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Web Series Still Struggle to Hold on to Audiences

January 27, 2009
by Michael Learmonth
Reporter, Ad Age

Michael Learmonth

MyDamnChannel’s “You Suck at Photoshop” is a near-perfect series for the Web: short, funny and low-budget, it both doesn’t require viewers to commit to a series and actually provides some useful information for those of us who do, in fact, suck at Photoshop.

But the series isn’t immune from the one of the most vexing problems facing producers of Web video: how to build a loyal audience and keep it coming back. In the short history of Web series, most have struggled to replicate the TV model where audiences come back–and even build–from the first episode. And retaining audiences is key, given that brands marketing around Web video are paying according to that old TV model: for eyeballs.

Online audiences are spotty, fickle and distracted. Even the best Web series have trouble getting numbers when they’re not getting front-page promotion on a major video portal such as YouTube or MySpace Video. To illustrate the problem, Ad Age asked Web-analytics firm TubeMogul to compile viewing stats for the first eight episodes of 50 of the highest-profile Web series: EQAL’s “LG15: The Resistance” to Crackle’s “Hot Hot Los Angeles” to Michael Eisner’s “Back On Topps.”

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