Yes, But Is Anyone Really Watching?

In today's indieWIRE "On the Web" section, where various bloggers weigh in on what's on their radar at the moment, SpringBoardMedia spouts off on "potential" versus "real" numbers of viewers who will purchase, download or watch a film.  I recently wrote a couple of in-depth posts on Re:Sources regarding what was talked about at Sundance about online distribution and how it's all supposed to create decent revenue for filmmakers and allow audiences hungry for specific content to have easier access to those films through various sites and retailers.

The tracking of real-time statistical data of where a film sells and how many times it's downloaded, who's watching and for how long, etc., is not accurately reported right now in any comprehensive way.  Companies like Mediastile are working on ways to reflect these metrics in a useful way, but it's not quite there yet.  So what we have right now is potential.  Which is great.  But I think online distributors need to adjust the language in their claims about audience--who's subscribed to the service and who's actually purchasing/watching the product.

I subscribe to lots of services and listservs and other online groups, however, I don't really use all those services the way they're meant to be used.  Like most people, I just like to see what's out there.  Unless I'm specifically looking for something or doing research, the chances of me buying or renting something online, at this point, are rare, although I have been renting DVDs from Netflix ever since the service began.

Here's Access to 40 Million--Is it an audience?

Comments

[Danielle Farrar]

Check out this article from the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/business/yourmoney/19digi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I was kind of thining... if the big studios are hesitant to give digital rights, and all these people are (theoretically) all amped and ready to watch downloaded movies, then this is a huge opportunity for independent filmmakers to get exposure where blockbuster films are under-represented.

Level the playing field, eh?

Viva independent film!