WeShow

WeShow

Type	Inc.
Founded	February 15, 2007
Headquarters	New York, New York, U.S.
Number of employees	80 (2007)

WeShow was an online video aggregator that delivers tailored video content to viewers around the world. Unlike video aggregators that rely purely on technology to identify and deliver content to viewers, WeShow employs a global team of editors to scour the Web for what it deems to be relevant, high-quality videos. The rationale behind the company's "human-powered" approach is that computers cannot subjectively determine whether video clips are funny, cool or entertaining. WeShow selects high-quality videos from repository sites such as YouTube, MySpace, Dailymotion, Metacafe (and many others) and organizes them into a 200-channel system. With a collection of video widgets – onSite, onDesktop and social networking applications – WeShow is a distributor of online videos.

Worldwide Market

The three original portals were dedicated to the United States, UK and Brazil. In September 2007 WeShow has launched websites in France, Germany and Spain. In December WeShow debuted in Japan and in January 2008, a portal specially dedicated to China was created. For each portal, WeShow teams locate relevant content from around the world's video sites that meet local interests. Each video is given a new description, title and tags in a variety of languages to offer diversified video content on a local level.

Online Video Scenery

A recent survey from Kelton Research showed that 60 percent of Americans feel overwhelmed by the number 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.

Due to the number of online videos available, the average internet user may experience difficulties in finding entertaining content on the Web, possibly never finding videos they deem worth watching. The creators of WeShow seem to have detected the need for an alternative service related to online video watching – the need for a distributor of tailored video selections.

Delivering tailored video content

WeShow video portal – organizes and presents high-quality videos from the Web, categorized into more than 200 channels designed to deliver personalized entertainment experience based on the viewers’ individual interests. Each local WeShow site provides content labeled in the local language and is focused on the web users' cultural demands.
WeShow video widgets – available to bloggers, Web site owners and consumers, are customizable tools to provide dynamically updated video selections. Users have the option of displaying a personal list of favorites (containing selected clips from any hosting site) and/or content pulled from any of WeShow’s 200 channels to meet the owner’s/viewer’s preferences. Once embedded on a page, the widget displays thumbnail images of the ten most recent videos featured on one or more selected channels. By clicking on the thumbnail, it plays the full video directly on the site hosting the widget or on the desktop. The widgets are available in different formats and colors to match the layout of any web page.

WeShow Awards

Every month the site holds an awards contest aimed at recognizing the best online videos on the Web from around the world. The WeShow Awards enable users to vote for their favorite videos in the WeShow collection.

The Company

Marcos Wettreich and Bruno Parodi founded WeShow in February 2007 and in July launched the first three portals - United States, United Kingdom and Brazil. The company received funding from The Pilot Group and other investors in June 2007.

References

Weshow Press Info — Official WeShow Press Info
Mashable — WeShow Launches Worldwide, Human-Powered Video Aggregator
Techcrunch — WeShow: Human Powered Video Directory
Computer World — Start-up looks to rein in chaos of online video
InformationWeek — MTV Founder Bob Pittman Backs Online Video Hub WeShow
PresseCitron — Weshow en français dans le texte
NewTeeVee — Top Five Video Widgets to Fidget With