Online video news: what works, what doesn't and what the future holds

With the steady increase of smartphone and tablet users, online news is hugely viewed on mobile devices and this consumer is not only the audience but the content creator, too.

Why is this significant?

The massive and ongoing growth in mobile in South Africa leads me to believe that local audiences will pursue their hunger for content, including video, regardless of the high bandwidth and data cost constraints.

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Online video contains so much condensed content and is offered on so many more platforms now - there is something for every viewer - from news reports, to candid YouTube vloggers, to viral videos, behind the scenes and so much more, the choice is practically unlimited. Video online, and the varying formats it comes in, is certainly shifting the way in which the South African audience has come to expect online video consumption. And newsrooms are taking notice.

Media houses in South Africa are investing heavily in video production teams and creating more video content for their online audiences. All these changes in the digital landscape are creating more of a demand and as our world becomes more instant and more visual, I believe our audiences are just going to want more and better video content.

Facebook has also started placing higher emphasis on video content - and media outlets and brand marketing strategies are using video through these social media channels to reach larger audiences. The same can be said for Twitter, which launched the native Twitter video app late last year. Companies can now create promoted video Twitter Cards, allowing a one-click experience and making video consumption more user friendly. According to a recent World Wide Worx report, Arthur Goldstuck found that "the number of YouTube users in South Africa had reached an active user base of 7.2-million," showing a 53% growth just over the past year. This is definitely a figure worth paying attention to.

So how does online video news differ from just news?

Online audiences have shorter attention spans and want the latest viral content at their fingertips. They expect more content more often, as quickly as possible. Offering video content in different formats from traditional programming is essential in audience growth. For example, the likes of Generation Y are consuming content digitally and on their smartphones and are less likely to be loyal to one news brand and rather browse between local and international news sources. The video format therefore needs to feature highlights rather than long, detail-driven stories. It has to be engaging, short, sharp and provide all the detail in less than three minutes.

While I don't think online news will ever replace traditional news broadcasting, traditional broadcasters and operators are going to have to pay attention to the growth of the medium to stay relevant and thrive. They need to understand who and where their customers are, and how those customers want to consume content and interact with their brand, which should be the case for all platforms.

Ideally, there should be a far more integrated offering and connection between the two media in the future.

The changing audience

No longer can broadcasters programme for a mass audience, with members viewing at a single place, on a single device, at a single moment in time. Now, they must programme for fragmented and niche audiences, watching in many places, on multiple devices, at various points in time. These audiences are increasingly only interested in watching programming tailored just for them. It's a challenge - but one that will no doubt lead to exciting developments and innovations in the future.

It's not just the traditional broadcasters that need to keep ahead of the game. When you work in an environment as dynamic as online, you need to be willing to adapt. When we develop news video for our online newsroom, we have to consider first and foremost how potentially newsworthy the video will be and its relevance to our audience. Audiences are often digitally over-connected, so their time is limited. To tap into this precious commodity is tricky and understanding who you are producing content for is key.

How we deliver the content is also vital. Strategically, we made the decision to offer content in a format that had never been seen before in the online publishing environment in South Africa. News24's online video format is very different to what is currently being done in video online in SA. Through studio-based reports, we are not only showing what is happening in the news, we are also telling our audience what is happening online, on our platforms and on social media. This type of model combines a 'news anchor' type of approach as well as adding authenticity to what is being reported on. We believe that this format thinks further than just creating news - it also creates communities around the content.

Trends show that media consumers are coming to us via social media recommendations. So engagement is essential and one of our key measurements of success. Other important measurement tools for us are the conversion play rate and the length of time our readers/viewers have been on our page.

Live video streaming and user-generated content

Another interesting trend we are paying attention to is live video streaming. It's clearly out trumping video-on-demand and was a huge success for us during the Oscar Pistorius trial and the heated debates in Parliament.

And finally, a very important tool in our armory is user-generated content. Twitter, Facebook and smartphones have seen citizen journalism on the rise and newsrooms across the globe need to pay attention, especially when it comes to breaking news. YouTube has become hugely instrumental in sourcing content that 'citizen journalists' have uploaded and want to share. With the Paris attacks, for example, within hours eyewitness accounts recorded on mobile phones were being uploaded to YouTube and being used and broadcast across the globe as the events unfolded. We were able to offer our audiences this on-the-ground breaking news, which enabled a better understanding of how the events were unfolding.

Video is becoming one of the most powerful tools in the online news arena. But even though we are working within one of the fastest growing media, locally and globally, we have to continue to innovate and engage to ensure we stay relevant and ahead of the pack. The key is meaningful content that engages, that understands and speaks to its audience. Data and time are precious in the South African landscape and we will have to work hard to ensure our audience is willing to share both with us.