DailyMotion video hub turning heads in Hollywood

By Andrew Wallenstein

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A Web site looming large in the shadow of YouTube is getting seen by Hollywood in a whole new light.

DailyMotion, a Paris-based video hub second only to Google's prize purchase in online traffic among sites specializing in video sharing, has locked a deal to license programming from production company RDF USA. It is one of the first such pacts DailyMotion has made as it seeks to supplement its massive stash of user-generated content.

How RDF USA -- best known for supplying TV shows like ABC's "Shaq's Big Challenge" to broadcast and cable channels -- is getting in business for the first time with a Web site reflects the changing dynamics of Internet video. And DailyMotion is leading the charge, having launched officially in the U.S. several weeks ago with a staff of handpicked old-media veterans from the likes of Viacom and Time Warner.

Consider DailyMotion the most popular Web site you've never heard of: The site had 37.5 million unique users worldwide and 3.2 million in the U.S. in May and topped YouTube in its home base of France. YouTube dwarfs DailyMotion in the U.S., but its 4.7 million streamers (which translates to people who actually watch videos as opposed to just visiting) in April led other indie dot-com comers, including MetaCafe and Break.com, according to comScore Media Metrix.

"While it will clearly be very difficult for any video site to replicate what YouTube has accomplished, DailyMotion.com is stating the strongest case at the moment, both domestically and internationally," said Erin Hunter, executive vp media and entertainment solutions at comScore.

Added Max Benator, head of RDF USA's digital division: "It's really exciting because they have amazing traffic. It's been untapped by the entertainment community, so we see this as a great opportunity to be one of the first producers to get access to those eyeballs."

The nonexclusive first-look deal calls for RDF to deliver eight program concepts for shortform video programming to DailyMotion during the next 12 months. The company is exploring possibilities in comedy, drama and even political fare; brand integration also likely will be in the mix.

DailyMotion is only the latest viral-video outpost to bring professionally produced content into the fold as competitors like Break.com have already struck similar deals with NBC Universal Digital Studios. Other pro-content link-ups have been struck through acquisition, as is the case with Sony Corp.'s snatching of Grouper, which has since been rebranded Crackle and fed original programming.