The way that viewers’ eyeballs are valued differently depending on whether they’re watching TV or online is a constant lament among web businesses. But Podell brushes off the usual excuses, arguing that while major advertisers have been waking up to the value of online ads—e.g., better targeting, younger audiences—what it really comes down to is more aggressive salesmanship from publishers and less fear among marketers. Then again, having a hit show helps pry dollars from advertisers.

SEE ALSO: BBC Worldwide America Taps Herb Scannell As President

Podell spoke with paidContent just as Next New was launching what it hopes is a “hit” webisode series on its Barely Political channel—a “mockumentary” starring former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential aspirant Mike Gravel called I Like Mike. It also just launched Click Fitness, an exercise show. An edited version of the conversation follows below.

paidContent: What’s the significance of hitting 1 billion pageviews?

Podell: It’s a sign of continued growth. We’re rounding up 65 million views a month now. That’s up from 30 million a month at the beginning of this year. The big “a-ha” out of this is simply that 1 billion pageviews is big number. Aside from being a milestone for Next New Networks, it’s a testament to the level of interest in original online video. We have not borrowed or taken anyone else’s programming. And for those who have been wondering whether or not online video is just an extension of TV, I think this answers the question that viewers just want to see entertaining, interesting video, no matter where it comes from.

Isn’t the goal of most online video providers to be the “new TV network?”

We used to call ourselves “TV for the internet.” We stopped doing that because we felt we were doing a disservice to ourselves. Viewers don’t need a comparison, they like the idea of online video separate from the TV model. Initially, we sought to compare online video to TV to make it more comfortable for advertisers. The truth is, we also wanted consumers to think of it that way too. But we’re at the point now where we don’t have to apologize or explain ourselves. So, to advertisers who tell me that they don’t buy “online video,” I say that you’re missing where viewers, especially younger viewers, happen to be. Procter & Gamble should spend $10 million on independent video productions.

So what’s holding them back from doing so?

It took decades for advertisers to understand TV and how it related to the audience’s buying habits. Now we’re in a new medium, with new viewing behavior. They’re worried about how viewers are using video players, what sort of environment exists around the player. They’re wondering if having consumers comment on their ad is a good thing or a bad thing. Add the lack of a standard measurement rating for online video, and advertisers continue tread carefully. As more major advertisers make the decision that they need to be part of online video in a mush more substantial way, that will move the industry toward an accepted measurement standard. Simple as that.

Either way, it looks like it will take some time for a greater shift in ad spending toward online video. What do you think of efforts like the Hulu Plus paid subscription model? Does that have any impact on you, or is that model too different from the web-only programming Next New produces?

I believe there is a place for paid models and online video. In the early days of cable, there were advertising and carriage fees. Online video suffers from only having one of those options available at the moment—namely advertising, which is not strong enough yet. At some point—and this isn’t just about Next New Networks, but online video in general—space will be established to the point where it will be common to offer pay-per-view options and a subscription model.

In the meantime, how are Next New’s ad sales efforts going?

We’re constantly being asked to educate and consult advertisers. And we’re more than happy to do it. Ultimately, advertisers have to put their money where their mouth is. The only way they’re going to find out what really works is to start trying new things. While we have brave advertisers, who have come back time and again—Warner Bros., Samsung, Frito Lay, Unilever—but we haven’t seen the number of advertisers that is commensurate with the pace of the viewers we are attracting. So we’re not sold out. That said, business is great and we expect to be profitable this year.

As opposed to a destination like Hulu, Next New is mostly focused on syndicating its videos. What’s the strategy for driving ad revenues?

We rely on YouTube’s AdSense revenue sharing for a portion of our sales. But mostly, we rely on our own set of options that include pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, overlay and companion banners. Branded entertainment or sponsorship is becoming more lucrative. We also outsource pre-roll and mid-roll to Outrigger Media and we use Federated Media as well. The last piece involves advertisers exclusively hiring us to a show for especially for them, which we do through our NBot Studios.

Barely Political had a big hit with Obama Girl two years ago. What’s the definition of a hit show for online?

Different networks, channels have different notions of what constitutes a “hit” because there all sorts of various sizes and scopes. Bravo is different from Weather Channel which is different from HBO. Even within networks, American Idol is a hit by most standards, but it doesn’t do the kind of numbers that Seinfeld did. There are many more opportunities across the board that depend on striking a chord with a niche group because we’re so fragmented in our viewing habits generally.

It’s the same within Next New. Our show The Key of Awesome has done north of 135 million views in six months. Obama Girl did 110 million views. We have other shows that do five or six million views a month and others that do two million. Any of those shows could be considered a hit because of the types of expectations associated with particular kinds of content. There’s mass appeal and there’s targeted appeal. And that way of looking at things is nothing new.