There are times when you wake up, you just know the day is going to be great, like today. It was raining in the morning, just stopped, the hot and humid totally went away with the rain, fresh air and pleasant temperature made you feel great. It is one of the mornings that you just want to yell out: it is great to live a life like this! 

Who knows, there are more to come, and it turns out to be much more!  On my way over to the office, I opened up the contract news email that I have been waiting for anxiously in the last couple of days...YES! Another significant win for FreeWheel!       

Sometimes you tell yourselves that you are on the right track, other times, you can just feel it, take a deep breath, plunge right into it. This is one of those moments, just like Jon says: it is about the time.   

The following article from Online Spin for Monday,August 24, 2009:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=112109

Monday,August 24, 2009
TheDeal Storm That Changed Us: Blip.tv, YouTube, FreeWheel
ByKendall Allen

Eyes on the grid,fingers on the pulse of the media sphere, most of us like to think we know whatbusiness deals mean at a glance, right when they are announced. Sometimes, evenwith the biggest deals, a little airtime and talk amongst ourselves is all weneed to come to grips with industry happenings and go about our daily business.

But, occasionally, there is a meaningful confluence of such big deals in a shortperiod of time, immediately floodlighting the future to come — that we muststop, look and listen. As consumers and as media executives, we must know what time it is andexpand our outlook accordingly.

Ponder the past few weeks: We have Blip.tv's content deal with YouTube; wehave YouTube's test with FreeWheel. These deals are not only symbolic. Theyoutright set the cadence of our footfall and broaden our path to the future.That is, a future where content production and distribution are not dependent on TVnetwork affiliations and where we take a truly liberated, cross-channel view ofthe screen.

So what are the deals?

The Blip.tv Deal:The online video provider Blip.tv announced in July that it has added YouTube, Vimeo, NBCU Local Media NY, and Rokuas content partners. Of particular interest is the relationship with YouTube.While Blip.tv could certainly place content on YouTube before, the dealincludes ads placed byBlip.tv, which the video provider will then be able to track. The combined footprint,visibility and measurability are a boon to big-time growth.

YouTube's Test WithFreeWheel: Around the same time, YouTube announced a trial with FreeWheel that will allow certain partners who sell their own ads to serve those adsdirectly into their videos on YouTube. Previously ads sold by these partnerswere still served by YouTube. In the company's own words on its corporateblog, "This will create a more centralized, streamlined process forpartners in the test program, making it easier for them to sell ads and makeeven more money from their content." These words paired with actual action make themedia progressive's heart sing.

In fact, a recent quote by Blip.tv CEO Mike Hudack illuminates his kindred point of view: "Ourgoal is to make web shows sustainable. The CBS TV network is about68-years-old. The cable nets are about 25-years-old. They're designed foreconomy of scarcity and linear distribution. We're building our network for aneconomy of plenty and at a time when people can watch whatever they want,whenever they want. The majority of shows will come from independent,don't-have-to-work-with-TV networks, just as more of us are listening to musicthat is distributed independently."

It's starting to look as if progress is not so steeply dependent on TVexecutives shedding the dinosaur suits and "getting it." We are notwaiting for that. Interests are aligning among us, and there is meaningfulmovement. These two deals don't just gripe at limitations and choke-points,they forge our way forward with solutions satisfying both the avid mediaconsumer and progressive media enterprise.

Just like the long-running comparison to print distribution, it has alwaysbeen true that online distribution generates only a smidge of the revenue andprofit of today's incumbent cable, broadcast, and satellite distributionmodels. So, we've had to deal with TV models being stretched by TV executives,beyond their aptitude. Butnow, as Internet-based distribution gets traction, the shortcut ofsimply porting over aged TV models to digital will finally be acknowledged morebroadly — as lame. And these shortcuts will be usurped by more aggressive,imaginative deals that effectively begin to reconstitute models across theboard.

The adoption of this kind of significant deal-making, partnering andalignment of consumer and business interests will effectively transport themedia industry at-large. Somewould say that theevents of the past two weeks will be regarded as just as important in ten yearsas the passage of the Telecom Reform Act was to the growth of our industry backin 1996.

Previously, I could have rattled off all kinds of proof of progress in ourworld:

- New home-friendly entertainment formats besidesTV.

- Incremental digital platforms like Hulu and YouTube.

- Fewer distribution choke-points over time, as Internet access has improvedaround the world.

- Our collective waking up to restrictive media business practices such asmarket-based control on viewing, limited live streaming, video library hordingand expensive bundling practices.

But, these two deals tell us farmore than that obvious list. These deals collectively and inthemselves are proof of concept. And the "concept" is: fluid,consumer-led global content distribution iscoming.

As we move more quickly toward this goal, it'simportant to remember a few things: The best content creators will succeed,regardless of affiliation. Leaning forward or leaning back is an irrelevantdistinction, if we can choose our screens all day long. Dumb stays dumb andrenders itself obsolete. And, consumer-friendly and clever on the dealio countan awful lot.

KendallAllen runs most of her media and marketing pursuits through a company sheestablished, Influence Collective, LLC, based in New York City. The groupadvises and manages special projects in integrated media and marketing forclients, including Carolyn & Co. Media, where Kendall is overseeing thelaunch of upcoming digital publishing and community ventures for women andcareer. Contact her here.