I think there are some smart entrepreneurs out there who are going to disintermediate traditional media with online video tools. Chris and Jennifer McBride will really shake up the city guide business with Savory Cities, their new start-up that creates little video guides to restaurants.
They’ve been tirelessly taping over 100 restaurants in New York and about 20 or so in San Francisco, where their local site launched this week. The videos are informal and informational — they let the chefs tell their stories and show their cuisine. Chris tells me they hope to expand the business in many U.S. and overseas markets. He sees this as primarily an advertiser-supported business but also expects a strong content syndication model to develop.
I bet these guys will take on the city guide/metro magazine world, food publications — maybe even the Food Channel! Keep at it Chris and Jennifer — and it’s great how you stay so slim hanging out at all these wonderful eateries. Below is a clip of Range restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District. Nice chow!
Google to Gobble YouTube?
Well, I’m not sure about that — but that crew in Mountain View has a pretty big appetite. Google Video senior executive Hunter Walk told me in June that Google "wants all the world’s videos." Whether they buy YouTube or not, they are certainly going to move aggressively in expanding their video offering — and they have the means to do it.
To get one of the best takes on the pros and cons surrounding such a deal, check out what Forrester’s Charlene Li has to say.
Here’s chart from The Wall Street Journal that shows trends in online video downloads among the major video sharing sites. Data from Nielsen/Netratings. MySpace Videos are really exploding.
Could This be the $500 Million Man? YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley spoke with me in July at the AlwaysOn Summit at Stanford.
Bon Jour Mais Amis Francais! Beet.TV has gone global with it’s first foreign language version, French. The French are prolific bloggers — and they like video — quelle marvieux! Thanks to Google for making this so easy — not sure how accurate the translation is; soon, we’re going to post transcripts of interviews in foreign languages too!
