A couple of weeks ago an EPIC-FU episode was featured on the home page of YouTube thanks to the generous selection of their editors. We expected to get a nice amount of views, but we never expected the episode to move past 3 million views when all was said and done. In fact, the episode is still compiling about 10-20,000 views per day as of the time of this writing.
We're obviously very happy that the show is resonating with the largest community of web video aficionados on the Internet. It's gives us a great sense of validation to know that we created a weekly show that can generate those kinds of numbers. Not easy to do these days.
What was especially interesting to us was to watch this video run away from all the other videos that were featured on YouTube at the same time as us. No other video crossed the million mark during the week we were featured. I spent quite a lot of time thinking about why that happened to try and understand the dynamics that affect viewership on popular video hosting sites.
For one thing, we've been producing regular content for a year and a half with JETSET and now EPIC-FU. So to some extent we can call the built-in audience a factor in the video's explosive views. But we didn't have a significantly greater number of YouTube subscribers than many other shows that have been featured and did not experience such a high number of views.
As some of you may know already, earlier today we launched a new website and rebranded our relatively successful web show JETSET into EPIC-FU. So far the response has been very strong in support of the new name and feel. There is also criticism and confusion, which is understandable. Name changes are a big deal and people get comfortable with things.
In the run-up to the name change, the one thing we did not have time to properly consider was a communications plans to make our motivations clear. After all, there's really only the three of us doing all the production work, editing, and website design and development for JETSET and other projects. We've had some great support from Next New Networks helping us with the show's myriad distribution points. But the thought behind the name change needs to come directly from the show creators, myself and Zadi. We couldn't ask our partners to explain our decisions for us.
Without having all the stats in front of me, I would venture to say last week's JETSET was the most watched episode ever. As of right now it has over 630,000 views on YouTube alone -- just one of our distribution outlets. Those are crazy numbers for a weekly web show. But this post isn't about tooting our own horn. It's about consistency in the online video space.
For most web shows, including JETSET, viewership varies from episode to episode. Sometimes you have a great week (like we just did), and sometimes you have an off week numbers-wise. Because consistency is so important when it comes to stats -- especially in an emerging arena like online video -- I think it's important to decrease variance as much as possible. And by that what I really mean is decrease the number of "off weeks," because a steady increase (or explosion, even) in views is never a bad thing -- as long as you can keep doing it week after week.
I thought it might be interesting to start a series of blog posts on the factors that influence variance in online video stats. I'm hoping a few of you will chime in with your own thoughts and experiences, and perhaps together we can get a better grip on the part of this industry we think we have least control over.
Let's start with a factor that many content creators are focused on, but at the end of the day doesn't play a huge role when it comes to variance: Subscribers.
JETSET and Smashface Productions were recently mentioned in a Guardian article written by our friend and online producer Casey McKinnon. The title reads "Will Hollywood kill the web-only stars?" I wanted to thank Casey for the highlight and to write about my thoughts on the topic.
In the article Casey asks if Hollywood is creating a "new" media if they bring television to the internet. Here are my thoughts on the topic at hand, and what I think Hollywood should be thinking about:
Television is not the Internet
Just like theatre wasn't radio, radio wasn't film, film wasn't television, the television is not the internet. We all watch films on our television, but it's an inherently different experience than watching it on the big screen. The same goes for the internet. Thinking about the audience experience will dictate whether or not you're utilizing the medium to its fullest capacity. A three-camera shoot is par for the course on TV, on the internet it's definitely NOT going to knock my socks off.
Welcome to the new Smashface site and blog!
Smashface was founded in 2003 in New York. At that time, we were doing small-scale documentary work and doctoring screenplays. Seems like a lifetime ago.
When we came out to Los Angeles in January 2005 online video was maturing into a force to be reckoned with. After some experimentation we developed JETSET, where we were free to explore the best ways to interact with the people who watched the show.
After a couple of months creating that show we realized we were not utilizing the concepts and tools that make web shows unique. To truly engage and interact with our audience we needed to set up the show in a way that made them a part of it. It took some trial and error, but we experimented with our format, our calls to action, and we developed a community tool that works quite well.
Now well over a year and half into JETSET, we have serious experience cultivating a community around a web show and we're going to use that knowledge to inform all of our projects going forward. And we intend to push that interactivity as far as present technology can take it, as long as it's a good experience for the audience.
