Getting ever shorter, video screenings on the internet and mobile devices has reinvented “a new media”, and have become the preference for the 14-34 age group or the “millennium” generation. In order to get a strong foot hold in the short video market, Disney accepted to pay about a Billion dollars to acquire Maker Studios, one of Youtube’s biggest network channels according to the CEO of Maker Studios, Ynon Kreiz.
“There is a massive transition from traditional television towards short video screening on the internet”, he said in front of the Mipcom public, an annual entertainment event in Caen, the southern French city which also host to the famous film festival.
“Disney should stay close and remain relevant for this trend aquired by the “millennium generation”. This age group watches 50% more on videos than other internet users and a third less on television than the previous generation”, he continued. Maker Studios is the world leader in this format, and regroups about 60 000 channels on Youtube.
Internet users want ever shorter and shorter videos. In the US, users video viewing attention spans have fallen to less than 4 minutes, compared to 5 minutes a year ago, Mr. Ynon emphasizes. The traditional media find that “short format are just like long, but in short versions” so they invent “a new media”, with a different way to produce, to share and to monetize.
The alliance between Disney and Maker has created an internet giant: according to statistics from ComStore, Disney and Maket Studios together make out the 3rd largest destination on the internet, only behind Google and Facebook, Mr Ynon pointed out.
Netflix has come to the same conclusion: the American video-on-demand group noted in beginning of September that 87% of their mobile users watched their services less than 10 minutes per viewing. Netflix, which doesn’t possess such short content would like to tap in to the rise of mobile video market, which is the fastest growing sector on the internet today. The group has therefor indicated their vision to ad 2-5 minute videos to its catalogue for mobile viewing. For example, they will include extracts from their long videos, the American press reported. Maker Studio has also decided to innovate themselves in this sector and will create ultrashort advertising clips of only a few seconds that will be placed among YouTube content.
With regard to advertising prices, Mr Kreiz is not certain that they’re cheaper than on television. “They are sometimes higher and the growth is on two digit numbers”, he emphasized. He also quoted a recent advertisement by OMD, the giant media agency, which recommended their clients to allocate about 10% to 25% of their TV budgets towards online videos. “The change is coming”, he concluded.
Maker Studios, created in 2009, has the biggest YouTube chains in the world, such as the Swedish PewDiePie with about 30 million subscribers and the number one chain on YouTube or the “Epic Rap Battles of History”, and the popular and absurd videos comparing two historical or fictious persons (“Hitler versus Darth Vader”, “Mozart versus Skrillex”..) that generate more than 30 million views for each episode.
Maker Studios which have come out strengthened from its merger with Disney, suggests to the various online TV platforms a collaboration with their so called “Maker Box”, that regroups thousands of videos from their channels. Globally the channels that Maker regroups and which help them to monetize their content with publicity bring about 450 million subscribers and Maker's resources grow constantly. “Every day about 10 000 to 15 000 new video publishers want to join Maker, we chose about 100”, Mr Kreiz concludes.
Jonadav Apelblat
Business and Technology Editor
The Brussels Times
