internet - "No money in user-generated video"

Will user-generated video make any money? That question has become more urgent as the number of video-sharing companies has been growing and VC's have been putting in the past two years close to a 100 US dollar in funds into 17 Chinese enterprises. Tencent seems also to be moving into the video-sharing market, possibly the start of a consolidation of the sector.
New research in the US market, here picked up by the Cyber Journalist, suggests there is no money to be made in this branch of the internet industry.

Market research analyst Screen Digest predicts that although 44 billion video streams -- 55 percent of all video content consumed in the U.S. -- will be created by 2010, the market will only account for 15 percent of total revenues.
"It is the nature of content itself. How do you monetise free content? That is the core debate," Arash Amel, a Screen Digest analyst who wrote the report, told Reuters.
"No one has found a way to make real money from the huge audiences who participate on these sites," he added.

Of course, 15 percent is not no money and the US market is different from the Chinese, but the signal is rather troublesome. The whole report might be only affordable for VC's, but you can have a look at the content here.
In a separate development, indicating the fierce competition, US-based dovetail.tv is offering its amateur filmmakers ten us cent per download, according to Venturebeat. Imagine, a similar move by marketleader Tudou, claiming over 10 million downloads per day, would cost a whoppy one million US dollar per day. According to my estimation, competition in China will be tough but not that tough.