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Online video news 101 --
Thu, 12 Mar 2015 10:56
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Dan Calderwood, head of video for News24 discusses online video news what works, what doesn t and what the future holds:
South Africans are connecting to the Internet more so every day. Online no longer means just computers - it s tablets, mobiles and any device that has an internet connection. With the steady increase of smartphone and tablet users, online news is hugely viewed on mobile devices and this consumer is not only the audience - but the content creator too.
So why is this significant?
The massive, and ongoing, growth in mobile in South Africa leads me to believe that local audiences will pursue their hunger for content, including video regardless of the high bandwidth and data cost constraints.
Online video contains so much condensed content and is offered on so many more platforms now there is something for every viewer from news reports, to candid YouTube vloggers, to viral videos, behind the scenes and so much more, the choice is practically unlimited. Video online, and the varying formats it comes in, is certainly shifting the way in which the South African audience has come to expect online video consumption. And newsrooms are taking notice.
Media houses in South Africa are investing heavily in video production teams and creating more video content for their online audiences. All these changes in the digital landscape are creating more of a demand and as our world becomes more instant and more visual, I believe our audiences are just going to want more and better video content.
Facebook has also started placing higher emphasis on video content and media outlets and brand marketing strategies are using video through these social media channels to reach larger audiences. The same can be said for Twitter, which launched the native Twitter video app late last year. Companies can now create promoted video Twitter Cards, allowing a one-click experience and making video consumption more user friendly. According to a recent World Wide Worx report, Arthur Goldstuck found that the number of YouTube users in South Africa had reached an active user base of 7.2-million showing a 53% growth just over the past year. This is definitely a figure worth paying attention to.
So how does online video news differ from just news?
Online audiences have shorter attention spans and they want the latest viral content at their fingertips. They expect more content more often, as quickly as possible. Offering video content in different formats from traditional programming is essential in audience growth. For e.g., the likes of Generation Y are consuming content digitally and on their smartphones and are less likely to be loyal to one news brand and rather browse between local and international news sources. The video format therefore needs to feature highlights rather than detail driven and long stories. It has to be engaging, short, sharp and provide all the detail in less than three minutes.
While I don t think online news will ever replace traditional news broadcasting, traditional broadcasters and operators are going to have to pay attention to the growth of the medium to stay relevant and thrive. They need to understand who and where their customers are, and how those customers want to consume content and interact with their brand (which should be the case for all platforms).
Ideally, there should be a far more integrated offering and connection between the two media in the future.
No longer can broadcasters programme for a mass audience, with members viewing at a single place, on a single device, at a single moment in time. Now, they must programme for fragmented and niche audiences, watching in many places, on multiple devices, at various points in time. These audiences are increasingly only interested in watching programming tailored just for them. It s a challenge - but one that will no doubt lead to exciting developments and innovations in the future.
It s not just the traditional broadcasters that need to keep ahead of the game.
When you work in an environment as dynamic as online you need to be willing to adapt. When we develop news video for our online newsroom we have to consider (first and foremost) how potentially newsworthy the video will be and its relevance to our audience. Audiences are often digitally over-connected so their time is limited. To tap into this precious commodity is tricky and understanding who you are producing content for, is key.
How we deliver the content is also vital. Strategically we made the decision to offer content in a format that had never been seen before in the online publishing environment in South Africa. News24 s online video format is very different to what is currently being done in video online in SA. Through studio based reports we are not only showing what is happening in the news we are also telling our audience what is happening online, on our platforms and on social media. This type of model combines a news anchor type of approach as well as adding authenticity to what is being reported on. We believe that this format thinks further than just creating news it also creates communities around the content.
Trends show that media consumers are coming to us via social media recommendations. So engagement is essential and one of our key measurements of success. Other important measurement tools for us are the conversion play rate and the length of time our readers/viewers have been on our page.
Another interesting trend we are paying attention to is live video streaming. It s clearly out trumping video-on-demand and was a huge success for us during the Oscar Pistorius trial and the heated debates in Parliament.
And finally, a very important tool in our armoury is user generated content. Twitter, Facebook and smartphones have seen citizen journalism
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