Citysearch local video

More trouble for local broadcasters.

From the press release:

"Video on Citysearch is the first of many enhancements that our audience can expect to see from us this year," said Jay Herratti, President of Citysearch. "Leveraging our trusted content, we will continue to introduce new features designed to provide consumers with the best local experience on the web."

Video on Citysearch gives users the opportunity to experience the ambiance and meet the owners of businesses before visiting. Citysearch tapped Internet video company, TurnHere to create the videos.

"A great local experience is about providing consumers with the most relevant information," said Scott Morrow, Executive Vice President, Product and Marketing, Citysearch. "Whether they're searching for a restaurant, spa or boutique shop, Video on Citysearch, coupled with our trusted information, arms users with the ability to make more informed, confident decisions about where to spend their time and money."

From MediaPost:

"According to a study by Borrell Associates, video is expected to dominate almost 35% of local online ad spending within five years.

With Video on Citysearch, a reported 13.9 million users will now find short clips featuring business owners, employees, and customer reviews alongside the traditional text-based listings."

From Lost Remote:

"CitySearch has unveiled a new set of designs across its network of city sites, and one of the new features should be of grave concern for local TV stations. In a deal with TurnHere, CitySearch will start posting video of local restaurants, spas, boutiques and other local businesses.

“Video on Citysearch, coupled with our trusted information, arms users with the ability to make more informed, confident decisions about where to spend their time and money,” said Scott Morrow, EVP at Citysearch.

Truthfully folks, local broadcasters should’ve already owned this space. Now we’re going to get beat."

From Terry Heaton:

"While we're busy arguing for the value of our news content, internet pureplays like Citysearch are growing revenue (at our expense), because they understand the local web better than we do.

This, for example, is why I've written for years that local media companies would be better off banding together to create local information portals (that each could monetize) rather than letting outsiders come in through the back door. We'll never do this, of course, but the point is that this is a very real threat to our business wellbeing.

In the end, it's all about money, local money."