Regular readers have surely come across the short version of how my old company crushed old media stalwarts Maxim, GQ, Esquire, Playboy et al. and deeper-pocketed competitors such as TheMan ($17M of funding folks!) to become the #1 online magazine in the men’s lifestyle space:
It’s a three step process, are you ready? continue reading...
I’m trying to think who issues more press releases, and seemingly jumps from one “focus area” to another:
According to eMarketer, the size of online advertising revenue is $1.35B in 2008.
Since launching WatchMojo.com in 2006, I’ve had some questions about that figure… so here goes: continue reading...
Last week I was going to comment that according to Compete.com’s stats, both Heavy.com and Mania TV have single digit market shares in the video landscape. If I was running those companies, it would present an interesting dilemma:
- do you focus on a destination strategy and pour more resources into developing your market share, continue reading...
Paid Content refers to a NYT article on CBS which calls for the company that Bill Paley built to make digital acquisitions, which begs the question: should they go for a big purchase or make small moves?
Of course, answering that question alone without addressing the backdrop to that question yields an incomplete picture. continue reading...
Despite the tough financial climate, the week ushered a sizable investment in content producer Next New Networks (N3).
Blue-chip investor Goldman Sachs and media-oriented Velocity Interactive Group (VIG) led a $15M Series B investment round in N3. VIG is the fund that was created by way of a merger between ComVentures and Jon Miller and Ross Levinsohn’s new endeavor. Miller was actually a member of N3’s board. continue reading...
Mania TV adds $5M to their $17M in funding, bringing the total to $22M. Ripe TV remains “king of the hill” funding-wise with $32M… followed by Heavy.com’s $25M but I am not sure if they really fall in video creators anymore…
These amounts are just a “tad” more than the money we’ve invested in WatchMojo.com, of course. I reiterate that you are better off not being funded up the wazoo until you know what your business model will look like and it actually pans out. I’m not alone in thinking that, take it from a pro like Fred Wilson: the following is the most accurate thing I’ve ever read about why VC-backed firms fail (our commentary here and here). continue reading...
Daily Motion is escalating the battle for #3 in their space (after YouTube and MySpace TV).
Online video advertising is growing, quickly. continue reading...
Break.com - one of the many sites vying for #3 in the video file sharing social network space - just decided to veer into new territory by taking on Heavy.com, a broadband media company, by launching an ad network targeting men 18-34.
TechCrunch reports that CEO is expecting rates of $10-30 CPM. Break.com has a sales force of 15, expect all of the players in the space (Metacafe, DailyMotion, Veoh etc.) to ramp up sales teams as online video advertising crosses $1B in expenditures in 2008 - and potentially surpass search ads by 2018. continue reading...
Over the past 2 weeks, women-oriented network Glam.com has recruited senior executives from successful media companies Conde Nast and Fox Interactive Media, this on the heels of hires from new media outfits Doubleclick and MySpace.
They include: continue reading...
