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With the technical
obstacles out of the way, Internet users are flocking to video at an
astounding rate. By now, all of you have probably heard of YouTube.com (if you haven’t, you really
need to get out of the cave more often!) According to comScore Media
Metrix, the site (which features countless video clips
covering just about anything you could imagine) had just
58,000 unique users last August. By May that number had
exploded to more than 12 million!
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Nathan
Sassover
Founder/CEO, WorldNetCast.com |
The major
TV networks have started putting episodes of their popular
prime time shows on the Internet, available for anyone to
download at little to no cost. That has many local TV
affiliates worried about their future as this new distribution
channel threatens to make them irrelevant. Back in 1993, an
entrepreneur named Nathan Sassover saw all of this
coming and he started registering domain names so he could
take advantage of the revolution when it finally
arrived.
Sassover’s
company, WorldNetCast.com, now operates
310 web TV “channels” with plans to have 1,000
of them online within in 18 months. Though many are not aware
of his operation yet, he has already attracted such major
advertisers as American Express, the U.S. Postal
Service, Remax Realty and Holiday Inn and
the company is already profitable. In the next few months you
might start seeing WorldNetCast talked about as, like YouTube,
an "overnight sensation". |
While what he
has done may well be sensational, Sassover will be the first to tell
you that he accomplished wasn’t done overnight. We’ll be the first
to tell you that it is amazing that Sassover got himself into a
position to do it at all. He has come a long way from his birthplace
in Deggendorf, Germany to his current home in Beverly
Hills, California.
Sassover’s
parents were survivors of the Holocaust (if this sounds
familiar to you it may be because, coincidentally, the subject of last month’s
cover story, Ari Goldberger, was also a son of
Holocaust survivors). During the Nazi reign in Germany, each of
Sassover’s parents lost both of their parents as well as
13 brothers and sisters between the two families. After
World War II, Sassover’s parents asked for permission to
emigrate to America and after waiting for several years, they
were finally allowed to make the move in 1949. The family settled in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin where Nathan and his parents proudly
became naturalized American citizens a few years
later.
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Sassover
developed an early love of music and started studying piano
when he was 7 years old. That continued throughout his
childhood and teenage years and lead to his enrollment at the
famed Berklee College of Music in Boston. From
there it was on to New York and a career composing
music for films and TV. It was during those years in New York
that Sassover became fascinated with other forms of media. He
got involved in film/TV production and post production,
graphics, CGI (computer generated imagery) and electronic
soundscapes among other things. He also learned about
micro-electronics technology and data transmission, developing
skills that would serve him well when he decided to transfer
his talents to the web.
Sassover
told us “The genesis of WorldNetCast.com originated in 1993
when I surveyed the media landscape, the emerging domain world
and the opportunity I saw to basically replicate the dynamics
of broadcast television as it originated in the1950s with its
geographically defined affiliate system, which over time
became known as local TV.” |
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“My view, which
was definitely NOT shared by many people at the time, was
that the Internet was fundamentally a broadcasting opportunity. The
painfully slow growth of broadband availability put us in a ‘hurry
up and wait’ mode regarding WorldNetCast’s strategy. The common
refrain was: ‘why would I want to watch video on my PC?’ or ‘the
Internet is text based - it may be 20 years before that changes.’
All of this seems amusing now in retrospect as we see mobile
devices/cell phones delivering video to ever-smaller screens, and
low cost IPod movie and TV show downloads available
worldwide,” Sassover said.
Nathan added,
“It’s not the first time I encountered this type of response. It
virtually parallels another phase of my technology ventures. Years
ago based on my research into analog/digital music synthesizer
programming concepts, I developed a proprietary wireless
microelectronic coding technology, which over time led me in a very
different direction toward the design and invention of the first
vehicle keyless remote security system. The industry and
consumer response at the time was profound indifference, to put it
mildly."
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"My
encoding/decoding technology and commercial applications
eventually led to my being granted two patents, US Patent #
4,383,242 and # 3,987,408, which became the basis
for the worldwide multi-billion dollar vehicle remote
security industry. It’s the tiny transmitter in your pocket or
built into your car key which locks/unlocks your doors and
alarm system."
"To date,
as you may know, this invention has been adopted as standard
or optional equipment by virtually all automobile
manufacturers throughout the world, and with the product also
dominating the global automotive aftermarket, the vehicle
remote security and control system is considered the second
most successful consumer automotive electronic product in
history – the first being the car stereo,” Sassover
said. |
Having proven
the critics wrong with that massive success, Sassover paid them no
mind when he moved on to the Internet either. “Even though broadband
levels were still quite low in the late 90’s, it was my belief that
over time the Internet would increasingly follow the path of
subdividing itself into a vast amalgam of local and regional
destination sites. This trend, coupled with the rapid deployment
of broadband services globally, would soon enable convergent
Internet/TV destination sites based on the well established
broadcast model of local and regional television stations, but
enhanced by true video on demand, interactivity, channel
personalization for the viewer, and user generated content,”
Sassover said.
“WorldNetCast
was intended to integrate the proven concepts of local/regional TV
combined with community newspaper, magazine and local business
journal publishing. Clearly, this defines another space
beyond the directional type-in generic domains, as well as
geo-domain sectors which have been the mainstay of the domain
industry for years. Our channels are not ‘landing pages’ or skeleton
web sites with general info links. They are functional
multi-category TV channels with our Omniview engine providing
the user experience and scalable navigational structure,” Sassover
added.
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"Evolving
from a portfolio of 1100 domain names,
WorldNetCast is a next generation Internet broadcast
network that has sites ranging from metropolitan
broadcast portals to micro-targeted communities. While the
network portal is at WorldNetCast.com it is also deliverable
to all mobile platforms," Sassover said. “The entire
network will be available via our NetMobileTV.com venue that
is currently in Beta. We are also building a search brand
which will be a desktop feature within the network at YellowPagesTV.com
as well as a broadband blogging venue at BloggerTV.com.”
WorldNetCast’s
hundreds of local/regional sites include: |
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NewYorkCityTV.com
SouthernCaliforniaTV.com
NevadaTV.com
OregonTV.com
CenturyCityTV.com
PalmSpringsTV.com
SantaFeTV.org
They also have
sites like these developed in conjunction with Chambers of
Commerce and business leaders:
IcelandBusinessTV.com
MiddleEastTV.com
ParisBusinessTV.com
BeijingTV.com.cn
ShanghaiTV.com.cn
Other targeted
sites in the WorldNetCast network include:
Cinevue.com
A mega
portal one-stop source for movie previews / downloads from all net
based providers including MovieLink and CinemaNow.
eRetailTV.com
A Global
Informercial Shopping Channel developed in conjunction with the
Direct Response
Industry.
TravelandLeisureTV.com
A site billed as
The Global Travel Destination.
The company’s
technology allows users and clients to upload their own videos to
WorldNetCast sites. "Over the next four weeks, all WorldNetCast
channels are integrating our Omniview Quickload™ video tool
which enables rapid uploading of user/advertiser generated video
content by metro regions. We believe our database and infrastructure
solutions provide a more compelling viewing/video management
approach than the MySpace or YouTube type of sites,”
Sassover said.
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“It also
enables YellowPagesTV.com advertisers to create their own ‘TV
commercials’ and have them online within 48 hours viewable by
local North America regions, just like the print
versions, or by our evolving worldwide YellowPagesTV
affiliates. |
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This
redefines Yellow Pages advertising and enables local TV
advertising within Yellow Pages search - provided as a toolbar
feature within all channels.”
WorldNetCast has
developed multiple revenue streams with innovative
sponsorship/advertising programs. Those include community
organization sponsorships from municipal/state/regional economic
development agencies, Chambers of Commerce, convention & visitor
bureaus and tourism groups. There are also 'paid for insertion' and
PPC ad units ranging from 30 seconds to 5 minute advertorials.
“Our revenue
based ads are video spots only. Banners and links to advertiser
sites are included as part of the media package,” Sassover said.
“Additionally, we have aligned with marketing groups that pay us for
placement of their half hour documercial type content to reach
specific B2B/B2C demographic zones within our highly targetable
network, ranging from metro regions to clustered zip codes by
specific communities.”
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In
addition to the sites they have developed themselves,
WorldNetCast invites independent video based sites to join
their network. “We encourage this and take a very democratic
and transparent approach to integrating ‘content affiliates/
producers and/or advertising/marketing partners,” Sassover
said. “WorldNet Cast is not myopic about the global
implications and opportunities afforded by this type of
Internet broadcast network.”
While web
video is still in its infancy, Sassover says all of the signs
show a massive shift to the Internet is already underway. “The
long term trend line started with network TV ratings falling
as viewers embraced cable TV, which now seems almost quaint
given the empowering nature of web based video and the
limitless viewing options emerging. Even if most of those
video experiences are amateurish, self indulgent and lame,
the diversity is the point and recent statistics
underscore the reality: |
Nathan
Sassover |
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In 2005 the
World Series had its worst ratings of all time, 30%
lower than the previous year.
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Ratings for
the NBA playoffs also reached record lows, down 43%
from 2004.
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Grammy
Awards ratings for 2006 were down 31% from two years
ago.
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The Winter
Olympics had their lowest ratings in 38 years, down 36%
from the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Where are these
viewers? You can be assured they have not gone off to Tibet
for a life of meditation and no TV. The fragmentation and disruption
caused by the enlarging ‘video menus’ of the Net are a major force,”
Sassover said.
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While
everything seems to be coming up roses now, there is one
lingering issue that could pose a threat to WorldNetCast. You
have probably heard about the debate over “Net
Neutrality”. Internet service providers appear to be
winning a battle in Congress that will allow them to
charge high bandwidth users (like video providers) extra fees
if they want their content to continue flowing unimpeded
across the web. Backers of “net neutrality” want laws enacted
to ensure that all users are treated the same, but legislators
currently seem disinclined to take such action. |
Sassover’s take
is this. “The idea of ‘tiered services’ with premium costs for rapid
delivery of certain content is a potential battlefield with more
damage possible than orderly revenue streams for telecom/cable
operators. It’s hard to see this as a rational way to assure future
revenue for the telecom/broadband carrier industry that seems to
have a suicidal tendency every 7 years.”
“In the same way
that telephone companies are not permitted to tell consumers who
they can call or what they can say, broadband carriers should not be
allowed to use their market power to control activity online and
determine the priority of content getting through first and fastest.
This would fundamentally alter the openness of the Net and is based
on economic issues only, driving a two-tiered system and control of
the Internet, effectively blocking the on-ramps for those who can't
pay the toll fees,” Sassover said.
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Though the
cost of doing business on the web may go up, compared to old
mediums like print magazines, radio and TV, the barrier to
entry (in terms of start up cost) is dramatically lower
on the Internet. Though WorldNetCast has a big head start on
the field, competition is likely to crop up. It’s also
unlikely that today’s local TV stations are going to quietly
allow WorldNetCast to eat their lunch, especially when
they already have professional video content production staff
and equipment in place. How can WorldNetCast handle that
challenge - and what advantages can they offer local
advertisers that local TV operations can’t? |
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“A very
appropriate question,” Sassover said, “There are enormous production
resources at the local/regional levels today but it’s not
‘either/or’, as there is also a spirit of local community and
immediacy when you have rapid access to news and social networking
as it happens, and a growing independent freelance movement of
viewer/users who we feel would express hometown interest and embrace
LANewsTV.com or LosAngelesTV.org or
NewYorkCityTV.com with more enthusiasm and connectivity then
say, KNBC, Los Angeles, or WNBC, New York.”
Sassover added
“Our advertisers appreciate the fact that they can micro-target the
demographic/psychographic opportunities within our channels. For
example, SouthenCaliforniaTV.com is a large metro region but
we can also offer targeted zip code clusters within that, such as
WestHollywoodTV.com, HollywoodHillsTV.com,
PalmSpringsTV.com, etc. We can give you
NorthernCaliforniaTV.com but we can also zoom in on
SacramentoNewsTV.com, BigSurTV.com,
MarinCountyTV.com or
SanFranciscoNewsTV.com.”
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“It gets
even more interesting when our mobile platforms are
integrated. If you’re going to Las Vegas, the local TV
channels are not structured to show you the options you have
on a 24/7 basis but local video sources ‘on the ground’ can
broadcast the whole scene via our channels
LasVegasNewsTV.com
and
NevadaTV.com."
"They can
give you ‘what’s hot/what’s not’ and all other topical
information in a fast changing universe where web
interactivity is much more compelling than local
NBC/CBS/ABC/FOX affiliates' static platforms and
reaction time in each market. And if you add the prospect of
mobile messaging, hotel/restaurant reservations ‘on the fly’
to those venues, Now it’s a Brave New World!” Sassover
concluded. |
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