used to the idea of watching TV on their PCs, Internet-only shows will become more popular. Writers and show creators need to understand the audience that tunes in to the Web because this group is looking for something it can’t get on TV.

Writers and producers will find they have more freedom to deliver their vision on the Web because they’re not restrained by typical roadblocks. Successful advertisements won’t be ads ported from television; successful advertisers will need think about their target audience and deliver the ads in a unique way. After all, no one who watches a two-minute clip will be interested in a 30- to 45-second commercial. Creative product placement, click-to-pay ads and other tactics must be leveraged for users to respond positively to ads.

It wouldn’t be surprising if by next year, our viewing habits shift from normal sitcoms to short Web-only clips that we watch during our breaks when the boss is away. Advertisers will certainly realize this is an audience they cannot ignore. 

Aamir Lakhani is a technology enthusiast. He runs the Network Assassin Web site, where he blogs about technology, security and entertainment. He can be reached at editor@certmag.com.