Posts Tagged ‘videonuze’

Money Still Pouring into Online Video

July 6th, 2010

I love when Will Richmond at VideoNuze does his quarterly Online Video investment roundups where he gives a brief synopsis of the state of OV investment for the quarter and lists out the companies and how much they raised. It’s fantastic to see the money continue to pour into our sector and encouraging to note that technology is at the forefront as it signifies that we’re still innovating and trying to make OV related products and services stronger.

What’s most interesting about this past quarter’s investments is how little was actually raised by Online Video Platforms. In fact only one, Brightcove, raised incremental funds recently to the tune of $12 million for what was thought to be for small acquisitions though we have not seen any roll-ups yet. But my guess is we will, soon. Kit Digital can’t be the only OVP out there with an acquisition strategy and we’re already seeing/hearing of OVPs whom are looking for further financing and struggling to find it.

Is the “traditional” OVP, offering only the big 5 (ingest, encode, store, manage, playback) going the way of The Feedroom? If they don’t specialize and address a real pain-point then my guess is yes, without a doubt, there will be more M&A in the near future (broken record). What are your thoughts; will we see more specialization in the space, a move towards a DIY workflow method a la Unicorn Media, Twistage, and EOS, or something else altogether?

Move Networks on the Move

June 30th, 2010

There’s a lot of talk this morning about recent activities over at Move Networks, an early leader in IP video delivery. It seems they’ve laid off the entire staff as mentioned by Will Richmond at VideoNuze leaving only the CFO holding the bag, or what’s left of it. And Ryan Lawler at NewTeeVee pointed out an interesting Tweet by Move this morning suggesting they’re looking for a buyout worth $150 million. We removed Move from the VidCompare directory several months ago when they hired Roxanne Austin and changed their business model, moving further from providing online video platform services.

It’s unfortunate to see another online video business go the way of Veoh, and SesameVault but it’s as we all predicted for this and next year. We’ll definitely see more M&A activity in the OVP space this year and even a few more shutterings but that’s not to say the sector is hurting, not by a long shot. Again, it’s specialization that will keep the big “C” (commodotization) from creeping up on us. Recent announcements from Ooyala with their focus on monetization and analytics, advanced analytics from VMIX, and new technologies from Unicorn Media’s workflow solutions all point to a move towards finding a niche, a need, a purpose.

I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Move, as we haven’t yet of Veoh (recent Tweet: Hey everyone, it’s been a while. But Veoh is coming back in a big way. We can’t wait for you all to see what we have in store.). My guess is they kept CFO, Jamie Harper in place to recap the company in an attempt to hang on long enough to find a buyer.

People I Like to Read in Online Video

August 30th, 2009

OVI start my day like many others who enjoy and occasionally write about Online Video, reading. There are a select few writers I read every day who in my opinion cover the space best, this post is dedicated to them. Why? Because they educate readers like you and me from their vast experience in and knowledge of the online video world.

Larry Kless runs KlessBlog and has been covering online video trends, online video platforms, and the industry in general for many years. He’s a well respected activist in our space and this year was nominated a Streaming Media All-Star by the good folks at StreamingMedia.com. My favorite aspect of Larry’s blog is his engaging video interviews and his thorough approach.

Ryan Lawler, senior editor of Contentinople acts fast, getting the word out about online video platform news toot sweet. I can always count on Ryan to get the facts straight and often ahead of the pack.

Mark Robertson, founder of ReelSEO has been running the site for years as a side business but has recently left his day job behind to pursue his dreams of covering the space full-time. Mark’s blog covers the highly interesting topic of video SEO and optimization as well as general news in OV.

Day Rayburn, one of the first to dedicate himself completely to online video has been deeply entrenched in the space for longer than I can remember. Dan’s got his finger on every intricate detail in OV, especially the CDN side with his blog BusinessOfVideo.com. He is also Executive Vice President of StreamingMedia.com, and is very active in the space via conferences (Online Video Platform Summit, StreamingMedia East, StreamingMedia West, and others). And don’t bother contradicting him, he’ll talk you out of it.

Pete Wylie, editor of FierceOnlineVideo. I’ve been a fan of the Fierce web sites and newsletters since I was at CNET almost 5 years ago. Pete’s blog is a newer addition to the network and my personal favorite. What I like about Pete is his straightforward approach and no nonsense attitude. He digs in and tells it like it is, the straight dope.

Will Richmond is founder and editor of VideoNuze, an informative and well-rounded news and analysis blog covering several different aspects of the OV space. Will knows the space well and everyone in it, often drumming up key players for engaging podcasts, and webinars. I also like his “4 Items Worth Noting” weekly roundup.

Kudos to you guys, thanks for educating us.

LLOV! (long live online video)