NEW YORK (Hypebot) – Vevo has done quite a bit to break away from its primary association with YouTube but, oddly enough, it can't seem to break away from MTV comparisons. Vevo's success seems due to combining old school and new school approaches taking high quality, proprietary content and making it available as widely as possible. In addition they've developed their own tv-style channels for lean-back viewing which gives them more options in terms of programming for tv apps and other outlets. But their gradual development of non-music video programming may forever tie them to MTV comparisons even as they move beyond YouTube adjunct status.
Vevo recently announced that in 2013 55 billion Vevo music videos were viewed globally. For MTV, back in the music video days, that would have all come from broadcast tv. For YouTube, such numbers would come from plays on their platform as well as on pretty much any site that decided to post an embeddable video.
But a quick look at the last year or two's headlines and one can see that Vevo's diversification strategy has given them a broad presence from deals with everyone from Yahoo to Apple TV and even plans for paid cable.
Their core web and mobile sites have seen redesigns as well. Their overall development over the last couple of years has been impressive and steady.
In mentioning viewership numbers they don't break out how many came from such venues as Roku and Apple TV but they do emphasize the growth in both mobile/tablet viewing and viewing on connected tvs.
Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff made it clear that Vevo has a lot of interest in pushing towards a more traditional viewing model. He noted that 40 to 45 per cent of Roku and Apple TV views come via their linear channels and that people watch more minutes of video on those channels.
In fact, Caraeff stated "that Vevo plans this year to pursue more apps, countries, platforms and original programs" such "The Collective," an "hour-long variety program [featuring] music and pop culture, with Jennifer Lopez on board as a producer."
Which is interesting news alongside such developments as weekly American Idol previews that are gradually moving Vevo away from its early identity as a source for music videos. Kind of like MTV!
