Archive for the ‘Deals’ Category

Rok-who? Netflix on XBox LIVE

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Yeah, the title’s pretty bad but I’m coming off of a vacation so give me a break. Microsoft which has already announced numerous content deals for XBox Live this year announced today at E3 that they will will soon offer access to the 10,000 + titles in the Netflix streaming library to existing subscribers.

The blogosphere has been quick to declare this a blow to AppleTV, but the deal is more a case of two companies that were already already in bed together getting a little closer. Netflix has reportedly spent more than $40 million on development to create its streaming service using Silverlight, Microsoft likely fronted a substantial portion of that. Netflix CEO Doug Hastings is on the Microsoft board.

Content will be delivered by Limelight, another company with close Microsoft ties. Microsoft plans to roll out the service when their upgraded XBox live interface is released this Fall.

The service will also have a unique interactive component allowing multiple users to watch simultaneously, useful for when all those guys in their parents basements get tired of Halo and decide to watch Star Wars together.

AdMeld Grabs $5 Mil

Thursday, June 26th, 2008

Congrats to OVW friend Ben Barokas, CEO of AdMeld, for raising $5 million from the Foundry Group and Spark Capital.

PaidContent called the group “Stealthy,” in their reporting of the funds, and as someone close to the AdMeld team, I can assure you that has been their intention. Without tipping too much, AdMeld will be leveraging Barokas’ ad operations experience (a veteran AdMonster) to build cross-platform, multi-exchange optimization technology. As their website says, the technology will drive increased ad revenue to publishers.

Congrats!

Veoh Lands ESPN and ABC Content

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Backed by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company, Veoh has secured content from ESPN and ABC for their video portal, according to a Reuters report.

Veoh will show full episodes of some of ABC’s lineup as well as clips from ESPN’s shows and sports highlights.

OMMA Panel: Venture Capital

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Moderator: Michael Learmonth, Silicon Alley Insider
Jane Hu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner)
Karin Klein, Softbank Capital
Warren Lee, Canaan Partners
Neil Sequeira, General Catalyst Partners

Michael: Are we in a bubble and how will it burst?
Jane: if we are in a bubble, there’s more bubbling to be had. There isn’t a lot of monetization in the space right now.

Karin: There isn’t a lot of money being made, so things will be sorted out over the next few years. I wouldn’t call it a bubble, per se. There needs to be a monetization strategy to keep the money flowing.

Warren: There is a bubble, but it will deflate, not burst. The video content companies like YouTube have been heavily funded. They will be challenges to them building a profitable business. On the infrastructure side, there is a lot of room for improvement in delivery of video and handling the load of content that is coming.

Neil: Not a bubble. But we need more companies that make this a “real business.” We need companies like Omniture. It all comes back to making money in the end of the day. As long as we continue to invest in companies that make money and help people make money, we’ll continue to invest.

Neil: In the first inning of a 9 inning ballgame, there was a clear winner. Google. They bought a premier site and will figure out how to monetize it over time. I agree with Warren that infrastructure is an opportunity, but people that deliver high quality content to audiences will be the winners.

Warren: The baseball game analogy is very appropriate. It is important to recognize that we are in the early stages. One of the interesting trends is how companies are starting to verticalize. They question is if that is a good venture business. There are companies that have potential to be a good business. We need to find companies that will be great businesses.

Michael: Are there great companies out there now? Would you put more money into Joost?

Warren: Raising a lot of money like Joost did allowed them to experiment, but it also enables them to not be very disciplined in how they spend it. There are lot of companies that have raised a lot of money and have gone away. There is a great deal of experimenting going on.

Karin: I’m not going to pick on anyone in particular, but we are very excited about companies in the content arena. Companies that do a lot of heavy lifting – like transcoding – are the ones who can be the winners because they’ll offer full service solutions to major media companies.

Warren: Given that there are so many new video companies that have been funded, and you need to understand what stage of development they are at to gauge their success. Companies that have a critical mass will have an advantage over newer companies because they will be more attractive to partners and clients.

Jane: We tend to produce a lot of content all at once, and sell advertising against it. Anyone can distribute content anywhere. The real key is figuring out how to reach the consumer. There has yet to be a real, true hit online. There is no Superman or Grey’s Anatomy. It is partially because we are in the early stages and partially that people don’t know there is original content online.

Michael: PromQueen was sold to TV. Is that a good exit strategy?
Jane: I wouldn’t say the goal is to upstream it to TV. It really depends on the content.

Michael: Are you funding any content companies?
Neil: Yes. We’re invested in Decca. They partner with great brands and then produce content. They have a bunch of niche vertical content that will continue to grow and find an audience. There are 20-30 different properties that do pretty well, with a few break out hits. But the business as a whole is very good.

Warren: We’ve looked at a lot of content, but our personal bias is that we like to invest in companies that have technology. Its been difficult for us to get over the hump and look at pure content plays. We have invested in technology that quantifies the value of content, but not the content itself.

Karin: We’ve looked at a number of studios in the video and gaming arena, but have passed.

Jane: We are invested in Veoh, which isn’t a pure content play.

Michael: The web shows aren’t really businesses yet, right?
Jane: Everything we do we try to monetize the best we can. It may be a while before we see a lot of return, but certainly a lot of our projects are profitable.

Michael: If there is a consolidation, who is going to go away?

Neil: There will be consolidation. If you look at the players and infrastructure and platform business, there is Brightcove and Maven and The Platform. Beyond that, there are a slew of companies that are venture backed. Those three have pulled away from the rest of the pack so far that there will have to be consolidation.

Karin: Some of the video advertising companies will probably consolidate as well. We’re also invested in Huffington Post.

Neil: Content and destination companies take a tremendous amount of capital in order to be successful. So it is difficult for venture firms to invest in pure video plays. There are companies that do audience aggregation and content creation.

Warren: We need to be careful not to just take a snapshot of the industry right now. You can assume it will be cheaper to deliver video online in three years. You can assume the monetization aspect will work itself out and agencies will have an easier, clearer role. The challenge is to figure out how to thrive and prosper over the next few years while the industry shakes out.

Michael: Was it smart to invest $100 mil in Hulu?
Neil: I only watch 30 Rock on Hulu. I can’t content on $100 million, but they are definitely a unique property in a unique moment in time. I commend them for creating a hell of a product. It is our belief that people who create great products do well over time.

Karin: There is a clear winner in UGC. Now there is a clear contender in the professionally produced content space as well.

Michael: Who will be the #2 player in UGC?
Neil: Its probably someone you haven’t heard of. It is so early. Everyone is struggling to figure out the business, but it is a reality that people are consuming massive amounts of video online. That is the dynamic nature of the web.

Warren: Video is a hot, sexy space. There is no shortage of people who are interested or capable of creating a video business.

Jane: Maybe there wont be a difference between UGC and professional content. In the end, what is good content is what will succeed. And we want people to be able to watch content wherever they want to.

Michael: Is everywhere fair game for distributing content?
Jane: We are very aware of content standards. Our shows are all PG-13, so we wont be on a porn site. Beyond that, the sky is the limit.

Neil: Todou is an investment we have in china. It means “Couch Potato” in Chinese. People sit in Internet cafes and watch entire shows. It has grown 100% a month for the last two years. It is a very compelling business. Monetization is still very early. But different countries have different levels of what they will tolerate as far as advertising goes. Businesses are built by great people with unique perspective, even if that means more advertising on certain content.

Warren: The video space is very interesting. You need to work with capitalists that understand the specifics of the sector. It is both a technology and media play. That isn’t often the case for VCs.

Jane: Foreign Body is a prequel to a book by Robin Cook. 50 episodes that will stand alone ahead of the release of the book. We launched it a couple of weeks ago, and the advertiser is Honda and they are very happy so far with how it has been distributed. We’re still waiting to see how it will ultimately turn out. The measures of success will be if the content is something that people like, monetization, and tune in. You can have great shows that people can’t find or a show that a lot of people watch, but there isn’t enough monetization.

DailyMotion Adds WB Content

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

Online video portal DailyMotion is adding content from Warner Bros. TV to their lineup of official content. The WB online distribution strategy is starting to take shape, but I’m still curious why they haven’t gone to Hulu as well.

Dailymotion’s WB content will be ad supported and will include content from TheWB.com and KidsWB.com, with a branded channel launching in September.

More Web Series Going Mainstream

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Several announcements today about web series crossing over to television and film. Variety reports HBO has ordered 10 half hour segments from Funny or Die and taken a small equity stake in the company - a smart deal as HBO is in need of low cost highly original, high quality niche content, something Funny or Die has plenty of. HBO provides Funny or Die access to the larger audience they’ve been seeking.

Seth Rogen’s YouTube trailer for the nonexistent film Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse (above) will become a feature in reality according to the Hollywood Reporter. Mandate Pictures has agreed to finance the film and they’re shopping for a director.

And highly successful Suave and Sprint vehicle In the Motherhood will next season make the jump to ABC according to Entertainment Weekly, assuming that is, the talent signs on.

(h/t NTV and ReelPop)

Hulu Lands Stewart and Colbert

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

In a move much wiser than the WB made a few weeks ago, Comedy Central has begun a test offering of John Stewart’s Daily Show and Steven Cobert’s The Colbert Report on Web TV portal Hulu.

Just as Netflix has become the go-to destination for all things DVD, Hulu is quickly living up to its promise and potential to become the first stop for users looking for TV content online. The addition of a 480p viewing option is also very much appreciated by those of us streaming web content to our TVs.

With monetization rights management tools like FreeWheel hitting the market, syndicated content owners are getting the ad revenue they rightfully deserve, removing the risk to hyper syndication of content. We’ll be seeing more deals like this as specific destination sites become the one-stop-shop for the content you are looking for. YouTube’s quality, and lack of formal distribution deals with broadcasters, won’t cut it for long…..unless you still want to watch “Dog on Skateboard.”

NeuLion & JumpTV Join Forces

Monday, June 9th, 2008

JumpTV, having failed to achieve profitability on its own after achieving scale through a number of acquistions is merging with well-funded set-top box manufacturer turned online video services company Neulion. It’s a deal that makes a lot of sense.

NeuLion, aided by the close ties of its CEO Nancy Li (her husband is Charles Wang, Computer Associates founder and now owner the New York Islanders) has signed a deal as the NHL’s online video provider, and has had some success in selling a set-top box solution for delivering niche content directly to the TV.

NeuLion is privately (and well) funded by the founders and other unnamed investors; unconfirmed reports say Sky Angel, the televangelist programming network which NeuLion partnered with to deliver IPTV services last year is a major funder.

JumpTV had been on the ropes, losing money at a rapid rate after purchasing a number high value streaming properties, most notably the Broadband Network division of XOS last year for $60 million.

But scale alone does not guarantee success in digital media and the company has been slow to integrate their worldwide properties and find a focus which could drive it toward profitability. Earlier this year the company announced they were exploring the sale of their in-house CDN to lower operating costs.

The combined entitry should be able to capitalize on NeuLion’s smart management, powerful backers, and the combined strength of both companies’ existing infrastructure and content partnerships to create a leaner and more efficient digital media leader.

A call is scheduled for 4PM Eastern today to discuss the deal.

Heavy Getting (slightly) Heavier

Friday, June 6th, 2008

One day (and one post) after announcing the layoffs of 25 staffers, online video portal Heavy.com announced that it has opened its doors in Canada. Heavy launched Husky Media Canada with Corus Entertainment, a Canadian media and entertainment company, as their anchor partner. Heavy Canada will distribute programming across its radio sites in a customized channel, through its “male-oriented radio stations” including 102.1 the Edge in Toronto, CFOX in Vancouver, Power 97 in Winnipeg and Q107 in Toronto and Calgary.

I’m not Canadian, and I haven’t listened to the radio in a long time, but what is a “male oriented radio station?” Their playlists look pretty unisex to me.

Tremor Goes Global

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Yes, I could have scooped everyone with the news. Hell, I wrote the press release and made the phone calls. But alas, I play fair (and have a real job that demands I play as nicely as possible with the real journalists covering our space.)

That said, I’m proud to announce that Tremor Media is going global. The Samwer Brothers, who previously funded global expansion for LinkedIn and Facebook, have made a strategic investment in Tremor Media through their European Founders Fund.

Yesterday, Beet.TV caught up with Tremor CEO Jason Glickman to discuss the global video ad market.

Tremor also announced the addition of Mark Pinney as CFO. Pinney co-founded Real Media and is a former TACODA exec, and one hell of a nice guy to work with.