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The most recent media statistics indicate that last year, the time spent viewing a screen for recreation increased by one hour to over 16 hours per week . The biggest contributor to this increase was Video Gaming . It is a known fact that during the time spent in front of the consoles, the viewer not only pays close attention to the screen but is also involved in the media - the game. This combination is highly sought after by advertisers.

The gaming industry offers us an unrivaled, vicarious and fantasy experiences, that can be sometimes profound and extreme in nature. This experience is what super-glues the relationship between the gamer and the game and provides the most involved interactivity among all entertainment media. Such a media is prized by advertisers for their ability to hold the gamer’s attention. Its no big surprise that In Game advertising and product placement is being so quickly adopted by the gaming industry as an alternative revenue source. This has also helped bring down the cost of the video game title and console for the gamer - A development that has been welcomed by the gaming community. As the gaming industry becomes more sophisticated we are going to see more innovative placements and advertisements in our video games.

Game publishers should make sure that the ads and placements are non intrusive in nature and are done in a way that actually lends reality to the scene. If they are able to do that, In-Game advertising and product placement will truly mature into a very effective alternative revenue source to the gaming industry. With studies claiming that brand retainment among gamers is around 60-65%, video games are no doubt very attractive to the advertisers. The day when ads and placements become an integral part of our video games is definitely not far away.

The Online Video industry is exploding! ComScore reported yesterday that a record 10 billion online videos were watched in December 2007. The reasons that most contributed to this unbelievable growth were

• The stale and boring programming on broadcast television (caused by the WGA strike and Television’s uninteresting and stereotypical programming).
• The increasing popularity of online video sites.

YouTube was the top site within the Google family. It captured more than 97 percent of videos watched on the Google video sites.

This table gives numbers on Unique Video Viewers.

141 million Americans headed to the Web for videos, says ComScore. The top 3 players were -

• FIRST : Google/Youtube was first with 79 million unique viewers.
• SECOND : Fox Interactive Media was second with 43.9 million unique viewers.
• THIRD : Yahoo Inc. was third with 38.2 million unique viewers.

Other Interesting Stats for the month of December 2007 -

• The average viewer consumed 3.4 hours of video during December’07.
• The video consumption of an average viewer increased 34% in the last year.
• The average video duration was 2.8 minutes.
• The average viewer watched 72 videosin December’07.

This table gives numbers on Total Videos viewed.

The most interesting questions to ask would be :

• How can these videos be monetized effectively?
• What advertising model should be used that would best suit online videos?
• Can we advertise smartly enough to avoid taking online video back to the time of annoying television ads.
• Is anyone up for the challenge?

The Writer’s Guild of America(WGA) strike has come as a blessing in disguise for many independent content creators. It has enabled them to understand the power of the internet as a direct distribution medium. Many have told me that they are thinking about taking their content directly to the web without going through studios and distributors. Every producer is trying to become his own distributor.

All this is good news. More creators are bringing their videos directly to the web. These professional and semi professional content creators who make quality content will slowly but surely attract viewership on the web. As the content creators migrate to the web, so will the advertisers. Where viewers go advertisements will follow. Newer ways of advertising on these videos need to be invented and the videos needs to be distributed widely and monetized effectively to benefit the creator, advertiser and distributor.

We can expect the networks to start taking financial hits as more and more ads start to go to online media. The networks are huge but they will feel the pinch!

Take a look at a network-by-network roundup of content that has not been aired because of the WGA strike. Also included are previously announced alternative series orders and midseason replacement series.

Its a long list. The networks should be afraid of this trend.

ABC shows not yet aired this season:

• ACCORDING TO JIM (comedy)
• CASHMERE MAFIA (drama)
• DANCE WAR: BRUNO VS. CARRIE ANN (alt)
• DUEL (alt)
• ELI STONE (drama)
• SUPERNANNY (alt)
• WIFE SWAP (alt)
• LOST (drama)
• MISS/GUIDED (comedy)
• OPRAH’S BIG GIVE (alt)
• WANNA BET (alt)

CBS shows not yet aired this season:

• AMAZING RACE 12 (alt)
• THE CAPTAIN (comedy)
• JERICHO (drama)
• JINGLES (alt)
• MILLION DOLLAR PASSWORD (alt)
• THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE (comedy)
• SURVIVOR 16 (alt)
• SWINGTOWN (drama)

The CW shows not yet aired this season:

• CROWNED: THE MOTHER OF ALL PAGEANTS (alt)
• EIGHT DAYS A WEEK (comedy)
• FARMER WANTS A WIFE (alt)
• ONE TREE HILL (drama)
• PUSSYCAT DOLLS PRESENT: THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT DOLL 2 (alt)

FOX shows not yet aired this season:

• 24 (drama)
• AMERICAN IDOL 7 (alt)
• CANTERBURY’S LAW (drama)
• HELL’S KITCHEN 4 (alt)
• KITCHEN NIGHTMARES 2 (alt)
• NEW AMSTERDAM (drama)
• NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (alt)
• RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES, THE (comedy)
• TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (drama)
• UNHITCHED (comedy)

NBC shows not yet aired this season:

• 1 VS 100 (alt)
• AMERICAN GLADIATORS (alt)
• AMNESIA (alt)
• THE APPRENTICE 7 (alt)
• CLASH OF THE CHOIRS (alt)
• IT CROWD (comedy)
• MY DAD IS BETTER THAN YOUR DAD (alt)
• WORLD MOVES (alt)