IP Democracy: Blip.tv: Passionate About Democratizing Video

Tiny New York-based start-up Blip.tv has hit the big time — the five-person company powers the video-sharing technology that runs CNN’s citizen journalism site I-Report. Blip.TV, a force in vlogging for the past year, announced today other commercial deals as well, although its passion is for democratizing video and giving ordinary people the power to distribute TV shows. (My favorite of Blip.tv’s new money-making ventures is the license deal it signed with the William Shatner DVD Club — I kid you not.)

Despite the prestige in landing CNN, a Turner Broadcasting/Time Warner company, as a client, Dina Kaplan, COO of Blip.tv, is most excited about the company’s ability to deliver an audience to the growing ranks of citizen journalists and TV show producers. “Blip.tv is all about grassroots media. We’re all about being part of the democratization of the media,” she said.

The community-based Blip.tv launched in May 2005 as a “service for the video blogging community to attract and maintain the wonderful people who are creating original content,” Kaplan said. She distinguishes blip.tv from the rising throng of video sharing technology providers, such as Revver or YouTube or Guba, by stressing blip.tv’s focus on original, serialized content.

Unlike viral video-oriented YouTube, blip.tv is a platform for people who want to create ongoing shows and build an audience. One of the most popular vloggers or TV show producers on blip.tv is Josh Leo, a young man from Grand Rapids, MI. “Josh Leo is the perfect example of the power of this new medium. He can get 100,000 people watching one episode of this show” with no marketing or promotion expense, Kaplan said. “It’s a pretty powerful force.”

Blip.tv does not require viewers to give up ownership of their video (although CNN’s I-Report does) and does scan submissions for copyrighted content that has been posted without the owners’ permission, which is a thorny problem for YouTube and other sites.

Despite its noble desires, Blip.tv is a commercial enterprise. In addition to selling technology licenses to corporate clients, Blip.tv sells advertising. The TV series approach provides a better foundation for selling advertising, Kaplan said, because “it’s much easier to sell than a one-off show” such as the viral videos on YouTube.

With low costs and a small staff, Blip.tv is already profitable. The company generated profits shortly after its initial angel investor funding a few months ago. Blip.tv doesn’t release traffic statistics, but Kaplan claims that the user numbers are growing at a rate of 32% to 33% per month, while the number of posts are increasing by 34% to 35% per month.

Kaplan’s not worried that the video publishing market is getting overcrowded. She likens the boom in Internet video to the rise of cable networks. “I think there will be a lot of winners in this space. Just as there are networks such as Bravo and Discovery and on and on…there’s room for multiple channels on the web.”

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 1, 2006 3:37 PM to IP Democracy