Last year I asked the hard questions about RocketBoom - Rocketboom's revenue model …. what is it?   At the time I was directed to a comment by Drew who said Rocketboom was doing fine.

But it's not doing fine enough the way it's going, according to Steve Rubel who said that Rocketboom Seeks Alternate Revenue Steams.  Dow Jones MarketWatch Internet daily written by Frank Barnako says Rocketboom may charge for shows. 

Well, I think one problem with RocketBoom is the large Quick-time files that need to be downloaded/streamed in order to see the show - that costs a lot of money.   Why don't they just make smaller clips and put them on YouTube already…(oh, right …then they don't own their content anymore).  Ok, then go and put them on Veoh or some one else's site that can handle the bandwidth and does allow RocketBoom to own the content.

It' seems so simple that there must be a reason why Andrew Baron does not want to go that way.   I bet I'll run into someone from RocketBoom at the Virtual Worlds 2007 conference later this week - if I do, I'll ask them this question.

"…Baron is lured by the apparition that has mesmerized a number of content producers, "If we had 5% of our audience paying $5 a month that would be $50,000." But he hasn't heard of any such schemes that have worked. Besides, "If we were to start charging for the extra stuff, what kind of message are we putting out about what we're (already) doing?"

Why would someone pay 5 dollars a month for RocketBoom?  I hardly even remember it anymore - it's kinda disappeared in my awareness.

Steve Rubel's overall perspective is advertising revenue is not going to ever be enough - you need to sell something more than eyeballs.

"…I've said it before and I will say it again. If you're a Web 2.0 site counting on advertising as your sole source of revenue, don't do it. Advertising is very cyclical. Yes, your overhead is low, but you might be ahead of the curve. The marketer's way of thinking hasn't shifted yet.

So if Rocketboom is facing these issues and it's a big daddy, what about Podtech and Podshow? Could a shakeout be in the works? I hope not. Further, advertising spending is strong now. What's the fallback for these sites?"

I think there will be a shakeout for online video sites later this year - just a gut feeling (maybe I'll be wrong about this one).