WeShow launches

Backed by some hitters, WeShow launches today.

From TechCrunch:

"WeShow is not the first site of its type, but it does launch with strong backing. Investors include The Pilot Group (owned and managed by Bob Pittman, father of MTV and ex-COO of AOL Time Warner) and Bill Sahlman (Harvard Business School vice-dean and professor of entrepreneurship). The amount of funding has not been previously disclosed but is believed to be around $5-7million.

WeShow brings an editorial approach to selecting and organizing the best online videos available from sites such as YouTube, DailyMotion, Metacafe, Google Video and others. The site also offers the monthly “WeShow Awards,” billed as the “world’s biggest online video contest” where users get to vote on content from each country WeShow has a local version for (US, UK and Brazil). WeShow TV rounds out the offering by providing a review style show featuring some “of the world’s best videos.”

From the site:

"Despite estimates that an astounding 126 million people in the US alone view online videos each month, a majority of consumers are dissatisfied with their video experience online. A survey released today by Kelton Research has found that most of these viewers are lost, frustrated and overwhelmed by online video chaos. Officially launching and available today in North America, the United Kingdom and Brazil, WeShow (www.WeShow.com) has created a human-powered guide to organize the chaos and provide a convenient, easy-to-navigate view of high quality videos from around the world.

The June survey results from Kelton Research demonstrate that while there is much hype about online video, the lack of quality, organization and entertainment value threatens to prevent many people from actively participating in the online video revolution. Among the key findings of the survey:

• I am overwhelmed by too many videos - More than 60 percent of Americans feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of online videos and 46 percent of these people do not watch more online videos because they dread the task of weeding through too many search results.
  
• I know what I want but can't find it - 96 percent of Americans cannot find the videos they are looking for when initially conducting a search for specific content.
  
• I'll watch online video ONLY when someone directs me - 45 percent of people only view videos when they are recommended by a friend or colleague. These people are not utilizing online video as a primary entertainment source.

WeShow will provide an alternative to online video chaos and provide a rich entertainment experience - inviting even the most overwhelmed, time-constrained and web-averse viewers to participate in the online video movement. The entertainment site thrives off the ever-expanding number of videos and online video sites - uniquely utilizing a staff of content experts to identify, filter and organize the best online videos across 200 channels, eliminating the need to spend hours searching for quality clips."