Suranga Chandratillake, chief executive of blinkx
Video may well be credited for killing the radio star, but the rise in popularity of online video in 2009 has placed traditional TV firmly on the endangered list.
in 2009 half a million people paid to watch the England versus Ukraine football match streaming live over the internet; Obama's inauguration drew 70 million viewers online as opposed to 40 million on TV (Nielsen); global web traffic shot up 33% as the worldlogged on to watch the funeral of Michael Jackson; and online advertising surpassed TV advertising spend for the first time.
Research by comScore revealed that in January alone more than 280 million hours of online video content was watched in the UK and now 84% of UK online users view a video every single month.
We've seen this trend reflected not only in the growth of our core audience at blinkx.com, but even more dramatically in the success of blinkx Remote, a tool on the blinkx website that offers immediate access to full-length programmes.
The blinkx Remote viewership has grown an average of 83% every month since launching in July 2008 and we are finding that our audience is increasingly staying for longer.
blinkx is banking on online viewers
Whilst 2009 has been an interesting year from a rights ownership point of view, 2010 is a time of tremendous potential.
The continued growth of the online video advertising market, coupled with the increasing number of top-tier media companies and broadcasters who are distributing their content on the internet, have come at a time when demand for rich media online is at an all-time high. These factors, combined with the increased availability of high-quality online video, have laid the foundation for blinkx to solidify its position as the premier destination for online TV and video.
This year YouTube withdrew music videos for a time and established media players have voiced plans to further lock down content, which is an issue of major significance and complexity, but not one that will lead to changes overnight for the industry or blinkx.
The reality is that no single media company owns all the content everyone wants to watch. We all watch multiple channels on TV, we all read more than one publication whether on- or off-line.
That means fundamentally, there will continue to be fragmentation, and as a result there will be a need for technology to help users navigate all the content that's out there.
Our model is to use technology to help connect viewers to online video content and generate value from being the service that makes that connection.
Suranga Chandratillake is founder and chief executive of video search engine blinkx
in 2009 half a million people paid to watch the England versus Ukraine football match streaming live over the internet; Obama's inauguration drew 70 million viewers online as opposed to 40 million on TV (Nielsen); global web traffic shot up 33% as the worldlogged on to watch the funeral of Michael Jackson; and online advertising surpassed TV advertising spend for the first time.
Research by comScore revealed that in January alone more than 280 million hours of online video content was watched in the UK and now 84% of UK online users view a video every single month.
We've seen this trend reflected not only in the growth of our core audience at blinkx.com, but even more dramatically in the success of blinkx Remote, a tool on the blinkx website that offers immediate access to full-length programmes.
The blinkx Remote viewership has grown an average of 83% every month since launching in July 2008 and we are finding that our audience is increasingly staying for longer.
blinkx is banking on online viewers
Whilst 2009 has been an interesting year from a rights ownership point of view, 2010 is a time of tremendous potential.
The continued growth of the online video advertising market, coupled with the increasing number of top-tier media companies and broadcasters who are distributing their content on the internet, have come at a time when demand for rich media online is at an all-time high. These factors, combined with the increased availability of high-quality online video, have laid the foundation for blinkx to solidify its position as the premier destination for online TV and video.
This year YouTube withdrew music videos for a time and established media players have voiced plans to further lock down content, which is an issue of major significance and complexity, but not one that will lead to changes overnight for the industry or blinkx.
The reality is that no single media company owns all the content everyone wants to watch. We all watch multiple channels on TV, we all read more than one publication whether on- or off-line.
That means fundamentally, there will continue to be fragmentation, and as a result there will be a need for technology to help users navigate all the content that's out there.
Our model is to use technology to help connect viewers to online video content and generate value from being the service that makes that connection.
Suranga Chandratillake is founder and chief executive of video search engine blinkx
from Sky News
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Comment: Blowing his own trumpet? Suranga Chandratillake, that paragon of modesty and humility? Surely not...
He's great at talking the talk, always has been. Sadly he's almost completely deficient in my view at walking the walk. He can talk until he's blue in the face about how well Blinkx is doing or will do - but the markets and investors ain't buying it; the former because they don't see the blockbuster deals or tie-ups which would persuade them that Chandratillake is delivering on his grandiose (some might say delusional) bluster, and the latter because they've had to see the share price head one way - the wrong way - pretty much ever since the IPO (remember that? This company floated at 45p 2.5 years ago). Not so long ago Blinkx did a placing which Autonomy underwrote, and as a consequence Autonomy ended up owning about 13% of Blinkx (did Autonomy want those shares it was left with? Who knows...). The placing was at 18p - this evening as I write Blinkx shares closed at 16.12, almost exactly 10% down.
If I was an Autonomy shareholder I'd be pretty pissed off about that...
...And since Chandratillake has chosen to make one of his periodic (and, in my view, largely pathetic) attempts to promote the company, I'll ask once again that awkward little question which none of the dwindling band of Blinkx zealots can answer: if Blinkx has that bright a future ahead, if it's due to break into profitability in 2010 as Chandratillake has claimed - why is not he and the rest of the management team buying shares in the company? Why isn't he putting his own money where his not-inconsiderable mouth is? One share purchase by members of the management team would do more to restore confidence in the company and its management than a dozen lame-ass articles on Sky.
Actions talk much, MUCH louder than words. Sadly, it increasingly looks like words are all Chandratillake has...
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