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Our biggest hit episode of the past two weeks was ThreadBanger’s roundup of the Top 10 Halloween Costumes, and the video’s life cycle shows the power of YouTube and iTunes editorial spotlights in seeding contagious video views, and how big media attention can follow.
ThreadBanger has been building audience organically for years: currently the network averages over 1.2 million episode views monthly, and on YouTube the network averages around 30,000 views a day. However, with big features on iTunes and YouTube in October, ThreadBanger amassed 1 million views in a single week.
The Top 10 episode, posted on October 13, amassed around 40,000 views in its first week from subscribers, search traffic (for keywords like “halloween costumes”) and viral sharing on the site. On October 24, the episode was chosen by YouTube’s editors for a full-day homepage editorial spotlight, along with the ThreadBanger channel page. The result was a two-day spike in traffic of over 330,000 views on the episode, and another 200,000 views to other episodes on the ThreadBanger channel.
After the spotlight ended, we saw continued increased traffic to ThreadBanger’s YouTube Channel, averaging over 60,000 views, and 1500 new subscribers to the YouTube channel.
An interesting point was where the views came from: fully 32% of the viewership came from YouTube’s mobile site and iPhone app, where homepage spotlight episodes are featured. This equalled over 200,000 views from mobile devices, signaling a major, growing source of viewership that’s not considered by many web video producers.
The following week also saw a major feature for ThreadBanger on iTunes, resulting in a 400% increase in weekly downloads and a 200% increase in subscribers for the ThreadBanger video podcast, according to Feedblitz.
On Nov 1st, CBS Sunday Morning News featured the episode in their “By the Numbers” roundup as the YouTube video of the week, a segment that also featured Michael Jackson’s “This is It” and CBS’s NCIS as the other big hits of media for the week.
Finally, according to Quantcast and Google Analytics, we saw a 20% week-over-week increase in traffic to ThreadBanger’s website after the features, and total October traffic and uniques increased over 10% from September, showing that increased superdistribution can also drive traffic to your home destination.
And now, the list…
Next New Networks’ Top 10 New Episodes, October 2009:
Thanks! Stay tuned for our next report, and we appreciate your comments and feedback as always.
We’re especially glad they saw the need to expand the list from 25 to 60 companies, as they obviously felt it was important to include some additional companies like Next New Networks, Etsy, The Huffington Post, Mint, and Metacafe.
“Next New Networks’ syndicated Webisode model is a tough one to pull off. The company must make cheap but compelling programming, then convince advertisers of the value of selling sponsorships on that content across multiple distribution points like YouTube, Blip.tv, Yahoo, and many other portals.
Still, the company appears to be making a lot of progress toward that goal, consistently growing its audience and advertiser base with high-rate product-placement packages.”
I’d say that’s a pretty fair assessment. No one said this was going to be easy, but we really appreciate that people are seeing our progress, and how hard this team’s been working to make it happen.
We’ve been having an amazing year: high-profile projects with brands like Warner Bros, American Express, and Unilever; six Webby Awards, more than any other online media company; a 2009 Adweek Buzz Award for our work with Lionsgate and Initiative; and a huge partner presence on YouTube and other platforms including industry-leading ad solutions like Freewheel. All of this is showing that we’re building a viable new kind of media business out of the creative primordial soup of online video, and next year, I’d love to see us closer to the top of that list.
ThreadBanger, our DIY style network, is currently being featured for the entire day on the YouTube front page for its Halloween how-to awesomeness. Congrats to our team!
Week of Oct 19 (get past reports) – Last week the indie horror film Paranormal Activity surprised the movie industry by becoming a buzzed topic online, and our show Beyond the Trailer was there to capture the hype. Our review of the movie was the #1 search result on YouTube for the film, surpassing the trailers, and did over a quarter of a million views there.
The success of the video continues the growth story for Beyond the Trailer, which we're spotlighting this week. A number of the elements have helped the show, created and hosted by Grace Randolph, to grow: relevancy (topical movie buzz and reviews), timeliness (same day as movies hit the box office), and interactivity, with highly active commenting (who doesn't like debating if movies are good or bad?). This plus great search optimization and editorial support from key partners (thanks!) has helped the show to grow to over a half million views in October 2009.
Also from last week: Halloween programming's starting to be a big topic, with Indy Mogul's gory FX taking the #3 spot and Threadbanger's Halloween how-tos taking #8 and 10.
Next New Networks' Top 10 New Episodes, Week of Oct 11-Oct 17
Next New Networks' Top 10 Catalog Episodes, Week of Oct 11-Oct 17
Thanks! We'll be back next week with more insights from Next New Networks' audience-building work. As always, let us know what you'd like to see more (and less) of, by emailing us at audience@nextnewnetworks.com.
Fast Lane Daily released their 700th episode this week marking yet another milestone for the widely successful daily automotive news show hosted by Derek D. Since the show began on January 30th, 2007, the series has lived by two basic principles: Consistency and Credibility. For Fast Lane Daily, these two simple concepts are a single axiom that defines the necessary ingredients for a successful car show with a loyal fan base and the respect of the automotive industry. Host, Derek D, adds to these values with his supply of fun and entertainment that makes the show stand out from its more 'traditional' counterparts.
The production team and talent behind Fast Lane Daily - JF Musial, Ian Jenkins, and Derek D - apply these values to every element of the show and towards their efforts to build their audience.
1. A Reliable Source with a Consistent Presence
As any news provider, Fast Lane Daily aims to be the #1 source of current and reliable information that is relevant to its audience. The series releases episodes Monday through Friday that are timely, accurate, and delivered in a consistent way that is reliable. They position the show to be a fixture in the daily routine of its viewers. The crew attends all the major automotive shows around the country including the NY International Auto Show, The LA Auto Show, NY Motor Expo, The Detroit Auto Show and more. Fast Lane Daily can't rely on viral hits or ephemeral pop-culture spoofs to garner their views. Their viewers want something different, as they would from any other news source. They want the latest and most reliable news and coverage coming from the industry's most important events.
2. Talent
Derek D, the face and personality of Fast Lane Daily, delivers each morning's car news with a comedic and causal sensibility. He's definitely not the traditional suit-and-tie car news reporter you might see elsewhere. Derek's antics provide the entertainment value of the show, so the details of the latest concept vehicle can also become punch-lines. As a host, Derek hits all the right notes for how a web series personality can help drive views. He's high-energy, genuine, and engages with the viewers by responding to comments in a segment called "The Commenter of the Week" every Friday. Derek also knows how a good jab at a commentor's ego, or playful insult can really get the comments booming.
3. MetaData with the 'Car Fanatic' in Mind
Fast Lane Daily knows the search habits of its viewers. The metadata surrounding their videos is specific and precise since car enthusiasts search by model number, not just by make. Being car-obsessed themselves, they also know that a beautiful shot of a new car model can be on par with that of a pin-up girl. Keeping this in mind, the posterframes for every episode are crisp, colorful, and clear, featuring the real stars of each episode: the cars.
4. Credibility with Fans, Peers and AutoMakers
The car enthusiasts that comprise the FLD audience are unique. Unlike many online video audiences, these fans prefer accuracy, not hyperbole, and relevancy instead of mass appeal. Fast Lane Daily is a widely successful web series, but first and foremost, it considers itself a news source for a community with high standards. The show has built up trust with its fans by valuing accuracy, disciplined fact-checking, and clear delivery of automotive news. Specifically, in the last few months when the automotive industry has been struggling, Fast Lane Daily continued to deliver its updates with a great deal of respect and support for the industry while many outlets found it easier to take shots at it.
The auto industry notices, too. Fast Lane Daily is a trusted outlet for many of the large automakers. Executive producer JF is no stranger to receive leaks and tips from automakers themselves about concept cars and future models. Every episode contains the 'Rumor Mill' segment to highlight this. For fans, this exclusive content is appreciated and incites a wealth of opinions. And, for the Automakers, this engagement and feedback from the show's loyal community offers a snapshot focus group. Fast Lane Daily offers insider content for its fans, and an honest source of feedback for carmakers with the comments on each episode.
Fast Lane Daily is a perfect example of how important it is for web series producers to know and be an integral part of the community that comprises their viewership. They listen to their audience to help dictate their strategies. They identify the basic concepts and principles that are important to their audience, their niche, and to the success of their content. But, most importantly, the producers behind Fast Lane Daily are passionate about what they create and share the same values as the people who tune in every single day.
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