Zuckerberg didn’t just invest ‘cuz its fun when he bought Oculus with $ 2Billion. VR existed in some form or the other but was either making people sick or was too costly and then Facebook bought Oculus and it changed everything.
But the question remains as to with all these investments for VR technology and the startups, how will that give an ROI and what is in it for the Media industry?
This article explores and analyses the possibilities of Virtual Reality. We also ponder as to how Media industry can make the most out of such a transition. In a previous article, we find answers to the five most basic yet important questions for VR and its Timeline.
Subscription Purchases
Comcast Corp. is leading a $6.8 million investment round in Felix & Paul Studios New York Times has been very prominent with VR investments and According to an article by Politico , NYT has made around $8 million with VR up till now, a fraction of the Times’ overall annual digital revenue of $400 million. PitchBook analysts said that there have been 119 VR-related deals totaling roughly $602 million in 2015. The report mentioned a $65 million funding led by Disney in VR camera maker Jaunt as one of the year’s top investments.
With all these set in place, what needs to be thought about is producing enough content that cover up the production costs.
Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, managing editor of digital for The Washington Post said “No newsroom has the resources to simply add all the slots and equipment needed to start a VR team. Unless we achieve mass scale quickly, which seems unlikely, monetization as a ‘revenue stream’ will be years away.” Why? says, SpaceVR founder Holmes that the main challenge to monetizing VR content is the lack of data about consumer preferences.
Advertisement and Sponsored Content
The ad industry is eyeing for an opportunity to leap into VR because selling an experience has become an integral part of advertisements. One of the best examples of what sponsors might be looking to spend in is the kind of ad Volvo has given a taste of. The company has paired up a Google Cardboard and produced an ad "Volvo Reality". You can experience a full 360 degrees view from the driver’s seat and also lets you take a Virtual Test Drive with the help of the video. It is immersive. Although needed a lot of improvements and also this isn’t gonna be the buying decision. But the experience is different and it fixates the idea of XC90 and etches it in people’s minds.
It is almost like using the product before actually shelling out the cash
Events & Live Streaming
Streaming live events lets the viewers have a first row kind of experience which can also be charged for although a lot lesser than original tickets but gives a similar experience. NextVR has already received $ 80 Billion in series B from. Next VR has already gone with on-site streaming of events from the NHL, NASCAR, a European league exhibition soccer game, and more. These events were then viewed remotely in New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver.
CNN’s 2015 edition of the Democratic Debate was not a very comfortable experience but sure did let viewers get hooked onto being more immersed in this debate than before. You could feel as if you are on the stage with the candidates.
Movies and Stories
“You’ll have premium experiences like a movie theater with high-definition headsets. And then there’ll be at-home experiences where you can buy content on iTunes and Netflix or subscribe to services like Hulu,” Holmes said. He runs SpaceVR, and plans to bring space travel in one’s living room.
This, much hyped Mr. Robot VR trailer has been doing its rounds in the internet for its immersive experience. This 13min storytelling isn’t just another VR demo. It captures the atmosphere and its sensitivities and passes on that feeling to the viewers. And this, would have never been possible on a Television.
“I think every studio that knows the power of storytelling has a huge, vested interest in using virtual reality,” said Haidamus, nokia technologies president.
The market size is still unpredictable which makes it difficult for investors to analyse since Vr is in its infancy and there are yet to be concrete data to reveal comparable results.
Image Courtesy : TechCrunch
