Online broadcasters, content owners and rights holders realize the growing importance and impact of second screen delivery and social network connectivity, and they see a hybridization of broadcast and broadband as an important industry trend and business opportunity.
It was first described as a $150 million experiment.
Now, Internet giant Google has invested another $200 million to market and monetize online TV and video channels, and it is moving away from simple user-generated videos and towards more professional content that will better lure viewers and advertisers.
From Ontario’s educational broadcaster TVO, to top film companies like Warner Bros. and Hammer Productions, to leading retailers like Harley-Davidson and top sports properties like the National Basketball Association.
The NBA in particular has a B.C.-based company to thank.
Working with Vancouver's Broadband TV Corp. (BBTV), the NBA Channel on YouTube has garnered well over 292 million video views since its launch. It’s one of the most popular channels for sports, and one of the most popular YouTube channels overall.
BBTV manages all the user uploaded copies of NBA assets on YouTube; BBTV has reviewed millions of NBA videos and it has filtered and monetized hundreds of thousands of NBA videos uploaded by the fans.
Since launching its first online video asset four years ago, BroadbandTV has grown to manage hundreds of thousands of videos online for more than 3,000 companies, including YouTube, TELUS Communications, DivX Inc, NBA, Warner Bros, Endemol and many leading international companies, helping unlock the monetization value behind their online video content along the way.
Shahrzad Rafati is the founder and CEO at BroadbandTV Corp; in just its fifth year of operation, it’s become one of the fastest growing companies in Canada, and it was just named the most innovative company in British Columbia, and recognized for “radically changing” the online media and technology industry while “boosting bottom lines.”
She calls it her “mission” build greater entrepreneurship among video creators, and she’s successfully growing her business based on online opportunities for all.
To read more about Rafati and BroadbandTV, including excerpts of an online interview conducted with her, see this month’s Broadcaster Magazine.