Former ManiaTV Owner Tries for a Do-Over

If at first you don’t succeed…try again by buying back the remnants of your failed company. That seems to be the motto for Drew Massey, who created ManiaTV and, according to The New York Times, is trying to resurrect the recently defunct new media studio.

Massey, in effect, sold three-quarters of the company after raising three rounds of venture capital totaling $26 million. ManiaTV focused on creating web shows around lower-tier celebs like Tom Green and Dave Navarro but never really caught on with audiences and shut down in March after it failed to find a buyer.

According to Massey, ManiaTV’s demise was because of the venture capitalists. He told the Times, “The VCs were all about building platforms and networks, not about building a big branded business.” Though Mania’s former CEO, Peter Hoskins, rebuts that by saying Mania’s vision was too expensive. After Hoskins replaced him, Massey wasn’t involved in operations and was not there until the bitter end. And if you ask our readers, ManiaTV’s management left a lot to be desired.

Massey has a few million bucks between him and his friends and is looking to run a lean business built on sponsorships and product placement in order to turn a profit. ManiaTV will relaunch “soon” with reruns of old programs and is aiming to roll out new shows this fall.

We’re not sure the second time (or even a third or fourth time) will be the charm for the company. The brand is so tarnished at this point that it will have to start out by rebuilding its image. Plus, the post-Hulu world has not been kind to mid-tail competitors like Ripe Digital and 60Frames, both of which shut down. And advertisers aren’t as interested in original programming for the web as they once were.