Brightcove Splits Ad Revenue With Creators

If you haven’t heard the name Brightcove in the past weeks you’d better check to see if your computer is plugged in. Given all of the buzz about Brightcove’s new offering, I spoke recently with Eric Elia, Brightcove’s VP of Content and Online Services. (Click his name to see one of the creepiest head shots ever). One of my favorite “new media” guys, David Adelman has been long telling me to watch Brightcove.

Now Brightcove has my attention. Why? The company announced that, like Revver and Metacafe, it will share advertising dollars with content creators. Although the site will appeal especially to larger scale creators, it’s a nice model for amateurs as well. Unlike Google Video, you don’t need 1,000 hours of footage to play.

The ad revenue is split 50/50 between Brightcove and the creator, and is based on impressions. Unlike Metacafe (which pays $5 per 1,000 views) Brightcove doesn’t fix its price. If they sell CPM at lower than $10, you’ll do worse than Metacafe’s “per view” rate (which amounts to half a penny). However if Brightcove commands a higher CPM (say $15-$20) you’ll benefit from a “per view” that’s closer or higher than Revver’s penny per view.

It’s a good gamble because advertisers will eventually pay higher CPMs to target ads, and Brightcove will help make that possible. Now it’s time to think about making your content valuable to advertisers — is it clean, targeted toward desired demographics, consistent, short and smart? Brightcove also allows site owners to syndicate video content, but they don’t make money via an affiliate fee.

Elia described Brightcove as going beyond web hosting and delivery. In fact it partners for that piece. Its core is in the monitization, content management, syndication and user interface. Yes- you heard it right. A video site that cares about UI. Will the major media properties embrace this? Elia has found them receptive to outsourcing this, which is encouraging. Spend two minutes on ABCNews.com and you’ll know what I mean. It’s like iFilm on steroids.

Brightcove’s sweet spot, says Elia, is “giving producers of all sizes control and flexibility to build businesses.” The company has had two rounds of funding, which includes investment from AOL and Interactive Corp (who backed ask.com).

Elia’s vision of the convergence between Internet video and television is that “TV will look a lot more like the Internet, with consumers able to find and discover” video content. How long before your remote control has a keyboard?

I’ve long claimed that the Comcasts and Verizon’s will have an important role in content distribution, but Elia raises an interesting point. Using the music evolution as an example, Elia believes that there will be “lots of tools and mechanisms to build the bridge from the Internet,” including devices, media centers, portable units, cell phones. “The traditional gatekeepers that we have come to know and love will be less important,” he says.