NTV Predictions: Fate of UGC

Among the questions we’ve asked our panel of experts was this one: POINT: UGC will rule 2008. COUNTERPOINT: UGC will die in 2008. Your take?

Selections from their responses are below. We’d love to hear your take on the question or on our panelists’ predictions in the comments. For more information on the NewTeeVee 2008 outsourced predictions, see this post.

kliavkoff.jpgGeorge Kliavkoff, chief digital officer, NBC Universal (former interim Hulu CEO and leader of other NBC tech projects):

“POINT: UGC is a viable long-term art form that has established itself in the culture and will continue to rock in 2008. COUNTERPOINT: The irrational belief that marketers want to associate their valuable brands with unpredictable and sometimes inappropriate UGC and will thereby create a sizable, long-term sustainable business will die in 2008.”

diaz.jpgZadi Diaz, Smashface Productions (co-creator of EPIC-FU):

“UGC will evolve in 2008. We are adding a fourth element to the three
Rs. We are learning a new medium, a new language and a new way to
communicate. We are all becoming visual storytellers and citizen
journalists. We are learning how to tell our personal stories, our
interpretation of life and how to express ourselves creatively through
video. User-generated content — the name is what will need to change
in 2008.”

desilva.gifRichard de Silva, general partner at Highland Capital (investor in Metacafe):

“UGC properties are like the reality TV genre which now dominates prime-time TV schedules (full disclosure: I am on the board of Metacafe). Major brand advertisers will get comfortable with buying ads on designated areas of these sites.”

seth.jpgShashi Seth, head of monetization at YouTube (manages YouTube’s advertising products):

“User-generated content is here to stay for many reasons. First and foremost, the cost of taking a video and uploading it to the web has become very small. With reasonable-to-high-quality digital video cameras now hovering in the $300-$500 range, a lot of people can afford a camera. Second, most still digital cameras have some amount of video capability. Therefore, with more people creating videos, more video content will show up on the internet. With many companies creating revenue-sharing programs for these users — like the YouTube Partner Program — talented users will be able to reap rewards from their work and receive the same promotional benefits afforded to professional content partners.

“[The question you should have asked is] Will marketers be comfortable advertising on UGC?

“That transition is already starting to happen. A year ago most large advertisers were hesitant to have their brand associated with UGC. Today, many of these same brands are willing to run campaigns on either a mixture of professional and UGC, or even – in a amazingly quick turnaround – exclusively on UGC. At the end of the day, marketers are looking to run successful, targeted campaigns and then let the results speak for themselves. If their audience happens to be viewing UGC, so be it.”

nalts.jpgKevin Nalty, “self-proclaimed viral video genius” (a.k.a. Nalts from YouTube):

“UGC will grow up in 2008. One-hit wonders will be rare, and small studios will create serialized content that is sole sponsored by advertisers and therefore far more profitable than content that relies on paltry ad-sharing dollars.”

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