Content’s Reign is Over: YouTube Proves Audience & Distribution Trumps All

According to WebProNews, YouTube audiences for the newly revived MGM classic “My Mother the Car” overtook television audiences of Fox’s popular “Lie to Me” and “Fringe” combined in recent weeks.

“Fox’s new shows are topping Neilsen ratings, but that’s no match for YouTube’s power to distribute mass amounts of legacy content to audiences unwilling to leave the YouTube website — or unaware that they can,” said Heather Dougherty of Hitwise.

“Content used to be king, but now distribution is the new sheriff in town,” said Alan Luftanza, who authored a book about YouTube. “The data show that people indeed enjoy moving-picture television shows like “House,” but would rather stick with market leader, YouTube, and watch shows that often lasted well into their 3rd season.”

Luftanza, who worked with Dougherty to conduct the analysis based on March 15 through April 15 viewing habits, observed that Neilsen Ratings reported 12 to 22 people, on average, watched the top 10 television shows. Contrast that to He-Man’s season 1, episode 13 “Life Father, Like Daughter,” which has 2,283 views.”Twelve people is not a lot,” said Luftanza. “I once had more friends than that.”

The ratings show that YouTube’s brand, and loyal audiences, are driving more media consumption than fresh shows by such networks as CBS, NBC, MTV9, and ABC. “It’s so much easier to watch the five episodes of “My Mother the Car” on YouTube instead of digging out the lazer disk or beta tapes from the back of my closet.” said Terry Zipster (Zipster08).”And believe me, I don’t want to be wrestling through my closet since I’m not sure what I might find.”

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Michael “Tony Robbins” Buckley (WhatTheBuckShow), left his job as a janitor to host a full-time show on YouTube, and he isn’t surprised. “YouTube is really about two things: the community, and watching retro classics like “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Animated Series.” Buckley added, “I have unwavering confidence in YouTube’s ability to maintain it’s leadership in online-video viewing, and I have sexual feelings for women.”

Daisy Whitney, a woman and industry analyst, predicted this phonemon in her December 2008 “New Media Minute” show titled “2009 Predictions.” Whitney said she expected to see Hulu in 2009 assemble the latest television shows, but that YouTube’s sheer mass of loyal viewers would be more important than content to attracting audiences.

“If I had to bet between Desperate Housewives on television and Hulu versus Alf on YouTube, I’d pick the latter any day,” said Whitney, with both palms open to indicate sincerity. “Let’s face it- the audience has chosen YouTube, and Alf’s biting sarcasm is due for a comeback.”

28 thoughts on “Content’s Reign is Over: YouTube Proves Audience & Distribution Trumps All”

  1. How do you think any band in the 80s got popular? The audience for big hair was HUGE. They didn’t care what it sounded like as long as they had BIG HAIR.

  2. I want to switch to the parallel universe.

    why won’t bad TV go away? My faith in humanity just dropped a big notch.
    No wonder this country’s a mess, I blame bad TV.

    “Daisy Whitney, a woman and ”
    hehe

  3. I’m taking Bupropion HCL for my internet addiction. It’s supposed to let me ween myself off the unhealthy thing. I went 12 hours without booting up last night!!! I’m so proud of myself!! I have a Quit Date now.
    🙂

  4. I actually read this post.

    Still don’t care, though.

    @6: It’s “You’re”, as in, “you are”. It’s a contraction, which requires an apostrophe, and proper spelling.

  5. @12: People on this blog call me “The Spelling Nazi”. I have a “Word of the Day” email list at work because I was so shocked by some of my co-workers’ lack of vocabulary skills. I teach, yet I am not an English teacher. I am just a stickler for the rules of the English language.

    Unfortunately, things only seem to be getting worse. The texting and IMing culture is degrading English language skills of the middle school students I teach.

    OK, I am off my soapbox now. 🙂

  6. @15 I’d like to protest.

    I do not think a typo is the same as a spelling or grammar error.

    Typing is a whole different bag of weed especially, on line.

    Since this is a blog with comments, which is similar to a chat, I think chat rules should apply here as well.

    After all sticklers for the rules should schickle a stickle.

  7. @14: i agree: Chat and TXT are eradicating decent communication skills. i do not consider it the “evolution” of English, like some have suggested…for me, it’s complete and total devolution…and it’s happening at such a rapid rate it almost doesn’t matter what you or i do to stop it.

    sad, really.

  8. Marilynnnnnnnne

    we still love you even though you are the spelling nazi. And I think I termed that phrase, by the way.

    I dizerv cudoes fer dat.

  9. Kevin, you still suck. Unless you get me some good drugs, and I mean a large quantity of stuff like horse tranquilizers or something, so I can get some sleep. If you do that I will 1) no longer accuse you of sucking and 2) quit calling you a tool.

    However, I cannot guarantee that Hank will not call you a tool. You will probably have to bribe him with something too. I suggest more drugs.

  10. I just want to get stuck on a dessert island (or desert island) will all of you. We probably wouldn’t survive long before eating Nutcheese, but it would be a lot of fun.

  11. There is just not enough rape in this desert island adventure idea. I don’t want to be a part of it.

    As a distant secondary thought to the rape… How about treasure? Any of that?

  12. @19: I do believe it WAS you, Sukatra who first called me the Spelling Nazi.

    @18: I could not agree more.

    @16: I personally feel it is important to always uphold the rules of grammar and spelling, lest the English language devolve into something unrecognizable, like what Nutcheese wrote.

    @22: You can eat Nutcheese if you want. I think I’ll pass. 😉

  13. Can we ALL please stop talking about eating nutcheese? I’d rather eat fish, anyway.

    I’m not sure I really changed the subject there.

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