When it comes to the online video and television worlds right now, lines are being crossed and boundaries are becoming wide open. Earlier this week, Mashable announced they would create short-form digital shows to promote Bravo’s potpourri of brands include the infamous “Housewives” franchise (which I find myself occasionally watching but don’t tell anyone).

This will not be the first time the two brands partnered up as Mashable previously created a show based on the “Housewives” last year. The website also creates videos in partnership with Bravo’s NBCUniversal counterparts at Telemundo aiming to reach Latino millennials. Awkwardly, Time Warner has invested multiple times into the website but they have not partnered to create any programming.

In a conversation with Ad Age, Mashable’s CEO Pete Cashmore explains why online video is able to become so successful so quickly compared to television:

The current process of television is very, very expensive. It is very, very risky. You create a pilot, it may not fly. We have a very de-risked way of making content online. We use [proprietary technology, Velocity] to find out what’s going to be big on the web. We then produce a blog post. We then see if that works. If that works, we create a video pilot. If that goes viral too, we then serialize. And we build the audience as we go. And we have various ways: We also have a thing called Knowledge Graph … so we can find audiences for shows as well. … We have a lot of data that can help us de-risk stuff, find audiences, target audiences, and then take them up to a higher lever.

The speed, accuracy, multiplatform abilities and data that surround creating online video are what’s making it so successful and innovative compared to television which is a long, tedious process with not as much access to audience data and an inability to be as interactive with the viewers watching.

Despite the advantages of producing online video, there is still a desire for online brands to turn their web series into television hits. Why? That’s where the money is. Even though 72 percent of ad agencies say online ads are more effective than TV ads and digital ad spending will surpass TV spending in 2 to 3 years according to experts, television still gets a lion’s share of viewership due to live sports and tradition.

Online companies don’t have time to wait until millennials turn 30 and become the major spenders ad agencies are trying to target. They want to maximize profits now and get into television while they still can because it provides them with a bigger distribution platform, helps them form relationships with advertisers who aren’t heavy spenders online and puts them hand in hand with the establishment media.

This is why Vice recently launched its own television network, Nerdist is partnered with AMC to produce shows, Vox wants to turn 8 of its brands into television networks, Yahoo is producing news segments for ABC and NBC’s morning shows, and why Mashable is partnering with Bravo.

In Mashable’s case, the shows they produce in conjunction with Bravo won’t air on television. Cashmore also says in his interview that it is a developmental deal but also hints that Mashable wouldn’t stray away from the limelights of television if they were presented to him.

We, as a company, think we want to work with TV networks and see how our process applies to them. But there’s not, in this current deal … there’s not like a mandate to “this stuff that has to go to TV.” But I think all parties are interested in seeing ‘How does this new way of making video content work? And how does it apply to their business?’

Unlike the other outlets mentioned, Mashable wants to take things slow and they’re comfortable being on first base. But its very obvious where they would like this relationship to go. Can they get a home run before its too late?

About Jessie Karangu

I am a Kenyan-American broadcast journalist.
An avid tweeter (follow me @JMKTV).
I hope to make a difference in the world.
I was the commencement speaker at my college graduation, Scott Van Pelt was the other speaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFUk5PPFkT0)
I won an award for outstanding achievement in sports from the Emmy organization.
My dream is to be the black Ryan Seacrest.