Look at the table below. You see that entire subset of “streamself” startups?
I must have been asleep because there aren’t only half a dozen ways to stream yourself to the Web, there are 35!
Today Youtube confirmed that it, too, would be diving into the genre. Conventional wisdom is that one of YouTube’s many competitors (MySpace TV, Veoh, Daily Motion, Metacafe) will want to get into the space so they’ll pony up the cash to buy one of the “really original 35″ ways to stream yourself to the Web.
Trust me: the last thing any one of YouTube’s competitors want is more unsellable, low quality video.
While the leaders of both Justin.tv and Ustream.tv put a positive spin on this, the fact is that the exhibitionists that turn to “selfstreaming” live will favor YouTube because YouTube commands 60% market share in online video and by extension has the audiences that such users look for.
The fact that some of these “35 original and unique” companies focus singularly on live streaming means nothing to users, it means something to PR teams and IR spinsters… but users won’t care if there is 8 people watching them.
I wish them well, but we’re seeing the same dynamics in live streaming as we saw / are seeing in video file sharing social networks: way too similar companies vying for aggregation and distribution supremacy with too little quality content.
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WatchMojo NewsletterIAC’s Ask.com already uses Google’s text ads, but hitherto, it’s still used its own search algorithm, which it acquired when it bought Teoma. Teoma and Wisenut were once considered to be potential Google killers, Ask Jeeves bought Teoma; Looksmart bought WiseNut.
Anyway, Ask.com already uses Google’s text ads and when Google filed to go public, it was disclosed that Google was giving Ask a 110% revenue share. That’s right, Google was essentially paying off Ask.com for market share. However, IAC always maintained that one day, it might launch its own ad platform, too. This always seemed to be a hollow threat, because Google has created the world’s most effective and valuable advertising marketplace… it did not make sense for Ask.com to do that, frankly.
Today SAI is reporting that blanketed between potential layoffs is the possibility that IAC simply drops using Teoma to power Ask.com’s search engine and instead fully turns to Google for both algorithm and paid search.
The implications are actually both trivial and important. They are trivial in that Google is getting access to Ask.com’s less-than-5% market share as is via the paid ads relationship; but in the backdrop of MSFT arguing that the market needs a strong No. 2 to fend off a Google monopoly in search, Google might also want to avoid this. Google already powers AOL. So if Ask.com is also powered by Google, in fact, Google “owns” the real estate on 3 of the Top 5 search engines (Google, AOL and Ask.com). In that context, I hate to say it, but it would make sense for YHOO and MSFT to hook up, because otherwise YHOO and MSFT will be fightning for the #2 slot instead of taking on Google for the #1 rank.
This morning I read a quote from Tiger Woods, to paraphrase, it basically said “don’t show up to play if you don’t think you can win”.
I love that quote.
Well, I personally show up even if I think I might not win, but at the risk of sounding over-confident, it’s pretty rare that I think I can’t win. Maybe that’s why I rub some people the wrong way. Of course, those aren’t the kind of people I care to associate with…
Not everyone can be liked, of course. To quote a very successful college football coach (Steve Spurrier): “when people like you, it’s because they can beat you.” So true.
Some people don’t like Tiger Woods, either. Not only he’s that good, but his skills are second to his desire to win, judging by that quote. That’s a pretty killer combination if you ask me. Tiger Woods is so polished, however, that he commands respect everywhere he goes.
Others might be less skilled but their drive to win is so strong that it rubs some people the wrong way. I don’t pretend to be the most skilled at anything, but I’ll find a way to win without cheating or whining, like many losers do. Those who might not be the most skilled people but have an extremely strong desire to win and a track record for winning get respected reluctantly. I think I fall in that category. I love it.
NBC CEO Jeff Zucker is in that category, too. I don’t doubt that he is very smart and possesses great leadership skills and considerable drive (when he was battling colon cancer, the man scheduled chemotherapy on Fridays so he could be back to work on Monday!).
But I think his drive, feistiness and aggressiveness so far outweigh everything else that he must rub many people the wrong way (and that says more about others, frankly). Considering that Zucker was the youngest executive producer at GE-owned NBC, you better believe that he has his share of jealous and envious onlookers.
Some killer quotes from a recent Zucker speech:
The future of NBC News is not on the broadcast network, but at MSNBC and online, said Jeff Zucker, president of CEO of NBC Universal.
“The definition of NBC News is really changing,” he added, “and it’s becoming more MSNBC and MSNBC.com.”
He also took print journalists to task for “disproportionately” harping on downsizing at NBC News in the face of declining viewership for broadcast news in general.
“When we try to evolve NBC News, a lot of people want to write about that,” he said, suggesting that newspaper reporters’ seeming obsession with the declining fortunes of the TV-news business was a bit of schadenfreude.
“The thing they want is for the [TV-news] business to die faster [than the newspaper business], because that’s what makes them feel better,” he added.
“Obviously, Dow Jones is a fantastic company,” he said. “Whether it’s worth the price News Corp. paid for it, time will tell. It’s easier to pay that price when the only shareholder you care about is the one you see in the mirror every day,” he quipped, referring to News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch.
Zucker started his climb up the NBC corporate ladder at the news department as the network’s youngest-ever (he was 26) executive producer of Today.“You can’t be on 24 hours a day and not make some mistakes, some misstatements,” he added.
Say what you want about him, the man knows how to give good sound bites and his desire to win is certainly admirable. If you connect the dots between the first and last thing he said, you have to realize that times have changed. The world is global, connected and “on” for 24 hours. You have to be, too. It doesn’t mean you have to slave away for 24 hours… it just means that you have to be ready 24/7 (at least figuratively). Invariably, you might make mistakes, but so long as your overall strategy and execution are correct, you’ll come away a winner… and that will piss off enough people to make you laugh all the way throughout the exercise.
