IPTV: is the Future Bitesized?

Ever since a friend leant me series 1 of the OC on DVD four years ago, my audio-visual consumption has moved almost entirely to watching high quality TV series on my computer, either from DVD or online/downloaded. I've also noticed this trend among friends and family, and there is other anecdotal evidence of this trend - take a look at A VC's "What my kids tell me about the future of media". 

Why? Well, for me, it's convenience and control. I get to watch what I want, when I want, for how long I want. Series based dramas are very different from films, as they allow for much richer, in-depth stories than can be fitted into most films, and these days have the same quality in actors and effects. 

At the same time, there has been the well-documented rise of YouTube, and the vast success of amateur, 3-4min video clips. 

Put these together, and what do you get?

After the huge success of LonelyGirl15, a professionally produced videoblog/drama, KateModern was commissioned to run on Bebo, a social networking site with a younger demographic trend, popular in the UK. KateModern is a drama, released in short 2-4 min scenes, backed up with profiles for each of the characters, which people can friend and interact with. Although there is a long term storyline, the characters are influenced by their online interaction with fans of the show. The KateModern profile containing the video clips has had over 3.7m views.

These can work because the characters are recording themselves on web cams (in the show), so are part of the interactivity. However, what they prove is that people are very happy to consume quality content in short clips released on a regular basis - a culmination of the DVD and YouTube trends.

I believe that this could well be the future of quality online media content, as was hypothesised by Chris Anderson in The Long Tail (Chapter 12, The Infinite Screen). We're seeing a lot of media clients who have taken up IPTV in a big way, and are a producing a lot of high quality short videos, monetising either through adverts on the page, or adverts within the video. It is uncertain as yet which model will prove to be most successful - undoubtedly adverts will receive more interest when they are in the video itself, although consumers may move towards distribution channels without these. 

I'd suggest that where consumers are watching media clips, possibly moving around a site or widget to find the videos they want to watch next, and probably watching them in a small box within the site, then page adverts will be most successful. Where the content is a story or drama, either long (15mins plus), or a large number of short videos, then in-video adverts would be more successful, as attention is unlikely to leave the video box, and the video is more likely to be watched full-screen.

What are your views?

Also check out:

Jeremiah Owyang, As the TV moves to the Web, control moves to the users where Jeremiah talks about watching Heroes online, with adverts.