In today’s world, everything seems to be going toward mobile. However, DeskSite is taking a different approach: choosing to ignore the small screen and instead deliver premium HD content that supplements live sports content.
In addition, the service seeks to deliver fewer but more relevant advertisements to its consumers. This benefits not only the viewer, who doesn’t have to sit through irrelevant ads, but also companies seeking to target specific demographic bases that they couldn’t segment through traditional television.
DeskSite is already working with NFL teams. In fact, the company has partnered with reigning Super Bowl champions, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, and Oakland Raiders, with more NFL teams added each month. DeskSite also says it has a number of NBA and NHL teams ready to go in 2014. After its IPO, the company plans to take its platform international.
Now the second largest distributor of NFL content, DeskSite on average delivers more than 10 hours of video content per day and at least 300 hours per week of aggregated high definition content during the regular season.
Once a user downloads the DeskSite application through his or her favorite team, HD video is automatically delivered to the computer through the app. Users can customize alerts for this video and experience it without buffering, skips or drops that you might experience with online streaming video. Best of all? It’s always 100 percent free.
Check out this Q&A with DeskSite’s Chief Executive Officer, Richard Gillam, below for more information on DeskSite and its plans moving forward.
Why would a pro team choose to use DeskSite to engage fans?
DeskSite enables the shortest (digital) distance between the fan and the team. Additional benefits include entirely new revenue streams from national TV buyers (that teams cannot access individually), as well as fromfemale-centric advertisers, for whom teams can’t yet supply gender-targeted video ad inventory (using their current technologies). We increase traffic to their pre-existing touchpoints, especially their website(s); extend their brand to the “digital beachfront” (i.e., the desktop), and enable offline engagement; e.g., kids can watch video on their laptops/tablets while riding in school buses, etc. Furthermore, the consumption experience is unrivaled, instantly delivering true 720p HD video without any of the buffering, skipping, and dropping that routinely frustrates today’s online video viewer.
What teams are current partners? What teams can we expect to see in the future?
Thus far, we’ve partnered with about a dozen NFL teams, including eight (8) of the top ten (10) most successful/popular teams (as ranked by Forbes). Our current roster includes the reigning Super Bowl champions (Baltimore Ravens), New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, Houston Texans, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, and Oakland Raiders, with more NFL teams added each month. We also have a number of NBA and NHL teams already planning product launches with us for 2014. Of course, we certainly have aspirations to engage sports fans internationally as well, which we expect to begin supporting post-IPO.
Why focus solely on “Big Screen” devices and intentionally disable a mobile option for the DeskSite app?
Several reasons…but first and foremost, it’s all about the experience. This exclusive HD content is intended to be viewed on a screen far larger than what the average smartphone can offer, e.g., desktops, laptops, tablets, game consoles, smart-TVs, connected Blu-ray players, etc. Of course, we realize by excepting smartphones we reduce the total number of potential viewers to a degree – but absolute maximum distribution is not our goal. Hollywood routinely spends a $100 million dollars producing a movie – if they wanted maximum distribution, they would upload it to YouTube and rely upon the paltry ad revenue associated with that platform, instead of forcing people to drive to a theatre, buy a Blu-ray disc, etc. By the same token, we can charge far higher CPM rates for a video ad that runs on a “Big Screen” connected-device than an iPhone, for example. Other reasons include the (still) tiny hard drives on smart phones, as well as the (still) severe overall technical limitations of smartphones, (when compared to the technical gymnastics we can do at the tablet-level and above).
What types of content can fans expect to have access to that they can’t consume via teams’ social media channels?
Team-fed social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook, are never used to deliver actual video content. There are a number of reasons for this; here’s one example: If an NFL team were to upload a video directly to its Facebook page (ostensibly for direct fan consumption), then Facebook instantly gains rights in that video, including the ability to sublicense it for profit. Needless to say, you will never see an NFL team uploading videos to Facebook. Instead, Facebook & Twitter are used to highlight an occasional event or occasionally promote a team-produced show (with links to the show). However, even in this capacity they don’t serve as a reliable notification system for new content, as these channels are, by definition, an “occasional” communication platform. Meaning these channels ignore the vast majority of available videos in order to focus on occasionally promoting a specific content segment they believe might “go viral” or is of unique import. A team’s DeskSite automatically notifies, delivers, and organizes all available video content the moment a given segment leaves the editing table.
Your site says you broadcast ten hours of team produced content each day. What exactly is this team produced content and what have fans thought of it so far?
The content is expansive and includes everything from press conferences to “Tailgating Best Practices”, including interviews and features that highlight a large portion of the active players and coaching staff, along with full-length television shows. In summary, most content falls into one of three categories; interviews/press footage, team-produced TV shows, and featured programming that revolves around upcoming games. Additional content includes historical footage, cheerleader videos, and “off-the-field” content, which encompasses the team’s involvement in the community. The fan reaction to the DeskSite experience has been extremely positive. We have received tons of emails from fans saying how much they love the DeskSite app and the content.
Anything else you think our readers should know?
We own the “NFL week”. In other words, while we do not broadcast live games, we’ve got the rest of the NFL week more than covered. During the regular season, we’re now the second largest distributor of NFL video content on any platform, (online and offline), trailing behind only the NFL Network itself. On average, we deliver 10+ hours of video content per day, seven days per week – aggregated across our roster of a dozen NFL teams. With at least 300 hours of new HD content each month (during the regular season), our network absolutely dwarfs every other sports network carrying NFL video, including CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, et al., (with the exception of the NFL Network itself). And, once our network exceeds 16 – 17 NFL teams, we will surpass even the NFL Network in both the number of hours of first-run content we broadcast each day as well as the size of our audience (during the regular season).