Search Results
BrightRoll Rolls in the Dough
BrightRoll said today that it’s wrapped up a $10 million Series C round of financing — after reaching profitability. The video ad network, which claims to be “bigger than Hulu,” plans to use the funds to expand even further, adding to its technology platform and growing its advertiser and publisher operations.
The new funding round was led by Scale Partners, with existing investors True Ventures, Adams Street Capital and KPG Ventures also participating. Along with the financing, BrightRoll announced that Scale Venture Partners Managing Director Rob Theis has joined its board. Altogether BrightRoll has raised a total of $16 million since being founded in July 2006.
Vid-Biz: BSkyB, Justin.tv, Rogers
BSkyB Wins £200 Million HP Liability Case; the UK High Court has ruled in favor of Sky against EDS, which is now part of Hewlett-Packard, and is liable for at least £200 million ($323 million). (paidContent)
Justin.tv Makes It Easier to Start Streaming; the live video host is rolling out a new version of its broadcasting tool that makes it easier to get a live video stream going and has led to a 700 percent increase in the number of people who start a live stream. (CNET)
Rogers Strikes “TV Everywhere” Deals; Canadian cable company has expanded the content line-up of its On Demand Online service with new deals with MGM studios, Corus Entertainment and E1 Entertainment. (InteractiveTV Today)
Gabriner Jumps From Tribal Fusion to Adap.tv; Toby Gabriner, a well-known name in digital marketing who recently served as president of Tribal Fusion, is now president of Adap.tv, the San Mateo, Calif.-based creator of the OneSource video ad management platform. (ClickZ)
Level 3 Launches New Content Delivery Partner Program; partners that have joined the program include Adobe, Cisco Systems, Gomez, Inlet Technologies, Microsoft, Multicast Media, Quova and Savvis. (press release)
Vid-Biz: News Corp., VideoEgg, YouTube
News Corp., MySpace Eye Flixster; News Corp. has been conducting due diligence on Flixster as part of a plan to combine it with Rotten Tomatoes. (AllThingsD)
VideoEgg, comScore Partner on Tracking Ad Impact Offline; companies will launch a new product that allows brands to gauge the impact of online advertising on brick-and-mortar sales. (MediaPost)
YouTube Adds Facebook Friends; in addition to finding Gmail contacts on YouTube, users can now find and connect with people they know on Facebook. (YouTube blog)
Blockbuster Picks Widevine for DRM; DVD rental company will use Widevine’s DRM and video optimization technology for video delivered to internet-connected consumer electronic devices. (emailed release)
BrightRoll Launches Platform Partner Program; partners include advertising companies Adap.tv, Auditude, FreeWheel and LiveRail, as well as video player companies including Brightcove and thePlatform. (press release)
FiOS Adds HDNet to VOD Lineup; service includes more than 20 hours of HD programming from HDNet and more than 25 free movies from HDNet Movies per month. (Multichannel News)
Critical Media Hires Gilley as CTO; Vidavee founder and former Vignette CTO Tom Gilley will be responsible for product development on Critical Mention, ClipSyndicate and Syndicaster products. (emailed release)
Vid-Biz: Time Warner, Comcast, Google
Time Warner Sales Dropped 6% to $7.1B in Q3; company’s networks including Turner and HBO saw growth with revenue up 5 percent to $2.9 billion. (CNET)
Comcast Profits Up 22% to $944M in Q3; cable company wouldn’t talk about the NBC acquisition deal. (paidContent)
Google to Bulk Up Video Chat for Apps users; company looking to broaden it to more than just two participants. (SFGate; see our recent story on Vidyo, which helps power the feature and has multi-participant capabilities)
Adap.tv’s OneSource Gets IAB Certification; company says it’s the first dedicated video ad service platform to receive ad measurement certification. (emailed release)
Paramount Files Comments with the FCC Over Star Trek Piracy; studio’s letter came in response to the FCC’s request for feedback on its National Broadband Plan. (Ars Technica) (See our previous coverage)
Blockbusters Could Boost DVD Numbers This Quarter; 13 movies that made over $200 million globally at the box office are being released in Q4. (The Wrap)
Tom Green Talks Up His Web Show; says his is the long-running Internet talk show, and it’s profitable though it doesn’t have a sponsor now. (The Hollywood Reporter; we took a tour of his home studio last year)
Vid-Biz: Strobe, NighTline, Jambo
20 Companies Sign on for Adobe’s Strobe; Adap.tv, Akamai, Brightcove, CDNetworks and Digitalsmiths among those supporting Adobe’s open-framework for building custom media players. (release)
Nightline Incorporates Twitter into New Digital Show; NighTline will allow viewers to discuss and debate the news via the micro-blogging service. Show to kick off May 13 at 12:30 p.m. ET online and on ABC’s 24-hour digital channel. (ABC News)
Jambo Media Releases Video Syndication Platform; Jambocast is a white-label product that allows vertically focused sites to build their own video syndication networks. (VideoNuze)
Adap.tv Launches New Player Partner Program; company has integrated its OneSource ad platform with video tools from Brightcove, Kaltura, thePlatform and others in an attempt to make video monetization easier. (Contentinople)
Wistia Releases New Version of Business Video Sharing Product; “Zebra” offers better metrics for customers and allows companies to share videos both privately and publicly. (Wistia)
Babelgum and Cinetic Partner for RAGE Release; the film (about a blogger!) will be released as a series of episodes online and timed to coincide with the movie’s traditional release worldwide. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Vid-Biz: Innovid, Kutiman, ESPN
Watch Subtle Watchmen Ads Through Innovid; video ad placement company changes up posters hung in the background of Kyle Piccolo — Comic Shop Therapist depending on who is watching ad what placements have been seen. (Ad Age)
Kutiman Makes Ultimate YouTube Jam Band; Israeli musician blend integrates music and footage found across the video sharing site into one very cool video. (MediaMemo)
ESPN Introducing New Dynamic Ad Insertion Technology; system can insert interactive video ads during commercial breaks of live sporting events. (Multichannel News)
Adap.tv Releases Upgrade; OpenSource 2.0 claims to make it easier for clients to manage multiple ad servers and ad networks. (Contentinople)
Amazon HD VOD Coming Soon to TiVo? High-definition service may be in testing. (Zatz Not Funny!)
FiOS TV Signs Turner and Sony Content; Verizon’s TV VOD library to get programming from eight Turner channels including CNN, TBS, TNT as well as high-definition movies from Sony like Hancock. (Verizon)
Vid-Biz: thePlatform, Adap.tv, Obam-ads
News Corp.’s News Limited Picks thePlatform; the Australian subsidiary will use the white-label video provider across 50 different digital media properties, including news.com.au and Vogue.com.au. (emailed release)
Adap.tv Partners With EyeWonder; two are teaming up to allow advertisers to create one ad that can run on multiple players across Adap.tv’s ad network. (release)
Advertisers Pony Up for Obama Ad Placements; Sprint, Cisco, Audi and Paul Blart: Mall Cop among those purchasing spots on live-streaming outlets. (Broadcasting & Cable)
Canadian Broadcasters Picking Up Digital Rights to Popular U.S. TV Shows; broadcast Astral says new digital rights won’t be a big money-maker, but will generate interest in the brand and drive people back to linear TV. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Dems Pushing for DTV Delay; efforts so far have been blocked by Republicans. (Variety)
Pixsy Launches Premium Feed; new service allows publishers to search through video clips that already have ads and embed them for a share of the revenue. (TechCrunch)
Sundance Shorts on iTunes; ten films will be available free during the ten days of the festival. (CNET)
Clips From the Inaugural Concert Being Taken Down; songs like those from Pete Seeger during HBO’s free show being pulled from the site. (Talking Points Memo)
Vid-Biz: Jokes.com, Digg, Babelgum
Comedy Central to Relaunch Jokes.com; site will feature an extensive library of clips from the network’s stand-up archive. (Broadcasting & Cable)
Kevin Rose to Interview Al Gore; will ask questions from the Digg community as part of the Digg Dialogg series. (Digg Blog)
Babelgum COO Leaves Company; Michael O’Callaghan departs from the P2P online TV service, company has changed CEO, CTO and COO in the last 13 months. (paidContent)
Circuit City Shuttering 155 Stores; number represents 20 percent of its American stores as the company tries to return to profitability. (The New York Times)
Hitachi to Use Vidyo Technology; telepresence technology will deliver multipoint, HD-quality video conferencing over converged IP networks. (release)
Adap.tv Adds DoubleClick DART and Microsoft Atlas AdManager Functionality; advertising platform now lets publishers sell and serve their own video ad campaigns through these services. (release)
Can Western Digital Succeed Where Sansa TV Failed? New set-top box is a hard drive that you can use to transfer media from your PC to your TV. (VentureBeat)
How the Downturn Will Affect Video Startups: One VC’s Take
We asked Danny Cohen, a venture capitalist at Gemini Israel — which has multiple online video investments including adap.tv, Intercast, and Novafora — what advice he will be giving his startups about coping with the economic downturn.
Cohen first told us that video startups will need to take into account more general industry trends, such as softening demand, fewer new investments by VCs and lowered valuations. He said all startups should make sure they can run for 24 months on their existing cash, and if they can’t, start fund raising ASAP. Cohen also noted that run rates will be important to attracting top talent, who will be holding onto their existing jobs unless you can offer them something really stable.
What about video startups specifically? Here’s Cohen’s take, lightly edited: Read more of this story
Adap.tv Raises $13M for Changed Strategy
Adap.tv, a online video advertising company that changed strategies earlier this year after dipping a toe in the market, has seen enough luck with its second try to merit a big $13 million funding round from new investor Spark Capital and returning investors Redpoint Ventures and Gemini Israel Fund, bringing its total funding to $23 million.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Adap.tv’s initial product was contextually targeted overlaid videos, similar to ScanScout, but earlier this year the company moved to fill another need for publishers: finding the most valuable ads to show on a particular video by comparing a spread of ad networks and a publisher’s internal sales.
The new product, called Adap.tv OneSource, is centered upon compatibility with anyone and everyone in video advertising, from ad networks to ad formats to ad serving platform to custom video players, and incorporates custom rules for determining which ad is most lucrative and appropriate at any given time. Alongside the strategic shift, the company laid off some of its no longer relevant team and made new hires.
Because I’m traveling, I wasn’t able to talk to Adap.tv to try to get a customer list, but if I can procure one tomorrow I’ll update this post. I do find it interesting that the company jumped out of its initial market given how early it is, but it’s also hard to say yet whether that reflects badly on the market or not. The CEO of former competitor VideoEgg says the market for in-video ads will be worth only $50 to $60 million this year for companies other than YouTube, and even YouTube is supposedly considering showing pre-rolls.
Note: Just for full disclosure’s sake, another startup in the video advertising space, BrightRoll, is backed by True Ventures, a venture capital firm that is an investor in the parent company of this blog, Giga Omni Media. Om Malik, founder of Giga Omni Media, is also a venture partner at True.
Popular
Recent
Network
- Apple Grabs a Quarter of U.S. Smartphone Market [TheAppleBlog]
- Linux.conf.au Raises $33K for Charity [OStatic]
- Flickr Co-founder’s New Startup Finds a Glitch [GigaOM]
- Smartphone Share — Google Grows While RIM Slows, Palm Reverses [jkOnTheRun]
- ClientShow: Smoother Pitches [WebWorkerDaily]
- Toyota Troubles: Lessons in How (Not) to Handle a Green Halo [Earth2Tech]
© 2010 The GigaOM Network. Marketing consulting by ACS.
