Veoh

2008 Top Ten Online Video Venture Capital Deals

Pete Wylie — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:23:42 -0500

1/14/08

Tremor Media

Location: New York City, N.Y.

Amount of funding: $11 million

Venture firms involved: Canaan Partners, Masthead Venture Partners

What it does: Tremor Media is an online video advertising network providing advertisers with both in-banner and in-stream video advertising opportunities on over 800 top-tier publisher sites with more than 92 million unique visitors per month. Tremor also provides publishers with a full suite of products and services to monetize streaming video and maximize ROI.

> Jesse Chenard, chief strategic officer for Tremor, on 2009 online video ad prospects
> Tremor Media Launches Acudeo

1/28/08

Visible Measures

Location: Boston, Mass.

Amount of funding: $13.5 million

Venture firms involved: MDV-Mohr David Ventures, General Catalyst Partners

What it does: Visible Measures specializes in measuring the consumption and distribution of Internet video. Its patent-pending measurement approach captures every video interaction by every viewer in every video, from play to pause to rewind to forward-to-a-friend and more. This provides organizations with visibility into their online video audiences and how they engage with content assets, Web-based distribution, and advertising placements.

4/14/08

Move Networks

Location: American Fork, Utah

Amount of funding: $46 million, Series C

Venture firms involved: Benchmark Capital, Steamboat Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

What it does: Move Networks provides online television services that drive the growth and support of online audiences for leading broadcasters and publishers including ABC, the CW, Discovery, ESPN, and Fox. The video technologies and services developed and managed by Move Networks enable leading brands to deliver live and on-demand HD quality programming to millions of people without the buffering, stalling, and low-quality viewing experiences, according to the company.

> Fierce 15 Online Video Movers and Shakers: Move Networks
> Microsoft invests in Move Networks

6/3/08

Veoh

Location: San Diego, Calif.

Amount of funding: $30 million

Venture firms involved: Intel Capital, Capital Research Global Investors, Shelter Capital, Spark Capital, Tornante Company

What it does: The Veoh Networks portfolio includes Veoh.com, which provides video hosting services, and VeohTV, a free downloadable application that turns online video into Internet Television. Veoh.com has more than 100,000 content publishers - from CBS, Viacom's MTV Networks, FEARNet and Lions Gate, plus thousands of independent filmmakers and content producers. Veoh currently attracts over 28 million unique users per month, according to company figures. For advertisers, Veoh offers compelling ways of engaging with a targeted audience and measuring performance of their ad buys.

> Veoh to cut workforce by 20 percent
> Fierce 15 Online Video Movers and Shakers: Veoh Networks
> Veoh Adds ABC & ESPN

6/30/08

Youku

Location: Beijing, China

Amount of funding: $30 million

Venture firms involved: Maverick Capital, Brookside Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Farallon Capital, Chengwei Ventures

What it does: Youku is the leading video sharing website and premier online video brand in China, Youku beat YouTube to its new model, as it works with more than 150 professional media partners in addition to its user-generated online videos. Youku.com was officially launched in December 2006 was delivering more than 150 million daily video views as of June 2008.

> Chinese online video companies lose funding

Veoh to cut workforce by 20 percent

Pete Wylie — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:10:37 -0500

Veoh was adamant that it was not cutting back its workforce when rumors of layoffs began to circulate in late October. But Wednesday, the Michael Eisner and Goldman Sachs-backed online video platform start-up reported it would cut 20 percent of its workforce, or about 20 jobs, due to expected downturns in the ad market.

"We know the realities of the market," spokeswoman Gaude Paez told CNET Wednesday. "But no one knows how soft the ad market will get."

Veoh took down $30 million in capital from Intel and Adobe in a second round of funding in June, to bring the total investment in the company to $70 million. Company representatives remained positive about Veoh's future, saying the company is seeing steady revenue growth and has significant cash on hand.

Veoh is still struggling to find a successful, unique model to reach the level of success of its competitors, YouTube and Hulu. Other online video sites could follow Veoh's cost-cutting if they can't differentiate themselves in the midst of a slowing ad market.

For more:
- see the CNET article here

Joost releases web-based player

Pete Wylie — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:52:10 -0400

Joost has formally launched the web-based video player it announced in September. The company is attempting to compete with other web-based viewing platforms like Hulu and Veoh, as its previous, downloadable online video client failed to deliver on expectations.

In order to different themselves from the competition, the site is adding social networking features. The Joost model now more closely resembles companies like Mevio, which blend online video viewing experience with social networking tools and community building.

The new service is Flash-based, and Joost claims it has the largest library of legal video programming. It doesn't say if that's the largest library of legal programming in the world, its state, or even its office building, though. YouTube just picked up CBS's online video content, and Hulu has the NBC and Fox families of programming so it it doubtful Joost's library competes with either for legal content, let alone other sites like Veoh.

The sites interactivity features, like friend functions and community building functions around series of videos, certainly help to define Joost's niche. But it has a long way to go if it wants to compete with the big boys and girls in this space, as it isn't even in the top 20 online video properties by videos viewed or unique visitors, according to comScore figures.

For more:
- see the Joost press release here

SlingCatcher shakes up online video market

Pete Wylie — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:00:21 -0400

Sling Media today launched its SlingCatcher box, which could spell more trouble for cable and satellite TV providers. Users of the SlingCatcher can watch TV shows from aggregators like Hulu and Veoh, and online video clips from YouTube, collegehumor.com, and break.com on their TVs.

SlingCatcher is compatible with other SlingMedia products like SlingBox, which allows for remote storage of DVR programming. The device can access a user's SlingBox to cast its programming onto a remote TV. It also comes equipped with a USB port that allows personal media to be viewed, such as digital home videos and slide shows.

Also, the device comes loaded with a SlingSync program to convert incompatible video files to a viewable format. It automatically scans a user's computer to determine which files need to be convereted.

The device will retail with a suggested price of $299.99.

The SlingCatcher is great news for online video sites, especially those offering high-quality long-form video. Consumers were reluctant to migrate to the format, as they were accustomed to viewing that sort of content on their TVs. Now, the viewing manner hasn't changed, just the source, possibly granting Hulu and Veoh new audiences.

For more:
- see the press release here

What will the economic downturn mean for the online video market?

Pete Wylie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:32:59 -0400

With the past few weeks of news cluttered with bank failures, bailout talks and budget crunches, I've heard a lot of muttering and guesswork about what the next year holds for online video in light of the economic conditions. Ask most CEO's of online video firms about the next year, and they'll remain cautiously optimistic and maintain that their company is still poised for success despite a credit crunch and probable stagnant or receding '09 ad spends.

As the editorial staff debated the Fierce 15 Top Movers and Shakers in Online Video, I started to consider which companies could benefit from the current situation, and which might be hurt. I had a good talk with James McQuivey, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research, and gained some interesting insight into online video's prognosis.

One interesting angle is the oft-documented trend for people to spend more money on entertainment, especially low-priced entertainment, during economic downturns. With the proliferation of free online video sites like Hulu, Joost, Veoh, and, of course, YouTube, these aggregators could see a significant uptick in business during tough times. McQuivey agreed that the low or no-cost online video inventory offered a great and likely substitute to other entertainment that might prove to be unaffordable in lean times. Also, since these sites also offer exclusive partnerships that provide high-quality cable and premium network content, subscribers to cable may think twice about that bill and opt to view their TV and video content online.

I initially thought that any site with heavy-dependence on advertising for revenue (which is many) would probably see income slack or even decline, as companies ad budgets dwindle and they opt for more traditional ad forms seen as safer bets. McQuivey took the opposite approach, however. He posited that the recession, as long as it is not too profound or prolonged, could drive ad buyers away from mass media spends, in favor of the much more quantifiable and targeted advertising over specific, professional online video content.

"A recession is really going to hurt the up-and-comers more than the established players," McQuivey said. "It's going to hurt fringe projects, as the extra money that fueled experimentation just isn't available any more."

Companies who offer white-label solutions could come out OK, as the value proposition for SMB video integration becomes more evident. Reasonably priced models that can demonstrate ROI should continue to grow throughout any recession period. Companies that provide tools or services, such as steaming support or content delivery, may find a pinch as prices get slashed in a highly-competitive market.

Overall, the growth prognosis still looks strong for online video firms, especially for companies with proven revenue channels and low overhead. McQuivey still offers a bullish projection of $1.7 billion in online video ad spending in 2009, using surveys of advertisers projected budgets to account for all revenue generated, including product placement and companion banners. Online video companies may not thrive during this gloomy economic period, but most should emerge intact and poised to capitalize on the inevitable upswing, since most offer innovative products and fresh takes on tired models.

- Pete

Sling Media video portal in beta

Pete Wylie — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:06:17 -0400

Sling Media is rolling out a beta version of a new web portal that will put it in direct competition with online video aggregators like YouTube and Veoh.

Sling Media, which produces the SlingBox TV on-demand hardware device, reports 60 inked partnership deals and more to come for the web portal. Users will have on-demand access to content from top-tier publishers and a demo of the SlingPlayer software, which allows users to watch their DVR shows and live TV on their PCs. The service will also allow users to post bits of television viewed through the player in mash-up style on feeds that other users can place in their viewer.

The big edge Sling has on other online video competitors is the ability for Slingbox owners to access DVR programming through a web browser or on video-enabled smart phones. The flexibility the service gives its users is certainly a big value add. EchoStar certainly has faith in the model, since it acquired Sling Media last year for $380 million.

For more:
- see the techcrunch.com post here
- visit sling.com for info on the beta program

Invision.tv enters online video aggregation fray

Pete Wylie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:58:47 -0400

The already-crowded online video aggregation market got another entry Monday, as Invision.tv launched its beta version and Facebook app at the DEMOFall 08 conference in San Diego. The company, based in the Washington D.C. 'burbs, offers an intuitive browser that aggregates many video sites in a style similar to TV guide channels.

Users can browse the top videos on each site, rank their favorite sites for easy browsing, and search across all sites or individual ones.

Videos play in an embedded player, one of the beta's main weaknesses. The player is minute; it's crowded out by all the other content, and the display is so small that videos are hardly watchable while expanding the player to full screen mode is not intuitive.

The aggregation display is nice and the multiple feeds are easy to browse, which somewhat makes up for the display issue.

Invision.tv adds a people feature to try to incorporate a social networking factor into the online video experience. Content is also aggregated by interest, everything from music to education to celebrities, so communities could form organically via shared interests.

With some tweaks to the display, this beta might offer a challenge to other aggregator like Veoh and Truveo.

For more:
- explore the interface and make your own mind up, invision.tv

SPOTLIGHT: YouTube increases market share

Pete Wylie — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:46:44 -0400

YouTube continued to widen its enormous lead in the online video space, claiming 49 percent of all online video views in July. Its eight closest competitors, like Yahoo!, AOL and Veoh, all lost fractions of their market shares to YouTube.

YouTube's share increased 1.8 percent from May and 8.1 percent from the same month last year.

The online video sharing site, purchased by Google last year, also increased its unique monthly visitor count. Looks like smooth sailing ahead for YouTube, especially after last week's favorable Veoh and Paramount court cases.

For more:
- see the metrics at seekingalpha.com

Suit against Veoh dismissed

Pete Wylie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:38:16 -0400

Less than a week after another important online video court decision out of California, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed copyright infringement charges against Veoh. The charges, brought against the online video site by adult entertainment company IO, claimed Veoh infringed on IO's copyrights when some of IO's videos were posted to Veoh.

Veoh removed the videos in question, which was a major part of the judge's finding that Veoh was in compliance with safe harbor regulations included in the DMCA.

"Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its website and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its site," Judge Howard Lloyd wrote in his decision.

Google and YouTube are already trumpeting the findings as a precursor to a favorable result in their suit with Viacom over similar alleged violations.

YouTube's chief counsel Zahavah Levine said in a statement, "It is great to see the Court confirm that the DMCA protects services like YouTube that follow the law and respect copyrights."

For more:
- read the full blog post from The New York Times here
- Tech Crunch offers the full ruling and tech-centric analysis of the victory for the "good guys"

Veoh Launches Behavioral Ad Targeting

Doug Mohney — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:41:54 -0400

Veoh Network has announced a new behavioral targeting system for online video ads. The new system, currently in beta, combines video consumption, searching, browsing and community activity data from Veoh's 28 million plus viewers to deliver branded ads and content to viewers across multiple lifestyle and interest categories.

With more than a billion video views every quarter (and growing), Veoh is able to observe viewer behavior and patterns across various forms and sources of content, so they can provide marketers with targeted tools to reach groups of viewers looking at everything from network TV shows to made-for-web series and independently produced short form video. For example, an advertiser wanting to target tech and gaming junkies can use Veoh's tools to deliver ads when they're watching related video and when they're watching other types of programming on Veoh.

Veoh's new system will initially target ads and branded content to "more than" nine interest-based audience segments, and the company can build custom audience categories around an advertiser's specific marketing needs. Once out of the beta, Veoh plans to identify additional audience segments and add improvements for even more customized ad targeting offerings. Initial tests of the new system before the beta launch yielded performance lifts of more than twice the standard ads on Veoh.

For more:
- Veoh announces online video behavioral targeting

Related articles:
Veoh Gets $30M From Intel, Adobe
Counting views and dollars

Veoh Gets $30M From Intel, Adobe

Doug Mohney — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:11:56 -0400

Veoh Networks has received a $30 million bump in its bank account, thanks to a round of VC money lead by Intel and joined by Adobe and a senior VP of Capital Research Global Investors.

Existing investors Shelter Capital, Spark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Tornante Company, Time Warner Investments and Jonathan Dolgen also ponied up in this round. Veoh will use the cash to further enhance its video content, do more in video discovery, expand its advertising products and targeting capabilities, and extend its services across multiple platforms.

Outsiders should be less interested in Intel's investment and more in Adobe's. Intel Capital tends to throw money at a lot of different (and sometimes competing) pots just to place bets on anything that drives sales of faster processors. Adobe, not exactly a cash cow when compared to Intel, is selectively investing $100 million in VC money over the next three to five years in companies "leveraging Adobe platform technologies," so we can pretty much translate this into continued use of Flash and other Adobe technologies.

In the first quarter of 2008, Veoh brought in 28 million viewers who spent an average of 100 minutes per month on the site--a stickiness sure to attract and keep advertisers.

For more:
- Veoh announces $30 million VC round

Related articles:
Veoh launches VeohTV online video portal
Top video VC fund raisers through August 2007
NAB: Will online TV movement hurt IPTV?