Reel Pop

Live video on the Internet may be pointless. TV is becoming increasingly DVR-ified so, why would the Web be any different? Of course, big sports events, like March Madness and the recent U.S. Open golf play-off, will always rack up big numbers on the Web among the cubicle crowd, but other than that, there really hasn't been the break-out live Internet hit yet.

Watching an archived version of the live backstage show of MTV's "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew" on Livevideo.com, spells out exactly the troubles live Web video faces. Basically, there will be plenty of hiccups. And for the cost and effort of transmitting a live feed, it doesn't make much sense unless the results are flawless.

For the first few minutes of one of the archived live clips, the viewer is treated to the host standing around the red carpet, talking off the top of her head and figuring out where to position her microphone.

When judge Lil Mama and then host Mario Lopez finally show up, the results are pretty awkward. Lil Mama gets the host's name wrong (it's Natalie not Nadia) and then we see a very distracted A.C. Slater (above embed) explain twice that he doesn't hang out with the crews and/or judges because he flies back to New York immediately after every taping. Then Natalie spots someone she knows off-camera and seemingly makes plans for later. Nothing exactly shocking but it definitely shows why red-carpet interviews work better as quick sound bites, unless you're a world-famous comedian with decades of experience (i.e. Joan Rivers).

Then again, maybe in the new media world, cute little miscues are what sells. Also, "ABDC Live" is meant to be seen, umm, live by a teenage dance fan, not, archived, in the middle of the day by someone who has danced four times in his life. So I'm sure I'm missing something.

Livevideo.com says the first two episodes of "ABDC Live" have attracted over 500,000 viewers (I wonder how many of those are streams from the same viewer that are stopped when there's nothing going on and then started up again a few minutes in hopes of catching J.C. Chasez.) and the Web site just said it will be hosting the show every Tuesday from 5:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. PST.