Black Flag TV's New Sister Channel: SerialsTV!

It's now LIVE!

Black Flag TV's new sister channel has arrived! SerialsTV focus on these exciting 40s and 50s serials that were presented in theaters, before every feature presentations.

Space adventures, secret agents, zombies, alien invasions, it's all there. Atomic adventures from simpler times, fasten your rocket backpack, and jump in the action!

Just like all the other channels, Serials TV is available on Roku for those who prefer to watch on TV instead of the free web stream. All series' episodes are shown one after the other, non stop. Each series air for around a week before being replaced by a new show.

Serials TV main portal

Serials TV on ROKU

Other channels on Roku:
Cult Movies TV on ROKU 
Obskura on ROKU
Black Flag TV on ROKU

Running a TV portal, blog or website?
Add Serials TV to it with this embed code:
<iframe src="http://www.blackflag.tv/livefeed/SerialsTV.html"
width="320" height="240"></iframe>

Enjoy!

Apple To Produce Original Content?

Variety reported that Apple is considering to start producing original content. Weird idea? Not really.

Apple wants to jump in the ever growing business of streaming media. But why produce original content? Because AppleTV. The talk is that Apple is about to launch a new version of their streaming box, and what better way to sell devices than to create original content exclusively for it.

That's where money is. Selling real world goods. Content's purpose is to sell real world devices and physical goods. Nowadays there's very little profits to be generated by creating content, writing books, building software, applications, music or movies. Money comes with selling physical goods.

Noticed how Apple (among other hardware manufacturers) is claiming applications are the future, and billions of dollars are to be made with developing apps? We hear it very often, right?

But then, why isn't Apple developing more apps themselves? In fact, Apple has abandoned a whole lot of their software lineup these past couple of years. Because they know money doesn't come from apps. Developing software is a continuous, never ending investment and applications have a very short lifespan.

Money comes from the devices a manufacturer sell and that's what Apple will focus on.

If you don't control the physical support of your content, you don't control anything.

Real money is in the real world, period. All the other sensational claims are e-marketers bullshit!

***

Some online video numbers from the folks at Statista (remember that "revenues" are NOT "profits").

So you think YouTube's view count is real? This BLANK video got 100,000 views.

It's a fact that metrics in the digital world are fake. Fake likes, fake views, fake clicks, fake hits, fake visitors... You uploaded a video to Youtube and your friends saw it? Great, but don't trust the views count. Some of your friends may be worth 1/5th of a view in Youtube analytics' algorithm. It's in the best interest for Google to keep your views count low, since to boost it, your natural reaction will be to promote the heck out of it and bring everyone to Youtube to watch. That mean more Google ads displayed on your page.

This Minneapolis-based advertising agency uploaded to Youtube a blank, empty video and paid to make it viral. Didn't take very long the clip to get 100,000 views. How real are these views? You can draw your own conclusions about this.

See the report on AdWeek, and stop worshipping clicks, likes and view counts!
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-agencys-completely-blank-4-minute-youtube-video-got-100000-views-166460




To fully understand what's under the hood of social medias, read this great book by B.J. Mendelson...

How Much Do TV Producers Lose Over Online Piracy?

TV industry is missing an estimated $18 billion amount due to online piracy and illegal downloads from torrents. Statista lists here the most downloaded shows, based on Tru Optik's latest chart.

"Tru Optik, a company that specializes on monetization of digital media, estimated that $800 billion worth of English-language content was shared on peer-to-peer networks in 2014 alone."

Read the Statista report.

Black Flag TV Channels Have Moved in Roku's Catalog

I've just learned from the Roku admins that they made some important changes to their TV channels classification.

The "Internet TV" category, where Black Flag TV and Cult Movies TV were located, has been removed. All the channels from that category can now be found under "Movies and TV" category.

If you already have my channels installed on your device, nothing has changed, and they're still in your menu. But for those who are browsing channels on their unit or Roku's website, looking for Black Flag TV network, you will find it under Movies and TV.

Here, I'll make your life easier:

Thanks for joining the fun!!
(By the way, Obskura TV is coming very soon on Roku as well. Stay tuned!)

Cheers,

-Sv Bell

17 Things About The Movie Business Every Filmmaker Must Know

I stumbled across this great post by Ted Hope, a New-York based indie filmmaker, and president of the San Francisco Film Society. Though the article was published in May 2013, it is still pretty accurate today.

The film industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and many of us filmmakers are struggling to find a way to find money to produce films, make revenues out of the investment, and eventually 'make it in the business'.

1. Filmmaking is not currently a sustainable occupation for any but the very rare.
2. Presently speaking, artists & their supporters are rarely the primary financial beneficiaries of their work – if at all.
3. The film industry’s economic models are not based on today’s reality.
4. Film audience’s current consumption habits do not come close to matching the film industry’s production output.
5. The film industry has not found a way to match audiences with the content they will most likely respond to.
6. In order to reach the people who might respond to a film, the film industry remains dependent on telling everyone (including those who could not care less) about each new film.
7. Digital distribution is an emerging market and will continue to evolve over the next decade.
8. Predictive value of films is primarily currently determined by an incredibly imprecise method:“star value”, a concept that grows less predictive by the day.
9. The “fair market value” of a feature film’s distribution rights in the US that multiple buyers want has dropped astronomically.
10. International territorial licensing of American independent feature films has dropped by approximately 60% over the last decade.
11. Everything that has ever been made, has also been copied.
12. Competing options for film viewing have diminished the comparative value of theatrical exhibition.
13. The film business lacks a long-range economic model for exhibition.
14. The film industry foolishly rewards quantity over quality.
15. Movies have a unique capacity to create empathy for people and actions we don’t know or have not experienced.
16. Movies create a shared emotional response amongst all those that view it simultaneously.
17. There has never been a better time for most creative individuals to be both a truly independent filmmaker and/or a collaborative creative person.

Read Ted's full article.

Is Youtube really making money?

I've been saying it for years, streaming business model does not work. For the simple reason that expenses grow at the same rate as the users growth. No limit, no cap. The more users you have, the more expensive it is to operate. Ask Spotify. Ask Youtube.

Youtube, with a billion users every month, more or less break even with their operation expenses:

http://www.techspot.com/news/59869-youtube-remains-unprofitable-despite-earning-4-billion-dollars.html

(Article published in The Wall Street Journal)

sv bell