Written by Liz Gannes
Posted Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 1:29 PM PT

 

LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More than a Song (about $5M)

Troubled video site Revver was bought by Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse last night for a price “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million reported recently, according to a source close to the deal. Update: We now know that the price was just under $5 million, so it seems our source’s math was a little optimistic. We’ll add more if we can get more specific.

Our source would not disclose the selling price, but said “I wouldn’t say anyone got rich, but everybody was happy.” Revver had raised $12.7 million from Comcast, Turner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Bessemer Venture Partners, Draper Richards and William Randolph Hearst III. The Revver team will continue working under the new ownership.

Revver gained goodwill early on for being the first video-sharing site to split revenue with creators. Many independent creators still prefer the service, though web video stars Ze Frank, Ask a Ninja, Lonelygirl15, and Invisible Engine have discontinued using it as their main platform. The company, growing up alongside YouTube, was brought down from the limelight with a combination of bad luck, management problems, and product weaknesses. And oh yeah, the fact that it’s hard to make money on web video. But nowadays if you’re a popular web video creator, people will fight to make revenue on your clips and share it with you.

Purchaser LiveUniverse operates multiple sites, including video-sharing service LiveVideo, which about a year ago instigated a scandal on YouTube when it reportedly paid top YouTube users to come to its platform. LiveUniverse founder Brad Greenspan, who was involved with MySpace early on, is perhaps best known for his lawsuits protesting the company’s sale to News Corp.

To its credit, Contentinople was first to report that LiveUniverse was taking a hard look at Revver. CNET brought the story to the forefront last week when it reported that the LiveUniverse deal had fallen through stalled and Revver was shopping itself for $1.5 million or less in cash and debt assumption.

 

Sphere
Topic: Money Power, Startups
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Comments & Trackbacks

  1. [...] Thursday, February 14, 2008 at 1:58 PM PT Comments (0) Sure it is not an exit like YouTube, but as NewTeeVee exclusively reports, Revver sale to LiveUniverse isn’t going to cause its investors any serious heartaches. Head [...]

    Revvr, an Online Video Start-Up is sold. Finally - GigaOM on February 14th, 2008 at 1:58 pm - Permalink

  2. [...] UPDATE: Revver may have been purchased. [...]

    Internet TV Blog » Blog Archive » Revver is For Sale! on February 14th, 2008 at 2:04 pm - Permalink

  3. [...] LiveUniverse is the organization that finally wound up purchasing Revver, thought the pricetag is being reported by NewTeeVee as “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million we thought it was going to [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver For More Than $13 Million on February 14th, 2008 at 2:16 pm - Permalink

  4. [...] LiveUniverse buys Revver. I’m wondering how the will tie it in with LiveVideo. [...]

    Revver gets bought after all — The Krug Report on February 14th, 2008 at 2:54 pm - Permalink

  5. [...] LiveUniverse is the organization that finally wound up purchasing Revver, thought the pricetag is being reported by NewTeeVee as “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million we thought it was going to [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver For More Than $13 Million | Social Media News Desk on February 14th, 2008 at 3:07 pm - Permalink

  6. [...] price “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million that was recently reported. Click here to read the whole [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver! at on February 14th, 2008 at 3:07 pm - Permalink

  7. [...] Online entertainment network LiveUniverse has purchased struggling video site Revver, according to NewTeeVee. [...]

    LiveUniverse rumored to purchase video site Revver » VentureBeat on February 14th, 2008 at 4:06 pm - Permalink

  8. [...] The video sharing site Revver, which never really got off the ground has found a buyer according to NewTeeVee: [V]ideo site Revver was bought by Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse last night for a price “many [...]

    Revver Has Found a Buyer « Yrmag on February 14th, 2008 at 4:40 pm - Permalink

  9. Liz,

    Hi, you’ve erroneously reported that I and CNET said that the talks had fallen through. I wrote that they were “stalled.” Thanks.

    Greg Sandoval
    CNET News.com

    Greg Sandoval on February 14th, 2008 at 5:15 pm - Permalink

  10. Leave Liz Alone CNET! Sounds the same to me CNET, fallen through, stalled, whatever. Greg who? Stick to your product reviews CNET.

    LeaveLizAlone on February 14th, 2008 at 6:23 pm - Permalink

  11. [...] LiveUniverse is the organization that finally wound up purchasing Revver, thought the pricetag is being reported by NewTeeVee as “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million we thought it was going to [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver For More Than $500,000 | Social Media News Desk on February 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pm - Permalink

  12. Something is wrong with the VC community if the source is throwing out the line

    “I wouldn’t say anyone got rich, but everybody was happy”

    If they sold for under $5 Million on raising $12.7 Million that equates to a minum loss of $7.2 Million.., not quite the return an investor normally looks for from a tech startup.

    Kaiyzen on February 14th, 2008 at 6:55 pm - Permalink

  13. go to http:www.labratbites.com it will educate you and hope you pass on to friends

    labratbites on February 14th, 2008 at 8:05 pm - Permalink

  14. @Kaiyzen

    I think the more accurate statement the author could have said is:

    “I wouldn’t say anyone got rich, but every was happy to get this worthless company off their plate.”

    At this stage investors are just itching to get away with anything they can take over $0.

    Gabe on February 14th, 2008 at 8:07 pm - Permalink

  15. Revver Schmevver. Dime a dozen. Nothing to see there.

    Revvar on February 14th, 2008 at 8:41 pm - Permalink

  16. [...] have videos on Revver that still pay money, so it’s good to hear the company’s been bailed out of hard times for now. Troubled video site Revver was bought by Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver for Almost $5 Million on February 14th, 2008 at 8:47 pm - Permalink

  17. [...] Read the rest of this post Print Sphere Comment Tagged: Revver, LiveUniverse, video | permalink [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More than a Song | Liz Gannes | Voices | AllThingsD on February 15th, 2008 at 12:02 am - Permalink

  18. [...] that a white knight in the form of Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse has saved Revver from closure. Reports say that the YouTube clone was snapped up last night for a price “many multiples more” than the [...]

    Revver snapped up by LiveUniverse | TowerOne.com on February 15th, 2008 at 3:41 am - Permalink

  19. [...] Revver is still a VC-backed bust, but its sale price is actually better than [...]

    Private Equity HUB - peHUB first Read on February 15th, 2008 at 5:19 am - Permalink

  20. [...] http://liveuniverse.com/ http://mashable.com/2008/02/14/liveuniverse-buys-revver/ http://newteevee.com/2008/02/14/liveuniverse-buys-revver-for-more-than-a-song/ http://blog.revver.com/ http://mashable.com/2008/02/06/revver-for-sale/ [...]

    » Revver, the video-revenue sharing site finally sells out, but the price is not hefty Web 2.0 Money: The Money & Business Behind the Web 2.0 Innovations on February 15th, 2008 at 8:07 am - Permalink

  21. Sorry about that Greg. I corrected the wording.

    Liz Gannes on February 15th, 2008 at 8:54 am - Permalink

  22. [...] true this time - user generated video sharing site Revver has been acquired by LiveUniverse. The number that’s been reported is that they paid around $5 million for the site, which is [...]

    LiveUniverse Comes to Revver’s Rescue on February 15th, 2008 at 9:00 am - Permalink

  23. What’s going on with all the comment spam here?

    Good news for Revver. Glad to see it survive.

    Brian Andrews on February 15th, 2008 at 9:42 am - Permalink

  24. Sorry Brian, we need to separate out trackbacks in a bad way.

    Liz Gannes on February 15th, 2008 at 9:48 am - Permalink

  25. [...] newteevee.com [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More than a Song (about $5M) « mtippett on February 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am - Permalink

  26. [...] newteevee.com [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More than a Song (about $5M) » BlockGarden on February 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am - Permalink

  27. [...] newteevee.com [...]

    LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More than a Song (about $5M) « The Social Graph on February 15th, 2008 at 10:31 am - Permalink

  28. [...] Liz Gannes from NewTeeVee reports today that Revver was purchased by LiveUniverse. Revver was the home to lonelygirl, alive in baghdad, Ze [...]

    Revver bought « Jason Rosenberg on February 15th, 2008 at 4:06 pm - Permalink

  29. [...] LiveUniverse Buys Revver for More than a Song « NewTeeVee “Revver was bought by Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse last night for a price “many multiples more” than the $500,000 to $1.5 million reported recently, according to a source close to the deal.” (tags: liveuniverse revver onlinevideo video digitalmedia) Bookmark to:           [...]

    BrandBrains » links for 2008-02-16 on February 15th, 2008 at 4:17 pm - Permalink

  30. BLAME FAILURE ON REVVER”S LAWYERS: KEN HERTZ
    That is right, Revver was a good idea.
    But it was handled in quite a disastrous style
    by a pair of lawyers Ken Hertz and Fred Goldring
    I think their names are. I used to work there,
    and these guys tried to be ‘creative’ and ‘marketers’ for the web, but ..like the lawyer folks who killed the music biz…they don’t have that skill set ! They alienated everyone in management and marketing, and
    now have to sell it at firesale for nothing..
    at great loss to investors. What kind of smart
    business sense is that? Not very good mssrs
    Goldring and Hertz ! Those guys are not very smart, and too bad for Revver and Steven Starr,
    if only he had better judgement finding legal
    partners than those bunch of clowns…ya know.
    Signed a loyal employee 3 years.

    Carl McG on February 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm - Permalink

  31. I’VE EARNED 8$ AFTER 20 000 VIEWS FROM BLIP.TV UP TO NOW at REVVER it’s 3$
    Revver has way less posting options, it doen’t work for myspace or very well with springbox rss widget video player, Metacafe is good for some reasons
    but I won’t publish there because I’m still is waiting on them to get in the producer reward
    program…

    I’m a prolific art video editor I prefer http://veejaytsunamix.blip.tv/ because it’s streamming chanel that suit’s me best.It shares add revenues I can turn adds off if needed. My biggest issue is that there is that the default setting their player on their portal starts with is bigger resolution then what I’m actually comfortable with. I chose not to publish in full resolution (anywhere) because if I do so I want to
    get paid more than a cent everytime someone clics…

    But in the meanwhile I use my blip.tv RSS feed in conjunction with my spring widget
    to generate a nifty play list assorted with a player that doesn’t hog the bandwidth
    when my would be friends browse by my myspace :
    http://www.myspace.com/www_tsunamix_tv

    I always post a reply comment to a friend’s request or comment & when I do so I can do
    it’s with blip.tv’s customizable player at the exact pixel width=”320″ height=”240″ in which
    I actually published. They have great stats, licensing & distribution options also.

    I’m still doesn’t so I’m putting off any other uploads there because of it.

    I own the rights to everything I publish I’m still putting of the upblishing of at least
    one hundred more!

    At the end of the day content creators like me will own the internet!

    Not the widget makers & the likes!
    The internet runs on content
    not containers.

    In my case would be candidates are already trickling in
    (whitout stale media adverts)!

    I’m in California, all February & March, hopefully I’ll start production
    of “TsunaMiX HD The Next Wave” soon!

    Presently, I’m in San Diego.

    Learn How You Could Become a TsunaMiX HDTNW performer
    on my surreal road adventure at :

    http://www.TsunaMiX.Tv

    Martin Chartrand on February 15th, 2008 at 6:47 pm - Permalink

  32. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m reading criticisms about Revver or about Ron Paul. For either one, those who criticize the harshest seem to show the most ignorance! A lot of it sounds like moronic bandwagon potshots rather than insightful commentary (e.g., “nothing to see here”). As someone who has paid a few bills in earnings from Revver, I can definitely think of a few of Revver’s mistakes and mis-steps along the way — but people who criticize them in blog comments almost never come close to those real problems and instead come off as fools who are just mouthing what they’ve heard/read elsewhere.

    S. Whitmore on February 16th, 2008 at 2:50 am - Permalink

  33. [...] and paved the way for ad-revenue sharing with creators, and I’m sad to see that it sold for (read more at NewTeeVee) under $5 million to LiveUniverse. Revver, according to NewTeevee’s Liz Gannes,  had raised [...]

    Revver RIP | Will Video for Food on February 17th, 2008 at 3:41 am - Permalink

  34. [...] information on Revver deal can be found here, and about KnockaTV [...]

    Revvr sold - the sun doesn’t shine on TV « Pravda on Media, Technology, and Rebel Filmmaking on February 17th, 2008 at 6:19 am - Permalink

  35. [...] LiveUniverse est l’entreprise qui a finalement racheté Revver pour un montant de près de 5 millions de $ (et non pas les 500.000$ annoncés) d’après NewTeeVee. [...]

    LiveUniverse rachète Revver pour 5 millions on February 17th, 2008 at 3:03 pm - Permalink

  36. [...] LiveUniverse has bought Revver Inc. - The news was first reported by NewTeeVee, which puts the sale price at just under $5 million. That’s far less than the $15 million Revver raised in VC funding. [...]

    Articles of the Day | Dave Liu dot com on February 17th, 2008 at 7:27 pm - Permalink

  37. [...] I Googled it out and read some information from newteevee.com that Revver was bought by LiveUniverse for about $5 Million. [...]

    Revver sold to LiveUniverse !? | amfufu.com on February 18th, 2008 at 4:27 pm - Permalink

  38. [...] for Optimism in Wake of Revver Sale? Now that Revver has been sold to LiveUniverse, and LiveVideo has been officially launched, what’s the future for Revver’s business [...]

    Room for Optimism in Wake of Revver Sale? « NewTeeVee on February 20th, 2008 at 2:00 pm - Permalink

  39. [...] publicly launched its recording place LiveVideo.com today, life after purchasing recording place Revver for reportedly around than $5 [...]

    Crazy Guide to the Internet » Blog Archive » LiveVideo.com Launches: Yet Another Video-Sharing Site, Plus an NBA Star on February 20th, 2008 at 7:53 pm - Permalink

  40. [...] video, per, platform, revver, sf, sharing, vid, video, vidsf The WSJ among others reported on Revver’s sale to LiveUniverse for $5 million, a loss from the total of $12.7 MM [...]

    Revver’s sale at a loss indicates online video monetization is difficult. (Not impossible.) « vidsf on February 21st, 2008 at 2:20 pm - Permalink

  41. [...] WSJ among others reported on Revver’s sale to LiveUniverse for $5 million, a loss from the total of $12.7 MM [...]

    Revver’s sale at a loss indicates online video monetization is difficult. (Not impossible.) « kfarr on February 21st, 2008 at 9:55 pm - Permalink

  42. [...] a better gift. Liz Gannes at NewTeeVee reports that Live Universe came through big time and ponied up a boat load of cash….. way more than earlier reported. OVW is waiting for our source to confirm just how much [...]

    GRDGF » Blog Archive » Happy Valentine on February 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 am - Permalink

  43. [...] That’s what they consider Engagement? A CPH? We’ll stick with Google for now… LiveUniverse buys Revver for “about $5 million”. Marketers are moving their attention and now, so is Nielsen. In other research, 62% of marketers [...]

    On Digital Media » Blog Archive » On Digital Media, Episode #59: Overmodulated on February 26th, 2008 at 12:06 pm - Permalink

  44. [...] can expect more closings in the coming months, or acquisitions like Revver and [...]

    DivX to shut down online video service Stage6; - Poor Tag on March 1st, 2008 at 1:42 pm - Permalink

  45. [...] חם וצפוף למדי במתחרים: BlogTV, ustream, אתר Livevideo של LiveUniverse, שקנתה לאחרונה את revver. לאחרונה השיקה יאהו אתר וידאו חי משלה, מיקרוסופט [...]

    חורים ברשת » Archive » כמה חשוב השידור החי ברשת? on March 3rd, 2008 at 12:13 am - Permalink

  46. [...] According to NewTeeVee, Revver was the first video-sharing site to split revenue with creators. Many independent creators still prefer the service, though web video stars Ze Frank, Ask a Ninja, Lonelygirl15, and Invisible Engine have discontinued using it as their main platform. The company, growing up alongside YouTube, was brought down from the limelight with a combination of bad luck, management problems, and product weaknesses. But more importantly, it’s hard to make money on web video, however, if people will compete harshly to have deal with popular web video creator. [...]

    unitedBIT’s RoundUp - LiveVideo.com Joins Forces With Revver on March 4th, 2008 at 4:38 pm - Permalink

  47. [...] Makes Revver Acquisition Official; we’ve known about it for a while, but the press release was sent out today. [...]

    Vid-Biz: iPhone, ManiaTV, CBS « NewTeeVee on March 5th, 2008 at 8:22 am - Permalink

  48. [...] LiveUniverse Buys Revver for $5 Million NEWTEEVEE Troubled video site Revver was bought by Brad Greenspan’s LiveUniverse last night for just under $5 million, it is being reported. Revver gained goodwill early on for being the first video-sharing site to split revenue with creators. Many independent creators still prefer the service, though web video stars Ze Frank, Ask a Ninja, Lonelygirl15, and Invisible Engine have discontinued using it as their main platform. The company, growing up alongside YouTube, was brought down from the limelight with a combination of bad luck, management problems, and product weaknesses. Purchaser LiveUniverse operates multiple sites, including video-sharing service LiveVideo. Source> [...]

    March 5, 2008 | next media update on March 5th, 2008 at 1:14 pm - Permalink

  49. [...] LiveUniverse wanted to pay $3 million plus revenue guarantees to combine Stage6 with its recent Revver acquisition and its LiveVideo site. DivX declined and shut down Stage6. Now LiveUniverse has launched a [...]

    Weekend Reader: Hulu, Stage6, WB « NewTeeVee on March 8th, 2008 at 9:30 am - Permalink

  50. [...] founder Brad Greenspan, has made a number of acquisitions to spur growth. Most recently, they acquired video site Revver, in February [...]

    Pageflakes Acquired By Live Universe on April 13th, 2008 at 10:13 pm - Permalink

  51. [...] de de MySpace, Brad Greenspan n’en est pas à sa première acquisition; ils ont récemment racheté aussi Revver en février [...]

    TechCrunch en français » Pageflakes racheté par Live Universe on April 14th, 2008 at 3:01 am - Permalink

  52. [...] Live Universeは、MySpaceの創立者、Brad Greenspanが創立、これまでも積極的にスタートアップ企業の買収を行って成長を加速してきた。最近では2008年2月にビデオ・サイトRevverを買収している。 [...]

    TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Live Universe、Pageflakesを買収 on April 14th, 2008 at 3:14 am - Permalink

  53. [...] are reports that Live Universe is buying them. Given that Brad Greenspan’s roll-up vehicle buys web companies on the cheap, it is clear Pageflakes didn’t get a premium. Newsgator was another bidder and offered close [...]

    Clock Ticking On Pageflakes? - GigaOM on April 14th, 2008 at 7:43 am - Permalink

  54. [...] is on an acquisition streak of late, having acquired video sharing site Revver for just under $5 million in February. While it may seem that Pageflakes is a little [...]

    Pageflakes Acquired By LiveUniverse: Further Push Into Social Networking | 网络赚钱网摘 on April 18th, 2008 at 6:01 am - Permalink

  55. [...] is on an acquisition streak of late, having acquired video sharing site Revver for just under $5 million in February. While it may seem that Pageflakes is a little [...]

    Pageflakes Acquired By LiveUniverse: Further Push Into Social Networking - BuzzYA! on April 18th, 2008 at 6:05 am - Permalink

  56. [...] de de MySpace Brad Greenspan, n’en est pas à sa première acquisition; ils ont récemment racheté aussi Revver en février [...]

    Pageflakes racheté par Live Universe on April 20th, 2008 at 2:51 am - Permalink

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