tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41 2008-09-01T07:07:42Z Movable Type 3.33 tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.43242 2008-09-01T04:45:00Z 2008-09-01T07:07:42Z

The player: Jason Glickman, CEO of Tremor Media, an online video advertising network. The play: Tremor Media pairs Web video content from more than 1,000 online publishers with ads from major brands. Tremor groups publishers into Web channels, such as...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Jason Glickman, CEO of Tremor Media, an online video advertising network. The play: Tremor Media pairs Web video content from more than 1,000 online publishers with ads from major brands. Tremor groups publishers into Web channels, such as sports, finance, technology and health, and then sells against those channels to marketers. “We represent only video and rich media, so we don’t touch banners or buttons,” Mr. Glickman said. The pitch: Tremor Media’s network of sites draws 105 million unique users each month and can deliver ads in potentially 1 billion video streams each month. That scale lets Tremor Media sell at a “good price,” Mr. Glickman said. He added that Tremor can target ads via behavior and demographics on the Web. Tremor Media integrates with the existing third-party ad serving applications that media agencies already use, which “makes video buying easier,” Mr. Glickman said. In the mix: About half the ads Tremor Media serves are pre-rolls; the other half are rich media ads. Tremor focuses exclusively on delivering ads against professionally produced content and does not include any user-created videos in its network. Publishers include A&E, TheWB.com, the Wall Street Journal, RipeTV, HealthCentral and others. Advertisers buying via Tremor include American Express, Sony, Circuit City and IBM. Tremor’s competitors include Broadband Enterprises, BrightRoll and VideoEgg. The backstory: Mr. Glickman founded Tremor Media in 2004 with a focus on video banner ads. Tremor shifted to include in-stream video two years ago, acquiring dynamic ad-insertion technology Dynadco to accomplish this. Glickman said Tremor Media is expanding to Europe. The money guys: Tremor Media has raised more than $20 million in venture funding in two rounds with lead investors Canaan Partners and Masthead Venture Partners. Tremor also took a strategic funding round from European Founders Fund. Tremor makes money based on a fee paid by the agencies and advertisers against the expected ad rates. Mr. Glickman said Tremor will reach profitability this year. The pros: Tremor targets its ads and has begun delivering shorter pre-rolls. Most are 15 seconds in length, with some advertisers cutting their pre-rolls down to 5 or 10 seconds, Mr. Glickman said. “When you do a pre-roll with a frequency cap, and it’s once a session or once every 10 videos, it’s a more acceptable format.” The cons: Consumers don’t like pre-roll ads, and that’s half of what Tremor Media delivers. Background: Mr. Glickman was born and raised in East Brunswick, N.J. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics from Rutgers University. Before founding Tremor, he co-founded ContextualNet, a contextual and behavioral ad representation company. He is 32 and lives in Princeton with his wife and child. Who knew? Mr. Glickman said he’s a pop culture trivia expert and a walking encyclopedia of Bruce Springsteen knowledge. ]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.42991 2008-08-25T04:45:00Z 2008-08-25T06:06:56Z

The player: Buno Pati, CEO of Sezmi The play: Sezmi, a next-generation TV service that delivers traditional TV networks, movies and broadband video via the TV set, is designed to be a wholesale replacement for cable and satellite TV. Sezmi...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Buno Pati, CEO of Sezmi The play: Sezmi, a next-generation TV service that delivers traditional TV networks, movies and broadband video via the TV set, is designed to be a wholesale replacement for cable and satellite TV. Sezmi partners with telephone companies and other alternative service providers that don’t offer their own multichannel service. Those providers then offer Sezmi as a multichannel video package. “We are a wholesaler. We wholesale this end-to-end television service to broadband service providers, wireless ISPs and others who have voice and data but not video,” Mr. Pati said. The pitch: Mr. Pati said Sezmi is coming into the market with a higher level of service at a lower cost than traditional TV. Sezmi is not an “over-the-top” play like an Apple TV that delivers add-on Web video content or movies to the TV. Instead, Sezmi will be packaged by alternative service providers as a competitor to cable or satellite. Also, Sezmi will offer a core package of channels, with additional channels available a la carte. “The entry package is a high-end package that covers nearly 90% of the shows people watch,” Mr. Pati said. The Sezmi service also includes ads that can be targeted and measured via clicks. Broadband video analyst Will Richmond of VideoNuze.com described Sezmi in a story as “the first bona fide broadband/on-demand competitor to cable TV and satellite operators.” In the mix: Sezmi has inked deals with a handful of telcos, but Mr. Pati declined to disclose the partners. He did say Sezmi has started trials with some telcos and expects to launch service next year. Sezmi also has signed up content providers for the service, including most cable and broadcast networks, Mr. Pati said. Backstory: The company was founded in 2006 by Mr. Pati and Phil Wiser, Sony’s former chief technology officer. Sezmi spent the first few years on technology development and dealmaking before announcing the service this past spring. Sezmi is based in Belmont, Calif., and has offices in Santa Monica, Calif., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The money guys: Mr. Pati and Mr. Weiser funded the company themselves with an undisclosed sum. Earlier this year they landed $17.5 million in venture funding in a round led by Morganthaler Ventures. Sezmi makes money by licensing its service to broadband providers. The pros: About 34 million cable homes subscribe only to analog cable, providing an opportunity for Sezmi to upsell them. In addition, about 20 million homes do not have cable. Because Sezmi will be cheaper than incumbents, Mr. Pati expects to lure some of those customers to become multichannel customers. VideoNuze’s Mr. Richmond said Sezmi combines “the best of the traditional linear broadcast/cable network model with broadband, on-demand, digital video recording, personalization, social networking and ease of use that many of us now consider second nature.” The cons: Changing entrenched consumer behavior is hard. Sezmi is going after a big market that is deep with incumbents including Comcast, DirecTV and Time Warner. Background: Mr. Pati was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Italy, India, Switzerland and the United States. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, with additional post-doctorate work at Stanford. He has worked as a professor at Harvard, been an angel investor and served as CEO of several early-stage, venture-funded technology companies. He is married with two kids. Who knew? Mr. Pati is an accomplished musician who plays a wide variety of instruments. He has a music study at his house where he regularly jams with Mr. Wiser and other friends. Mr. Pati and Mr. Wiser have been friends and fellow musicians for 18 years. ]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.42639 2008-08-18T04:50:00Z 2008-08-18T04:56:56Z

The players: Ariel McNichol and Julia Johnston, co-CEOs of Mego The play: Mego is a widget that contains personalized multimedia profiles that can live on social networking sites and blogs. Mego markets its service to consumers so they can create...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The players: Ariel McNichol and Julia Johnston, co-CEOs of Mego The play: Mego is a widget that contains personalized multimedia profiles that can live on social networking sites and blogs. Mego markets its service to consumers so they can create customized, visual representations of themselves to be used across their social networking sites. Mego is targeting the 14-to-24-year-old age group because they are heavy social network users. The pitch: As social networking sites and services proliferate, Mego is pitching itself as a one-stop shop. Users create a profile once and can then upload that from one location to a range of sites, such as a blog or personal Web site, as well as to MySpace, Facebook and soon iPhones. Users can automatically include personal content from YouTube, Netflix, Flickr, Amazon and other sources in their Mego profiles. Mego updates automatically in real time as users update their profile. That lets heavy Internet users more easily manage their social networks. In the mix: Ms. McNichol said Mego profiles are posted on more than 600 social networking sites around the world and generate 12 million widget views per month via viral distribution. A widget is a smaller representation of a site that lives on another Web site. Mego counts about 250,000 registered users and is adding more than 1,000 each day. Mego is in negotiations with major brands, television shows and movies for promotions to generate online interest in the service. Earlier this year, Mego powered a campaign for Adidas and singer Missy Elliot. Backstory: Ms. McNichol and Ms. Johnston founded the company three years ago and have raised $4 million in angel funding. Mego is based in Los Angeles. The money guys: The pair has not taken venture funding. Mego makes money through sponsored campaigns, such as the one for Adidas, as well as advertising on the site and the widget. The pros: “We are like a one-stop shop for everything a 14- to 24-year-old would do online, like watch YouTube videos, check friend requests, make an avatar and create a profile,” Ms. Johnston said. The cons: Mego is pursuing TV networks and brands for partnerships and ad dollars, but those companies receive tons of pitches from a wide range of online media firms each day. Mego will need to find ways to stand out with media companies who are weary. Background: Ms. McNichol was born and raised in Los Angeles. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Before founding Mego, she had been involved with software, Web site and game product development and design for clients including Yahoo, AOL and Disney. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her son. Ms. Johnston, born and raised in Toronto, earned an economics degree from Princeton and a law degree from the University of Toronto. Prior to Mego, she headed up business development for Asian media firm PCCW. She lives in Los Angeles. The two women met while working in London in 2000 on NOW.com, a PCCW company. Who knew? Ms. McNichol had a baby three months before Mego’s launch and was known for sending e-mails from the delivery room. Ms. Johnston said she can speak in rhyme anytime and hold full conversations while rhyming everything she says. ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.42427 2008-08-11T04:40:08Z 2008-08-11T05:57:50Z

The player: Mark Portu, CEO of the FeedRoom The play: The FeedRoom is a white-label video solutions provider targeting enterprises and media companies that want to deliver video online. The FeedRoom counts about 85 large corporate customers on its roster....

Greg Baumann tvweek.com The player: Mark Portu, CEO of the FeedRoom The play: The FeedRoom is a white-label video solutions provider targeting enterprises and media companies that want to deliver video online. The FeedRoom counts about 85 large corporate customers on its roster. The pitch: The FeedRoom is similar to Brightcove and other online TV platform providers, but differentiates itself with key features, Mr. Portu said. “We think we are tighter and lighter, but we also have other services. We differentiate with the ability to do live and we have a business unit for the live streaming business,” Mr. Portu said. The FeedRoom can integrate its player technology into its clients’ enterprise software and back-end infrastructure. He also said FeedRoom offers a disabled-accessible player that works with assisted technology devices. In the mix: FeedRoom customers include Hewlett-Packard, Barnes & Noble, USA Today, the New York Times and U.S. News & World Report. FeedRoom handles live and on-demand Web video for many of those companies. The backstory: The FeedRoom was founded in 1999 by Jon Klein, who left in 2004 and is now the president of CNN. The FeedRoom was originally conceived as a media company that aggregated video clips. Now it has become a technology player. Mr. Portu joined 10 months ago and is charged with building out the company’s tools and infrastructure. The money guys: The FeedRoom is a venture-backed company that has raised $61 million in total funding, including a recently completed round for $12 million led by NewSpring Capital; those funds will be allocated to increasing headcount in development, sales and marketing. The company makes money via license fees for its software and expects to be profitable by 2010. The pros: FeedRoom has powered 2 billion streams since the business launched and expects to deliver 500 million video streams on the Web this year. The cons: The video provisioning business is hypercompetitive, with firms such as Brightcove, Maven, thePlatform, PermissionTV and others jockeying for business. Background: Mr. Portu was born in Queens, N.Y., and raised in Queens and on Long Island. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree from New York University. Before joining FeedRoom, he was CEO of an enterprise content-management software company and also co-founded an electronic-document management firm. He now lives in Portsmouth, N.H., and commutes to New York, where FeedRoom is based. He is married with three children. Who knew? “I have a beautiful sailboat in my barn. It will not be wet this year or next,” he said. ]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.42087 2008-08-04T04:50:00Z 2008-08-09T01:42:12Z

The player: Mike Shehan, CEO of SpotXchange The play: SpotXchange is an online video advertising network that brokers deals for ads against online video content. Ads can be pre-rolls, overlays, banners and pre-game ads in which a video advertisement plays...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Mike Shehan, CEO of SpotXchange The play: SpotXchange is an online video advertising network that brokers deals for ads against online video content. Ads can be pre-rolls, overlays, banners and pre-game ads in which a video advertisement plays before a casual game starts. SpotXchange is the sister company to Booyah Networks, which builds technologies and provides solutions for sponsored search. The pitch: Because of parent company Booyah’s work in search, SpotXchange can allow advertisers to tweak their campaigns on the fly based on real-time Web results, much like advertisers can do with search campaigns. “We provide a lot of transparency to allow advertisers to see exactly where their ads are being placed. They can load and launch campaigns within minutes as opposed to 30 days,” Mr. Shehan said. “The biggest thing our advertisers appreciate is the ability to optimize campaigns based on performance, just like you would with search.” Advertisers can pick and choose the sites and inventory they want. In the mix: SpotXchange reaches 84 million people per month across its network of publishers, including Blinkx.com, ClipSyndicate.com, Pando.com, Videojug.com, Voxant.com and Vuze.com. Advertisers have included big brands like the U.S. Army and Ford, agencies like Universal McCann and direct-response marketers like Netflix. SpotXchange also works with local advertisers such as attorneys, retailers and restaurants because SpotXchange can target by city. “It’s a powerful marketing tool because it does drive phone calls and leads to them. For every local video ad, we overlay with a unique phone tracking number,” he said. The backstory: Mr. Shehan founded parent company Booyah in 2001 with proceeds from selling his house. That company is now profitable. The money guys: SpotXchange was funded by Booyah Networks at launch in 2006 with $6 million. The company also has raised an undisclosed amount of strategic investment money. SpotXchange makes money from selling ads and expects to be profitable in 12 to 24 months. The pros: Online video advertising is a fast-growing business and revenue should rise from $471 million last year to $7.2 billion in 2012, according to Forrester Research. The cons: Competition is stiff from online video ad networks like Tremor Media and Broadband Enterprises. Background: Mr. Shehan was born in Westchester, Pa., and grew up in Baltimore. He graduated with a degree in biology from Vanderbilt University. Before founding Booyah in 2001, he was CEO of an image search technology firm and founded e-commerce company Logex. He lives in the Denver area with his wife and four children. Who knew? In 2001 Mr. Shehan and his wife sold their dream home in Boulder, Colo., to fund Booyah Networks. Three months after they moved the house was featured in Better Homes & Gardens, with the couple in front of the home on the cover. ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.41836 2008-07-28T05:00:00Z 2008-07-28T05:14:44Z

The player: Christian Sterner, CEO of Wellcome Mat The play: Wellcome Mat is designed to be a “hyper-local online video hub.” The company acts as a matchmaker, connecting local production companies with local businesses that want to produce Web videos...

Sergio Ibarra tvweek.com The player: Christian Sterner, CEO of Wellcome Mat The play: Wellcome Mat is designed to be a “hyper-local online video hub.” The company acts as a matchmaker, connecting local production companies with local businesses that want to produce Web videos about their services. Wellcome Mat then provides the technology platform to host, distribute and manage those videos on the Web. Ad revenue from local online video will grow to $1.5 billion in 2012, up from $10.9 million last year, according to the Kelsey Group. Also, about 28% of newspaper Web sites and 22% of TV sites now have interactive directories for such ads, said local media research firm Borrell Associates. The pitch: Mr. Sterner is a big believer in the local advertising opportunity online. “Local is where the biggest opportunity is, because there is an immediate and long-lasting payoff,” he said. Wellcome Mat’s technology also includes chaptering, which lets online viewers jump easily to different segments of a video. In the mix: Wellcome Mat competes with online video technology platforms such as Brightcove and Magnify.net, but Wellcome Mat is exclusively focused on local video production. Clients include national and local real estate brokerage firms, ForSaleByOwner.com and other local businesses, such as restaurants and hotels. The company is working to strike deals with Web portals, interactive directors, directories such as Yellow Pages and local media companies. Wellcome Mat counts 1,400 videographers in its network and recently struck a deal with local video production company TurnHere to include TurnHere’s videographers and content in the Wellcome Mat service. The backstory: Mr. Sterner founded the company in Boulder, Colo., in March 2005 and launched the service commercially in June 2006. The company has offices in Colorado and New York. The money guys: Wellcome Mat is self-funded and Mr. Sterner raised an undisclosed amount from family and friends. He said he has turned down venture capital because he believes he can grow without it. Wellcome Mat is paid monthly fees by its larger customers and plans to offer a premium tier of service with additional support and features in the coming months. He expects to achieve profitability in 2009 or 2010. The pros: As the local TV advertising business continues to contract, local businesses likely will shift ad dollars from local TV to the Web. The cons: Wellcome Mat needs to continue to broaden from its core base of Realtors so it doesn’t simply become known as an online video real estate hub. Background: Mr. Sterner was born in Summit, N.J., and raised in both New Jersey and Atlanta. He studied English literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He worked for an Internet security firm before founding Wellcome Mat. He is 32 and lives in Boulder with his wife and two children. Who knew? Mr. Sterner and his employees in New York often wear space suits around town with a video screen wrapped around the neck saying, “What are you doing to stand out online?” They then tell people: “Local video is the answer.” ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.41491 2008-07-21T04:52:00Z 2008-07-21T05:04:56Z

The player: Kevin Chou, CEO of Watercooler The play: Watercooler creates and operates fan communities for TV shows. Those communities live on social networking sites. “We bring together fans to discuss their favorite shows and interact with each other and...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Kevin Chou, CEO of Watercooler The play: Watercooler creates and operates fan communities for TV shows. Those communities live on social networking sites. “We bring together fans to discuss their favorite shows and interact with each other and post images, share quotes and videos,” Mr. Chou said. The pitch: Watercooler focuses on building communities across five major social networking sites: Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Hi5 and Friendster. The goal of that distribution strategy is to reach consumers where they are already hanging out online, rather than trying to drive them to a new destination. In the mix: Watercooler counts 24 million registered users for its various TV show and sports communities. About 95% of users are under 35 and 50% are under 22. The “Grey’s Anatomy” fan community powered by Watercooler counts 750,000 fans; “Heroes,” 400,000; and “Friends,” 750,000. Watercooler has struck partnerships with media companies including MGM, USA Network and Showtime to create unique fan content for these communities. As the fall TV season approaches, Watercooler expects to line up deals with additional TV networks to promote their new and returning shows. The company’s competitors include TV.com and Fancast.com. The backstory: Mr. Chou founded the company in November 2006. Watercooler focused on Facebook initially, and has evolved to include other social networks. The money guys: Watercooler landed $4 million in venture funding after launch from Canaan Partners. Watercooler makes money by selling ads around the content. Mr. Chou expects to reach profitability in 2009. Advertisers have included Verizon, Panasonic, Pontiac, Samsung, ESPN and AMP Energy Drink. The pros: By locating the communities on social networking sites, Watercooler makes it easier for fans to join. Also, because Watercooler counts 24 million active users, advertisers can reach a large group of TV fans in a single ad buy. The cons: Mr. Chou said the biggest challenge is convincing networks that Watercooler fan communities are additive marketing channels that can deepen their relationships with fans. Background: Mr. Chou was born and raised in Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UC Berkeley. Prior to Watercooler, Mr. Chou spent several years as a venture capitalist with Canaan Partners and an investment banker for Deutsche Bank. He lives in Mountain View, Calif. Who knew? After graduating from college, Mr. Chou was a professional poker player for a few years.]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.31754 2008-07-14T04:50:00Z 2008-07-14T23:15:27Z

The player: Josh Warner, president of the Feed Company The play: The Feed Company is a marketing firm that seeds viral video marketing campaigns for brands across the Web. Feed Company employs word of mouth, social media and public relations...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Josh Warner, president of the Feed Company The play: The Feed Company is a marketing firm that seeds viral video marketing campaigns for brands across the Web. Feed Company employs word of mouth, social media and public relations to build up online views for brands that have created viral videos, such as Ray-Ban and Levi’s. “It’s become increasingly complex to reach millions of users at these hundreds and hundreds of social destinations,” Mr. Warner said. “If you want something to take off on its own, film two otters swimming backwards holding hands.” The pitch: Feed Company relies on several tactics to generate views for videos. The company optimizes viral videos for search, talks about the videos in online forums and reaches out to top bloggers, editors of video sites and influential connectors on social networking sites. The key to a successful viral marketing campaign is knowing when to reveal the brand behind it. “There has to be a reveal, and you can get into trouble if you wait too long,” he said. When Feed Company seeded a video for Levi’s of a guy who backflips into his jeans, the YouTube poster name was “Unbuttoned Films,” which was the first hint that the video was from a brand, Mr. Warner said. In the mix: Feed Company has distributed and marketed online viral video campaigns for major advertisers and agencies including Microsoft Zune, Intel, Ray-Ban, Disney, Deutsch/LA and Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Last year’s viral video for Ray-Ban in which a guy catches sunglasses on his face generated more than 13 million views across various video sites and was covered by MSNBC and other TV outlets, Mr. Warner said. Feed Company competes against marketing firms including Viral Factory, Kontraband and Go Viral. The backstory: Mr. Warner founded Feed Company in 2007 in Los Angeles for less than $100,000. He said he was inspired to start the company after he helped YouTube celebrity Lisa Nova package a promotion for Warner Bros. Records that resulted in a million views on YouTube for the Flaming Lips, one of the label’s top groups. The money guys: With seven employees, the Feed Company is profitable and on track to exceed $1 million in revenue this year. That figure should double or triple next year, Mr. Warner said. The company is paid on a performance basis for the videos it distributes. Feed Company guarantees a base of a quarter million views and then is paid more for additional benchmarks achieved. The pros: Brands increasingly are looking for ways to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Also, viral videos, with their buzz factor and high pass-around rate, can be an effective means to capture consumer interest. The cons: Consumers could grow weary of trying to figure out if a video is real or has been created by a marketer. Background: Mr. Warner was born and raised in Boston and earned a journalism degree at Boston University. He previously headed marketing at content delivery network Nine Systems. He lives in Los Angeles. Who knew? Mr. Warner worked with the Rolling Stones when he was in the new-media department at Virgin Records.]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.31539 2008-07-04T04:00:00Z 2008-07-07T04:42:34Z

The player: Benjamin Wayne, CEO and founder of Fliqz, a private-label online video solution. The play: Fliqz provides the tools for companies to quickly integrate video into their Web sites. Fliqz offers a video player, software to ingest the video,...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Benjamin Wayne, CEO and founder of Fliqz, a private-label online video solution. The play: Fliqz provides the tools for companies to quickly integrate video into their Web sites. Fliqz offers a video player, software to ingest the video, transcoding and encoding, ad serving and management and sharing features. The player isn’t branded, which allows customers to provide a white-label experience for users. The pitch: Fliqz is marketing the simplicity of its offering, Mr. Wayne said. “We have tools that can be deployed in 30 minutes or less, as opposed to 30 to 45 days,” he said. “It’s very cost-effective and it’s completely white-label, so it can match your look and feel.” In the mix: Fliqz customers include Autobytel, Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, T-Mobile, the Mill Valley Film Festival and VH1. Major League Baseball used the service for a Baby Ruth-sponsored contest to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Fliqz competes with online TV platforms such as Brightcove as well as other private-label solutions, such as Twistage. Fliqz has about 18,000 customers. The backstory: Mr. Wayne founded the company in 2005 in Emeryville, Calif. The money guys: Fliqz raised about $6.5 million in venture funding from Mohr Davidow Ventures. Customers pay for services, with monthly fees ranging from about $100 to a few thousand dollars. Mr. Wayne expects to achieve profitability in a year. The pros: Small and large businesses alike are recognizing that video is a must-have for a Web site. “In the next two years every site will figure out video needs to be a part of their offering, and most aren’t going to do it themselves,” Mr. Wayne said. The cons: Competition is stiff in the online technology business, with competitors including Brightcove, Magnify, Twistage, Permission TV, thePlatform and Maven. Also, monetization models for online video have not fully crystallized yet. Background: Mr. Wayne was born and raised in Santa Barbara, Calif. He earned an architecture degree from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard. He previously served as president and CEO of Collabrys, a provider of outsourced services, and Smartshop.com, an online comparison shopping portal. He lives in Oakland, Calif. Who knew? Mr. Wayne spent four years living in Southeast Asia and speaks Korean. He went to South Korea on a Fulbright grant and also owned a business there.]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.31317 2008-06-30T04:50:05Z 2008-06-30T06:01:59Z

The player: Perry Wu, CEO of BitGravity The play: BitGravity is a high-end content delivery network for Internet video that routes high-quality media around the Internet. “We call it interactive broadcast, and what we do is make that possible,” Mr....

Julieanne Smolinski tvweek.com The player: Perry Wu, CEO of BitGravity The play: BitGravity is a high-end content delivery network for Internet video that routes high-quality media around the Internet. “We call it interactive broadcast, and what we do is make that possible,” Mr. Wu said. BitGravity operates behind the scenes to deliver media across the Web. As the Internet grows crowded with video, the ability to route video quickly and easily rises in importance. The pitch: Mr. Wu said the company’s special sauce is delivering video immediately at a high quality and low price. In the mix: BitGravity competes against companies such as Move Networks and Edgecast. BitGravity clients include Tom Green, who broadcasts live on the Internet at www.tomgreen.com, as well as Getty Images, InterActiveCorp, Sling Media and Revision3, the online television network. Revision3 uses BitGravity to deliver shows such as “Diggnation” and “Tekzilla” to iTunes, Blip.tv, Hulu and other sites that carry its shows. “We are like a service bureau for these content companies,” Mr. Wu said. “We’re the zip in the video. We make it look good, play well, play instantaneously, play at high quality, so they don’t have to worry about that stuff.” BitGravity expects to make deals in the coming months for media, sports and music on the Web. The backstory: Mr. Wu founded the company two years ago in Burlingame, Calif. YouTube was an early customer before it was bought by Google. The money guys: Mr. Wu and private investors put an undisclosed amount of seed money in the company. BitGravity has been profitable from the beginning and is aiming to expand worldwide later this year. BitGravity makes money by charging a delivery fee for content. The pros: As content providers migrate to high-definition and other high-quality video online, BitGravity is well-positioned to seize that business. The cons: BitGravity likely will face powerful competitors in companies like IBM and possibly Google. Background: Mr. Wu was born in Castro Valley, Calif., and raised in San Jose. He earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard. Prior to BitGravity, Mr. Wu was a general partner at ComVentures; he also was a venture capitalist with Accel Partners and Bedrock Capital. He lives in Burlingame with his wife and three daughters. Who knew? Mr. Wu attended a high school in San Jose with a reputation for being one of the most stressful high schools in the country, but he finished as the valedictorian, held state records in swimming and went on to play varsity water polo at Stanford. ]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.31060 2008-06-23T04:58:21Z 2008-06-23T06:15:00Z

The player: Shoba Purushothaman, CEO of the NewsMarket, an online video marketplace for news content The play: The NewsMarket is a Web-based service that supplies video from companies, news organizations, non-profits, institutions and agencies to broadcast and online news outlets...

Julieanne Smolinski tvweek.com The player: Shoba Purushothaman, CEO of the NewsMarket, an online video marketplace for news content The play: The NewsMarket is a Web-based service that supplies video from companies, news organizations, non-profits, institutions and agencies to broadcast and online news outlets and bloggers. The video is primarily in B-roll form so news sources can integrate the footage into their reports. The pitch: The NewsMarket focuses on providing B-roll, rather than video news releases, so news desks can use the footage however they want. The video is delivered in high-quality over broadband. The service includes a search engine so users can search for content. The NewsMarket also provides recommendations of videos based on the user’s interest. “That wasn’t possible in the traditional world of sending out a tape,” Ms. Purushothaman said. In the mix: The NewsMarket aggregates video from a variety of providers, including non-profits like Unicef, Greenpeace and the Gates Foundation, corporations like IBM and Microsoft and government agencies like the National Cancer Institute or National Science Foundation. As an example, earlier this month IBM was involved in the creation of the world’s largest supercomputer and provided that video to the NewsMarket to funnel to news outlets. “There is quite a lot of media interest in content like that and it’s not the kind of video a newsroom can easily get access to, but it’s major milestone in technology achievement,” Ms. Purushothaman said. The end users of NewsMarket videos are news organizations like CNN, BBC and Bloomberg and online newsrooms. About 50% of the NewsMarket users are the online editions of newspapers and magazines, such as the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and Business Week. The backstory: The company launched in 2003 with about $1 million in funding from friends and angels. The money guys: The NewsMarket landed an additional $19 million from Softbank Capital, Ascend Ventures and Hearst. The company has been profitable at various points, though is not currently because it’s launching new products. The NewsMarket projects steady profitability by the end of the year. The company makes money via a subscription fee that customers pay for the NewsMarket to host and deliver their videos and via a commission from media companies that sell stock footage video using the service. The pros: Newsrooms have scaled back staff and resources, but consumers demand news and information at a rapid rate because of the 24/7 nature of the Internet. Also, as newspapers increase their video offerings online, they often need outside services like the NewsMarket for B-roll. The cons: Online video is still a new phenomenon and can require a lot of education. Background: Ms. Purushothaman was born and raised in Malaysia. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Monash University in Australia and a master’s degree from American University. She worked as a business journalist for nine years at the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire. She founded a broadcast public relations consultancy before starting the NewsMarket. She lives in New York. Who knew? Ms. Purushothaman describes herself as an obsessive cook. “Sometimes when I am traveling and in a hotel and can’t go to sleep, I will browse recipes and think about how I could cook this or that.” ]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.30759 2008-06-16T04:58:05Z 2008-06-16T05:22:29Z

The player: Justin Chapweske, founder and CEO of Swarmcast, a video delivery network that routes high-definition content across the Internet. The play: Swarmcast is angling to be the mover of bits and bytes for media companies online as they seek...

Vlada Gelman http://www.tvweek.com The player: Justin Chapweske, founder and CEO of Swarmcast, a video delivery network that routes high-definition content across the Internet. The play: Swarmcast is angling to be the mover of bits and bytes for media companies online as they seek to deliver increasingly high-quality video on the Web. Swarmcast provides technology to media companies, sports leagues, concert promoters and others who stream content on the Web, with a focus on long-form content. The pitch: “We provide the services to make it possible to watch a high-quality video with a fantastic viewing experience and watch it for hours if you want without any interruption,” Mr. Chapweske said. “We let you deliver hi-def online and cheaper.” The Swarmcast service does that by adjusting to changing network conditions to maximize video quality for a user’s computer, he said. By focusing on providing a better user experience, Swarmcast has been able to increase viewing times for its customers from 20 minutes at a time to 60 minutes for sporting events online. That gives a content provider more opportunities to sell ads and wring revenue from Web video. In the mix: Swarmcast customers include iClips.net, which streams major concerts and events online such as the World AIDS Day Concert and Major League Baseball games. Swarmcast expects to announce deals with TV networks around the world shortly, as well as with additional sports customers and music video providers. Competitors include Move Networks, which also focuses on delivery of high-quality video content online. The money guys: Mr. Chapweske bootstrapped the company for the first five years and then raised a round of $10 million in venture funding two years ago from Bridge Capital Fund and Nippon Venture Capital. Swarmcast is paid a bandwidth fee for delivering content. Mr. Chapweske declined to provide a time frame for profitability. Backstory: Mr. Chapweske launched the company in 2000 with a focus on video delivery for enterprises. He expanded the company three years ago to include online video as that market started to develop. The pros: Swarmcast can decrease bandwidth costs for its customers by 20% almost immediately, Mr. Chapweske said. The cons: Bandwidth delivery, even at high-quality, is a commodity business. Background: Mr. Chapweske was born in Williston, N.D. and raised in that state. He attended the University of Minnesota and studied computer science. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughter. He is 29. Who knew? Mr. Chapweske has been training in mixed martial arts for 15 years.]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.30463 2008-06-09T04:50:24Z 2008-06-09T05:35:34Z

The player: Brett Wilson, co-founder and CEO of TubeMogul. The play: TubeMogul is an online video services company that provides one-stop upload and tracking services to 16 video sites. TubeMogul also offers demographics and data on online video usage, such...

Julieanne Smolinski tvweek.com The player: Brett Wilson, co-founder and CEO of TubeMogul. The play: TubeMogul is an online video services company that provides one-stop upload and tracking services to 16 video sites. TubeMogul also offers demographics and data on online video usage, such as views, comments, ratings and links. The pitch: Successful video creators usually need to distribute their videos on several video-sharing sites, such as YouTube, MySpace, Viddler and Blip.tv. But uploading videos to all those sites requires time and resources. With TubeMogul, creators upload video once, then choose which sites they want TubeMogul to send their videos to. TubeMogul also works with media companies and provides more detailed analytics on their videos. In the mix: More than 25,000 video creators use TubeMogul’s basic service. TubeMogul’s 50 premium clients include CBS Interactive, Next New Networks, Tornante and PBS. CBS uses it to deploy Web series “Moblogic” and “Wallstrip,” for instance. The backstory: The company launched in 2007 with a focus on tracking video views across multiple sites for creators. The company broadened its focus recently to include distribution and upload services. “We look at ourselves as a company that solves problems for creators, and we learned distribution was a huge pain point for people,” Mr. Wilson said. The money guys: The basic service is free to use. TubeMogul makes money by selling premium products to larger media companies and marketing agencies. A premium subscription starts at $500 and includes more detailed demographic and geographic information on when, where and how often the videos are watched. For instance, the Keyword Intelligence tool tracks videos that include a specific word or phrase in the video’s title, keywords or description. TubeMogul raised an angel round of funding last year of less than $1 million and earlier this year raised about $1.5 million from Knightsbridge Capital Partners. The pros: Creators who use the service have seen increases in viewership of up to four times. “If you have an audience somewhere you don’t know about, you might try it,” Mr. Wilson said. The cons: Competition from firms such as Visible Measures to provide online data is increasing. Background: Mr. Wilson was born in Chicago and raised in Chicago and Green Bay, Wis. He has a bachelor’s degree from California State University at Chico and an MBA from UC Berkeley. Previously, he founded online retail site YouCanSave.com and sold that company. Mr. Wilson, 34, is married with two children and lives in Alameda, Calif. Who knew? Mr. Wilson is ranked No. 1 in the TubeMogul foosball rankings. ]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.30195 2008-06-02T04:51:18Z 2008-06-02T19:12:03Z

The player: Wil Schroter, CEO of Gotcast, an online job board for casting television and Web video appearances. The play: Gotcast.com is a service akin to Monster.com, but for on-air appearances. It operates as a sort of nationwide casting call...

Julieanne Smolinski tvweek.com The player: Wil Schroter, CEO of Gotcast, an online job board for casting television and Web video appearances. The play: Gotcast.com is a service akin to Monster.com, but for on-air appearances. It operates as a sort of nationwide casting call for reality stars, game show contestants and experts. Show creators can post the casting information on Gotcast.com to reach out to talent across the country. Gotcast is based in Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio, and assists with casting for broadcast and cable networks. “If G4 needs a new gamer girl, we will go to gamer blogs, gamer communities, YouTube,” Mr. Schroter said. In the mix: Gotcast has helped find talent for MTV, VH1, E!, HDNet, YoungHollywood.com and others. Most recently, Gotcast helped place Andrea Rene with E! News to cover pop culture news. Mr. Schroter said he also works with traditional casting directors to supplements their work. “We are looking for all the people that may be harder to find and aren’t necessarily represented by an agent,” he said. “We are a service to find talent.” GotCast.com currently casts for every major network, including NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox, for shows such as “The Bachelor,” “Wife Swap,” “America’s Got Talent,” “Big Brother” and “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” Mr. Schroter said. Backstory: Gotcast launched in October. Mr. Schroter works closely with Alec Shankman, a talent agent with Abrams Artists in Los Angeles, on fine-tuning the service. Mr. Shankman said the demand for “non-Hollywood” talent such as experts and reality show contestants is driving the need for a service like Gotcast.com. The money guys: Mr. Schroter put $500,000 of his own money into Gotcast, while NCT Ventures put another $500,000 into the company. Gotcast makes money through ads and via a monthly subscription. That subscription gives talent access to multiple castings for $29 per month. Gotcast, which is free to use for those who post castings, counts about seven employees and expects to become profitable in a year or so. Currently, Gotcast has a few thousand subscribers. Background: Mr. Schroter was born in Norwalk, Conn., and grew up in that state. He attended Connecticut State University and Ohio University. He previously launched interactive marketing agency Blue Diesel and founded an online community of startup companies and entrepreneurs. He is 33 and splits his time between Columbus and Los Angeles. Who knew? Mr. Schroter has a collection of more than 1,000 comic books. 11:10 a.m.: Corrected spelling to Wil Schroter]]> ]]> tag:www.tvweek.com,2008://41.29889 2008-05-24T00:30:23Z 2008-05-26T06:12:45Z

The player: Sarah Szalavitz, CEO of 7 Robot, a consulting company focused on new-media projects. The play: 7 Robot works with companies, brands and media firms to help them develop the tools, communities and marketing strategies to tell their stories...

Julieanne Smolinski tvweek.com The player: Sarah Szalavitz, CEO of 7 Robot, a consulting company focused on new-media projects. The play: 7 Robot works with companies, brands and media firms to help them develop the tools, communities and marketing strategies to tell their stories in new mediums, such as online video. That means 7 Robot helps its clients implement distribution, marketing and development strategies for online series and projects. That can include making deals with distributors and determining technical details like the optimum encoding rate for each platform. “We are a cross-platform storytelling company,” Ms. Szalavitz said. Her business partner is Damien Somerset. The pitch: Ms. Szalavitz is the creator and producer of “ZapRoot,” a weekly Web series on green living that garners about 500,000 views for each episode, making it one of the most successful Web series on this topic. Ms. Szalavitz said she is using her strategies with “Zaproot” as a template for new clients at 7 Robot. “We teach clients how to build a community around the show, how to build a franchise around it. Anyone can do this by themselves, but we can do it better, faster and cheaper. It’s hard for people to negotiate for themselves and it’s hard to scale your projects. We do that.” The numbers: Zaproot has earned more than 15 million views total. It’s available on every major video platform online and has seen a 1,000% increase in home-page views this year. The site has experienced a 2,800% bounce in community members this year, and has had 84% of its episodes featured on the home page of the sites on which the show resides. YouTube subscribers have grown 900% this year. In the mix: Clients for 7 Robot include online video shops Generate and Next New Networks. The backstory: Ms. Szalavitz started the company in July while she was working at Veoh Networks. She recently left Veoh and now is working full-time at 7 Robot. The money guys: 7 Robot has not taken venture funding and is currently profitable. The company is paid on a retainer basis by clients. The pros: Brands and marketers are starting to experiment with Web video and many need expert guidance to build an online presence effectively. The cons: Being a middleman is a good bet during the early days of an industry, but over time middlemen often are phased out. Background: Ms. Szalavitz was born and raised in Monroe, N.Y. She earned degrees from the University of Southern California, the London School of Economics and Harvard Law School. She worked as the director of content development at Veoh Networks. She is 33 and lives in Los Angeles. Who knew? Ms. Szalavitz is actually blond. ]]> ]]>