Comments on: First on Mars, Last With the Idea? http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/ Sun, 19 May 2013 03:33:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Did All These Fledgling Video Startups Not Get the Memo About the Crappy Economy? « NewTeeVee http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/#comment-465775 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:45:08 +0000 http://newteevee.com/?p=13746#comment-465775 [...] In recent days I’ve chatted with newly launched startups Clipgarden, a portal for paid training videos; Gawkk, a video feed reader; and Hitviews, a studio that matches brands and web stars. Meanwhile, this week my colleague Chris Albrecht profiled the launches of ZDONK, an online film financing community, and First on Mars, a premium video content aggregator. [...]

]]> By: Nick http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/#comment-465774 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:46:22 +0000 http://newteevee.com/?p=13746#comment-465774 Here’s my take – if this is a superset of programming from multiple portals, and discovery is as easy if not easier than any single one of them, then I can see this working. Hulu is great, no question, but I think their discovery leaves something to be desired, and who pays atttention ultimately to what shows run on what networks anymore? Maybe some do, but I don’t really keep track.

The only knock I have on FOM is that I could not figure out how to search.

]]> By: Tuhin Roy http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/#comment-465773 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:28:35 +0000 http://newteevee.com/?p=13746#comment-465773 And another interesting take on our launch from the LA times:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/12/first-on-mars.html

]]> By: Tuhin Roy http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/#comment-465772 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:05:30 +0000 http://newteevee.com/?p=13746#comment-465772 Hey there Chris. Thanks for the review.

Unfortunately, one important detail we discussed in the interview that didn’t make it into your article is that First on Mars is already generating user engagement that is far superior to the competitors you mentioned in the article.

In our beta period, we averaged about 14 page views per visit and 14 minutes per visit.

According to Compete (November numbers), Fancast is averaging about 6 pages and 7 minutes per visit, Hulu is averaging about 6 pages and 10 minutes, Joost is averaging 7 pages and 8 minutes and Sling is averaging 6 pages and 6 minutes. So, our model is generating a 40% improvement over the best of the competitor’s engagement stats (Hulu) and a 100% improvement over some of the others.

While there are many things I like about all of the competitor sites (particularly Sling), these numbers are worth noting because they mean that across 10,000+ actual First on Mars beta users, we were seeing solid evidence that our approach is driving value for Internet TV viewers.

]]> By: Frank Sinton http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/#comment-465771 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:11:47 +0000 http://newteevee.com/?p=13746#comment-465771 Hi Chris,

One correction – Mefeedia actually has an official deal with Hulu and are using the partner API and embeds. We also just got approval and officially running Comedy Central’s Colbert Report and Daily Show:

http://www.mefeedia.com/tv

Additionally, we also have ABC and others as partners (see our partners page link in footer), with direct relationships and partner feeds:

Of course, this is only part of Mefeedia – we still have thousands of videoblogs and other sites, including anything you want to personally aggregate via importing your personal subscriptions from YouTube, iTunes, Blip, etc…

Regards,
- Frank
CEO, Mefeedia

]]> By: Stacey Higginbotham http://gigaom.com/2008/12/10/first-on-mars-last-with-the-idea/#comment-465770 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:59:20 +0000 http://newteevee.com/?p=13746#comment-465770 Chris, based on your description of this company, about a dozen unfortunate people will be out of work soon. Sad.

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