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VideoNuze Report Podcast #94 - Apr. 8, 2011
I'm pleased to present the 94th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for April 8, 2011.
In this week's podcast, Daisy Whitney and I discuss Q1 '11 financings and M&A for online/mobile video companies. In Monday's post I wrote that at least $477 million was raised in Q1, which is a new record quarter since I began tracking activity 2 years ago. I break down the numbers and Daisy and I discuss what they mean.
Then I add a little more detail to my post from yesterday announcing the first 8 charter partners and 2 keynote speakers for ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit on Tues., June 7th in NYC. The conference is really shaping up and there will be lots of additional news in the coming weeks.
Next week finds Daisy at Ad:Tech and I'll be in Las Vegas at the NAB Show. We're hoping our schedules coincide so we can present podcast #95 next Friday!
Click here to listen to the podcast (12 minutes, 20 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
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Categories: Deals & Financings, Podcasts
Topics: Deals and Financings, Podcast
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Eight Charter Partners and Two Keynote Speakers Announced for ELEVATE Conference
I'm very pleased to announce that eight industry-leading companies have
come on board as charter partners for ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 7th in New York City. In addition, two of the most esteemed executives in the industry, Albert Cheng, Executive Vice President, Digital Media, Disney/ABC Television, and David Kenny, President, Akamai Technologies (and former Managing Partner of VivaKi, and Chairman/CEO of Digitas), will be delivering keynotes. David Kenny will also be moderating a panel discussion including 2-3 senior executives from a brand/agency/content publisher following his remarks.
ELEVATE's eight charter partners include:
Title Partners: Auditude, VINDICO
Premier Partners: Adap.tv
Headline Partners: Innovid, HealthiNation, Panache, RAMP
Participating Partners: Undertone Networks
Categories: Events
Topics: ELEVATE
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Limelight Video Platform Introduces Spring '11 Release
Limelight Video Platform (LVP) is announcing its Spring 2011 release this morning, adding new features that leverage the underlying Limelight
computing platform. LVP is the new name of the updated product from Delve Networks, which Limelight acquired about 8 months ago. Yesterday I caught up with Alex Castro, VP/GM of LVP to learn more.
There are 4 new features LVP is introducing:
Categories: Technology
Topics: Limelight Networks
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Are QR Codes the Next Big Thing for Magazines' Video?
Most likely you've noticed the black and white puzzle-looking square images popping up all over the place, known as "QR codes." I've been curious about them but I've never had a call to action.
That changed recently when I was reading an article about Larry Baer, president of the San Francisco Giants, winner of last year's World Series, in my business school alumni magazine. It was a fascinating article about how Baer and his partners had surmounted all kinds of odds to take an underfunded losing team and completely turn them around, all while endearing themselves to their local community through tons of outreach.
Because my world is so video-centric, as I was reading the article, I periodically thought, "Wow, I'd love to see this guy and really learn more about his style." Alas, a print magazine has traditionally had little opportunity to deliver on that expectation. However, there at the end of the article was a QR code, with the message "Scan the mobile bar code with your smartphone to see Larry Baer talking about applying his HBS training to baseball decision-making."
Categories: Magazines
Topics: QR code
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Last Chance for Free NAB Show Pass
Last chance to grab a free exhibits pass for the NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 11-13. There will be a lot of high-value learning and networking around online and mobile video. I'll be involved in activities on both Monday and Tuesday.
On Monday morning I'll be moderating a Super Session at 10:30am, "Connected TV: Smart Devices, New Strategies," which will feature Richard Buchanan (VP/GM, Content Operations, Comcast Media Center), Wilfred Martis (GM, Retail CE Products, Digital Home, Intel Corp), Susan Panico (Senior Director, PlayStation Network, Sony Computer Entertainment America), Jack Perry (Founder and CEO, Syncbak) and Paul Wehrley (co-founder and COO, Clicker). Connected TVs and devices are red-hot, and we will discuss their implications on the traditional TV ecosystem, how consumers are using them and what's ahead.
Categories: Events
Topics: NAB Show
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At Least $477 Million Raised By Private Online/Mobile Video Companies In Q1 '11
Private online and mobile video-related companies around the world raised at least $477 million in Q1 '11 providing more evidence of intense investor interest in the space. Of the total, approximately $340 million was raised by international companies, with approximately $137 million raised by U.S. companies. The international total was dominated by Softbank's $250 million investment for a 35% stake in China's Synacast Corporation, which operates the "PPTV" online TV service. The other significant international financing was Orange's 58.8 million euro (approximately $83 million) investment in video aggregator Dailymotion, for a 49% stake.
In the U.S. 15 financings were reported, with almost 80% of the amount collectively raised by 6 companies: SnagFilms ($10M), Auditude ($11M), Kaltura ($20M), boxee ($16.5M), Adap.tv ($20M) and TidalTV ($30M). As has been typical in prior quarters, all of these companies are involved in or rely on online video advertising in one way or another.
Q1 also produced at least 15 online/mobile video M&A deals, the most since VideoNuze began tracking the market nearly 2 years ago. The focus of these deals was varied and occurred both internationally and in the U.S. In the former category, examples included Amazon's acquisition of remaining shares of LOVEFiLM (the "Netflix of Europe"), AOL Europe's acquisition of video distribution network goviral and Prague-based KIT Digital's rollup of KickApps, Kyte and Kewego. In the U.S. some of the noteworthy deals included Cisco's acquisition of video encoder Inlet Technologies, YouTube's buyout of independent video producer Next New Networks, Tremor Media's acquisition of mobile video ad firm Transpera and CBS Interactive's acquisition of online video guide Clicker.
Categories: Deals & Financings
Topics: Deals, Financings
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Visible Measures Leverages Data With New "Viewable Media" Video Ad Network
Just when you thought there couldn't be room for another video ad network, analytics provider Visible Measures is launching a new one this morning called Viewable Media. However, Viewable Media has a few key differentiators which will be fresh for publishers and advertisers, in turn raising the bar for other ad networks. Brian Shin, Visible Measures' CEO explained Viewable Media's approach to me late last week.
With Viewable Media, Visible Measures is leveraging its Viral Reach database that it has been building on viewership and engagement for over 400 million
different videos since it began operations. To date this data has been packaged into different products so that advertisers and publishers can track various videos' performance. But as Brian explained, advertisers and media buyers have been encouraging Visible Measures to also use the data to enhance the online video ad buying process with better targeting and improved efficiency. That's where Viewable Media comes in.
Categories: Advertising
Topics: Viewable Media, Visible Measures
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Innovid Launches iRoll Apps For Easy Interactive Pre-Roll Ads
Innovid is introducing "iRoll apps" this morning to allow easy creation and deployment of interactive pre-roll ads. In addition to popular engagement features like Facebook sharing, Twitter following, YouTube posting and custom text labels, iRoll apps also allows a range of additional apps (now or coming soon) like coupon downloads, store locator with Google Maps, ticket purchase, chat, related docs and more. Last week I got an in-person demo from Zvika Netter, Innovid's CEO and co-founder and Rob Banning, director of marketing.
With iRoll apps, Innovid is looking to jumpstart a world where all pre-roll ads include interactivity. As Zvika explained, Innovid sees the pre-roll ad itself becoming browser-like, with all interactivity built right into the video window. This kind of seamless experience means that when users click within the ad, new content and options are loaded in the window itself, rather than having new browser windows pop up, which often leads to delays and a process of getting oriented, not to mention leaving the ad behind.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: Innovid, iRoll Apps
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