Company Profile: Online Video Service

Since audiences in the public affairs space are often smaller, the Internet is far and away the superior method for reaching these niche audiences relative to broadcast. "For example, when Bush did his most recent State of the Union address, 27.8 million people watched on TV. On the same day, we did a Webcast for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that drew 200. If you want to reach 27.8 million, the best way is traditional broadcast. If you want to reach 200 people, Internet broadcasting is the best," says Treanor. "It’s really the long tail of public affairs broadcasting. The Internet is the most cost effective way to distribute content, and video is the most impactful medium."

The public affairs market, and especially government, also often benefits from the fact that video production is an established process with a budget already in place, making the transition to streaming a much easier proposition. "For the most part, government agencies already have built-in AV services, so it’s not that difficult to take that leap and do Webcasting. They’ve also got built-in communications budgets, so it’s much easier to transfer money from one pot to another as opposed to creating a whole new dollar for it," says Treanor. "Additionally, because they don’t have to have a hard return on their dollars, they’re just happy that people have a way to access the content." A lot of the work OVS has done for the city of Kansas City, Missouri has simply been to take the content that’s already being delivered over their local government TV channel and make it available online.

The very nature of the content being produced by government entities lends itself to streaming delivery. "On the most basic technical level, the vast majority of the content is talking heads, so you can have a quality media experience even at lower bit rates," says Treanor.

There’s also the fact that, despite the lower production value of public affairs content, this video draws viewers with a vested interest in the information that’s being conveyed. "Many of the conferences on the regulatory side are very technical, but we often have people watching an eight-hour meeting. It’s not too unlike the investor call marketplace, where people will listen to all of those Webcasts because it’s part of their job. In the same way, lawyers, lobbyists, and others will watch these Webcasts."

Reaching Broadly
The key component to online video for the public affairs space isn’t necessarily providing the highest-quality experience; it’s ensuring that a stream is accessible to the broadest audience possible. "From a government communicator’s point of view, their matrix is a little different. They need to make sure the 45% of the market still on dial-up are reached, even segmenting the dialup market between 28.8 and 56Kbps. You can’t just say you’re going to create a high quality experience at 700Kbps," says Treanor. "For the 28.8 market, you can create an audio-only experience that still works. And because the video is primarily talking heads without a lot of cuts and fades, you can have a decent media experience even at 56Kbps."

As a result of this, "I don’t think you’re going to see as much pressure from government agencies to push to the next level in quality. I think you’re looking at a very meat-and-potatoes approach that’s trying to reach the broadest possible audience," says Treanor. "But I do think on the nonprofit side you will see a push towards higher bit rates, especially as it relates to fundraising videos where there’s more of a need for a higher-quality experience."

Treanor also suggests not limiting yourself to one format in order to reach the broadest possible audience. "For our federal clients in particular we recommend multiple formats. They’re not in the business of one codec winning over another, so they want as many formats as possible," he says.

Room to Grow
Not surprisingly, Treanor is bullish on the potential for future growth in the public affairs space. "We believe that you’re going to see much greater adoption on the government side, especially in this post-Abramoff era and as local governments work towards improving communication in their communities. Citizens are going to expect that a government agency has a Web site that includes some audio and video content. So as the public accepts it and demands it, you’re going to see agencies putting more and more dollars into it," says Treanor. He estimates that the federal space alone is potentially a $600 million market, with the total public affairs market possibly reaching $1 billion in the coming years.

OVS is poised to take advantage of that growth because of their efforts to built expertise and experience in this specific market segment. "The main driver for getting in on government work is having done previous government work. What we’ve found is that our client base feels more comfortable working with a Webcasting service provider who understands the unique nature of the .org and .gov space," says Treanor. "Our customers don’t want to explain to vendors the most basic parts of realizing their missions, because what may work in the private sector may not work in the public sector."

OVS also hopes to help their current customers grow into users of additional streaming applications through the building of trusted relationship with them. "Once you work with an agency, you can also evangelize other uses of the technology," says Treanor. "We did a Webcast for the National Association of Public Affairs Networks, which includes all the state C-SPANs. At the Webcast, we showed what a Webcast on a mobile device looked like. They were very intrigued by that, because so many of the lobbyists could be watching these proceedings on mobile devices."