Verizon Wireless Revving Up Its Push Into Mobile Video
from the make-it-two dept
A day after announcing a poorly-conceived deal with YouTube, Verizon Wireless is at it again, bringing more video to its VCast service. This time it's signed a deal with Revver, the online video site that inserts ads into user-generated videos, and splits the revenue with the creator. It's not clear whether this deal, like the one with YouTube, will only give customers access to a limited selection of online videos. But even if it offers the full slate of content on the site, the deal seems like a bad one for Revver. The deal gives Verizon Wireless exclusive access to Revver content for the next 12 months. You have to imagine that the next 12 months are going to be pretty big for the wireless video space, and here Revver is promising to cut itself off from a major part of the market. This probably won't make Revver's users very happy, at a time when an more and more sites are exploring models that involved paying the contributor. Obviously, Revver and other fledgling services will be tempted by the immediate payments, but making deals that could hamper their future growth doesn't seem wise.
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Never good
The content and distribution industries continue to prove that they dont get "abundance" by trying to artificailly create scarcity.
Just how does artificially creating scarcity help anyone?
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Video on my cellphone, why??
This is yet another way to blame cellphones for automobile accidents:
I didn't see the pedestrian because I was watching youTube on my cell phone.
ohh, sniff, sniff, I smell lawsuit.
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Strong, growing, profitable companies don't sign exclusive deals.
Scared, uncertain, cash strapped companies sign any deal (ie: exclusive) that they can.
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Maybe this is one of those wierd but sucessful ploys that they pull, like the invites system for gmail.
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"me too" play for Revver
That said, it's a "me too" play for Revver. Apparentnly, Verizon prioritized YouTube for the Press Release, and Revver won't get to be first on any other U.S. carrier because of the exclusivity.
That said, this is a good deal for Verizon. They get to have their cake and eat it too.
The Hoff
Up Your Channel!
www.zannel.com
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