Post by milowent on Jul 3, 2007 13:15:05 GMT -5
www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/07/02/unboxing-the-prom-queen.aspx
Rick Aristotle Munarriz, resident expert at The Motley Fool on IMS, writes:
Unboxing the Prom Queen
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz July 2, 2007
The short-form serial thriller keeps inching its way toward mainstream consumption, as Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Unbox service welcomes an unlikely entry to its bestseller list. Prom Queen, the high-school whodunit that aired in brief daily springtime installments through sites like News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace, is the 37th top-selling digital download on Amazon.
Why is something that was delivered for free online now being snapped up, in an ad-free full-season set, for $9.99? It may be that Amazon, the exclusive seller of the entire series, is promoting the purchase on its Unbox landing page. It may be that consumers are beginning to approach online shows the same way they do network broadcasts, snapping up full seasons on DVD.
At the very least, this should give other clip-culture scripted hits like Lonelygirl15 and Chad Vader an incremental revenue stream to consider, beyond ad revenue sharing, product placements, and merchandise.
Prom Queen is the handiwork of Vuguru, the Michael Eisner-backed company that also put out last year's Sam Has 7 Friends.
Even though many of the shows air on several video-sharing sites, they usually have a hub. Lonelygirl15 started out as a sensation on Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube. Sam Has 7 Friends had its best following through Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Prom Queen partnered with MySpace to make sure that the social networking site had the latest installments first.
With Amazon touting its exclusive rights to sell Prom Queen -- or charge viewers $3.99 for a 30-day download -- don't be surprised to see others jump on the bandwagon. Exclusive sales through Apple's iTunes, or a freebie stream for Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) subscribers, should be a future staple in the clip-culture revolution.
So go ahead and check out Prom Queen, if you want to watch five nominees stop at nothing -- even murder -- to score the coveted prom-night tiara. However, there's no mystery when it comes to short-form serial thrillers. At a time when content is king, original online video series are being crowned as queen.
Rick Aristotle Munarriz, resident expert at The Motley Fool on IMS, writes:
Unboxing the Prom Queen
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz July 2, 2007
The short-form serial thriller keeps inching its way toward mainstream consumption, as Amazon.com's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Unbox service welcomes an unlikely entry to its bestseller list. Prom Queen, the high-school whodunit that aired in brief daily springtime installments through sites like News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace, is the 37th top-selling digital download on Amazon.
Why is something that was delivered for free online now being snapped up, in an ad-free full-season set, for $9.99? It may be that Amazon, the exclusive seller of the entire series, is promoting the purchase on its Unbox landing page. It may be that consumers are beginning to approach online shows the same way they do network broadcasts, snapping up full seasons on DVD.
At the very least, this should give other clip-culture scripted hits like Lonelygirl15 and Chad Vader an incremental revenue stream to consider, beyond ad revenue sharing, product placements, and merchandise.
Prom Queen is the handiwork of Vuguru, the Michael Eisner-backed company that also put out last year's Sam Has 7 Friends.
Even though many of the shows air on several video-sharing sites, they usually have a hub. Lonelygirl15 started out as a sensation on Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube. Sam Has 7 Friends had its best following through Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). Prom Queen partnered with MySpace to make sure that the social networking site had the latest installments first.
With Amazon touting its exclusive rights to sell Prom Queen -- or charge viewers $3.99 for a 30-day download -- don't be surprised to see others jump on the bandwagon. Exclusive sales through Apple's iTunes, or a freebie stream for Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) subscribers, should be a future staple in the clip-culture revolution.
So go ahead and check out Prom Queen, if you want to watch five nominees stop at nothing -- even murder -- to score the coveted prom-night tiara. However, there's no mystery when it comes to short-form serial thrillers. At a time when content is king, original online video series are being crowned as queen.