There’s no doubt that the online video space is heating up.

In 2006 most of the buzz was around Do It Yourself (DIY) creators pushing the valuation of YouTube to over $1 Billion. I think 2007 is the year of the professional broadcaster in online video. Players like Joost and BrightCove have been successfully wooing mainstream content producers like Hearst and Viacom respectively.

Fox and NBC Universal are said to be working on their own strategies. Fox has the benefit of owning a video distribution channel via MySpace Videos.

These developments are far from a surprise in my mind. The major networks know that there is a huge online audience and they are going to want a piece of that pie. Of late Viacom (parent company of CBS) has taken an everywhere approach to distributing their content online. Rather than create a central portal they have now decided to syndicate via a variety of sites. I’m not convinced that this is the way to go.

Every day I become more of a believer in creating communities around media. Its hard to do that when content does not have a central point of distribution . I do think that everyone can benefit for wide syndication online. But I think its also critical that content have a central location where fans can gather and discuss the content. Scattering that community dilutes the brand and force of the content.

As online distractions increase, communities centered around content brands will be critical to making an audience stick with a show. The challenge for traditional networks is the fact that brands are really at the show, not the network, level. So each show really needs its own unique community.

Services like Ning and Bryght are making it easier for everyone to create communities. So its not like the tools aren’t there to build around content.

The crux of my point is that rss syndication (aka podcasting), embedding and sharing content online are all great things. Expanding the power of content on the net is the next level and will help shows have a life even when they are not actively in production.

[tags]Social Media, Video, Communities, Joost, BrightCove, Ning, Bryght[/tags]