No One Watches Online Videogame TV

GameDailyBiz talks about disappointing statistics for anyone who enjoys online videogame related video or podcasts; Almost no one watches them. From the article: "didn't even recognize that I might have made a mistake until I ran across a recent Forrester Research marketing report. The report found that while 25% of online households have expressed interest in podcasting, only 2% had experimented with audio downloads but did not listen on a regular basis and a mere 1% of households actually download a podcast onto a player. For most new tech trends a 1% percent adoption rate might be admirable or even encouraging. However, podcasting is a nerd darling. On tech blogs and nerd-news centers podcasting been proudly crowned the Wave of the Future(TM). Currently, the search site PodNova is tracking more than 55,000 different podcasts. Yeah, 55,000 channels and apparently nothing's on."

Comments

But this is only for online broadcasts

[dshaw858]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it isn't all videogame broadcasts that aren't watched. In Korea, there are two television stations dedicated to video gaming (mostly Starcraft matches) that are extremely popular. During the CPL Championships, TSN (the premier online broadcasting network for cyberathletics) supports many many viewers- in fact, even during the CAL (Cyberathlete Amateur League) matches, many people watch the matches.

I think that this article is trying to accomplish the wrong things. Comparing things like video game broadcasts to YouTube simply is comparing apples and oranges.

- dshaw

Re:But this is only for online broadcasts

[dshaw858]

We're not Korea, guys. Talking about them won't say anything about America or the very america-centric internet.

Is the Internet American? Sure, we might have a lot of users, but the title of this story is Games: No One Watches Online Videogame TV". "No one" and "online" are key words. Korea certainly counts as people, and are most certainly online.

Granted, I'm not saying that we're Korea, or that we have a videogame-centric culture- we don't. That doesn't mean that it isn't a valid point for discussion, though.

- dshaw

Re:But this is only for online broadcasts

[Daengbo]

Well, I'm in Korea, and if I go to lunch at a cheap diner near a high school, the TV there is always tuned to ongame.net, the channel the GP mentioned. Kids are obsessed with watching their role-models and learning new tricks or strategies for Starcraft, CS, or Special Forces. It's no different than anyone who watches experts at his serious hobbies. I doubt, as you say, that it's especially cultural. It just depends on how serious people take their gaming, I think.

And...?

[hotdiggitydawg]

Yeah, 55,000 channels and apparently nothing's on.

So what? The internet had brought broadcasting to the masses. But the right to free speech doesn't mean anyone actually has to listen to you.

On my to-do list this is way down..

[NorbrookC]

The only people who were surprised that podcasting TV shows about videogames didn't take off were the people who had the idea in the first place. I don't know if I'm typical (but apparently I am), but watching downloaded TV shows about videogames ranks at the bottom of my list of recreational "things to do." Up near the top of my is actually playing the videogames, followed by downloading mods to the games, and browsing news sites announcing new games. Somehow, I never get around to watching television shows featuring videogames, let alone downloading them and watching them on the computer I'm using to... well... play the games on.

"Online Video Game TV" ?!?

[Zadaz]

What the hell is that? And what's the point?

There are three kinds of video game videos:

-Play footage.

-Reviews.

-Industry news.

As far as Play footage goes, I'd rather watch someone read a book. (Yes, there are exceptions, and while the survey doesn't say, I'm assuming it's American, and game culture in the US is very different than abroad.)

For the other two, podcast is the worst format. I want to scan, review and get the bottom line, which is something you can't do in an audio or video format.

And frankly 99.93% of podcasts are embarrassingly bad. The only reason podcasts have become popular is because they require even less skill and time to produce than a blog. (If such a thing can be possible.) There are tens of millions of blogs, but how many do you read? Compare that to How many are only visited by spam-bots?

Anyone else not do podcasts at all?

[AudioEfex]

I guess I don't get this podcast craze to begin with. I've heard a few here and there, and listing to some guy and his friends prattling along in the basement in front of the PC about any topic just doesn't fit into my life. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are some neat, informative podcasts out there. But the format just turns me off. Now, a blog I can scan, pick out relevant information, and it doesn't require me to read every word to find something interesting. But audio is a different beast, and I just don't have an hour to listen to some fan pontificate about anything (even subjects I care about). I think that's the core of what this article is talking about. I'm sure videogame podcasts magnify the problem, just like videogame "journalism" does. Let's face it, as much as I like reading reviews and news postings, most gaming sites are run by young men and women as hobbies. They are not professionals in the industry at all, and while they may have opinions (however well-formed), it's still just a bunch of guys sitting around a PC talking about how wicked hard beating that palladin or whatever in WOW is, and his strategy for beating it. I think that is the crux for me though, the audio part - if I played WOW I might be interested in a technique to kill a certain MOB, but having to listen to a podcast to do it is silly when I could just read the text in five seconds if he wrote it. But that's just my opinion. AE

umm... yeah...

[rakslice]

There's no connection between "online videogame TV" and the podcast stats in the linked story, other than the fact that they got the author thinking about his media habits...

And there are no actual stats about "online videogame TV"...

And the author wasn't dismissing all "online videogame related video" like the poster suggests -- "I pull up gigabytes of game videos"...

I can only conclude that the poster didn't actually read the story, and that the slashdot editors are too busy smoking crack to notice... But what else is new? =)

Re:umm... yeah...

[BruceCage]

He's talking about the stupid headline, "No One Watches Online Videogame TV", which doesn't even fucking describe the article. It's not even the conclusion the article author himself makes. The article doesn't even have a real conclusion, except that he was wrong and he's probably wrong again.

Now the article isn't the holy grail, it's far from it. It takes a Forrester Research report worth $249.00, imho misuses it and throws in his own two cents. If the author had come to the conclusion made in the headline I would have been all over him, but he doesn't he actually brings up a couple of valid points. Such as:

For 99 percent of enthusiast press articles, print tells the story more quickly, more succinctly and more easily than video. Readers can browse, skip around or read the whole article. Plus, if the story links to a specific video, the readers once again have total control of their content.

Video broadcasts in their current form just aren't convenient and until they are comprehensive, navigable, and user controlled, online viewers will continue to find it much easier to skim web text.

I'm too bored to finish this post, but whatever.

Re:I don't buy it

[FooHentai]

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ranko rder/2119rank.html

1% of USA population ~= 2,984,442

Regarding them lying - I think it's more likely that they're counting hits which don't equate 1:1 to a person.