Will viewers watch more than two minutes?

Written by Özlem Tunçil
Posted Thursday, 28 August 2008 at 03:50 PM

LG15 producers are making longer episodes

The debate over how long Web show episodes and seasons should be has kicked off again with two significant responses from Lonelygirl15 producers EQAL and the newly-relaunched TheWB.com.

EQAL founders Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried have decided to show content from their new LG15 series The Resistance in both a daily and weekly schedule. The daily content will comprise videos, blog posts and photos.

However, the weekly episode on Saturdays will be an omnibus edition of six to eight minutes that comprises all the story’s essentials for that week.

They’re reacting to a clear pattern in viewing of their previous series, that they have two audiences, a hardcore 10,000 who visit the LG15 site daily, but the ten-times larger casual viewers who visit “once every week or two weeks [to] binge and check out all the content then” (NewTeeVee).

The weekly schedule makes it easier for the casual audience to keep up that having to work their way through several, short episodes.

With a shorter season

Interestingly, the show as a whole has a shorter season compared with Lonelygirl15 and its successor KateModern, with only 12 of the weekly episodes over three months, though maintaining the apparently popular season finale formula of 12 episodes in 12 hours in one day. This is a significant departure from LG15 and KateModern with their hundreds of daily episodes spread over six months.

The WB.com – broadcast television as a model?

The WB.com is launching several original Web series, including Sorority Forever, produced by McG (Charlie’s Angels) and Big Fantastic (Foreign Body, Prom Queen) and starring the original Lonelygirl15 herself, Jessica Rose.

Craig Erwich, EVP at Warner Horizon Television, says that although the site is continuing with short episodes (Sorority Forever is two minutes per episode), it is prepared to consider making longer ones, if there is a demand and budgets and the production schedule permit.

“We might come to the point where we might think, ‘Hey, this could work as a 20-minute feature.’ But we’ll take our cues from the audience and adjust if we feel the production costs and timing allow it” (PaidContent).

Erwich is clearly referring to the US broadcast television model, in which a half-hour show actually requires 22 minutes of video (the remaining time being for the commercial breaks), although he also insists that WB.com itself has no intention of returning to TV.

As we predicted in 2008: The Birth of Online TV, viewers do not necessarily have a short attention span for online viewing and can respond positively to the superior storytelling opportunities available in longer episodes.

Comments

[Simon]

Interesting stats from EQAL, and ones that do make sense. On one hand, daily two/three minute shows fit into a regular routine of browsing favourites.

The omnibus seems like a tentative step into longer-form content. If it is a success, perhaps the next series will run in 10-15 minute episodes, supplemented with daily information updates for the hardcore fans?

I'd like to see someone try this. The success of the online catch-up/vod services shows that people are willing to watch long-form content on their computers.

I can understand 2-3 min mobisodes, but the web has much more scope for decent engagement/dwell time.

Simon

[Ozlem Tuncil]

Dear Simon,

Thanks for your comment. Some shows are already making longer episodes; the recent All-For-Nots episodes are running at 15 mins or more. Let's have more!

Ozlem