AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

NewTeeVee

When all that’s worth watching on a network is one show, or all that’s worth watching in a show is one scene, or all that’s worth watching in a scene is one line, just take us straight to the good stuff, right? But Mark Cuban, in an apocalyptic blog post, says online video will be destroyed by its ability to cater to these a la carte watching habits, because the economics don’t support them. He seems to thinks this will lead to the eradication of quality content.

Inspired by a Bernstein Research report that’s not publicly available, the cranky Cuban (who’s often blogged about his dissatisfaction with web video) quotes Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett,

Five years into the video-over-the-Internet revolution, we have learned two things. First; consumers won’t pay for content on the web, so it will have to be ad supported. And second; it won’t be ad supported.

Moffett’s math: Even if web video got the same CPMs as TV, because online viewers will tolerate less advertising, “a 30-minute program on the web with two minutes of advertising yields approximately 1/8th as much revenue per viewer.”

Though a la carte is what consumers want and deserve (why watch the crap if you don’t have to?), Moffett and Cuban are worried about the implications of legacy models dying out. Quoting Moffett again,

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