MyDamnChannel Wants to be Coolio

MyDamnChannel has been hugely successful at bridging the gap between old media and its more attractive younger sibling. 

In the wake of a debilitating WGA strike, Hollywood elite are migrating to outlets on the web, and for many, the terrain of this uncharted territory is daunting.  MyDamnChannel is capitalizing on the trend, and the need for artist management, by signing hordes of big-name talent, most recently grammy-winning recording artist Coolio, A.D. Miles and Steve Kerper, each of whom will launch new video channels and create weekly original episodic video content for the Web.

This follows announcements from other internet-TV proprieties signing big-name talent.  Norm MacDonald and David Cross recently joined SuperDeluxe, and Judd Apatow joined

MyDamnChannel has done well with a lot of compelling content.  The Harry Shearer Channel is a personal favorite, with thought-provoking and strangely entertaining content like this silent debate…

But does this really belong on a site along with content from Coolio?  Would you bundle the two if they were on DVDs?

###Happy as I am to see increased talent and attention in the new media space, I disagree with the branding efforts of these “studios,” as I’ve mentioned a few times in the past.  What kind of content can one find one MyDamnChannel…or SuperDeluxe…or FunnyorDie?  These brands all feel the same: ambiguous, we-have-everything-but-do-nothing-particularly-well. 

Internet-TV studios like MyDamnChannel and SuperDeluxe should take a page from the books of Next New Networks, Vuguru, 60 Frames and For Your Imaginaion, and focus their robust scouting and creative infrastructures on the development of content for niche brands that can be distributed far and wide.  Websites should provide an added value experience for each series or collection of content. 

Andrew Baron, creator of break-out video blog Rocketboom (Tilzy.TV Page) once commented, “I have always suggested that an individual show may thrive best when allowed to live and breathe in its own home, on it’s own website, best suited for it’s own special case.”

MyDamnChannel and others like it ought to consider that building the “cases” that drive communities is becoming an important component of entertainment branding.  The website itself is a component of content.