The long awaited News Corp / Dow Jones deal is finally done, and now the real guessing games begin. How are all these pieces going to fit together? Who stands to win, and how?
In considering the online video marketplace, my personal belief is that little guy with the most upside potential in the wake of this deal could be Roo Media.
News Corp already has a vested interest in Roo, and stands to pick up another 2 million shares if revenue targets aren’t met, which seems to be a challenge for them at the moment. Those 2 million shares are set for $2.70, more than double the stock’s current price. But this isn’t about stock prices.
With the launch of Fox Business Channel in two months, Mr. Murdoch will be looking to expand the reach and distribution of his newly created content. Roo has a global footprint for its content syndication business, and would benefit tremendously if its business channel were suddenly flooded with WSJ and Fox Business News and Marketwatch content. Additionally, it could provide a unified platform for video content distribution from News Corp’s other holdings around the world.
As Saul Hansel noted in the NY Times blog yesterday:
MarketWatch has had to scale back its ambitions under Dow Jones so as not to compete with WSJ.com. And it cut its television programming because of the Journal’s deal with CNBC.
“The original charter for MarketWatch was to create the first Web site for investors that blended text and television,” Mr. Kramer said. “They will be able to do that again now.”
Marketwatch is currently situated on Brightcove’s platform, but I can’t see that lasting longer than the WSJ’s deal with CNBC. Roo should be able to achieve the level of video quality that Brightcove is currently delivering for Marketwatch, and the differences in the player, outwardly, are mostly cosmetic.
Looking beyond the immediate NewsCorp / DJ deal, with NewsCorp as a larger stakeholder, they could very easily move the Roo player into MySpace, providing a huge audience for Roo’s other content including stand up comedy, sports highlights, and music videos.
Looking at News Corp’s home page, their mission is clear: Creating and distributing top-quality news, sports and entertainment around the world. And that is something that Roo is well positioned to do.
What do you think? Who in the video space is the big winner in this deal?
(ed note: I am an owner of Roo stock.)
[...] of The Wall Street Journal is old news by now. But here’s an interesting thought about how it could affect online video company Roo Media. “News Corp already has a vested interest in Roo … Roo has a global footprint for its [...]