By Boaz Eshtai on July 30, 2009
Over the past 16 years I have closely watched the transition that the industry has made in the way news, current affairs and archive are evaluated and priced.
Today it is difficult to sell news items exclusively when the price tag can range from $10,000 to $500,000. With advertising revenues shrinking, broadcasters and online publishers can hardly afford these 'old days' prices anymore.
Archive items, on the other hand, used to be sold for a relatively low cost up until the end of the 80s. Then, the big archive sources such as APTN, Reuters and ITN began considering their bank of items as one of their most valuable assets. As a result, by the early 90s, archive prices increased tremendously.
As lone cameramen, we also have to adapt to new pricing structures and the principles that drive them. Whether it's daily news or archive, the best solution for individual cameramen, photographers and production companies (and the people that pay them) is to maintain copyrights, and sell the items many times at a lower price. The price may be lower, but the value (income!) goes up.
let’s take a real life example: the popular "Battle at Kruger" video.
The incredible story of a young Buffalo caught between a pride of lions and a crocodile, then rescued by its herd was filmed by David "Buzz" Budzinski and the photographs were taken by Jason Schlosberg. As of today this clip has been viewed over 45,000,000 times .
This video was uploaded onto YouTube with no copyrights restrictions.
I suspect that very few broadcasters would have paid $10,000 to have exclusive rights to broadcast it on the day. However, ‘all or nothing’ are no longer the only options. In today's reality, if this item was priced around $25, with the copyrights held by the owners, I am convinced that 500 broadcasters and online publishers (big and small) would have bought it for broadcast. And since the owner would have maintained his copyright, with archive prices climbing, this item could have been sold for $200 over and over, thus earning the cameraman over $12,500 from that one item.
Boaz Eshtai
Co-Founder, Beamups
Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Economy of News
By Miki Lion on July 29, 2009
Much like the way we consume TV programmes – either in miniscule pocket appliances, or giant LCD screens that take up half the wall – the news industry is also straining from being pulled in two directions, with a big question at its core: to pay or not to pay?
The decision by the BBC to give free online video content to newspapers such as Telegraph and Daily Mail is the latest tug in this particular war of predictions. How will our content be paid for?
Will it be a return to the traditional model Rupert Murdoch announced last May where the end user pays for News Corp’s content? Or is it Chris Anderson’s model of free - that generates traffic and, hopefully, advertising – that will win out in the end? Or will it be a model yet to be conceived?
Miki Lion is Head of Communications at Beamups.
Much like the way we consume TV programmes – either in miniscule pocket appliances, or giant LCD screens that take up half the wall – the news industry is also straining from being pulled in two directions, with a big question at its core: to pay or not to pay?
The decision by the BBC to give free online video content to newspapers such as Telegraph and Daily Mail is the latest tug in this particular war of predictions. How will our content be paid for?
Will it be a return to the traditional model Rupert Murdoch announced last May where the end user pays for News Corp’s content? Or is it Chris Anderson’s model of free - that generates traffic and, hopefully, advertising – that will win out in the end? Or will it be a model yet to be conceived?
Professional journalists (video and photographers) must be rewarded appropriately. If the industry cannot find a way to employ the professionals then as individuals they must go it alone and get their fair pay directly from the news outlets – however they make their money.
Miki Lion is Head of Communications at Beamups.
In Focus this week- Stuart McAlister
Name: Stuart McAlister
Occupation: Freelance shoot/edit
Professional field of interest: Anything picture driven
Active in countries: Europe
Number of years in the field: since 1989 - you do the math!
Favorite project so far: Impossible to remember everything but the Balkan War was something that I will never forget.
Equipment I usually use:
Sony Z7
Libec tripod
Sennheiser M2
Favorite editing software:
Final Cut Pro
Motion 3
Event/person who influenced me and my work: No-one in particular. It was more a case of seeing something that caught my eye and going out and doing it for myself.
Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
For the newcomer, don't be afraid to ask the more experienced operators questions about equipment or working procedure - you won't learn anything if your mouth stays shut! Think about the story and to whom it may be of interest and think 'outside the box' from time to time - don't always follow the crowd but find a different hook to your story.
Website: http://www.thefreelance.tv
Stuart McAlister is a Gold member at Beamups.
Occupation: Freelance shoot/edit
Professional field of interest: Anything picture driven
Active in countries: Europe
Number of years in the field: since 1989 - you do the math!
Favorite project so far: Impossible to remember everything but the Balkan War was something that I will never forget.
Equipment I usually use:
Sony Z7
Libec tripod
Sennheiser M2
Favorite editing software:
Final Cut Pro
Motion 3
Event/person who influenced me and my work: No-one in particular. It was more a case of seeing something that caught my eye and going out and doing it for myself.
Anything else you would like to share with our readers?
For the newcomer, don't be afraid to ask the more experienced operators questions about equipment or working procedure - you won't learn anything if your mouth stays shut! Think about the story and to whom it may be of interest and think 'outside the box' from time to time - don't always follow the crowd but find a different hook to your story.
Website: http://www.thefreelance.tv
Stuart McAlister is a Gold member at Beamups.
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