There are lots of cool companies, technologies and ad formats out there. But without metrics, “cool” ain’t worth much. So who is helping people figure out just how cool their ads are? Visible Measures is one of those companies. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting about the industry, and not the industry, with Matt Cutler, Visible Measures’ vice president of marketing & analytics, at the past few trade shows. Beet.TV grabbed a few minutes of Matt’s time at OMMA Video earlier this week, and let the MIT grad explain what’s behind all this engagement and metrics stuff. Watch……

Online video portal Heavy.com is laying off 25, according to Silicon Alley Insider, via PaidContent (which for some reason won’t load on my computer right now.)

The video portal known for its male skewed content and audience is spinning off the Husky Ad Network and apparently doesn’t need whatever the other team was doing. Not sure how that works, but I’m personally glad to see the ad network side surviving in light of the recent discussion about ad networks and their value to the industry.

There’s certainly been a lot of discussion about ad networks, how they function, and the value that they bring to advertisers and publishers. In this interview with TechConfidential, Larry Kramer, founder of MarketWatch, weighs in as well.

At this morning’s Streaming Media East keynote, NBC Universal Chief Digital Officer George Kliavikoff talked up NBC’s original digital programming strategy, the future of Hulu and expressed optimism that a new iTunes deal may be near.

On Apple:
All we want to do in any distribution agreement is to set the wholesale price…on every platform and with every partner in the world with the exception of one, we’ve gotten to set that price.

I applaud the moves that have been made lately by Apple. In the UK now there is variable pricing…the deal with HBO content…that we love. So things are moving in the right direction.

On piracy:
We want our partners to help the industry combat piracy…if you think short term it’s great for consumers to get everything for free…but eventually the money runs out…if we in a consumer friendly way alert people that what they’re doing is illegal and offer an alternative…this has nothing to do with DRM.

For example when Hulu content is uploaded somewhere else presumably we can use technology to detect that and push consumers to the place where that content is available legally.

YouTube has done a pretty good job lately of filtering what’s on their site…but you turn back the clock six months on any of the big UGC sites, it’s rampant.

We’re aggressive about making sure our stuff comes down from YouTube,.YouTube has an active program where we can start pre-filtering some of that stuff and they’ve made great strides in the last couple months…if you create a great experience over time people will migrate to that great experience…what we did with Hulu.

On Predictive Marketing and Original Digital Content
For the company the cable model has been hugely successful, focus on a particular community (for example Bravo has a very specific audience) Filter by top ten advertising categories. Focus on undeserved: We ventured to create a set of content verticals “digital cable networks if you will” where advertisers can spend their money…we do syndication deals with sites that are particular in that genre.

We launched about a month ago our auto channel, DriverTV.com, we went into the marketplace, found the absolute best content…all HD, ”it’s really like car porn” we syndicate it across large websites, that particular content is great because they’re [reaching] an in-market consumer so we get paid by Cadillac….Revenue we generate we’re going to reinvest in original car content.

The Health Network – we produce in excess of 120 videos a week, that had aired once on TV and syndicate them online. Yourtotalhealth, launched with a bunch of syndication partners.

In these niche categories they’re almost sold before we make them. In the case of autos the car companies get to use that footage so it’s almost no cost, and in the case of the Health Network it’s footage we already have.

On The Future of Hulu
I think in three years from now if they do their job well…it will be a one stop shop for a lot of great content…I happen to be biased but I think it’s the best user experience on the internet today….I think also this strategy they have of allowing anyone to take any section of a video and embed it anywhere in the world is great…also other devices, TV, Mobile, continuing to work closely with advertisers to…use the interactivity of the platforms.

On the CBS-CNET Deal:
I can’t wait for it to close because I can’t wait for CBS content to be on Hulu…all kidding aside I’m good friends with Neil and Quincy, I think it’s a great way for CBS to get a lot of scale very quickly…I envy Quincy because he operates under different economic conditions than I do…I work for GE, I couldn’t have gotten that deal through.

CBS Interactive President Quincy Smith just wrapped up the morning keynote at the IAB Digital Video Leadership Forum, key notes:

Some CBS Stats:
#1 in engagement
#1 download on iTunes (Dexter)
#1 Facebook app (March Madness)
#1 TV channel on YouTube
Avg median age of CBS viewer on TV is 53, avg median age online is 37.

Web as a complementary platform:
- Re-broadcast
- Cross-platform / brand extension “holy grail of media”
- Original content “we’re doing it probably half as well as other companies out there…it’s small peanuts, also it’s good margins.”

Web is not cannibalistic to our audience, but from an engagement perspective it very much is.

[Regardless of location] fact is that’s our content, we have to make our content more compelling, that’s not a broadcast mentality, that’s I think our greatest challenge going forward.

Catch up vs. Cannibalization:
- Big Brother 9 - 40% of streams were not the most recent episode. We see very little cannibalization.
- 92% of MMOD viewers stramed at work. Total complementary audiences. Online mirrors TV during Championship game. Less half-time dropoff online.
- The Grammys: 15.9 million households on TV. 50 of top 100 Google trends that night were related to the Grammy’s…how do you get a chance to monetize more and more of that show going forward….take a 1 day event and turn it into a 365 day event.

On Users as Curators: YouTube user MangoFace94 put up a Letterman clip, often more views when not on the CBS YouTube channel. “When content on YouTube is successful, claim it…need to be more comfortable with users as editors”

On Original Content: When television came around it was originally staffed by people on radio putting programs on television…took a long time to see that creativity, I think we’re beginning to see that here.

On Mobile: “Mobile’s funny, it’s always two years away” Need to fix mobile in the U.S., Big change here is they’re looking for more and more content… carriers are seeing original mobile content that is really original.

Labs: Video player: “Everybody’s got an HD player, it’s interesting…this player was built by our team in about 6 and a half hours…the team, engineers, that’s why we have a Menlo Park office, it’s key.”

Where can we go with it? We can go with community, recommendations, making it more interesting, even if they’re watching two minutes of things, they’re interested, and then sharing.

Monetizing Social Networks: I think there’s got to be an effort across this industry to monetize those networks. It seems to me that putting an ad on your own profile page is the equivalent of someone walking across your room and putting a poster on your wall…teenagers won’t react well…this is one of the things we thing about all day long…

The answer has got to be thinking about it all day long…the pre-rolls and post rolls aren’t that bad but “how do we think about adding more value to the advertiser…ad is content.” There are certain areas like widgets where we don’t monetize them yet…monetization and promotion at the same time.

On the heels of announcing a $46 million series C funding round, Move Networks has released some of their plans. The company has opened offices in New York, Ann Arbor, San Mateo and Los Angeles and will open offices in Latin America, Europe, and Asia later this year.

Additionally, the company hired Paul Ptaschne to lead the company’s Latin American sales force and hired BlackArrow founder Tom Morgan as Chief Strategy Officer, strengthening the company’s already close ties with their ad management partner.

An international presence would give Move a major competitive advantage when dealing with traditional content companies and the complexities of international distribution rights.

The internet should at least in theory simplify international online content distribution. So far however, broadcasters have been very careful not to encroach on existing agreements with international syndication partners. Hulu is a prime example.

But once there is a framework for syndicating content internationally, so that it can be monetized in cooperation with U.S. networks’ international distribution partners, that will change the global content syndication game.

Congrats to OVW friend and fan Marc Hernandez, who was named as the National Sales Director for FOX Branded Entertainment, including American Idol. Hot Damn!

Roo Group has, once again, named another top exec in their continued attempt at turning their ship around. Roo said they “intend to streamline its ownership and management structure through several initiatives.”

The appointment of Gavin Campion, the managing director of Sputnik Agency Pty. Ltd., as president of the overall company; — The exercise of its right to complete the purchase of 51% of its Sputnik subsidiary; — The execution of an agreement in principle to acquire the remaining 49% of Sputnik and the subsequent consolidation of Sputnik and subsidiary ROO Media Corporation; — Elimination of the 10 million preferred class of super-voting shares through a preferred-to-common conversion or other plan to be proposed and voted on by a majority of the common shareholders; — The consolidation of all international subsidiaries into a wholly-owned Dubai subsidiary; and — The relocation of its corporate headquarters/executive management from New York and Australia to Dubai.

Moving HQ to Dubai? They must like those new luxury towers. CEO Kaleil Isaza Tuzman had this to say in a statement: “Campion will have full responsibility for ROO Group’s sales, operations and administration, reporting directly to Isaza Tuzman. He will also take the lead role in fully integrating the operations of Sputnik into ROO Group.”

Tuzman continued, “His operational discipline and business development instincts are second-to-none and his interactive marketing experience will be of great value in differentiating ROO from our competitors - as we focus on an integrated video enablement and marketing approach for enterprise clients. Gavin built a profitable business for us in the Asia-Pacific region, and we hope to see that quickly replicated across the global platform.”

For anyone keeping track, Roo’s stock is defying the overall market today, up 13% or $.01.

Disney CEO Robert Iger just wrapped up the morning keynote in conversation with Business Week’s John Byrne at the McGraw Hill Media Summit. Iger said Disney will generate a billion dollars in digital revenue this year, and spoke in depth about the use of new media to reach consumers more effectively.

On The role of technology:

• Technology does two things: It enables you to make your content experience better and enables you to distribute more broadly and more effectively.
• Being on the cutting edge of technology…being on a new platform like iTunes really improves relevance.
• Consumers are using technology…it’s about embracing consumers, you have to use technology to do that.

On Old vs. New Media

• Figuring out how to move content onto new media platforms…is probably the most important thing we can do.
• Having [Steve Jobs] kind of expertise, we’re very very fortunate…He and I have had a lot of really important discussions on the future of technology”
• First instinct is [new media will] make our business more difficult… fragment, erode the audience. Is it going to be a challenge? Sure there’s always going to be a challenge…we’re going to use technology to make our product better.
• Television is still a very powerful medium, you denigrate it by calling it old but you watch in HD that’s not an old media, that’s a new media experience. My five year old son doesn’t look at it as old media and new media, it’s all media to him.
• Introduce [content] to the world on a more traditional platform and then use new media to add more dimension to it. Watching on the iPhne is not as good an experience as watching on a 50 inch screen TV, but more content in more places where they can engage is a good thing.
• Over 4 million movies sold online in a year and a half, pales in comparison to the number of DVD sales. 40-50 million episodes sold, pales in comparison to the number streamed online.
• I think over the long run there will be some shift especially when it comes to filmed entertainment…you’re not going to see hard goods go away,…but electronic distribution will grow. Convergence will spur more adoption, more consumption.

On Social Networking:

• “Can’t think of social media as a gen x or a gen y phenomenon. Kids are using…broadband enabled computers for entertainment much more than the generation before them.”
• The computer will become a primary source of entertainment: they go online to be entertained.
• “I have a facebook page and I have two friends…good luck finding me, I have a variety of aliases”
• Investment in Club Penguin a virtual world for kids, working on a virtual world for Cars.
• “I think it’s important for executives to experience some of this, we spend a lot of time engaging with each other on new platforms because that’s what the consumer’s doing, it’s a lot of fun too.”

If you want to get into the head of one of online video’s (and online advertising in general) biggest brains, check out the latest DishyMix podcast from Susan Bratton. This week, she interviews Adam Gerber, CMO of Quantcast, an audience measurement company.

Adam was previously at Brightcove as their Vice President for Advertising Products and Strategy and is one of the smartest and most passionate people about online video.

Here’s what Susan had to say about Adam:

Adam Gerber has been a leader in the digital marketing space since it’s inception. He’s been an evangelist, a pioneer, spending solid budgets on digital media on behalf of his blue chip clients. He’s a believer. He’s amazingly smart. He’s a great man and you’ll enjoy knowing him better in this entertaining and informational interview. You’ll grow. You’ll learn. Enjoy!

For those of you who don’t know, DishyMix is a podcast featuring “Juicy Interviews with Famous Internet and Media People”, and hosted by Susan Bratton, in her own right a very famous internet and media person. We industry folks dig her…a lot. She is also the Chair Emeritus of ad:tech Expositions, the leading conference for digital marketers. She’s one of those people that everyone wants to know, and says they do. But thats not enough. You want her - NEED her - to know you. (Editorial Note: Not pandering. Susan and I know each other and have mutual friends. In fact, I was discussed in a recent DishyMix podcast. I just respect her that much and her hubby is cool, too. He invented Rhapsody, my personal choice for online music subscription services.)

So give a listen over the long weekend. And catch up on some of her previous podcasts while you’re there. Hell, its a long weekend. You don’t want to spend it all on YouTube.