AOL's Flannigan and Network Live's Wall at DMS

Flannigan pointed out at Digital Media Summit that the most important video content on AOL is now free; paying for AOL is being positioned as a premium service. Membership on AOL is down, but revenue is up because of advertising support, he told me during a fireside chat. The key here is that the sum of the "fragments" is worth more than one individual piece.

Wall called Jib Jab the exception rather than the rule. Hollywood will still produce the most desired, premium content. For every Jib Jab or My Space or Blair Witch, you'll see the most desired content still originating, for the most part, from the studios. Again, I'll try to get you guys some of the audio tonight or tomorrow. (www.ihollywoodforum.com)

Content Wants to Be Free: Thoughts from Digital Media Summit.

The overwhelming opinion here is that pay models for media must be radically rethought. Fascinating that this comes from the major networks and rights holders. Free is the name of the game: if it's free, piracy gets bypassed.

We had the Slingbox Marketing VP Rich Buchanan crossing swords with the Major League Baseball Exec VP George Kliavkoff over rights; ;but notably no one was talking about suing anybody. Everybody seems determined not to repeat the mistakes of the music industry.

All this was followed up by an amazing presentation by Jib Jab about how two guys with an idea for online comedy created a phenom that attracts hundreds of millions of hits. Major media companies should be so lucky. They're getting major advertisers now like Anheuser Busch. The irony: isn't that how the big broadcast networks got their start? Remember free, ad-supported content?

I'll have an audio podcast of some highlights available tonight. I'll post details here and at www.ihollywoodforum.com