MyDamnChannel Syndication and Second Look
In late July, just as HBO’s ThisJustIn video channel was getting canceled, another Internet video studio and distribution channel was coming online in Hollywood. Rob Barnett, a former exec at CBS radio who also did time at MTV and VH1, launched MyDamnChannel with creative assistance from entertainment industry veterans Don Was, Harry Shearer and David Wain. (A detailed Metue profile of the original launch can be found here)
From the start, like Vuguru and 60 Frames Entertainment, the company’s aim was to create original professional quality content for syndication around the net. Unlike those competitors, their plans included the launch of a distribution site of their own. Taking a multi-pronged approach, MyDamnChannel syndicated their videos on a YouTube channel and also provided embed codes to allow viewers to link or include the videos on their own sites while they were actively looking for syndication partnerships. Now, a little more than a month later, they’ve found their second partner in a deal with MySpace.
As with YouTube, moving forward, the report is, MyDamnChannel will have a unique channel at MySpaceTV. Like their primary site, the syndicated video channels will feature their original content and they will rely on advertising for revenue.
So far, MyDamnChannel’s production efforts have not been a runaway hit with audiences but it’s still too early to judge fairly. Using their YouTube channel as a model, the 17 videos the company aired for their first month generated 144,019 views (averaging approx 8100 views per video). Assuming an additional 10% of that viewer number occurred on embedded showings on blogs and social networks, or from displays on the company’s own site they generated about 158k video views in their first month. (The company’s own site still has marginal traffic and has not yet broke into the top 100,000 sites on Alexa leading to the assumption that YouTube was responsible for a significant majority of their viewers).
Adding a second outlet through MySpaceTV, and leveraging the strength of MySpace’s brand should significantly increase their audience reach and name recognition. It’ll be worth revisiting the viewing statistics in a month or two to see how they’ve progressed.
