Next Rupert Murdoch Tries Something Else

Andrew Baron once told Jason Calacanis that he knew nothing about business and that he (Baron) was going to be the next Rupert Murdoch. Fast forward a mere year or so later and while Calacanis isn’t exactly tearing up the charts (Mahalo has potential but I’ll leave it at that), Baron seems to be downright struggling to bring one show into the advertising world.

Unattractive product?

I highly doubt it. RocketBoom gets tons of viewers day after day. While they may have taken a bit of a hit in the post-Amanda days, the show is solid, interesting, and entertaining. Joanne brought with her a sense of confidence and professionalism that Congdon lacked. The content is better (siding more with news and less with weird) and the pacing is quick and attractive for people who don’t have a ton of time. The fanbase is huge and getting those engaged eyeballs to look at your stuff seems like an advertiser’s dream.

Yet, so far, Baron’s move to become Rupert has fallen flat. An ad buy from an ATM manufacturer disappeared and didn’t signal in a trend. Occasionally, we’d see a post-roll spot, but that ended. Now we hear about the new partnership with Blip, a company I have a great deal of affinity for. The difference? Well now Blip gets the ads and runs them on RocketBoom in an ad overlay while you’re watching the show. No more pre-roll or post-roll.

Blip explained the reason for the overlay method to TechCrunch:

Blip.tv has offered pre-roll and post-roll ads on video downloads for about a year, but this is the first time a mid-clip overlay is available. Overlays, which usually look like a banner that pop up during the video, are preferable because, Hudack tells TechCrunch “pre-rolls have the potential to turn off viewers and post-rolls don’t get watched.” Eventually, blip.tv will have the capability to track how many times each ad is viewed or clicked on as well. Up till now, such metrics have been more common for streaming videos than for downloads.

I don’t fault people for making money with their content, but I do find it interesting that Baron went to a distributed form for RocketBoom which, incidentally, includes the embedded player on RocketBoom.com. The next Rupert Murdoch would’ve probably come up with a home-grown self-hosted solution if given the opportunity, but this isn’t the next Rupert Murdoch, it’s the first Andrew Baron; a guy with great content and a big audience without the foggiest idea of how to monetize it.

Technorati Tags: rocketboom, blip.tv, blip, andrew baron

 

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  • http://www.rocketboom.com/ Drew

    Thanks for the flattering words. Seriously. Also, just for the record, I use the Rupert Murdock name drop regularly at conferences. The concept that Jason missed (prob because he was too busy remembering that he used to think HE was the next Murdock (he said this on twit)), is one that extends to everyone. I always tell people, “You can be the next Murdock, anyone can”. Its a figure of speech for saying, shoot for your dreams. I say this to people who want to break into online video production.

    And FYI, $-wise, we are doing just fine. Rocketboom also takes care of five other people’s full time salaries.

    Im not offended though, you are right: I dont have much business experience at all. Nor do I have experience in creating video content but Ive been learning a lot over the last few years and get my fulfillment from trying new things.

  • http://www.rocketboom.com Drew

    Thanks for the flattering words. Seriously. Also, just for the record, I use the Rupert Murdock name drop regularly at conferences. The concept that Jason missed (prob because he was too busy remembering that he used to think HE was the next Murdock (he said this on twit)), is one that extends to everyone. I always tell people, “You can be the next Murdock, anyone can”. Its a figure of speech for saying, shoot for your dreams. I say this to people who want to break into online video production.

    And FYI, $-wise, we are doing just fine. Rocketboom also takes care of five other people’s full time salaries.

    Im not offended though, you are right: I dont have much business experience at all. Nor do I have experience in creating video content but Ive been learning a lot over the last few years and get my fulfillment from trying new things.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com/ Vinny

    I guess I should’ve been clearer. I’m actually only referring to the ad-related stuff. Obviously RB is doing well; the fact that you hired Joanne is proof of that.

    I hope you turn it around. I keep seeing you try different models and none of them seems to have worked for you up until now. Maybe the partnership with Blip will be the boost RB needs to break into advertising with some regularity.

    Either way, good luck in the future. I’d be really bummed if RB disappeared. I thought you were dead in the water when Amanda left and I was proven wrong and have admitted it quite a few times. When your number one personality leaves and you still can hold interest and produce a good show, that speaks volumes for you and the people who work for you.

    I just about never agree with you, and you make me want to punch my computer monitor when I hear you talk, but RocketBoom is great and I wish you all the best with it.

  • http://www.insignificantthoughts.com Vinny

    I guess I should’ve been clearer. I’m actually only referring to the ad-related stuff. Obviously RB is doing well; the fact that you hired Joanne is proof of that.

    I hope you turn it around. I keep seeing you try different models and none of them seems to have worked for you up until now. Maybe the partnership with Blip will be the boost RB needs to break into advertising with some regularity.

    Either way, good luck in the future. I’d be really bummed if RB disappeared. I thought you were dead in the water when Amanda left and I was proven wrong and have admitted it quite a few times. When your number one personality leaves and you still can hold interest and produce a good show, that speaks volumes for you and the people who work for you.

    I just about never agree with you, and you make me want to punch my computer monitor when I hear you talk, but RocketBoom is great and I wish you all the best with it.