Amateur movie makers move over

Home movies have reached the end of the line. As production values online improve, web viewers and advertisers are turning away from user generated content. Web sites that once made a decent income from premiering skateboarding cats and bungee jumping dogs are shifting focus to professionally produced programming.

The evidence? Bebo has opened up it pages to media companies, ManiaTV has closed down its user generated channels and Hollywood has spotted the marketing opportunity that the web provides as a new channel for promoting movies.

Advertisers’ clearly want to follow web traffic, but there is a broader driver. They also want to protect their brands online. Premium brands are understandably uneasy about aligning themselves with user-generated content.