5Qs with Myvideorights COO Ron SchneierBy John Gaffney
With all the video content flying around the Internet, it’s hard to think in terms of restrictions and rights. Some companies are, including one that just launched in mid-November. Myvideorights (MVR), manages and monetizing professionally produced video online, and will be led in the U.S. by cable television veteran Ron Schneier. Schneier was Executive Vice President at A&E Television and for the 17 years he was with the organization, he was instrumental in building four successful networks – A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel and History International.Formed in London in 2007, MVR manages the digital rights of video content online, protecting against unauthorized use and monetizing through advertising. MVR currently drives more than 125 million views per month across its high-profile catalog with clients including The Football Association, Tiger Aspect (“Mr. Bean”), BBC Worldwide, Ministry of Sound, Comic Relief and Hat Trick Productions (“Father Ted”). We caught up with Schneier as the company launched.Why are digital video rights important? Seems like content providers and networks have all the content they need.MVR employs the latest digital finger-printing technologies, to address the growing problems of unauthorized distribution of professionally produced content. We have seen many instances where content owners are losing thousands of dollars in advertising revenue due to their lack of understanding of how to effectively manage both the distribution and monetization of their content. We also work with our content owners to maximize online viewership through SEO and branded channels across several platforms including: YouTube, Daily Motion, Metacafe and Facebook. The proof of our business model is that we now have a catalog of over 70,000 videos and achieve more than 125 million views per month.How has your business developed in the UK? Are rights more strictly enforced?MVR began in the UK in 2007 and is now representing some of Britain’s top entertainment and media companies. Our content partners include: Tiger Aspect (“Mr. Bean”), BBC Worldwide (BBC Motion Gallery), The Football Association, Ministry of Sound, and Hat Trick Productions (“Father Ted”). The UK and the U.S. face the same problems in managing unauthorized use of professionally produced content.Who is your target customer? Small providers? Niches? Big content players?We have three target customers 1) content owners, 2) advertisers and 3) publishers. Among content owners we target owners of high-quality television programming, film, sports, music and short form entertainment which includes both niche and major players. With advertisers we target clients who will benefit by being associated with professionally produced content within safe and controlled online environments. For publishers and online platforms we deliver high-quality content to help them attract and build their audience.How will you market MVR to the US market?There is a huge opportunity in this market as both viewers and advertisers become more actively involved with online video. Growth rates will accelerate as the PC and television become one from the viewer's perspective of watching video. We see a multi-billion dollar market for content owners who are able to quickly enter the online market and learn how to optimize both viewership and ad revenues.We have seen an extremely positive response to our service here in the U.S. as we provide an immediate increase in revenues for our content clients. For the advertiser, one of the unique facts about our content is the high click-through rate. We are averaging 3.5% CTR which is significantly higher than industry averages of less than one percent. And we have seen CTR often go as high as 6 percent to 8 percent, which clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of our ad delivery. The highly engaged viewer combined with quality programming and an advertiser friendly environment is an attractive offering to advertisers.Where would you like the company to be in a year?We would like to be known among our clients as a first-rate and innovative digital media company that delivers on our promises by distributing and monetizing quality online programming.