Disintermediation is alive on YouTube!

What is disintermediation, you ask? The term originates in economics and refers to the removal of intermediaries (such as a distributor, wholesaler, or agent) in the supply chain. Instead of going through traditional distribution channels, disintermediation 'cuts out the middleman' in more familiar terms.

What does it mean when applied to politics? Let's review a principal communications challenge for any campaign:

Great speeches don't matter if no one hears them.

Back in January, Barack Obama gave a speech on MLK Day. Ari Melber wrote about it at the Tech President blog:

"While cable news shows gorge on campaign sparring, Obama's uplifting speech is absolutely dominating YouTube. The 34-minute address from Ebenezer Baptist Church is currently the fourth most viewed video in the world on YouTube, trailing two Britney Spears clips."

That's some impressive disintermediation there -- remember this was a high point in coverage of Ms. Spears!

But now it seems, YouTube views of Barack's recent "A More Perfect Union" speech on race have even topped the reach of cable TV -- again, from the Tech President blog:

About 3.8 million people have now watched Barack Obama's Philadelphia address through the campaign's official YouTube channel... another 520,000 people watched excerpts of the speech uploaded by random YouTube users. Taken together, the total YouTube viewers for Obama's speech over the past week beat all the cable channels combined. Last Tuesday, about four million viewers tuned into one of the three cable channels to watch the speech.

That's right -- so why not watch it the 'disintermediated way' for yourself (remember, YouTube counts views only when you let the entire video play to the end!):