4 ms·

I understand there was lots of pirated content on justin.tv, but I am surprised that focusing on streaming live video games is better in the long term then focu

by guiomie 12y ago

I understand there was lots of pirated content on justin.tv, but I am surprised that focusing on streaming live video games is better in the long term then focusing on live content in general. I see the live content market with more possibilities ... live events, reality shows ...etc. I'm not an expert on the subject, can someone enlighten me?

tomasien 12y ago
Specialization is better than generalization for everyone but those who become hegemonic. If I come to Justin.tv I think "I don't know what I might find here (short of looking for pirated content)" and on Twitch I know "I'm going to see League of Legends". It would be a bigger win to be the "Youtube of live streaming" but a harder win. Twitch ended up with a MASSIVE specialized win in online gaming, and they went with what was working.
jonnathanson 12y ago
Live events and live content are legally tricky. First, because there are usually multiple rights-holders to the various content being performed, and second, because a rebroadcast of that content is often deemed to be a performance or exhibition in its own right. That means lawyers, and licenses, and paperwork, and the exchange of currency. Tangentially, there's also the issue of getting releases from people who appear in the video, and things of that nature. Live content is a huge opportunity. Content is often a tangled web.
ChrisClark 12y ago
I would think they want generic live content to go through Youtube now.
zeidrich 12y ago
Well, the easy answer is this supposed deal between google and twitch. Twitch as a service has special value because it aids in curation and discovery of video game streams. The fact that you can browse by game, browse by streamer, follow streamers, they all work in the video game streaming environment because of how people watch, and how streamers perform. Things like live events, reality shows, other live content is a bit trickier to categorize and manage than games. You can't have the same "titles list" as you do with video game streaming. All you can do is something like notifications to followers and subscriptions etc. The thing is, youtube does these things. If google is buying twitch, then youtube's live service and justin.tv do not serve distinct purposes, and youtube is probably a better platform (and better equipped to deal with piracy) than justin.tv was. You wouldn't want to just absorb twitch into youtube because twitch as a curator and means of discovery is better than youtube, specifically for video games. But justin.tv didn't serve that purpose well.
onewaystreet 12y ago
Third party live streaming of events doesn't really exist. Most major live events (e.g. sports) are streamed using the right holder's own systems. Video games is one category where this isn't the case. Twitch has partnerships to stream many of the major esports tournaments.
vanisher 12y ago
Live streaming content has huge potential but the justin.tv brand is pretty tarnished at this point, I can't see many big brands/name choosing to broadcast there. They would need a complete relaunch and name change I think. With the experiment of streaming Steve Aoki on twitch it wouldn't surprise me if they launched a dedicated branded site for live music at some point. Google may want to keep that stuff on youtube though.
- ihuman 12y ago
  By tarnished, do you mean that it is an old brand, or that something bad happened to the brand that tarnished it?
  - vanisher 12y ago
    It just had a increasingly unprofessional/low quality image that in addition to the many pirated tv streams as other people have mentioned, attracted many teenage girls with low quality cameras and viewers asking them to 'show feet' and other demands. This quote from this fast company article sums it up pretty well: "By last summer, its once-thriving community had dwindled to a ghost town populated by puppy cams, eccentrics--like the stoner who filmed himself taking bong hits--and a few lonely lifecasters. Mostly young women, they tend to sit, static, in front of a webcam, rambling about their interior lives to a tiny audience of leering commenters." http://www.fastcompany.com/1839300/many-pivots-justintv-how-livecam-show-became-home-video-gaming-superstars http://www.fastcompany.com/1839300/many-pivots-justintv-how-...
tripzilch 12y ago
> I am surprised that focusing on streaming live video games is better in the long term then focusing on live content in general. > I'm not an expert on the subject, can someone enlighten me? It probably helps to see live streaming of video games in the context of pro sports. This was surprising to me as well, until I heard friends, in particular younger ones and children speak about it. Professional videogaming tournaments are big and serious business. And with that, I can also imagine how watching non-pro/non-top gamers making with funny commentary is in fact a lot more fun than watching amateur sports players do the same :)

by guiomie 12y ago

tomasien 12y ago

Specialization is better than generalization for everyone but those who become hegemonic. If I come to Justin.tv I think "I don't know what I might find here (short of looking for pirated content)" and on Twitch I know "I'm going to see League of Legends". It would be a bigger win to be the "Youtube of live streaming" but a harder win. Twitch ended up with a MASSIVE specialized win in online gaming, and they went with what was working.

jonnathanson 12y ago

Live events and live content are legally tricky. First, because there are usually multiple rights-holders to the various content being performed, and second, because a rebroadcast of that content is often deemed to be a performance or exhibition in its own right. That means lawyers, and licenses, and paperwork, and the exchange of currency. Tangentially, there's also the issue of getting releases from people who appear in the video, and things of that nature. Live content is a huge opportunity. Content is often a tangled web.

ChrisClark 12y ago

I would think they want generic live content to go through Youtube now.

zeidrich 12y ago

Well, the easy answer is this supposed deal between google and twitch. Twitch as a service has special value because it aids in curation and discovery of video game streams. The fact that you can browse by game, browse by streamer, follow streamers, they all work in the video game streaming environment because of how people watch, and how streamers perform. Things like live events, reality shows, other live content is a bit trickier to categorize and manage than games. You can't have the same "titles list" as you do with video game streaming. All you can do is something like notifications to followers and subscriptions etc. The thing is, youtube does these things. If google is buying twitch, then youtube's live service and justin.tv do not serve distinct purposes, and youtube is probably a better platform (and better equipped to deal with piracy) than justin.tv was. You wouldn't want to just absorb twitch into youtube because twitch as a curator and means of discovery is better than youtube, specifically for video games. But justin.tv didn't serve that purpose well.

onewaystreet 12y ago

Third party live streaming of events doesn't really exist. Most major live events (e.g. sports) are streamed using the right holder's own systems. Video games is one category where this isn't the case. Twitch has partnerships to stream many of the major esports tournaments.

vanisher 12y ago

Live streaming content has huge potential but the justin.tv brand is pretty tarnished at this point, I can't see many big brands/name choosing to broadcast there. They would need a complete relaunch and name change I think. With the experiment of streaming Steve Aoki on twitch it wouldn't surprise me if they launched a dedicated branded site for live music at some point. Google may want to keep that stuff on youtube though.

ihuman 12y ago
By tarnished, do you mean that it is an old brand, or that something bad happened to the brand that tarnished it?
- vanisher 12y ago
  It just had a increasingly unprofessional/low quality image that in addition to the many pirated tv streams as other people have mentioned, attracted many teenage girls with low quality cameras and viewers asking them to 'show feet' and other demands. This quote from this fast company article sums it up pretty well: "By last summer, its once-thriving community had dwindled to a ghost town populated by puppy cams, eccentrics--like the stoner who filmed himself taking bong hits--and a few lonely lifecasters. Mostly young women, they tend to sit, static, in front of a webcam, rambling about their interior lives to a tiny audience of leering commenters." http://www.fastcompany.com/1839300/many-pivots-justintv-how-livecam-show-became-home-video-gaming-superstars http://www.fastcompany.com/1839300/many-pivots-justintv-how-...

tripzilch 12y ago

> I am surprised that focusing on streaming live video games is better in the long term then focusing on live content in general. > I'm not an expert on the subject, can someone enlighten me? It probably helps to see live streaming of video games in the context of pro sports. This was surprising to me as well, until I heard friends, in particular younger ones and children speak about it. Professional videogaming tournaments are big and serious business. And with that, I can also imagine how watching non-pro/non-top gamers making with funny commentary is in fact a lot more fun than watching amateur sports players do the same :)