Nigel Hollis of Millward Brown examines the jerky start for A-B’s $30 million dollar online content play, Bud.TV.
Unfortunately for Bud.TV, it seems that the pundits were not alone. While money can buy you content, it can’t, apparently, buy you respect.
Of the five males aged 21 to 27 who viewed the site for me, none found the content compelling enough to add it to their destination sites or recommend to friends.
There is a fundamental mismatch between Bud.TV’s presentation style and the interactive experience many younger people are looking for online: it doesn’t offer a sense of discovery or a means of self-expression.
Om Malik’s NewTeeVee reports that Bud.TV drew 253,000 unique visitors in February, just one-tenth of the projected traffic. The site received an average of 20,000 visits per day in the week following the Super Bowl, but only 800-1,000 bothered to register. “You can have good writers, good actors and good shows. But watching video online is all about ease of use,” says NewTeeVee’s Steve Bryant.
[UPDATE] According to Ad Age, Bud.TV drew 152,000 unique visitors last month, 40% fewer than February’s 253,000 visitors.
