Metacafe to Terminate its Producer Rewards Program

In a posting on its corporate blog last week, broadband video site operator, Metacafe, announced that it is terminating its Producer Rewards program, effective June 30th. The program, which provides amateur and independent producers with a share of the advertising revenues generated by their video content, is being discontinued due to "a market environment that requires us to focus on profitability in the near term," Metacafe stated, adding that it is "not in the position to continue to subsidize the program." The company says that all videos that are currently part of the Producer Rewards program will be removed from its site July 1st, unless their owners "affirmatively elect to maintain your video(s) on the site on an uncompensated basis."

While the termination of the Producer Rewards program--and the fact that Metacafe is removing participating content from its service unless the owners of that content proactively agree to offer it without compensation--could presumably result in a significant reduction in the volume of amateur and indie video on the service, the service, which Metacafe claims saw 60% growth in viewership between January, 2008 and January, 2009, is currently receiving an infusion of premium video: last month, Metacafe announced that it was launching what it said would be the first three in a series of "premium entertainment hubs," and that it had redesigned its home page in order to prominently feature those hubs. The new hubs--devoted to "Movie Trailers," "Music Videos" and "Sports Highlights" respectively--are billed by the company as "making it easy for consumers to find and discover great videos that suit their tastes, preferences and mood of the moment" and as catering to "brand marketers' desire to associate with premium content and reach consumers in and around these entertainment categories." "Metacafe has long been a leader in shaping the evolution of the online video industry, featuring the best in viral video, then incorporating the best in professional made-for-the-Web entertainment, and now adding the best in premium video," Metacafe CEO, Erick Hachenburg, said in a prepared statement. "Unlike online TV destinations and video-sharing platforms, Metacafe is committed to presenting the full spectrum of content in a way that provides today's consumers the choice they demand and enables advertisers to connect with them when and where they are immersed in the entertainment experience."

Metacafe's new "Movie Trailers" hub, which features support for HD, is billed as showcasing theatrical and home video releases from every major Hollywood studio; the "Music Videos" hub features pop, rock, R&B, hip-hop, country and Latin music videos; and the "Sports Highlights" hub features content from the NBA, Fox Sports and Fuel TV. The hubs are being promoted across Metacafe's site, "ensuring consumers can easily find the premium entertainment content they're looking for and providing brand extension opportunities for hub sponsors," Metacafe says. The company promises that it will integrate additional content partners into the hubs in the coming weeks and months, and launch new hubs--including "TV Clips" and "Video Game Trailers"--over the course of 2009.

A major consideration in Metacafe's launch of premium entertainment hubs and a new homepage design appears to be a desire to be more appealing to advertisers and sponsors (note: the company's press release announcing the new features contains quotes, touting the benefits of advertising on its service, from two third-party digital marketing executives): the new homepage layout features, among other things, what the company describes as a "first-of-its-kind billboard ad unit" that "empowers advertisers to communicate their message via a high-impact image, a custom Flash execution or an in-unit video player." At launch, the redesigned home page was sold exclusively to Universal Pictures, which is using it to promote the upcoming movie, "Land of the Lost." According to metacafe, this represents the first campaign of a multi-picture sponsorship by Universal Pictures of the new "Movie Trailers" hub.