I don’t mean to insult either Bud drinkers or CNN watchers, but I usually don’t picture a lot of overlap between the two. Still, there is a connection between the companies – both appear to have failed with certain aspects of their online video services.
For Anheuser-Busch, it was Bud.TV, and although “certain aspects” might be more polite, “the whole kit and caboodle” might be more accurate. Speculation (inspired by Chief Executive August Busch IV’s words) has it that Bud.TV will cease to exist.
“Sure,” writes Jossip, “it may have been plagued by age verification problems . . . but the real problem was that $30 to $40 million couldn’t buy an audience. Hopes for a million unique monthly visitors in a year flamed out when traffic began dipping so low even comScore stopped measuring it (and they’ll measure anything! even us!).”
CNN’s situation isn’t quite as dire; instead of its entire online video operation, the company appears to be ditching just the “paid” aspects. Yet Mediaweek’s Anthony Crupi reminds us that “[t]his marks the second time CNN has abandoned a pay-video model,” so the Cable News Network probably isn’t feeling too much better than Anheuser-Busch.
Frankly, I’m not sure what to think of these developments in larger terms – it certainly isn’t cheerful news for the world of online video, but, on the other hand, companies like Google and Blinkx continue to (successfully) operate in that realm. The failures of Anheuser-Busch and CNN won’t destroy the industry, yet they could make some other companies think twice before launching endeavors of their own.
