Video syndication and ads - on the content or player?

This question has always intrigued me?  In network TV land syndicating shows generally means - making prime time content available to run on other networks (e.g. syndicating Sienfeld). 

How does this translate to online video world? Content providers make content available to different distribution channels. E.g. CBS audience network syndicates content to YouTube, Yahoo!, MSN, etc. However, they are generally averse to allow sharing or further syndication to others. Why is that? I believe its the fear of losing ad revenue. CBS does ad-rev share deals with YouTubes of the world, they want to ensure that wherever their content is being distributed, the monetization can be attributed back to CBS. 

Here is another data point worth noting - almost 40% of YouTube's stream count are via "embeds" - i.e. shared linked outside of YouTube! In addition, if you pay close attention to ComScore video metrix, you'll note that video stream share is very fragmented - YouTube has the lion share (50%+) but the rest of the share is divided into 100 + players. 

Syndication in the online world is very different from TV network land. There are hundreds of viable distribution channels. Content providers have to take advantage of all distribution channels to reap full potential of thier ad revenue. 

My assertion is that barrier to universal syndication is the inability to attribute ad revenue back to the content provider. And this barrier is limited by our technical ability to associate ad with the video instead of the syndicated player. 

Currently, most video ads are managed by an ad-plugin in the player talking to a video ad server (e.g. Doubleclick or an internal ad server in MSN, Yahoo!, etc). If they could be directly part of the video, the ad revenue could be directly associated with the stream instead of the player. This will incentivize the content providers for universal distribution. 

Will the economic slowdown impact internet and video ad spending

Everyone is talking about - we are in a financial mess! So, will it severly impact internet ad spend, specifically video ads? I'm not so sure. I recently read an article on HBS talking about the fact that the drop may be much worse for traditional media vs. online world. The logic is quite simple - marketers will be pushed to reduce their media budgets, today the spend is around $70B on TV (network & broadcast), so as to keep the marketing impact the same with lower spend, they may move more monies into the online world. This may be especially true for online video market.
It remains to be seen if this is true but lets track this closely.

Content Syndication - Distribute your content & make money

Continuing on the topic of revenue generation for online video, let's spend some time on content syndication. This is perhaps a great way of generating revenue for content providers both for established and new entrants. But first, for some definitions.

• What is content syndication? The ability for content owners to distribute their content on various channels and in the process make revenue off it. Comic strips are great examples, writers pen the strips and then they are distributed on various newspapers.

So, how is content syndication of help to content owners. Till date, the best way to distribute high quality video content is via TV (4 broadcast channels and around 100 odd cable), Cinema theaters, DVD. But with the advent of the web, the number of distribution channels are literally limitless. All we need is a way to bundle the content (e.g. video) in a form that is consumable on the web site. Examples-

1. You could do this via "ad units" on a web site - Google has started an initiative adsense for videos (apparently on sites such as AdVersus.com according to NY Times article).
2. Or the web site could "embed" the video and pay royalty fee to the owner. E.g. a local newspaper could "syndicate" national feed from CNN or NY Times for certain articles.

The content can be distributed via a video ad network which is responsilble for providing

1. Marketplace functionality
2. Ad placement in the video
3. Sharing of ad revenue with the content owner.

Companies such as Brightcove, Roo networks, and Maven networks are playing in this field.