Archive for December, 2011:

The Television Academy, YouTube, and Academia

[Editor’s Note: The following guest post was written by Jamie Cohen, a professor of New Media, Journalism, and Web Television at Hofstra University and Molloy College. His research study is media literacy and video production in multiple disciplines.]

After researching and teaching web television for over three years, I was ironically accepted as a faculty fellow of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences a few weeks ago. The fellowship was an exploration of traditional television and how it is adapting to the changing landscape of television production. About twenty television professors were accepted in all and all of us were shocked to find that television professionals we met were excited by the changes in the entertainment industry, especially the move to online distribution.

The reason: television transcends.

Television evolved simultaneously to the technology that displayed it: the CRT. Yet, unlike other mass media, the technology is currently disappearing and television, the form, is remaining. Television is now an application on a screen. While television professionals, whether from old media or new media, are excited by the limitless prospects of television creation, television academics are just starting to understand the value.

Online Video as an Academic Study

In 2005, when YouTube first opened its doors to the public, the professional community and the academic community largely ignored it. When it became clear that the site wasn’t going away and other sites like Blip and Vimeo were hosting quality content, the discussion of how to integrate the video sites into the classroom became academic conference fodder.

In 2008, I started a class called TV for the Web and web channel for Hofstra University called HTVinteractive and started considering how to teach YouTube as an academic study. I explained and explained to doubtful faculty that we were within a few years of web-based channels competing with broadcast outlets and the television and film students should be at the forefront of the change. I used early web television examples like We Need Girlfriends, Chad VaderThe Guild and Dr. Horrible as examples. These shows were constructed as traditional television with the sole intent to be broadcast on the web. The authenticity of these shows hit at the core of television’s achievements, but they were missing the main part: the attention broadcast shows had.

Broadcast television shows with low ratings are seen by millions of viewers whereas episodes of We Need Girlfriends average fewer than half a million views per episode. Regardless, the lack of views didn’t inhibit WNG’s ability to get professional attention as Darren Star (Sex in the City) found interest in the program.

In another instance, Rob Barnett, the former executive of VH1 and MTV, was well ahead of the curve when he built MyDamnChannel. “This is the last rebel group of show business for the next couple of years,” Barnett said in early 2010, “[web television creators] have five million times more heart than anything else.” While that doesn’t equate to views, it does equate to raw talent, passion, and authenticity – traits found in many television and film students.

Online Video as a Television Network

In May of this year, Blip overhauled its site to resemble a television network focusing of web tv and offered channel customization and a way of “tuning in” to your favorite content. Earlier in December, YouTube unveiled its new layout, a channel based system that focuses on customizing your content viewing and sharing using social networks. 2011 was the year that online television content crossed into the realm of television network – I think the time has come to add web television to the curriculum.

Academics have begun discussing what YouTube’s new goals may be. When the Academy fellows spoke to the old media professionals and network heads, the focus was on the process of production. Each part of the traditional television workflow focused on specific and diverse needs: pitching, agents, showrunners, development, pilots, production, and so on.

In new media television, each content creator is all of these positions. It requires a new type of experienced television professional to know this and it seems that Robert Kyncl and Tom Pickett, Directors of Content Production at YouTube, may know how to find them. According to an article in Adweek, these two are overseeing the large YouTube upgrade and are focusing on partnerships with “promising young talent” as well as “established brands.”

The beginning of the new structure looks to have started when YouTube acquired Next New Networks and created YouTube NextLabs this past March. “YouTube bought Next New Networks because they were doing YouTube better than YouTube was. Next New Networks had the ability to recognize the talent of the common person,” Josh Cohen of Tubefilter explains. The talent of the common user is incredibly important to a new network. Cohen continued to say that, “Web television has been made through trial and error.”

When something is around long enough that seems to have more trial than error, it becomes adopted into academic methods. Of course academe is always a little behind. In this case, YouTube’s bold moves could be detrimental to academic establishments.

Online Video as an Academic Instituion

Earlier this year, YouTube teamed up with the University of Southern California and Columbia College of Chicago and started The Creators Institute and YouTube NextUp “to supercharge creator development and accelerate Partner growth and success.” The Creator Institute utilizes the university education to advance storytelling and production technique. It seems to me that YouTube isn’t just looking to create a full range production company, but also the farmland to grow talent. Academics that have been skeptical of this type of content distribution should pay close attention to these upgrades, as YouTube may become the competition.

On the other hand, YouTube’s new focus can be a boon to academic instruction. Alternative television content and new media programming will not only offer unprecedented access to diverse quality work, but allow students to create an online channel representing their body of work. Creating video content has never been more possible in all of history and academics should be encouraging students to think about making a channel on the new YouTube design and sharing with everyone. Academics are in a great place if they can connect what students are doing on their free time to what they are being taught in class. YouTube is a place to upload their multiple modes of visual expression with a real, authentic audience.

‘Television is now a read/write medium,” says expert Douglass Rushkoff, “We program, or attempt to program, everything we come in contact with.” YouTube has spent years mastering those skills. With proper guidance in schools, the future new media channel executive could be your student.

Jamie Cohen is a professor of New Media, Journalism, and Web Television at Hofstra University and Molloy College. His work focuses on media literacy and video production across multiple disciplines in an effort to create informed citizens and creative thinkers. Cohen is author of a New Media Major at Molloy College as well as the founder and advisor of HTVinteractive.com, Hofstra University’s Web Television Channel. He is also an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Faculty Fellow.

Photo of Little Academic Guy by Tim Ellis

A Look Back at 2011: Begun the Turf War Has

[Editor’s Note: The following guest post was written by Wilson Cleveland, Founder and Executive Producer of CJP Digital Media, and creator/executive producer/co-star of the brand-sponsored original series Leap YearSuite 7The Temp Life and The Webventures of Justin & Alden. You can follow him on Twitter @wilsoncleveland.]

Make no mistake my friends, 2011 will be remembered as the year sh*t got real in online video. This year the bastions of web video, no longer satisfied with “digital dollars,” made some of their boldest grabs yet at television’s multi-billion dollar advertising business by emulating the look, feel and business of…television. Welcome to progress.

Let’s review:

  • YouTube, the birthplace of the web series, the king-maker of online celebrity, the petrie dish of viral video, spent $100 million on re-positioning itself as the second coming of cable television with 100 new channels of advertiser-friendly, day-parted original programming.
  • Netflix paid $100 million to exclusively distribute two seasons of the Kevin Spacey/David Fincher drama House of Cards; then dropped another tidy sum to revive and distribute new episodes of the Emmy-winning Fox comedy Arrested Development. Wanna bet Netflix leads a lobby with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to get streaming originals on the Emmy ballot?
  • Yahoo, which already boasts nearly 50 million monthly video streams, ramped-up its slate of online originals and is now building a 5,000 square-ft. studio in New York’s Times Square where it will co-produce content with ABC News; and My Damn Channel, which is also building a new studio to produce My Damn Channel Live, began financing pilots for its network.
  • Hulu premiered its own original series A Day in the Life and invested in the promotion and distribution of more off-network shows like Leap YearMisfits, The Booth at the End and Goodnight BurbankIn fact, after five seasons and multiple distributors, Goodnight Burbank was picked-up for television this year by HDNet; while Mercury Men, Riese, Suite 7, Lenox AveOdessaAsylum and What’s Trending – original shows produced for the web – were at some point distributed online by TV networks like Syfy, Lifetime, BET and CBS respectively, indicating lines can blur from both directions.

I know, I know, the web is its own unique entertainment platform separate from television and why can’t we just be proud of that?  We have and we should, but years of touting the unique benefits of online vs. television will never be enough to compel advertisers to make a measure-able shift in spending. It doesn’t matter if there are arguably better-quality shows with even bigger viewing audiences online. The issue is scarcity which, by design, the web will never have and network television always will.

On television there are only so many available ad slots, so many networks and so many programmable hours in a 24-hour day. Compare that to the 48-hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube alone.  I’m not entirely sold on the long-term viability of YouTube’s “100 channels” strategy.  You can’t create scarcity on a free, open platform anyone can upload content to by increasing the volume of content, ‘advertiser friendly’ or not. I suspect by adopting this TV-like approach to advertisers, and since it’s unlikely it will eliminate user-submitted videos, YouTube will begin downplaying those Partners outside “the new 100” who had previously dominated the world’s third-largest website. I hope I’m wrong about that, but I fear it’s inevitable.

This was a game-changing year for the online video industry but not everybody is down with the way the game has changed. Some consider likening the web to television as an opportunity for progress, others consider it digital heresy.

Regardless of your personal stance, we are in for a polarizing year ahead. Game on.

Wilson Cleveland is an award-winning producer/actor and the founder of CJP Digital Media, the multiplatform studio under marketing/PR firm CJP CommunicationsSince creating The Temp Life, the web’s first brand-sponsored series for Spherion in 2006, Wilson has worked with companies including Hiscox, IKEA and Trident to produce, distribute or market original series like Leap YearEasy to Assemble (season 2), The Webventures of Justin & AldenBestsellers and the Lifetime online anthology series Suite 7, which he executive produced and co-wrote for series sponsor The Better Sleep Council and co-starred with Shannen Doherty, Milo Ventimiglia, Brian Austin Green, Illeana Douglas, Eddie McClintock, Jaime Murray and Craig Bierko. Prior to launching CJP Digital, Wilson created award-winning digital marketing and social media campaigns for GE Capital, BMW North America, Fuji, MINI USA and NBC Universal.

Year-End Thoughts of What’s Been and Predictions of What’s to Come

The end of the year is a very special time when publications distributed on any medium, new or old, do a few things. One, they usually make lists. A lot of them. And two, they look back on and evaulate the year that’s almost past and predict what the year that’s almost commenced has in store for whatever business, niche, industry, or genre it is they cover.

Now that my requisite end-of-year thoughts are out of my head and onto the internet, it’s a good time to open the floor. We’ve been contacted by and reached out to a handful of online video experts and professionals from different areas of the industry (one of which you’ve already heard from) to dispense advice, weigh in on the state of the industry and where it’s headed in 2012, and/or discuss his or her company’s role in the ever and quickly evolving new media landscape.

The opinions expressed in the guest posts will vary, but the articles all seem to have at leas one thing in common: 2012 will be a very big year for online video.

If you have your own thoughts on the state of the online video industry or feel pangs of inspiration after reading something here, be sure to let us know. We’ll do our best to post your thoughts and predictions, too.

The Online Video Conversation Has Changed

The first online video oriented event I ever went to was in Fall 2006. It was called Video on the Net. It was a small, peripheral component of Jeff Pulver’s much larger Voice on the Net conference. You can check out the original lineup here. It was good.

Veoh CEO Dmitry Shapiro talked about content discovery. Brightcove Chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire discussed the democratization of the tools of production. The ~300-seat conference room wasn’t packed, but it was more or less full and pregnant with excitement about the future of entertainment. After the events of the day, the attendees would meet at whatever local bar and we’d toast to the imminent end of television. It was inspiring and, in retrospect, incredibly naive.

More than five years later, TV viewership is down ever-so-slightly, but the TV business is more or less booming. The internet hasn’t yet caused or created a reason for a mass exodus from television, like entertainment industry titan Michael Eisner (and countless others) foretold. Those of us in the online video industry who once believed in the inevitability of the end of traditional media have had to readjust our expectations. We’ve learned it’s not a zero sum game.

TV will be around for a very long time and it’s success, failure, or status quo is not necessarily inversely proportional to the success or failure of online video. So, at a time like now, when TV is doing a-okay for itself, it’s totally feasible online video could be doing a-okay for itself, too.

And online video is doing pretty well. But it’s poised to do even better.

Insert Dramatic, But Self-Aware Online Video Industry Prediction Here

Individuals involved in the digital/interactive/online video/television industry/space/sector (or whatever combination of those words have ever been used to describe this business) have felt like they’ve stood on the precipice – right on the edge! – of a dramatic paradigm shift in the entertainment industry for quite some time.

But don’t take my word for it. Take Mark Suster’s. The enterpreneur, angel investor, and prolific blogger has been waiting for an entertainment industry revolution to happen in the next 6 to 12 months for the last 20 years.

I know people like me (individuals who write about, and are intimately involved with the online video industry and/or once toasted to the end of television after a conference in 2006) are especially susceptible to writing dramatic end of year posts in which he or she predicts things like, “This very next year will be THE year for online video.” So, it’s with all of that in mind and healthy amount of self-awareness that I’m going to say, “This very next year will be THE year for online video.” There are a few reasons why.

The Conversation Has Changed

Online video was once easily dismissed by entertainment and advertising industry executives as being nothing more than “dogs on skateboards.” More recently, they’ve switched the refrain to “talking fruit.” But important decision makers and purse-string holders at massive media companies and international brands can no longer dismiss online video so easily. That’s because YouTube changed the conversation.

The video sharing site with a global audience that watches over 88.2 billion videos a month recently invested over $100 million in a slate of roughly 100 newly funded original channels. That dollar amount is a rounding error for a corporation with revenues of almost $10 billion a quarter, but still a sizable investment into the burgeoning online video industry.

The investment gives YouTube a new way to approach conversations with brands. The media company now has a slate of (presumably) quality programming against which it can sell major advertisers. The $100 million also gives YouTube a few dozen production partners with a vested interest in wooing brands to spend cash on or against their programs.

If YouTube’s Content Sucks (and maybe it will or maybe it won’t), It Doesn’t Matter

Not all of the channels will be successful enough in garnering views or the advertising dollars needed for YouTube to recoup its investment. In fact, most of the channels will fail. But that doesn’t matter.

YouTube’s $100 million dollar investment is an investment in YouTube content, but it’s also a major marketing initiative for the entire online video industry. The deal has gotten a ton of press and it’s forcing executives at Fortune 500 brands and billion dollar advertising conglomerates to assess their online video strategies.

Even if every single one of YouTube’s new channels initially produces unwatchable programming, the initiative can, in many ways, already be considered a coup for the online video industry. First, it’s showing advertisers YouTube (and the internet at large) can be, in the words of YouTube’s Head of Ad Sales Suzie Reider, “a clean, well-lit place for content.” And second, the content can get better. Just the fact that a lot more of it is going to exist is a big win for online video. (It’s a lot easier to move from 1 to 2 than 0 to 1.)

There’s the Beginnings of a Generational Shift

Individuals who were in their mid-20s in 2006 and watched episodes of Tiki Bar TV and Ask a Ninja when they could steal time away from making coffee and/or copies for their bosses are now in their late-20s and early-30s watching online videos and original web series when they’re not managing multi-million dollar accounts. They have a relationship with the medium, see its potential, and are beginning to incorporate it into advertising and branded entertainment campaigns.

All The Other Reasons

There are a handful of other reasons 2012 will be THE year for online video. And Mark Suster covered them all. If you haven’t yet watched his presentation on the 10 Signs Internet TV is Ready to Disrupt the Industry, you should.

Here’s to 2012.

2012: The Year Producers Must Step Up Their Brands

[Editor’s Note: The following guest post was written by Steve Woolf, VP of Content at Blip, and is part of a year-end series of guest posts we’ll be running at Tubefilter. We’ve reached out to a handful of online video experts and professionals to dispense advice, weigh in on the state of the industry and where it’s headed in 2012, and/or discuss his or her company’s role in the ever and quickly evolving new media landscape. The opinions expressed will vary, but the articles all seem to have at leas one thing in common: 2012 will be a very big year for online video.]

For those with even a passing interest in online video, 2011 has been a remarkable year.

In just the last couple weeks you’ve probably read about comedian Louis CK’s incredible success with direct-to-viewer sales of his new performance special. You may have seen Day[9]’s Sean Plott  listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Entertainment. You undoubtedly heard about YouTube’s channel initiative (which in my view is designed to force Hollywood networks and studios to figure out original online video whether they are ready to or not). The mainstream is moving toward online video as much as online video is moving toward the mainstream.

The tipping point that many of us in the industry envisioned back in 2005 at the first Vloggercon is upon us. We’ve elbowed our way in and grabbed a seat at the table. Now it’s time to elevate our collective game and make original web series more vital and more valuable than ever. Producers spend a ton of time thinking about their stories, characters, lighting, host reads, and dozens of other things. But not enough time is spent thinking about who their show is for and how well they are speaking to their intended audiences. In other words, it’s essential producers make branding a priority.

At Blip, we’re practicing what we preach. One thing we’re doing to help elevate our brand is thinking about what we represent (or don’t) in the marketplace. Back in May, we launched a new destination site and tagline that clearly establishes our mission: to be the place to discover the best in original web series. Yesterday, we debuted a new logo designed by Chermayeff & Geismar, the talented team who created logos for NBC, Showtime, PBS, and other big media companies. One of our goals for 2012 is to make the Blip brand much more meaningful and visible to audiences interested in original web series. This will make the shows on our platform even more valuable to advertisers so that we can continue to increase rates, which in turn helps producers earn more revenue. Producers can then re-invest that revenue to make more and better content, and the cycle of lifting our industry continues.

There’s something really interesting going on with online video viewers, too. For example, a study we recently commissioned showed that peak viewing time for the Blip audience (which is now in excess of 300 million views per month), is during prime time hours, compared to a peak during lunch time hours only two years ago. And of those viewers, most are watching a combination of TV and online video, not strictly one or the other.

This tells us that the audience is treating online video as a genuine emerging alternative to traditional media when it comes to their sources of entertainment. This is a very exciting trend! We’re really getting to know who our audience is, and what we need to do to speak to them more effectively. Distinguishing Blip shows from television is important to our audience, hence, the company is now simply, Blip.

Producers have the same ability to get direct feedback from their audience and act on it to improve their shows’ brands. More and more viewers are finding online shows that speak to their interests, and sharing those shows with their friends. This is because original shows are getting better and producers are getting smarter by targeting niche audiences large enough to support a show, but narrow enough to be overlooked by broadcast and cable networks. Incidentally, that’s the secret of making your show a success. Give viewers something they can’t get anywhere else. If you’re a producer, tattoo that behind your eyelids. Here it is one more time. Give viewers something they can’t get anywhere else.

If the efforts of YouTube, Netflix, Blip, Yahoo, AOL, and others are any evidence, this is a great time to invest in original content and to think about what makes your offering meaningful to your audience. Advertisers are awakening to the power of these shows and the unique connection they have with their viewers. The evidence is in the significant increase in the size and length of media buys and integrations that happened on platforms like Blip and others in 2011. We view all of this activity as validation of the position we’ve taken for years: original web series are among the most valuable and exciting things happening in entertainment.

We all have a lot of work ahead of us to polish our brand and sharpen our focus on the people most interested in what we have to offer. I can’t wait to see what producers and shows emerge to influence the mainstream in 2012, and the surprises they will deliver to their audiences.

Steve is vice president of content for Blip, a network and distribution platform for original web series. He manages the content team located in Los Angeles and New York City and is responsible for all content, video views, and strategic relationships with companies that make original video content for the web. Over the course of his career, Steve has worked as a producer, director, technologist, and entrepreneur, co-founding a company that was responsible for one of the most innovative web series of the past several years, Epic Fu. That show won two Webby Awards, two Streamy Awards, and racked up 80 million views during its 5-year run.

The World Watches 201 Billion Online Videos a Month

When internet marketing research company comScore released its November US Online Video Rankings last week, the organization issued a set of global statistics in addition to its regularly scheduled national Top Ten Lists of Online Video Content Properties Ranked by Unique Video Viewers, Online Video Ad Properties Ranked by Video Ads Viewed, and YouTube Partner Channels Ranked by Unique Video Viewers.

And if you thought the numbers of Unique Viewers and Online Videos Viewed in the US were large, the global numbers are staggering.

ComScore’s report indicates almost 1.2 billion (with a “b”) people aged 15 and older watched over 201.4 billion (again with a “b”) online videos around the world during the month of October 2011. The biggest share of those views came from YouTube. Google Sites accounted for 88.2 billion video views during the 31-day period or a 43.8% share of the total. Vevo garnered 3.6 billion video views during the same time frame, further proving the perennial and ubiquitous appeal of music videos. And Facebook also made it into the top five, attracting 2.5 billion pairs of eyeballs worldwide.

In addition to showcasing unbelievably big numbers, the report also demonstrates America’s above average appetite for online videos as compared to the rest of the world. During the month of October, 184 million US internet users watched 42.6 billion online videos. So, while the US online video viewing audience makes up roughly 15% of the global online video viewing audience, the country consumed over 21% all global videos viewed.

View more fun facts and figures from comScore here.

How Many People Will Watch the Super Bowl Online?

The 2012 Super Bowl (aka Super Bowl 46 aka Super Bowl XLVI aka ‘The Most Watched Program Ever‘) will take place on February 5 in Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. You’ll be able to watch it by way of live television broadcast courtesy of NBC, or by way of your internet connected device courtesy of NBC, the NFL, and/or Verizon.

The Associated Press broke the news America’s most anticipated sporting event (along with NBC’s broadcasts of wild card Saturday and the Pro Bowl) will be available “on the league’s and network’s websites and through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app.” Online viewers will have access to “additional camera angles, in-game highlights and live stats – and replays of those always popular Super Bowl ads.”

The move may seem particularly innovative to the casual online video viewer, but it’s almost status quo for NBC. The AP notes the network has streamed it’s Sunday Night Football broadcasts for the past four seasons. On any given Sunday, NBC’s telecast will average 21 million viewers, while its live stream will garner between 200,000 to 300,000 paris of eyeballs. Hans Shroeder, the NFL’s senior vice president of media strategy and development, indicates that most of those online views come from individuals using the live stream to compliment their television-watching experience.

So, the big question is, how many people will watch Super Bowl 46 on an internet connected device that’s not their television? If we assume the TV to online viewership ratio stays constant on Super Bowl Sunday, expect between 1.057 million and 1.585 million people to watch the live stream on their computers, smartphones, and tablets.

If those numbers are accurate, that would make the Super Bowl about one-third as popular as The Royal Wedding. Akami, an internet data delivery company that powers the streaming capabilities behind the web’s biggest sites, estimated the online viewership for William and Kate’s nuptials peaked at about 2.9 million simultaneous streams.

Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, Jim Carrey in a ‘Drunk History’ Christmas

Hey Girl. The last time you and I saw a Drunk History video was on December 14. That’s when Drunk History creator Derek Waters uploaded a new video to Funny or Die announcing there would be a very special Drunk History Christmas episode uploaded to the internet soon. But that doesn’t really count.

The last time you and I saw a full installment of Drunk History was way back in June 2010. Jen Kirman got wasted and told the story of how the friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass overcame the slavery movement and the rampant racism that existed in their day. Will Ferrell, Don Cheadle, and Zooey Deschanel acted out the scene. It was great.

It’s been a long time for us to wait, but Waters uploaded that very special Drunk History Christmas episode today. It features Allan McLeod reciting A Visit from St. Nicholas (aka Twas the Night Before Christmas, but you already knew that) after drinking half a bottle of whiskey. It stars Jim Carrey as Santa, Eva Mendes as a sleepy wife with the platonic ideal of a family unit, and (obviously) Ryan Gosling as the man.

I’m going to watch it right now, but I’d rather be watching it with you.

Tubefilter’s Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are almost here! If you’re still frantically shopping for something to give a special someone in addition to those DIY gifts you made and a copy of that Holiday Time Machine iPad/iPhone application and/or want to check out a few innovative and inspired branded products from some of online video’s top creative talent, then this is the post and accompanying video for you.

The team at Tubefilter watches a lot of online entertainment and in our aggregate hours/days/years/millenia of online video consumption these are our 11 favorite YouTube and online video-inspired products that we think would make for gifts most awesome.

Here’s the list, in no particular order in video form (and if you dig it, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great vids):

And here’s the list, in no particular order in text:

1. SC BeardTard Supremes
Lots of online video personalities and original web series sell their own T-shirts (you’ll see a few of our favorites on this list), but very few (meaning “absolutely none”) sell their own pair of sneakers. Top 100 YouTuber ShayCarl designed the SC BeardTard Supremes with the help of his his family (aka “The Shaytards”) and his fanbase. The collaborative end-product features Shay’s bearded silhouette on the heel and goes for $79.98 at Tweak Footwear.

2. The Guild Season 5 DVD
The Season 5 finale of Felicia Day’s The Guild aired in October but you can own all the action and additional Special Features (including cast cnterviews, “Double Trouble” featurette on Season 5′s twins Tara/Lara portrayed by Leslie Crystal, “How to Build a Con” featurette with Production Designer Greg Aronowitz, “Steampunk Verite” featurette with Jillian Armenante, Doug Jones and Maurissa Tancharoen, audio commentary by the cast, Gag reel, table read of episode 1, PDF of the Season 5 script, and more) for a click to Amazon and $11.99.

3. The Guild Jones Soda 6-Pack
We told you back in June about The Guild’s branded carbonated beverages courtesy of Jones Soda. The good news is they’re still on sale and go great with watching Season 5 on DVD. Try a bottle of Codex Strawberry Lime, Tinkerbella Grape, Vork Green Apple, Bladezz Cola, Clara Berry, and Zaboo Blue Bubblegum for $12.99.

4. Gold: The Series – Do You Not Speak Common?
If you’ve ever rolled a D6 (or have ever referred to a die as a “D”) or know what the acronym “GM” stands for (and it’s not “General Manager”) then you’ll love this t-shirt from an original web series about professional Dungeon and Dragoners. Get yours at Zazzle for $23.95.

5. Hannah Hart Laptop Sleeve
You may know Hannah Hart as the girl from My Drunk Kitchen, but what you may not know is she has a great gift for anyone who doesn’t believe in socially imposed sexual orientation norms and also needs to protect his or her laptop. You can pick up her Hetero, Homo, Harto laptop sleeve at Spreadshit for $24.99.

6. Ray William Johnson Troll Plush
Ray William Johnson has the #1 Most Subscribed All Time channel on YouTube (with 5.1 million subs and counting) and his videos have been viewed a cumulative 1.49 billion (with a “b”) times. He’s beyond uber popular, but even with that uber popularity there’s always going to be some haters. Johnson made this Troll plush doll as a representation of those haters, so he can give them the attention and tender hugs they’re so desperately seeking. Pick one up for $17.00 at RayWJ.com.

7. Smosh – Friendship Always Wins
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla have been making videos on YouTube under the banner of Smosh since 2005 and were Pokemon-playing best friends since long before then. Show your bestie how much you enjoy his or he friendship by way of this ‘Friendship Always Wins’ poster for $10.00 available at Smosh.com.

8. The Annoying Orange Toys
The Annoying Orange creator Dane Boedigheimer and The Collective introduced a line of talking plushes, clip-ons, and collectible figures based on Orange and the entire Kitchen Crew in anticipation of the talking fruit’s Cartoon Network television show. You can grab them at your local neighborhood Toys “R” Us from $7.99 to $9.99 a piece.

9. Epic Meal Time and J&D’s Bacon Salt and Bacon Spread
In addition to their television pilot for G4, the Canadian crew behind the original gastro-porn series Epic Meal Time partnered up with Revision3 and J&D’s Foods (a company that boasts the motto “Everything Should Taste Like Bacon”) to release their own branded bottles of Bacon Salt and Bacon Spread. Start making everything in your kitchen taste more like bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips and bacon strips by picking some up from J&D’s Foods for $4.49 and $5.99 a piece.

10. Epic Meal Time and J&D’s Bacon Lube
Oh, yeah. EMT and J&D’s are also selling bottles of bacon-flavored personal lubricant. Because April Fools Pranks sometimes are too good not to become year-round realities. And because why not?! Become a bacon lover and own a bottle for $11.99.

11. Phil DeFranco Monkey T-Shirt
Top 20 YouTuber Phil DeFranco may have one of the most rabid fan bases of any online video personality. If you’re a proud member of the Phil DeFranco Nation, there’s no better way to show your support than sporting this Monkey T-Shirt. You can pick one up for yourself or that special PhillyD fan you know for $19.99 at ForHumanPeoples.com.

If there are any other products from YouTubers or original web series creators that you particularly like, let us know in the comments! Happy last-minute shopping and happy holidays!

‘Epic Meal Time’ Makes TV Pilot for G4

Harley Morenstein broke the news in early November via Twitter and Lacey Rose at The Hollywood Reporter just reminded everyone Epic Meal Time shot a television pilot for G4.

The original web series about wouldn’t-be cooks from Quebec who use unbelievable amounts of bacon and other carnivore-friendly fare in their gross-but-enticing kitchen creations made its first debut on the gamer, male, and ninja-oriented cable TV network via Attack of the Show back in March 2011. Since then, Epic Meal Time’s creator and Sauce Boss Harley Morenstein made at least one in-person appearance on ATS before announcing the TV pilot and reassuring fans there will still be weekly online episodes of Epic Meal Time, the EMT crew will not be tamed by television, and in the G4 version you can expect more bacon and ladies.

Rose reports the pilot will be produced by “Comcast Entertainment Studios, with Jay James (Guliana & Bill, The Soup), Gregory Heller, KP Anderson (The Soup, Web Soup) and Morenstein attached as executive producers.”

On the online video front, new media studio Revision3 is still Epic Meal Time’s network of choice. Here’s what Ryan Vance, Revision3 VP of Programming, had to say about the television iteration of EMT:

“We’re excited for the guys, and for the brand to expand onto any and all platforms. Should G4 decide to pick up the series, we’d look for ways to work together on cross promotion.  However, we’re going to stay focused on the digital side of the Epic Meal Time business, which is separate from TV.”

Since signing with Revision3, Epic Meal Time has become one of (if not) the fastest-growing online video channel of all-time and boasts its own line of branded bacon-flavored cooking and adult products.

‘Street Fighter’ Gets Dramatic with The Game Station, Maker

Last week Maker Studios and The Game Station (or TGS if you want to be in the know) premiered their new original dramatic web series The Street Fighter. It features – you guessed it! – Capcom’s Street Fighter video game. But this series is more about the people who love gaming than the actual game itself.

The Street Fighter follows Phil (played by Clarke Koehler) as he deals with the pressure of his ex-wife, his recent unemployment, and maintaining a relationship with his son. With the support of his friend Camille, Phil enters The Alex Valle’s Ultimate Street Fighter Tournament (FYI, Alex Valle is a real-life, professional Street Fighterer) to win back his self respect and discover his inner street fighter.

The series follows a Rocky structure with Phil training for the tournament, but the real story comes in the relationships between Phil, Ryan, and Camille. Phil, with his corny Call of Duty jokes and desire to drive his son crazy and to school, is not your typical gaming or major motion picture hero. But he does feel like a real life gamer that audiences can relate to and cheer for as he fights to become the Street Fighter Champion we all hope he can be.

Directed by gaming enthusiast and TGS’s gaming news host Layne Pavoggi, The Street Fighter feels more like a communal passion project than most gaming-to-web-series crossovers. Before beginning production, Pavoggi tested the waters and asked his TGS followers if they would watch a real-life dramatic series with a gaming spin. The overwhelming “Yes!!1!” was enough to get the series started, but a lot of work and favors went into making The Street Fighter.

The series features several Youtube celebrities who take on roles not usually featured on their personal channels. For example, Liam Kyle Sullivan plays Phil’s former employer, Ceciley Jenkins is Phil’s ex-wife, and Kassem G is Phil’s competition, Evil Dan. Other cameos include iJustine as a snobby Comic store customer and Dodger Leigh as a tournament gamer. Okay, maybe the gamer role isn’t really a stretch for the Dodge This! host, but you get the picture.

Beyond the realistic look at gamers as people, The Street Fighter is a chance for Pavoggi, the TGS crew, and other Youtubers to display more of their creative talents without abandoning the gaming content that originally made them popular.

The first episode of The Street Fighter begins with an introduction and heartfelt thank you from Pavoggi. Check it and the dramatic series out at YouTube.com/TheGameStation.

Watch the Best Holiday Videos in One Time Traveling App

If you’re not familiar with the YouTube Time Machine, you should be. The application and online destination created by former YouTube Nexter and online video contest aggregator Justin Johnson, iPad and iPhone developer Matt Capucilli, and promotions guru Delbert Dean Shoopman III takes a different approach to curating online videos than the ones to which you’ve become accustomed.

Instead of a familiar taxonomy comprised of top-level common classifications like Entertainment, Food, How To, Sports, Music, and Etc., YouTube Time Machine categorizes videos first by year, and second by everything else. That means you can check out clips from any particular time frame dating back to 1860 up to and including 2011, which makes it a fantastic tool for discovering online video ephemera for the nostalgia inclined.

YouTube Time Machine’s novel approach to online video aggregation also plays well with online video consumers. The app made it to the top of Apple’s best-selling charts within weeks of its debut, claiming the #1 spot on Paid iPad Applications, USA and the #2 rank on Paid iPhone Entertainment Applications, USA.

With that type of positive feedback and all the ubiquitous holiday-themed hullabaloo present at this time of year, Johnson, Capucilli, and Shoopman decided to make another YouTube Time Machine centered around a specific theme.

The recently-launched Holiday Time Machine is an application that aggregates over 2,500 hand-picked holiday videos and categorizes them by year, from 1898 to 2011. Here’s Johnson on the creation of the second iteration of his time traveling online video app:

There are so many holiday commercials, holiday specials, holiday songs – we just knew they were ripe for a time machine.

It’s been amazing to see how classic songs endure and are remade over and over again, and how some are so strange they flame out quickly. It’s fascinating to see how toys and games were marketed in the 50s/60s/70s and how they’re marketed today. We even dug up a bunch of silly local stuff that I find particularly heart-warming.

It took us quite a while to dig up all the videos but it was a fun process!

Visit the ghosts of Christmas’ online video past, get your own Holiday Time Machine here, and happy viewing!