Video sharing sites are all around the place. Since YouTube fame, everyone are trying to create portals that will capitalize on online video consumption growth.

Most of these players are offering wealth of video clips. Some are focusing on niche, some offer superior video quality and some are certain they have a differentiator but didn't tell anyone yet.

But, at the end of the day, most market players are offering vast amount of content to their viewers - all in the name of content democratization.

Open and honest, I am a bit tired of that. I don't want a lot of content - only good content. I don't need another portal with tons of video clips - I want only the ones that worth something.

The area of content discovery is very complex, and I've written about it in the past. There is still a lot to be done in this direction.

But, is there a room for a site with only 10 shows, but all of them amazing (like Something To Be Desired and We Need Girlfriends)? Is there a place for a destination with  high quality content only - the best of web shows? In other words, does it make sense to create a brand that only broadcast the best shows, and is a sign of quality, just like HBO logo is for me?

What's YOUR opinion?

When I asked Om Malik in a joint panel at Blogference if he has plans to go into podcasting and Internet Video shows, he said that he was thinking about this direction. Less than a month later, Om published his first show, in cooperation with Revision3. The show covers Internet trends and analysis, topics he analyze in his blog.

Contrary to what I thought, the initial aim of this product is not to get more advertising dollars. In a recent conversation, Om stated that he viewed video as a medium that surpass the limits of blogging - while posts has to be short and precise, online video enabled him to do long form interviews. Another angle I found interesting is that Om saw this medium as a mean to let viewers analyze the information given on their own, based on raw interviews.

And, as always, beyond the regular business concepts and needs, Om just stated that "it is fun" - I can't agree more.

I wonder if we will see a lot of professional bloggers adding original video to their media offering. Video production requires different type of planning and production, it is more time consuming than blogging, and in today's market, doesn't necessarily brings more viewers than textual blogs. This would change if video production companies will tailor their service to fit bloggers, by reducing the planning and production overhead from the bloggers themselves. Script is especially crucial here - not necessarily a strong blogger's capability.

In any case, if I was BlogTV or Ustream I wouldn't hold my breath - when I've mentioned the option of having live sessions, he simply said that his schedule is too full for that. This is another proof that live broadcasting is not as appealing as pre-recorded content, an issue I've raised in a previous post.

Good luck Om!

GigaOm Killed The Radio Star?

[digg http://digg.com/tech_news/Vloggers_group_in_Facebook/blog] Yes, I've joined Facebook too. You can find my profile here.

After the brainstorming in Podcamp Europe about how to increase internet TV viewership, I was concerned with ways to continue the discussion while not in a face to face event.

Couple of great things happened soon after:

• Several bloggers wrote their opinions and got amazing comments (see this post for more details).
• Chris Brogan had his 100 comments project around a similar topic - don't forget to visit and comment on his post.

In order to continue the conversation I am proud to announce the opening of a new Facebook group titled Internet TV, Vbloggers and media disruptors.

The aim of the group is continue discussions about key issues of the industry such as monetization, production tips, content marketing, industry perspectives and everything that is important to the community.

It is a group where YOU create the conversation - so get involved and present your ideas and dilemmas!

We are planning to use this group as a hub to additional activities such as Skypecasts, group chats etc. If you have ideas on how to increase involvement and create additional value through this group - email me, or better yet - write it on the group's wall.

The group is open to all Facebook members - if you are not there yet, it now allows everyone to register.

Thanks to all the new members,and see you there!

Technorati Tags: Internet TV, Video Share, Facebook, chris brogan, social media, monetization, vloggers,

Scoble found a great new video search engine - Not yet on TechCrunch: killer video search engine (ClipBlast),

Geoffrey Moore from Crossing the Chasm fame has some interesting insights about semantics of our industries: Three Industries Separated by a Common Language

Ayelet, AKA Blonde 2.0, just helped me in explaining Digg to all my non-2.0 friends Blonde 2.0: You Digg?

Christopher Penn continues the debate started in Podcamp Europe about internet TV: Christopher S. Penn: The Long Tail Will Kill You, Jeff Pulver

And, one of my favorite sites discuss Viacom attack against Google - with a great embedded clip: Techdirt: 10 Things Viacom Hates About Fair Use

Have a great weekend!

Technorati Tags: clipblast, video search, Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm, digg, Internet TV, Jeff Pulver, Long Tail, Fair Use, Law

Vator.tv, a new venture by Bambi Francisco, was launched yesterday. The site enables entrepreneurs to pitch their startups in an open forum using video sharing, as well as add information about the company and founders. The site also has social network element, as you can add connections to your pitch.

The concept itself is impressive, as it answers a need of startups to showcase their concepts. The integration of social network and crowd sourcing to evaluate ideas can be an interesting twist to the regular mechanisms out there. The execution is also very good - the site is clear, easy to use, and the video streaming works like a charm (though stronger RSS integration is still missing).

I am certain I will use this site not only to find new and engaging companies, products and services, but also to create a hype index - using amount of videos per category as a signal regarding the amount of entrepreneurs seeing a specific field as lucrative.

For entrepreneurs, it is invaluable "improve your pitch and learn about your competition" source. Every entrepreneur can easily learn about what is happening in her sector, refine her pitch and find new ways to present her concept. It can be also a good sanity check tool.

Which brings me to the question if entrepreneurs aren't harming their own efforts in presenting their ideas on this site. Would all startups be happy if their first VC meeting was broadcasted? Not sure about that. Another important question is who would watch this site. If there is an A list of investors watching this channel - this is site is of great value.

Other coverage of vator.tv can be found at webware, Beet.TV, Mashable, Howard Lindzon and VentureBeat

You can find vator.tv coverage of online video here.

Technorati Tags: online video, vator.tv, bambi francisco, entrepreneurship, VC,

I've came across TVTonic after watching an interview with their president on The ScobleShow (great show by the way, add it to your favorite RSS reader).

TV-Tonic has a media center approach to user interface, as you can see in the screenshot below:

As such, the interface itself is clean and aimed at remote control usage. It offers thematic channels, that are combined of specific shows (that from some strange reason are also called shows) . It has a small client that mainly handles video prefetching, and the user interface itself is based on Internet Explorer.

Democracy player has an application that has full functionality as a guide, video downloader/prefetcher and channel guide. Its user interface looks like a website, with various interest area, as you can see from this screenshot:

Who cares?

As I've mentioned before, content discovery is a major problem in the industry today. There are a lot of shows, in various topics, and new ones are added daily. How can a user find a new show to watch?

The fact is that I've almost never managed to find new interesting shows in Democracy guide. the UI is too clattered, to many moving objects are distracting my attention, and the guide never fits the screen. Two minutes after installing TV-Tonic, I've found 7 new ones (I will write about them in later posts). All due to the clear and clean interface, strong channel distinction, and easy signup to new shows. This fact should not be taken lightly.

My main takeaway from this experience:

1. In some cases, less is more, especially when talking about UI

2. Always try new video sharing sites and products. There is still room for innovation in this space.

3. Sometimes complicated issues such as content discovery have simple solution

4. Watch the Scobleshow - you never know what will happen next :)

Technorati Tags: video, sharing, scobleshow, tvtonic, democracy, player, UI, user, interface