Dr James Ohene-Djan (pictured) is a senior lecturer at Goldsmiths University and managing director of Winkball. SPONSORED FEATURE. 

A Winkball Channel offers the solution to the biggest problem that publishers and brands face today: how to monetise video content.

Since the beginning of the internet, publishers have struggled to make professional, quality content pay.

The dilemma posed by the open, mega-marketplace that is the digital highway places permanent downward pressure on revenues while demanding “rich content” that costs real money.

It is literally killing the publishing industry.

While video has become the primary means of communication across all devices and consumer demand continues to grow exponentially, brands and advertisers try to meet demand by increasing production and raising standards, hence every studio in the country is permanently booked.

The problem is that the current internet infrastructure has been built for mass self-generated content, reducing all video to a single commodity.

On the existing third-party internet platforms, all video is effectively valued at a flat rate. The value is not in the content, nor is it directly related to the demographic of the users.

The system is only interested in the connection (click volume) because the providers, who own the platforms, sell the search connection, not the space as in traditional publishing.

There has been no real transfer of the display advertising model to the internet that builds on the association between editorial content and an advertiser’s target audience.

The “Adwords” model doesn’t distinguish between quality and mass market. Less so with video, where bots glue random video ads via an algorithmic lottery.

It is interesting to note that TV broadcasters are currently doing very well. Unlike the print industry, where the gross annual revenue continues to shrink year-on-year, TV’s share of the cake is growing.

The reason is not only are they set up, by definition, to produce quality content, but they are not forced to compete directly with millions of free content producers on open platforms.

In short, the TV companies have their own platforms, or at least are ring-fenced on cable, set-top or satellite.

Digital and print publishers who rely on social media to distribute their product don’t control their own advertising space, therefore cannot leverage their content to earn revenue.

What’s more, in an era of “brand value obsession” where everyone agrees that brand safety is key, putting valuable, expensively produced content on the free-for-all of social media is like setting up a picnic lunch in the hyena enclosure at the zoo.

Winkball’s Touch TV channels offer publishers a real opportunity to take back control of the environment in which their content is displayed, providing context and clarity for viewers while offering a brand safe space for advertisers.

Touch TV is a series of rolling news channels that combine traditional TV style video reports, video content, studio recording and brand messaging.

It enables organisations to have their own branded internet TV channel, broadcasting 24-hours a day and accessible via all search engines and social media, on smart TVs, mobile devices, and embedded players

These video broadcasting channels can viewed live or on-demand and can be displayed on any medium, behind a paywall or free-to-air.

The model is totally scalable and offers a unique solution for all content creators, providing fast, flexible thematic channels, that can be curated, sponsors embedded and launched in a matter of days.

Touch channels are ideal for advertisers and publishers as well as supporting PR-related campaigns and sponsors who want to go direct to the consumer or reach audiences by association.

Winkball is also able to provide content from its growing network of producers, presenters and videographers who are trained and organised to create broadcast quality video consumer news reports.

The entire creation, commissioning and production process, as well as workflow and broadcast elements, are taken care of by the system, offering any client the possibility of having their own TV channel and the tools to manage it.

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