TVWeek‘s Daisy Whitney recently filed a video report for KNTV in San Francisco about why celebrities increasingly choose the web over TV or film when the latter two offer so much more financial compensation. (She says Josh’s piece on James Franco inspired the story.)
The answer, of course, is that celebs sometimes choose the web because it’s where they can do whatever the f*#% they want! Cash can’t buy the rush of that creative freedom. Ask Patrice O’Neal (NSFW) or Pauly Shore.
That reality doesn’t disparage the promise of the online video business. Online video advertisers are already paying more per eyeball and seeing higher audience engagement than on traditional TV.