Telly - the social video network

The English Are At It Again...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:26:59 -0700

Our tea-drinking friends from across the pond are a distinguished lot. They’ve produced amazing bands like The Beatles, fought off tyranny in WWII, they created the internet, and they even make people Knights! But not everyone can be a John Lennon, a Winston Churchill, a Tim Berners-Lee, or Arthur King of the Britons!

Our first genius gets a HUGE surprise when he attempts to put a knife in his toaster. Like most of these videos below…don’t try this at home!

http://telly.com/S5Z6YE

This poor sap lost a bet. His payment? He’ll need to shoot 40 shots of Jagermeister consecutively! Predictably, 40 shots of Jager ends up the way you’d expect 40 shots of Jager to end up.

http://telly.com/T0PB8M

It’s not really clear why this long-jump-reject actually attempted this feat…but he’s lucky as hell he didn’t die or break his neck. The landing is about as graceful as The Incredible Hulk on ice skates. Darwin award finalist in 3…2…

http://telly.com/SLM6AT

From the “How Could You Possibly Not Know” Department, I introduce to you a misunderstanding of biblical proportions! This poor guy just wants to put on a demonstration of clever kid’s toys. There’s just 1 big problem…one of those toys is more “adult” than he knows!

http://telly.com/S0OWJ3

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NBC Nightly News' Brian Williams Gets Down On It

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:31:47 -0700

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has introduced a lot of laughs over the few years he’s been on air…but nothing like this! Jimmy hit late night comedy gold with his mash-up of NBC News Anchor, Brian Williams’ smooth raps of Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre’s, “Ain’t Nuthin’ But A G Thang!”

http://telly.com/RY8IXF

Hot on the heels of his first foray into the sweet world of WEST COAST gangster music, Brian Williams does it again with the smooth sounds of Warren G’s “Regulate!” REGULATORS! MOUNT UP.

http://telly.com/S4KKN4

The iconic news anchor would be remiss if he didn’t round out his greatest gangster hits if he didn’t cover the OG, grandaddy ghetto rap, “Straight Outta Compton.” Make no mistake, “B-Will,” if you will, raps hard, raps real, and shows America he’s the hardest man to come Straight Outta Rock Center.

http://telly.com/SLWORR

BONUS! A few months ago Brian Williams joined Jimmy Fallon on stage to help deflate the country’s growing concerns over the debt ceiling. They decided, instead of jokes, they’d report the news through slow jams. Without further adieu, 50 Shades of Brian Williams…

http://telly.com/SUR2MV

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Exciting NEW updates for the Telly iPad App 2.1

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:38:00 -0700

We’re proud to announce a new update for the iPad on Telly!

get it on the app store

Just like our popular iPhone app, the iPad update now features a carousel view for a relaxing, lean-back discovery mode of amazing Telly videos. Videos will load automatically, one after another, for easy, tap-less viewing.

We’ve also made improvements to the iPhone UI, signup process, new user on-boarding, sharing and notification updates! DISCLAIMER: the update does not include the pretty blonde at this time. Stay tuned for details.

get it on the app store

And for more information on our sweet new iPad app, check our previous blog post here.

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Superhero, Super Fight - Iron Man vs. Superman

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:59:37 -0700

Summer is upon us and we all know that means…the big blockbuster films are chock-full of super-men in tights, and in this case, iron tights! Lots of little parodies and shorts of the summer superhero flicks have already been posted. The best by far, however, have been from the Iron Man and Superman varieties.

The new animated web series, “How It Should Have Ended” started recently in April of 2013 with an Indiana Jones bit and Tom Cruise’s “Oblivion” shortly after. They garnered millions of views and now have set their sights on the surprisingly ho-hum Iron Man 3. What do you think of their treatment of the film?

http://telly.com/QKR4YM

The upcoming Superman reboot movie, depending on who you ask, looks absolutely stunning. The recent trailers are a testament to just how sweet we’re all hoping Superman will be. And lord knows, we need an “actually good” Superman movie for once. In this parody, they’ve managed a shot-for-shot recreation of the “Ideal For Hope” Man of Steel trailer using the popular MINECRAFT game!

http://telly.com/Q67KV8

Iron Man returns, this time on an 8-bit Mega Man style adventure. It only takes 60 seconds for Tony Stark to get captured, build the Iron Man prototype, escape, build the real Iron Man, and beat up his business buddy while saving his main squeeze Pepper Potts!

http://telly.com/QFDJTV

Finally, while not an animation or a parody, Bill Nye the Science Guy heard Conan O’Brien’s passionate reflection on “how the hell did Superman shave his beard” and provided some very nerdy answers. What do you think? Did Clark Kent use the new Gillette Mach 3 Man of Steel Turbo blades? Kryptonite blades?

http://telly.com/Q5MGZK

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CUTE has invaded this blog

Fri, 31 May 2013 11:58:25 -0700

A dog and his master? This is quite possibly the unlikeliest of buddies…a tough-as-nails lion lets his pint-sized wiener dog buddy clean his meat-ripping teeth! It’s a truly tense moment as we all expect this grown up Lion King to swallow the little guy like a Miyagi oyster!

http://telly.com/OV62UU

If you thought Dingo the Dentist Doggie was cute, prepare for a full Kristen Bell Sloth meltdown with this ADORABLE little monkey getting a bath in the sink! While the narrator sounds a little nails-on-chalkboard, this little tree swinger steals the show!

http://telly.com/NTNY0P

And now for Disco the talking parakeet. This amazing bird defies the meaning of “bird brain.” Enjoy this quirky little wonder, he’s got an extensive vocabulary including being the 1st bird to say “I Can Haz Cheezburger?!”

http://telly.com/OT2FC8

Finally, we see this adorable little hamster attempting to crawl through a paper towel roll. Unfortunately for him, his masters have fed him tasty sweets all his life and he just can’t get the job done! Watch the incredible determination he has as he tries and fails to reach his goal…

http://telly.com/O5QFP1

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Telly is now available for Android Tablets!

Thu, 30 May 2013 08:48:37 -0700

Today we’re so happy to announce the launch of our popular video discovery app on Android tablets, designed specifically for watching and sharing great videos on a larger screen.

get it on google play

Also, check out our video!

“With tablets being the fastest growing mobile device for video discovery, we have been working hard to develop the best way to discover, watch and share great videos on the larger mobile screen,” said Telly CEO Mo Al Adham. “We’ve designed our Android tablet app from the ground up with casual mobile video discovery in mind. Features like Telly’s carousel view and our social My Telly feed have changed the way people watch video on mobile devices, and we are thrilled to bring features like these to Android tablet users.”

Telly’s Android Tablet App Features:

Fully optimized tablet experience for Android: Browse, create and discover videos through the personalized “My Telly” feed, which serves up all the content friends are watching and sharing on Telly, Facebook, Twitter and the Web, or via the “Popular” section
Carousel view: Telly brings its engaging carousel view to Android tablets. Enjoy a “lean-back” video watching experience on Telly’s cinema-like reel to easily view, engage or skip videos in your My Telly feed
NFC Beam Sharing: Share videos via NFC on Telly’s Android tablet app by simply tapping two Android tablets together to instantly transfer videos to friends
Tag friends in videos: Initiate conversation and connect with friends by tagging others with @mentions in videos you create or discover on Telly

get it on google play

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Social Recommendations Are the Number One Way US Adults Discover and Watch Mobile Video, According to New Survey from Telly conducted by Harris Interactive

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:02:00 -0700

American mobile video watchers are almost twice as likely to watch videos shared by friends as they are via web search finds new report.

Today Telly is releasing the results from a new study, which was conducted online in April by Harris Interactive on their behalf among over 2,000 U.S. adults. The study reveals that 78 million American mobile device owners (35%) watch video on their mobile device. Of these 78 million, 52 million mobile video watchers (67%) discover content from friends via social recommendations, versus 32 million American mobile video watchers (41%) who find videos on their mobile devices via search engines.

Of the 52 million mobile video watchers who rely on social recommendations to discover video, many cited multiple ways in which they are finding videos from people they know. 35 million say they discover videos from connections on social networks, while 28 million Americans site that they discover videos from email sent from friends and family, and 23 million find content to watch from texts/MMS.

Visualize Mobile Video Habits in our Infographic

This echoes a major shift, from search to social, in the way consumers discover and consume digital video content on their mobile devices verses desktop, which is also reflected in Adobe’s April 2013 study . Social recommendations are so powerful that 1 in 10 people who watch videos on their mobile device, or 12 million, say the only thing holding them back from watching more video on mobile is that they will only watch videos sent to them by friends. All of these findings indicate that consumers want a more social way to easily discover video on mobile. Telly’s findings support Adobe’s April 2013 study that stated, “social engagement jumped from 42% to 70% in terms of how likely referrals on networks like Facebook were to prompt a video viewing completion.” It’s clear that social influence plays a strong role in video viewership on mobile.

“We’re experiencing a new dawn in digital video. Mobile users are looking for an easy, low effort way to quickly find great content while on the go. Social recommendations are a natural fit to quickly guide consumers to great content, especially in a mobile environment where it’s difficult to search,” said Telly CEO Mo Al Adham. “We believe this means there’s an enormous opportunity to create easier discovery technologies and services for mobile video.”

When it comes to OS, the study shows that Android users are much more likely to consume mobile video than iOS users. Of mobile video watchers, 36% are on iOS, 46% are on Android, 12% on Windows and 3% on Blackberry. In recent studies, this separation was much more dramatic. The results of Harris’s study show a significantly higher percentage of mobile video watchers on Android when compared to a February 2013 report released by Ooyala that stated iOS accounted for 67% of individuals watching video on mobile devices, while Android made up the remaining 33%.

79% of American mobile video watchers 18 and over say there are certain things holding them back from consuming more video on their mobile device. Remarkably, 4.8 million Americans don’t know how to find other good videos on their mobile, which prevents them from watching more. Cell phone connections and data costs are also a major hurdle for video consumption. 20.4 million American adults would watch more mobile video if they weren’t worried about seeing a spike in their bill from data overages. Another 20.4 million Americans would watch more mobile video if their connection were faster. However, according to this Cisco February 2013 study, mobile connection speeds are doubling year over year in the USA.

Another interesting finding is that households with children, 107 million (48%), are more likely to watch mobile videos than households without children, 67 million (30%). Of mobile video watchers, 37% live in the South, 21% in the Midwest, 20% in the West and 22% in the Northeast. Mobile video is also more popular with younger demographics; the study found that US adults ages 18-44 are three times as likely to be a mobile video watcher than those over 45.

For more information on the survey methodology, key findings, and take-a-ways, please download Harris Interactive’s PDF here.

Playing The Race Card

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:59:41 -0700

As a global society, we’ve come a long way in fighting racism. But in some cases, maybe we’ve gone too far the other way? Political correctness, stand aside! Being the race you are presents some hysterical stereotypes that we should all feel comfortable having a little chuckle over, even at ourselves. Kind of like this video, “black guy running through white neighborhoods.”

http://telly.com/ND11NP

This prank, while it clocks in over 10 minutes, is worth every second. Buk Lau, the ultimate prankster, calls a local Asian restaurant looking for steep discounts on cheap Chinese food. Prepare for some absolute cringe-worthy moments…

http://telly.com/MRVYA1

It’s probably not too much of a stretch to say that if you’re a white person there’s a few unspoken things that the black person has to say, but chose not to say it. For this amazing video, the host finds a token white guy and brings him directly to the source…black people! The interactions are hilarious and everybody keeps their cool :)

http://telly.com/MH69OG

In an alternate-Avengers-reality moment, Captain America’s body is discovered and revived from his cryogenic slumber. Hooray! America’s finest soldier is here to save the day…except for one thing, he’s totally racist! Enjoy the filth spewing out of a true “Army of One.”

http://telly.com/MHJJX7

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Contest: Win a Personalized Nina Nesbitt Acoustic Serenade & Concert Tix!

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:32:26 -0700

Make your own MUSIC VIDEO with Telly’s mobile app!

Dance Dance BREAKUP Revolution!

To celebrate Nina Nesbitt’s debut album, she wants to see you perform your “Best Breakup Dance” to her 1st single, “Boy,” now available FOR FREE on your iPhone or Android with the Telly app!

get it on the app store get it on google play

The Grand prize includes a personalized & dedicated acoustic video of Nina singing her hit single, “Boy,” along with tickets to one of her shows & a signed copy of her EP.

See below for more of the great prizes…

OFFICIAL RULES & HOW TO ENTER

Create & upload your “Best Breakup Dance” video using the Telly app
Apply Nina Nesbitt’s “Boy” song to your video as the background music (the video can be short and doesn’t have to use the full song). The “Boy” music is native within the Telly mobile app and should be applied during the upload process.
Make it fun!

Available today on Telly’s iPhone and Android applications, Telly users can now overlay Nina’s hit track, “Boy,” onto a video uploaded from the Telly app. There’s some magic built into the app that automatically adjusts and syncs the length of the song to the length of the video!

THE WINNERS

The one (1) winning video will be featured on Nina’s Facebook and Twitter, and this winner will receive a personalized and dedicated acoustic video of Nina singing “Boy” to them on Telly. In addition, they’ll receive 2 tickets to an upcoming Nina Nesbitt concert and a signed copy of the EP.
Four (4) runner-ups will each receive a signed EP by Nina and 2 tickets to an upcoming Nina Nesbitt concert.
Winners will be chosen by Nina herself!
To enter, download the Telly mobile app for either iPhone or Android and start shooting and dancing!

To enter, download the Telly mobile app for either iPhone or Android and start shooting and dancing!

Here are a couple examples to get you started!

And another one!

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The Internet's most cringe-worthy moments get SONGIFIED

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:19:43 -0700

Bless his heart. Charles Ramsey is an American hero for helping discover 3 missing girls that were kidnapped over a decade ago. But what we didn’t know about this modern day Captain America was just how unintentionally funny he was! As a result…BEHOLD, MY INTERNET MINIONS, Charles Ramsey gets the full SONGIFY treatment for his unbelievable interview with the local news stations at the scene!

http://telly.com/LBS9AQ

And of course, no Songify/Auto-tune list could be complete without the pure gold moment of Sweet Brown’s “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That.” This parody is full of pop culture references & memes including a Tim Tebow sighting and Velociraptor Jesus!

http://telly.com/MI6YOF

This little cutie just wanted to set up her eHarmony profile and meet some like-minded guys. There was just one problem…like so many out there, she loves her cats more than words can say! Click play and be happy you didn’t respond to her dating profile :)

http://telly.com/MI76H9

Antoine Dodson is one of the most unintentionally internet-famous celebrities of all time. He became a worldwide sensation when a local news station interviewed him after his house was burglarized and an attempted rape of his sister. Rightly mad, he made sweet internet love with his “hide yo kids, hide yo wife” diatribe. From there, the internet took over and made this golden meme last forever.

http://telly.com/MI7CC3

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Too Hot For TV!

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:41:00 -0700

We live in a sensitive society. Maybe too sensitive? Lately, there have been a stream of adverts that truly pushed the limits of what is acceptable promotion from a mature, publicly-traded corporation.

PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew recently released a commercial that made national headlines. Many people say it’s the most racist commercial ever, others say it’s just another advert trying to rise above the noise. Are we in a political correctness bubble waiting to pop or are we just overly desensitized to it all? In any case, this video was removed as it was widely viewed as racist and marginalized violence against women:

http://telly.com/L0UOG9

WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED

Hyundai got themselves into hot water with their recent hydrogen-powered car commercial, notably referred to as, “Pipe Job.” It depicts a down-on-his-luck man trying to asphyxiate himself via his car’s exhaust. But alas, it’s a zero-emission vehicle so he lives another day. Obviously, Innocean, the firm responsible for creating the spot, was going for maximum impact. Unfortunately for them, it was Hyundai that felt the full force of the impact and quickly apologized “for any offense or distress” the ad caused.

http://telly.com/L0T2CV

Finally, Chevrolet entered the offensive commercial mix with their Chevy Trax promotion in March. The commercial featured a song from 1938 that many claimed was offensive to asians, which referred to China as “the land of Fu Manchu” and where people say “ching ching, chop suey” in a mocking, accented tone. An apology quickly followed…”Our intent was not to offend anyone and we’re deeply sorry if anyone was offended… We’re reviewing our advertising approval processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

http://telly.com/L0ZM45

THE LONG-TAIL OF SHOCK

Flaps, gaffes, mis-speaking, and mis-remembering are all part of our daily lives. No person, company, or entity is perfect and mistakes happen. But these recent examples are so obviously over-the-top it is easy for the cynic to take this a step further.

While not all bad press is good press, as the popular saying suggests, these shocking videos went viral and started a discussion. Was that the intent? Unlikely, but its not too far-fetched to recognize the people responsible for the production and promotion of these commercials wanted the shock-value to resonate…and maybe they were banking on the long-tail of brand awareness over the short-tail fallout of consumer reactions.

Mountain Dew is a memorable brand filled with sugar, caffeine, but also plenty of nostalgia. While there is risk to alienating customers if you go too far, people’s attention spans are generally short. The customer is likely to forget the offensive commercial (and potentially the sentiments associated with it) but still have a heightened sense of brand awareness for years to come.

THE PC MACHINE MEETS THE PR MACHINE

The videos above are without a doubt offensive. But in this hyper-connected world who isn’t offended about something or another? The sad reality is it’s impossible to not offend. While the videos do offend people, if you read the comments from around the web you’ll start to notice the divisive nature of the “offense.” This is apparent from our own comment stream:

The overall point being, if you’re looking for offensive content, you’ll find it, or it just might find you. It is your right to post a comment, tweet your concern, or snail mail a picture of your RAGE FACE to the offender. But are YOU offended or is it just offensive content? And does your sentiment constitute a policy change or removal?

With that said, here is a little stand-up comedy on “Being Offended.”

http://telly.com/LCVKO8

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Apparently, there's a little Daft Punk in all of us

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:19:27 -0700

Daft Punk’s 4th studio album isn’t even out for another few weeks but they’re already spawning some incredible cover versions and alternate takes of their lead single, ‘Get Lucky.’

The best one so far is courtesy of Igor Presnyakov with a virtuoso acoustic guitar interpretation of the popular clubber tune. It’s perfectly loungy and elevator with just enough soul to make this a can’t miss listen.

http://telly.com/HZAV81

Next is a sweet alteration to Pharrell’s voice (singer and collaborator on “Get Lucky”) as it gets pitch-shifted and turns out sounding like none other than the KING OF POP!

http://telly.com/H7QZE1

This cover from Daughter takes “Get Lucky” in an entirely new and unexpected direction. Notice the tempo slows down and beautifully changes the the mood into something truly haunting…

http://telly.com/J4FBUG

And finally, one more fantastic cover…

http://telly.com/JVZ29A

BONUS!

Apparently cockatoo’s love Daft Punk, too!

http://telly.com/IPV5GI

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How To Make Great Videos With The Telly App

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:01:22 -0700

Capturing video is easy! Capturing GOOD video…not so much. Luckily, using the Telly iOS app makes the process really simple and streamlined.

Check out our video for more info on how to make great videos…

Below is a list of all our filters and an explanation for each. They’re all unique and all perform best under specific conditions, which we detail out so you can get the most out of your videos.

The “Hollywood” effect is best shot in a well lit area. The saturation levels have been set such that each video has a color range that makes more detail visible. The iOS has a white balance feature that brings down exposure levels so an optimal exposure level was used to allow for both indoor and outdoor videos to be close to the same.

The “Tilt Shift” effect can make a video look like it captured miniature objects. The effect uses a circular focus area and blurring to have the focus area look a lot smaller. The side by side comparison shows a video of a phone underneath a monitor. For this to be of even greater effect you should use distant objects. Available for iPhone 4s and above.

The “1960’s” filter is a colorized version of the 1920’s filter without some of the film flaws that were prevalent in the 1920’s film process, such as dust particles and hair particles. The scene color is muted as cameras of the 1960’s picked up on vibrant colors, as well as today’s cameras.

The “Fashion” filter adds a little Cobalt blue hue to the scene. This was indicative of fashion photography in the past. The Hollywood filter uses something very similar but with better set effects applied. Scenes for this one would do well in both indoor and outdoor settings.

The “Morning” filter is best shot in more bight scenes. It gives shots that early morning glow and a warm feeling. This filter works well with any scene and almost any lighting.

The “1920’s” filter is best shown with old antique-like scenes. While it can make any scene look antique, it is particularly effective with vintage objects. Also a little bit less lighting helps to make the scene look more vintage. The bright sun adds a lot of exposure, which wasn’t possible in the 1920s.

The “Neon” filter is best shot with a lot of straight edges in the scene. Indoor scenes or scenes of buildings with hard edges in the scene produce the best Neon outline.

The “Outline” filter is one that replicates the old “Ah-Ha!” video of the 80’s. Like the Neon filter, this uses hard edges to determine an outline and then uses a black and white pattern across the non-edges to achieve a hand drawn image look.

The “Cartoon” filter uses hard edges, like Neon and Outline. However, this picks the “average color” in an area and smoothly “toons” the scene. The filter can be used anywhere and faces are particularly interesting.

The “Fish Eye” filter works in any scene and distorts the subject to look like a fun house mirror. This is probably best shot with slow movement of the camera. Quick camera movements in the scene can actually make you quite queasy.

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May The Force Be With Disney

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:51:00 -0700

If you didn’t know Star Wars was coming back in 2015, sans George Lucas, then you either live in the Sarlacc Pit or you perished on Vulcan when JJ Abrams broke the timeline continuity of the 2009 Star Trek reboot. Good thing JJ Abrams isn’t directing the new Star Wars…oh wait a minute…

Han Solo, aka Harrison Ford, recently joined Jimmy Kimmel on his show for a quick chat. Little did Jimmy know that the audience was stacked with Star Wars fans ready to ask the galaxy’s greatest scoundrel/smuggler Episode 7 questions! Unfortunately, he wasn’t willing to answer any Star Wars questions and FLIPS OUT!

http://telly.com/GA4LT5

Recently on the hit show, Parks and Recreation, funnyman Patton Oswalt give a FULL 8 minute citizen filibuster on his proposed Episode VII plot! But he doesn’t stop at Star Wars…watch him devolve everybody’s favorite space adventure into just about every Sci-Fi story known to man!

http://telly.com/G10OAB

Now that the transformation is complete, Star Wars belongs to the Empire. The Disney Empire. Watch all your favorite characters don their new roles as citizens of the new Galactic Disney Empire!

http://telly.com/G07GAE

And finally, a full Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope recap done in 60 seconds! This clever little video embraces the “speedrun” style you’d see in video games like Super Mario Bros. Enjoy.

http://telly.com/H7TRGV

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How Video Discovery Startups Succeed

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:15:00 -0700

Hunter Walk’s insightful post “Why Video Discovery Startups All Fail” has ignited a healthy discussion of the video discovery startup space, both in startup land press as well as in the Telly offices. We have a ton of respect for Hunter and YouTube, and we have been talking about this a lot at Telly the last few days. We wanted to share some of our reactions. You should definitely check his post out…but here are the main points that Hunter makes:

Verticalized content needs context not just collections
Horizontal content needs to solve search not just browse or curation
Social video is not a standalone product, just a signal
It’s hard to make money on other people’s video when you can’t monetize it directly

Through our discussions we’ve realized that there is a key difference between mobile video discovery and video discovery on the web. We’re off to a good start with Telly’s mobile products - 1.5 million app downloads and 51% MAU/Registrations. We believe two key factors have contributed to that success:

Mobile video is largely a low intent discovery process
Social curated content and virality are extremely valuable signals for low intent discovery

Mobile Video Is Largely A Low-Intent Discovery Process

When we first started Telly, we tested the Pinterest for Video hypothesis, as other startups have done and some continue to do. Our web product was based on a Collections model allowing users to organize videos by vertical themes (e.g. cooking videos), but we learned quickly that Hunter’s insights held true for us - this was not compelling enough of an experience to add real value quickly and cause new users to activate and retain.

However, we also learned that mobile is a completely different story. The context in which users discover content on mobile is fundamentally different - it is far more of a low intent discovery process than on the desktop. When was the last time you were on the bus and thought, “I want to search for a specific video?” It’s not a common use case. Chances are you said you wanted to “snack” on content. You wanted to see what’s going on with your friends and opened Facebook. You wondered what the world was focused on and opened Twitter. You wanted to read your favorite blogs and opened Flipboard. Or, you wanted to check out a friend’s photos and opened Instagram.

These are all low intent discovery apps, where search is highly de-emphasized, which is much different from the web where users have the time to dive deeper for something specific. No one, YouTube included, has fully solved low-intent mobile video discovery, the way Instagram has for photos or Twitter for news. This is why so many startups are active in the mobile video discovery space. We agree with Hunter that there is not room for tons of different video destinations, as it’s too much mental load on the user to segment video apps by intent. This is especially true on mobile where the average mobile user relies on only eight apps per day. However, as mobile video consumption continues to skyrocket it’s reasonable to presume that a few video-focused apps will figure out how to master low intent discovery and will rise to become the mainstream app for watching mobile videos every day. This is why Telly is in the game.

Socially Curated Content & Virality Are Extremely Valuable Signals For Low-Intent Discovery

So how do you master low intent discovery on mobile and become a daily app for users? We’ve seen success across two key discovery vectors: social and virality.

Social should be no surprise - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram - many of today’s breakout mobile low-intent discovery apps leverage social as the key discovery mechanism. And why is social working? Low-intent discovery demands a higher level of personalization. Social is an extremely important personalization signal when you’re on-the-go and looking to “snack” on content, but not diving into content around a specific interest.

Our ‘My Telly’ feed utilizes social context from signals like what friends on Telly have watched or liked, in addition to external networks like what your friends are Liking on Facebook. Our personalized feed consists of both UGC content created and shared on Telly, as well as video from any of the 140 embed video sites that Telly supports. Feedback from our community has indicated that a UGC-only discovery experience, such as Viddy or SocialCam, is not compelling enough to be a go-to-daily app for video discovery. They want their friends’ video of their kids followed by the dancing cat that got a million views in the last 4 hours in one app.

We also learned that a large number of our millions of monthly video views on mobile come from viral content - fans coming to see an artist’s backstage clip or a video of a laughing baby that captures the internet’s heart for a few hours. This type of content breaks out for a short amount of time, and then is essentially dead. Surfacing the real-time nature of interesting video, much as Twitter does for news and information, is something users aren’t specifically looking for and can’t be easily categorized or searched for.

Since updating our Telly apps on this product thesis earlier this year, we’ve seen our our video views per user increase 3x and we are acquiring roughly 120k new installs per week organically. We are consistently ranked only behind YouTube as the next most popular video app in the app store, and our app rating is 4.5 starts. We still have a long way to go to reach our goals, but it’s a good start.

Important to note that when we say mobile we are referring to our phone based apps, but it’s a fair assumption that as we move deeper toward an app-based ecosystem on the tablet and TV, many of the same differences that separate mobile from the web will hold. Specifically, a discovery method powered by a few handfuls of apps that mostly rest on low or medium-intent discovery methods and with less of a focus on search.

There Is A Business Here

As for a business model, we absolutely agree that a content experience that solely relies on YouTube in order to monetize is not scalable. Telly consists of hosted content as well as embedded, which gives us a content experience not solely dependent on YouTube. Additionally, providing brands and marketers with an experience to do native advertising through promoted videos and a UI that presents those videos in-stream as opposed to pre/post roles is a huge opportunity. With video ad spend expected to reach $8B online and $73B on TV by 2016 (eMarketer), this is very much a venture fundable space.

Say Hello to Nina Nesbitt on Telly!

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:53:04 -0700

Say hello to the very talented singer/songwriter, Nina Nesbitt! She’s a relative newcomer to Telly but don’t let that fool you! She’s busy on her Telly profile with lots of updated content. You can catch her comings-and-goings right here:

http://telly.com/ninanesbitt

Nina’s “Stay Out” EP is currently #5 on iTunes, so lets help her get to #1!

But that’s not all we have going on with the Swedish/Scottish songstress! We’ve teamed up with her to add her hit song, “Boy” to the Telly tracklist!

Don’t believe us? Get the scoop from Nina herself!

http://telly.com/C0OZSR

So now you can add Nina’s tune to any video you post with the Telly app. Nina’s song (and all of our provided tracks) will seamlessly sync to the Total Running Time (TRT) of your video to start and end as if the tune was edited just for you. And don’t forget to use the #BoyTelly hashtag so Nina can follow all your posts!

Get Telly on the App Store Get Telly on Google Play

For more info on Nina, check out these links!

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback. Please feel free to ask us any questions at any of our support channels:

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The Road Rage Reveal

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:47:54 -0700

Traffic sucks. Drivers suck. The commute sucks and if one more idiot sneaks their front bumper into my lane to get one car-length further…We all feel the need to go Grand Theft Auto on our fellow commuters…just don’t do it! Let these 4 examples demonstrate how stupid you look even if the other party was at fault. It’s just not worth it!

Now, what prompted this we’ll probably never know. But this is a serious assault from a skateboarder as he uses his board as a weapon. The incident made national headlines. We’re hoping everybody is okay and this ugly scene gets resolved.

http://telly.com/BR36O5

Next is a truly unsettling moment with what appears to be an unfit U.S. Marine assaulting a driver’s car and verbally abusing the driver and a female passenger. Luckily a MP was standing by and prevented the ‘roid-raging Ranger from causing any more harm.

http://telly.com/BFQ2R9

No one brought a knife to a gun fight here, but this old-timer surely brought a gun to a fist fight. Whatever happened before, it escalated because the adult brought this to blows. When he started losing to the kids he realized his gun was his only way out. Luckily, no shots were fired.

http://telly.com/AEH1T9

Finally, we realize that road rage doesn’t just affect civilians or military, it even reaches the people sworn to serve and protect, law enforcement officials! The cop just doesn’t seem to like this driver and nearly (intentionally) causes a rear-end accident!

http://telly.com/9LS06X

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Reinforce your manliness with these NEW How-to guides

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:01:59 -0700

Men! It’s time we take a look at ourselves and re-evaluate. Are we really “MEN” anymore…like, REAL MEN? Slaying the Covenant in Halo 4 on Legendary difficulty does not count here. What are we actually good at these days? Let’s reassess…

Are you a man who can’t cook? Does your significant other (rightly) chide you for not putting in your fair share of effort in the kitchen? Here’s your chance to go full-on HERO by learning how to scramble hard boiled eggs INSIDE their shell! It’s not practical, but it is “The Way of the Man.”

http://telly.com/AZN0C1

Enjoying your very own open water kill can be truly rewarding after a successful day of fishing. But what could be more manly than ditching the fishing poles, nasty bait, and fighting off the morning cold than USING YOUR BARE HANDS to catch a hungry bass for your sweetie? Follow this lad’s lead and you’re guaranteed to earn your man-card back.

http://telly.com/AVN84D

Believe it or not, kitties, when they’re not being total @$$holes, can offer some sage advice for us men. Watch this video on how to become a good boyfriend, according to life’s little (cute) monsters…

http://telly.com/AP906F

And finally, something truly inspirational…”How to be Alone.” Not every boy has a main squeeze, and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re unhappy. This is an amazing how-to for living life to its fullest. It’s also a good substitute for playing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” when it’s just you and a bowl of ramen.

http://telly.com/B4CW36

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback. Please feel free to ask us any questions at any of our support channels:

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Obligatory 'in Soviet Russia...' Joke Goes Here

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:18:02 -0700

Meteors, guns, dashcam car crash footage, and unending laughs…just some of the amazing content you’ll find courtesy of The Motherland. And this is no different as a crazy Russian unleashes his full post-Cold War arsenal on an unsuspecting “Frosty the Snowman.” Assault rifles, C4, grenades and even a sweet bow & arrow take out this season’s favorite mascot.

http://telly.com/ADSNPZ

Sputnik, this is not. This beautiful POS is good for one thing and thing only, crumbling like one of Grandma’s dried out, week-old chocolate chip cookies! Even if you sneeze on this bucket of bolts it’ll break apart!

http://telly.com/92KRE1

Road rage can be pretty damn scary at times, you just never know what the “rager” is capable of. In this case, the “rager” is pretty harmless but manages to piss off the “ragee” just enough to inflict some sweet sweet Russian revenge on his unattended car…

http://telly.com/ADPT2F

Anybody can do a pushup. Not many can do a one-handed pushup. Russians have perfected the no-handed pushup! It requires skill, focus, and copious amounts of Russia’s finest vodka. Watch, learn and appreciate just how special our cold weather comrades really are!

http://telly.com/39DR2M

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Say hello to Fifth Harmony on Telly!

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:30:00 -0700

The X Factor contestants from last season and now an all-girl group officially signed to Epic Records, the buzz around Fifth Harmony has been incredible to say the least! If you’re one of those fans who just can’t get enough of them, follow the girls on Telly (members since December 2012)! They love to share behind-the-scenes moments of what they’re doing or NOT DOING between performances!

But the ladies get straight down to business when they need to. Here’s an amazing piano version of Ed Sheeran’s, “LEGO House”…

You can catch all the latest updates of the ladies at their official website, especially any news on their upcoming debut album, which is expected late 2013/early 2014. Until then, stay on top of what they’re up to on Telly! They love to post videos of their daily lives and Collect videos across the web to share with their fans.

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback. Please feel free to ask us any questions at any of our support channels:

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