Blockchain’s impact on video monetization and engagement — Interview with Replay

Blockchain technology offers a solution as the video content industry faces growing challenges around monetization and audience engagement.

By enabling real-time payments to creators, transparent watch data and gamified audience engagement, blockchain-powered streaming platform Replay aims to empower creators and viewers. Through its free ad-supported streaming service, Replay rewards viewers for every hour watched while allowing them to directly support content creation.

In this interview, Replay CEO Michael Jelen explains how the platform is disrupting traditional media, the role of Web3 in content creation and how watch-to-earn models are boosting creator success and viewer engagement.

Cointelegraph: What role does blockchain play in ensuring transparency and fairness in content creation and distribution?

Michael Jelen: Blockchain ensures every transaction and viewership metric is recorded on an immutable ledger. This transparency ensures creators are fairly and timely compensated, users are rewarded for engagement, and valuable user data brings creators and audiences together.

Creators are no longer dependent on powerful intermediaries who collect excessive fees, hoard and hide data and artificially separate creators from their passionate community.

CT: How do Web3 models improve creator compensation compared to traditional film and TV industry practices?

MJ: In traditional models, platforms can take up to 90% of the revenue attributed to creative content. Web3, and Replay specifically, puts power back in the hands of creators and the audience.

Users are rewarded for contributing to the community, creators benefit from real-time transparent viewership data and compensation, and artists have a platform to engage directly with their audience without middlemen.

CT: How does Replay’s crowdfunding model influence the creative process and the success of projects? Could you share any examples?

MJ: Replay allows creators to crowdfund directly from their audience, enabling them to maintain creative control and include the community in the creative process. Our first experiment crowd-funded the production of the animated TV series Cyko KO with Rob Feldman and the cast of Napoleon Dynamite.

We’re now working with Andi Budman (Hit Man) and Ricky Williams on a 6-episode TV series healing NFL players using alternative medicine (commencing October 2024) and an all-star cast feature-length film to be announced in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Former NFL running back Ricky Williams is set to host a six-episode TV series on Replay. Source: Replay

Community members purchase in-real-life experiences like a day on the set, show memorabilia and exclusive interactions that fund production, support creators and enable creative freedom without predatory economic models.

CT: How do you empower creators in their negotiations with distributors like Netflix and Amazon?

MJ: By providing creators full transparency on their viewership data and target user profiles, Replay gives them much-needed leverage to receive fair compensation for their valuable content.

Creators are armed with real metrics and audience insights (otherwise held private by traditional streaming platforms), which gives them a stronger position in deals with other distributors.

CT: What does Web2.5 content production look like, and how does it help onboard traditional Web2 users into Web3?

MJ: Web2.5 bridges the gap between traditional Web2 and fully decentralized Web3 systems. It allows users to enjoy familiar interfaces, integrating blockchain benefits like transparency and direct ownership. This gradual transition helps users get comfortable with decentralized models without a steep learning curve.

Replay’s content is available through RewardedTV, accessible via web browser or our app, and available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android, iOS, and most smart TV or streaming app stores. Many RewardedTV customers don’t even know the technology is built on the blockchain; they simply receive a better product with superior economic value.

CT: How do watch-to-earn and gamification boost viewer engagement and creator success?

MJ: Watch-to-earn rewards users for every hour they spend on Replay, increasing engagement. Gamification adds an interactive layer where users can connect with creators, unlocking exclusive content and experiences. This creates a loyal viewer base that directly supports creators, enhancing their success and removing large companies from the personal relationship creators deserve to have with their audience.

CT: Can you share any upcoming partnerships aimed at further empowering creators through Web3?

MJ: We’re excited about upcoming partnerships with other large blockchain communities that support new original content, prominent independent creators and onchain IP tools that will bring more opportunities for creators. We’re also growing our content library and advertiser network to further enhance the ad-supported TV model, bringing more capital into the ecosystem that benefits users and creators.

CT: How do you see Web3 technology changing the video content industry in the next five years?

MJ: Web3 will decentralize content distribution, putting power back into the hands of creators. It will remove the intermediaries, allowing viewers to actively participate in content curation and monetization. Blockchain’s transparency and decentralized finance (DeFi) will drive fairer, more accessible monetization for everyone involved. We’ll create more content than ever before through direct collaboration between artists and communities, giving people what they want to watch from the creators who have the vision to build it.

CT: What role do you believe Replay will play in shaping the future of video production?

MJ: Replay is transforming the video content ecosystem by democratizing content monetization. We’re pioneering real-time, transparent payments and viewer engagement, setting a new standard for how creators and consumers interact. Our vision is to create a more equitable, rewarding experience for all parties involved, disrupting the current unfair content distribution oligopoly holding back the film and TV industry.