CBS is buying WallStrip for $5 million.
I never particularly liked the show itself, and it’s hard for me to imagine anyone becoming a committed viewer. But, the producers understood how to exploit the emerging layer of intermediaries:
Along the way Howard, Adam, Jeff, Lindsay, and a few other brave souls they hired figured out a bunch of stuff that is key to a successful web video show. Like how to get the show on every video service quickly and easily. How to tag and promote the show on each and every service so it actually gets seen. How to measure and track all the views. How to reconcile all the different measurements you get. How to get subscribers in iTunes, FeedBurner, and YouTube. How to make a web site that communicates what the show is quickly and easily. How to do advertising in a way that doesn’t get in the way of the viewer. How to get the show indexed by ticker in the major finance portals. And most of all, how to keep it short, fun, and funny.
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That’s what Howard did best with Wallstrip. And that’s why CBS wants Wallstrip on it’s team.
Intermediation is particularly important in Web video, but it will more important in all forms of Web content in the future. Most publishers have not only forgotten the importance of marketing, they’ve forgotten how to do it. Now is the time to re-learn those skills or to bring them in house.
Originally published on my blog at JupiterResearch.