Coming to a YouTube player near you, Geektastic Nebula. A new web portal for all things geek and nerd culture-related.
2012 is set to be a breakout year in web video, with content distributors set to ante-up unprecedented amounts in content development and acquisition deals.
Major players from YouTube to Netflix are vying for position in a race to get the best original content they can for their viewers. At the grass-roots level, YouTube partners are enjoying greater revenue, benefits, and more special development and funding deals than ever seen before.
The bottom line is simple: There has never been a greater demand, or better opportunities, for web video creators seeking online distribution and revenue for their work.
That’s great for larger players, with established audiences and YouTube partnerships, but what about for smaller players with quality shows, who are trying to elbow their way into the spotlight where their programming can be seen?
Well, for content creators who are developing programming aimed at the ‘Geek Affinity’ market, Geektastic Nebula will be one option.
Geektastic Nebula is a new YouTube and Web Portal that is launching in 2012, and will offer original content and programming targeted at the Geek Affinity Market…Everything from Comics to Science Fiction, and Conventions to Cosplay; It will all be there in a one-stop portal, dedicated to bringing out the Geek in each of us.
Why the Geek Affinity market? Well, first and foremost, because I am, and always have been, a geek…Way back to before being a geek was cool. If we are talking about geek affinity, well that’s been my personal brand way back to grade school, and it’s a passion as well as a way of life.
Second, I’m far from being alone…The Geek Affinity market is one of the largest out there. We geeks tend to be smart, well-educated, have money, and spend a lot of time on the Internet. Who could think of a better target audience, with demographics almost equally divided between male and female, from 13 to the grave?
Then there is the overwhelming amount of diversity within the Geek Affinity market in terms of brand extension…If I can use marketing-speak, it’s a vertical market with the biggest horizontal base imaginable. The possibilities for subject matter and programming are almost limitless.
Geektastic Nebula will offer a YouTube channel for video content, as well as a traditional web portal for print media. We intend to create real, interactive, transmedia experiences that will push the limits of both our creativity and available technology, and offer subject matter from news to scripted narratives.
Our initial focus will be on Web Video, and providing a full slate of programmed content that will serve as the base of both our identity and revenue.
Programming will come from two sources:
I. Original Web Television Content Produced by and for Geektastic Nebula
Geektasktic Nebula will produce original series, in conjunction with our production company, TurboMandala Entertainment.
Our initial offerings will include:
‘Rockets and Robots’ – A Science Fiction/Nostalgia show focusing on the best of Science Fiction from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s
‘Watch With Me’ - An interactive show covering the best in Web Television, from the Geek Perspective
We are also working on an auto-racing reality show that has a heavily geek-centric theme, as well as a few other hosted, and narrative series.
II. Geektastic Nebula Will Aggregate/Syndicate Original Programming from other Creators
Here’s where it gets interesting, and where we get back to the matter of smaller creators getting their programming to an audience, and building a monetization stream:
We will build it for them, and with them.
Geektastic Nebula will partner with other content creators to aggregate and syndicate their content on a percent-of-revenue basis. In other words, if you are a content creator, you let us stream your content on one of our branded-channels, and Geektastic Nebula will pay you a percentage of the monetization from ad revenues.
Not only will we pay you a percentage of the revenue, we will pay you THE LION’S SHARE of that revenue…Of course we will take a percentage for marketing, administration, and technical support, but that’s part of what will make this work.
By running your programming under the Geektastic Nebula banner, you will have the benefit of being part of a consistent, unified, brand with solid marketing and a clear identity.
Instead of being a ‘one-man-brand’, running all of your own social media marketing, and advertising, campaigns, you will have the benefit of Geektastic Nebula’s marketing.
Sure, you can still do your own, and add your voice to the mix, in fact that will be part of the overall promotion of the show, but by uniting with the Geektastic Nebula brand, you can take a lot of that weight, and time, off of your shoulders and focus on doing what you do best…Creating content.
Also, while you will be sharing your revenue with Geektastic Nebula, you can count on that revenue being higher.
More exposure, and brand recognition, will result in more views. With more views comes higher revenue and the bonus of YouTube partnership revenue levels. All achievable in a fraction of the time that it would take for you to establish brand recognition for your programming by going it alone.
Best of all, at the end of the day, you will still own all of your Intellectual Property rights to the shows you create.
That’s right, you are the creator, and the sole owner of all of your videos, and Geektastic Nebula will never want it any other way…While you will be asked to sign an agreement to run your content exclusively on our channels for a specified period of time, all of your rights remain your own. At the end of that time, if you want to run on your own channel, or syndicate to other carriers, it’s all good!
So that’s the plan, and we’re all very excited about the year to come, and all of the prospects for Geektastic Nebula, and for the folks with whom we partner.
There is much more information to share that is outside of the scope of this blog post. If you would like more information about Geektastic Nebula, and/or content opportunities with the network, or would like to read a copy of our whitepaper, please complete the contact form on this site, and someone will promptly get in touch with you.
As always, your comments are welcome! Thanks for reading this. We think it’s going to be a Geektastic year for web content creators!