KickApps Extends Partnership with Advertising.com

From mediapost:

ON-DEMAND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM KICKAPPS has extended its partnership with AOL's Advertising.com to include its Lightningcast video ad-serving system. The new integrated platform combines KickApps' community-building services with Advertising.com's Lightningcast video ad-serving system in an effort to help publishers serve ads via editorial and user-generated video content on their KickApps-powered social media sites.

"Publishers want to co-mingle their professionally produced content with the user-generated video, because it gives them more inventory to run advertising," said KickApps CEO Alex Baum, a former president of JumpTV, who previously spent eight years in a senior programming role at AOL. "What's changing and driving this trend is--user-generated stuff is driving a CPM that is comparable to premium content as long as it's properly targeted."

KickApps provides sites of all sizes with a range of building blocks that include user-generated content, social networking, video players, Webcam applications, widget-building, media/member management and reporting.

Corporate users and Web masters can mix and match building blocks from the widget library to crate a more customized or branded solution.

Advertising.com's Lightningcast platform was designed to help Web publishers insert, manage and track ads that are incorporated within their videos. The new integrated solution will now enable KickApps affiliates large and small to generate their fair share of advertising revenue from their sites.

The New York-based KickApps' tools have powered a successful Procter & Gamble Tag Body Spray community effort. Within six weeks of launch, it drove 772,400 page views and 260,000 unique visitors, according to KickApps.

My43.net used the tools to raise monthly site traffic by 30% with no on-air promotion. Other companies using it include AFL Network, Cycling.tv, and National Lampoon, Universal Music/Interscope and others.

KickApps is also serving targeted ads to relevant audience clusters, allowing for the monetization of sites.

KickApps is backed by Spark Capital and Prism VentureWorks. Its board members include former Liberty Digital and E! Entertainment CEO Jarl Mohn and former MTV and NFL President Sara Levinson.

ROO Group Announces Strategic Realignment, Appointment of New CEO

New York (December 19, 2007) - ROO Group (OTCBB: RGRP) announced today that the company has entered into an Executive Management Agreement with KIT Capital pursuant to which it has agreed to appoint Kaleil Isaza Tuzman as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commencing on January 9th, 2008. Mr. Isaza Tuzman will succeed Robert Petty, who will retain the office of Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Founder.

Mr. Isaza Tuzman, 36, is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer of JumpTV Inc. (JTV: AIM, TSX) where he is responsible for managing the Company's day-to-day operations including global business development, sales, marketing, network operations and product development. As previously announced, he will be stepping down from his operating position at JumpTV on or before January 8th, 2008, but will remain on the board of that company.

ROO also announced that four independent members of the company’s board of directors – Simon Bax, Stephen Palley, Scott Ackerman and Doug Chertok – have resigned. The Company’s Board of Directors is expected to appoint Isaza Tuzman as a Director and the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Upon Mr. Isaza Tuzman’s appointment, the Board will consist of three directors which will include current board members Robert Petty and Robin Smyth, Executive Director. In accordance with the terms of an Executive Management Agreement, Isaza Tuzman will have the right to appoint up to four new independent board members to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors, subject to shareholder approval. Isaza Tuzman, is also investing in the Company through an affiliated entity.

Mr. Isaza Tuzman has been brought on to rationalize the existing business and position ROO to become the leader in IPTV infrastructure services—through both organic growth and strategic acquisition. The company is already one of the leading distribution platforms in the online media space and is the premier solution for IP-based Video-on-Demand. The ROO Video Network is watched by millions of viewers and supported by a wide-range of premium advertisers.

“We are very pleased to welcome Kaleil as our new CEO,” said Robert Petty, Chairman of ROO. “Kaleil brings the experience and insight needed to lead us through this next stage of growth. He has a proven record of helping companies achieve their fullest potential and we are confident that his deep knowledge of our sector, operational discipline and leadership skills will enable us to generate value for our shareholders.”

Mr. Isaza Tuzman stated, “ROO is at an inflection point in its development. The massive growth in the demand for high-value, IP video content, coupled with the need for leading edge platform provisioning puts this company in a very enviable position. I believe that with greater emphasis on exclusive content, TV broadcaster relationships and the best quality distribution tools, ROO will become the leading player in the provisioning of video over the Internet. In my view, a focused B2B strategy is what is needed to build a profitable company in the sector. ROO’s commitment to this path—coupled with our shared vision of potential industry consolidation---has been critical to my decision to invest in and manage the company."

Under new management, the company plans to:
·Leverage expertise in international media to expand client and partner base;
·Reduce costs and implement cost control policies company-wide,
·Achieve profitability as quickly as possible;
·Assess and prioritize product development initiatives;
·Assess corporate branding;
·Assess and execute strategic acquisitions consistent with the IPTV platform provisioning strategy, including the development of live-streaming and mobile distribution capabilities.

As part of the strategic realignment, ROO also announced today that it has completed a recent reduction of 21% of its workforce. This decision reflects the substantial completion of ROO’s platform and automated distribution tools, which have made the company more efficient and reduced staffing needs.

“ROO has now entered a new phase of development,” said Robert Petty, Chairman of ROO. “We have substantially automated our operations, allowing us to function as a leaner, more effective company.”

Mr. Petty concluded, “I would like to thank our independent board members for their contributions to our organization. As a result of their guidance, we are now a stronger, more efficient company.”

As part of the Executive Management Agreement, KIT Capital Ltd., an entity controlled by Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, has been granted the right to purchase up to 51% of the preferred class of shares in the Company at US$0.38 per share. KIT Capital has the option to invest up to US$5 million in common shares of the Company at US$0.16 per share, a 15% premium to the closing price yesterday, December 18th, 2007.

Utilizing Limelight Networks and Microsoft Technology, Blockbuster Premieres First Studio-Backed Broadband Movie

from streaming media:

TEMPE, ARIZ. (December 17, 2007) - Limelight Networks® (Nasdaq: LLNW), the leading content delivery network (CDN) for digital media, today announced that Blockbuster Inc., a leading global provider of in-home movie and game entertainment, has exclusively selected Limelight Networks’ rich media CDN and Microsoft Silverlight to provide the technical streaming capabilities for the first studio-backed feature streamed in its entirety - JACKASS 2.5 - to be distributed directly online by Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, MTV New Media group from MTV Networks and BLOCKBUSTER®.

Available for free, courtesy of BLOCKBUSTER, at blockbuster.jackassworld.com beginning December 19th through December 31st, 2007, the U.S. online distribution of JACKASS 2.5, an event made possible by the recent acquisition of Movielink by Blockbuster Inc., leverages the power of Limelight Networks’ CDN and Microsoft Silverlight.

“This ground-breaking event underscores our commitment to providing customers with convenient access to media entertainment, whether it’s through our stores, the mail or through new technologies,” said Keith Morrow, chief information officer for Blockbuster Inc. “Combining the CDN performance and scalability of Limelight Networks with the power of Microsoft Silverlight should deliver a compelling and high-quality viewing experience to online viewers of JACKASS 2.5.”

The release of JACKASS 2.5 taps into a market which is believed to be a driving force for online digital media consumption today. In search of the right solution to power the movie premiere, BLOCKBUSTER turned to Limelight Networks and Microsoft as two leaders in online media delivery.
“BLOCKBUSTER is taking a great step forward in making Hollywood digital,” said Brian Goldfarb, group product manager in the developer division at Microsoft Corp. “Using Silverlight for this initiative will provide consumers with an outstanding, high-quality experience in online entertainment.”

“BLOCKBUSTER is making history by driving the studio-backed release of JACKASS 2.5 to an audience whose lifestyles are continually influenced by the latest online innovations,” said Dave Hatfield, senior vice president of products, marketing and sales at Limelight Networks. “Limelight Networks’ infrastructure was built for these types of large, rich media streaming events. Coupled with our strong relationship with Microsoft and its leading-edge Silverlight platform, BLOCKBUSTER could not have a better solution and team supporting this project and helping them in their efforts to deliver a dynamic entertainment adventure to consumers.”

Streaming JACKASS 2.5 is open to anyone in the U.S. 17 years or older whether they are a BLOCKBUSTER member or not. And best of all, it’s free. Available December 19th through December 31st, go to blockbuster.jackassworld.com, download the free Microsoft Silverlight media player and with a few quick steps, you’re watching the movie.

About Limelight Networks
Limelight Networks is a high-performance content delivery network for digital media, providing massively scalable, global delivery solutions for on-demand and live Internet distribution of video, music, games, software and social media. Limelight Networks’ infrastructure is optimized for the large object sizes, large content libraries, and large audiences associated with compelling rich media content. Limelight is the content delivery network of choice for over 1,000 companies, including many of the world’s top Internet, media and entertainment companies, including Microsoft Xbox LIVE, Sony Playstation 3, Akimbo, Amazon Unbox™, Belo Interactive, Brightcove, “BuyMusic” @ Buy.com, DreamWorks, LLC, Facebook, FOXNews.com, IFILM, ITV Play, MSNBC.com, NC Interactive and Valve. For more information, visit www.llnw.com.

Safe Harbor Act Disclaimer: All forward-looking statements contained in this release are made within the meaning of and pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements other than statements of historical facts, including but not limited to statements concerning the performance and scalability of Limelight Networks' CDN, notably its ability to deliver large, rich media streaming events, and other statements concerning the plans, intentions, expectations, projections, hopes, beliefs, objectives, goals and strategies of management. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the results expressed, projected or implied by any forward-looking statements will be achieved, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and are based on the current plans, goals, objectives, strategies, intentions, expectations and assumptions of, and the information currently available to, management. The Company assumes no duty or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as the result of changes in expectations, new information, future events, conditions or circumstances or otherwise.

IAC To Employ Brightcove Platform For Web Video

WEB VIDEO COMPANY BRIGHTCOVE HAS reached a deal with media company IAC to provide IAC's properties with a platform to create, manage, publish, distribute and monetize video on the Web. Ticketmaster, Citysearch and 23/6 are among the first IAC brands to use Brightcove's service. IAC has been a minority stakeholder in Brightcove since December 2006.

Under the agreement, any IAC business can use Brightcove's on-demand platform to publish video content to their sites, manage syndication and viral distribution, integrate advertising and launch independent or integrated consumer media campaigns.

ClipBlast Unveils "Remote Control for the Video Web"-

LOS ANGELES, Calif (December 11, 2007) - ClipBlast! (www.clipblast.com), the premier Web-wide video search and navigation platform, today announced the release of ClipBlast! Version 3.0. Acting in effect as a “remote control for the Video Web,” the new release represents a major enhancement of ClipBlast!'s video search platform, with improvements that promise a richer, easier and more relevant experience for advertisers and content providers -- and the video viewers they aim to reach.

At the heart of ClipBlast! 3.0 is the Intelligent Index™, which matches the content of the ad with the content of the video. Rather than relying exclusively on the content provider's description and metadata—which can be subjective or even nonexistent— ClipBlast!'s Intelligent Index uses proprietary technology to categorize content in real time more effectively, thereby delivering both more relevant search results and highly targeted ads.

The Intelligent Index simultaneously addresses the issue of “how to get found” and provides a monetization model for online video. The ClipBlast! 3.0 platform gets “smarter” with every video it indexes. The more videos added, and the more metadata ingested into the platform, the better the platform becomes at recognizing, organizing and drawing correlations among related data -- which leads to smarter search results.

For the content provider – which can now extend its reach well beyond its own site -- ClipBlast! 3.0 literally raises a video's IQ. For advertisers, ClipBlast’s Intelligent Index can mean increased revenues, thanks to the ability to serve highly-targeted ads in conjunction with smart content.

"ClipBlast! 3.0 provides a way for advertisers to take true advantage of the ever-growing Video Web,” said Gary Baker, ClipBlast! founder and CEO. “Our Intelligent Index not only leads to better, more accurate search results for the viewer, it also creates a situation where advertisers can get their message, in a vibrant, living format—in front of viewers who are paying attention a particular topic.

“ClipBlast! 3.0 leverages the collective input of the community to hone contextual searches,” he added. “And because the Intelligent Index ensures higher quality video search, ClipBlast! 3.0 advances the state of the art in contextual search. Like a remote control unit, it places the entire Video Web at your fingertips.”

Video Advertising 3.0
ClipBlast's 3.0 platform does for Video Web advertisers what pay-per-click programs did for the early generations of online marketers -- it gives advertisers an innovative way to get their relevant message directly in front of a viewer who's expressed interest in a subject.

“Because our search results are both smart and highly refinable, advertisers can pinpoint specific user targets and serve relevant ads at the exact moment the viewer has shown interest,” Baker said. “This kind of one-to-one advertising – occurring within a one-to-many medium -- offers unparalleled opportunities for advertisers.

“Intelligent indexing represents a sea change in the video search paradigm,” he noted. “Until now, a video creator could name a video anything, and could describe that video in any way -- but the content within the video may have nothing to do with what the creator says. ClipBlast! 3.0 looks at both the information the creator provides and the information the video itself provides -- the images, the speech, the text -- and returns results accordingly. It's simply a more holistic and less subjective way of indexing video — and, ultimately, it ensures a better experience for everyone the Video Web touches."

Today’s announcement follows the launch of the ClipBlast! Video Widget at DEMOfall07 in late September. The ClipBlast! Widget is a Web-wide video search and navigation tool that resides on the desktop, enabling search, navigation, browsing and viewing of the Video Web without having to launch a browser or visit a specific website.

The ClipBlast! platform searches the entire Web for available content, continuously providing video web viewers with up-to-date, personalized video content, no matter what the source. ClipBlast! indexes more content providers than anyone on the Video Web.

Five Technical Issues Hampering Online Video Growth

Posted on seeking alpha.com:

For many years, the online video industry has always had some who like to point to limitations on the technology as being the excuse and reason why the industry is not grow as fast as some may like. For years it was people complaining that video quality is not good enough, that it's too hard to deliver and too difficult to scale. Today, those arguments are no longer valid. The technology is here today to have great quality video, to deliver it with performance and to reach as big of an audience as today's business models support.

But when it comes to online video advertising, there is a valid argument that the technology today does not have the functionality that is needed for us to see video advertising growth on a faster scale. Will we get there? Yes. But it's taking longer than it should due to these ten technical and industry issues:

There is no set standard for the length of an ad based on the length of the content. We all get ads at 10, 15 and 30 seconds in length for both long and short form content, with each content site doing it differently. And in some cases, like I outlined with Yahoo!, some sites deliver different ad lengths in the same piece of content. What a bad user experience. How can we expect viewers to get use to watching ads when the experience is different on each site?
Many times, ads are delivered at a lower quality and smaller window size than the content itself. This is a trend I am seeing more and more of lately. I click to watch a video that is encoded at 300 or 500Kbps but the ad I get before it is only encoded at 100kbps and the ad only fills up a fraction of the video window. What a poor experience. For instance you are given a 320x240 window but then the ad shows up as 240x180. The only reasoning behind this that I can think of is that it's cheaper to deliver the ads this way since they are at a lower bitrate and/or the agency encoded all of it's ads at only one bitrate. It looks like crap.
There is still very little being done in the way of targeted ads. Due to many technical issues, ads are still being churned out and delivered to web users with almost no insight into what the user wants to see or more importantly what the user should see based on their location. I always use the example of how I see Crispy Creme donut ads yet the closest Crispy Creme to where I live is 43.3 miles away in Milford CT. I know some ad platforms are doing more and more with targeting, but still not enough. This needs to be figured out faster. If you can't deliver ads based on a persons interests, geographic location or even gender, then the majority of these video ads are completely being wasted. It's no wonder the pre-roll ad format is dying.
Reporting metrics. Where are they? It seems that every ad network I talk to all measures and records user metrics for ads very differently. What is the problem here? Not being able to give advertisers back the reporting they want, thereby enabling them to try and come up with their own metrics to judge if their campaign was a success or not is like shooting the industry in the foot. No service, product or offering is worth anything if you can't give the person who is paying for it the data they need to analyze if they should keep paying for it. The ad vendors make this WAY too difficult. For instance, if you look at the top six to eight vendors websites who provide these services, why can't you download a product sheet from their website that shows exactly what type of reporting is offered? Why are they hiding this info and keeping it mysterious?
CPM rates. Ok so this one is not a technical issue but it is one of the biggest problems in the industry. Why is it that no one is willing to say what they get per CPM for online video ads? I ask content owners all the time, I ask the portals, I ask the major networks and to date, I don't know of a single specific example I could tell someone of what the rate is. I could not point you to one major content owner and say I know what price they are getting for CPMs rates and no one shares this info. Yes, everyone says it's between $10 and $60 and that's completely useless. All of the major studios keep telling us how well they are doing online with their content and how well the advertisers love to sponsor it and how much growth they are seeing yet, none of them will give any numbers, to anything. Short-sided thinking folks. You know how many content owners actually have good content worth syndication or licensing but don't as they have no idea what type of rates they can get? There is such a lack of information in the market for CPM rates and no one is doing any educating of the market. It's a losing proposition for everyone when this information is hidden away as if it's some sort of patented trade secret. They always have excuses like the one where the major broadcasters say advertisers are buying ads across many different platforms and they can't break out the P&L from just one platform like the web. What crap.
I'm certainly not the first person to point out some of the technical problems the online video advertising industry is facing and I won't be the last. We all see the potential that online video advertising holds and see the many ways that content owners and portals are embracing all forms of online video ads for pre-roll, post-roll, in page, in stream etc.

Part of the problem is the industry itself but a good deal of the problem lies with the technology of the entire ecosystem for video ad creating, selling, fulfillment, delivery and tracking. I'm as big a fan as anyone when it comes to ways that content can be monetized, but the industry as a whole needs to do a lot better job of working together to create as much in the way of standards as they can.

Most video sites will be "roadkill"

from iMedia:

If you're having trouble keeping track of all the new video sites, you may not have to worry. At the NewTeeVee Live Conference, Dennis Miller of Spark Capital predicted that most video sites wouldn't last very long, according to a Financial Times blog post.

"There's too much money chasing too few ideas," Miller said. "There is already roadkill and there will be massive roadkill ahead."

George Zachary of Charles River Ventures was even more pessimistic.

"I think it's a humongous mistake to invest in content," Zachary said.

For Zachary, the solution is to aggregate and distribute existing content, something he praised Bebo for doing. Earlier this month, the social network announced Open Media, which allows broadcasters like CBS and the BBC to distribute content across its network.

AOL takes Truveo video search worldwide

AOL extends video search site as part of strategy to switch its focus
from providing Internet access to helping people find and view content

AOL, which is trying to grow its online advertising business
worldwide, has localized its video search site for eight countries and
added two languages for its India portal, the company said Wednesday.

AOL has extended the local versions of its Truveo video search site to
France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and the United
Kingdom. Within two months, versions will be launched for Australia,
Brazil, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey, the
company said.

Truveo came under AOL's wing in early 2006, and the company has sought
to grow the site as its traffic figures have risen with increased
demand for online video.

Unlike Google's YouTube, Truveo doesn't store content but instead
indexes it from sources around the Internet. Truveo can pull some
videos into a window embedded in its Web site, or direct users to
where the video is hosted. Truveo also groups videos by category, and
AOL has created some localized popular categories, such as
cricket-related clips for India.

AOL's main site for India is in English, but the company said it has
added new content channels in Tamil and Hindi that cover news,
astrology, and movies. AOL said more than half of Indians who are
active online users -- about 30 million people -- prefer reading in
their own native language.

AOL, which is owned by Time Warner, is trying to change the focus of
its from providing Internet access to helping people find and view
content. The company had seen a sharp drop in subscription revenue,
which still counts for the majority of its profits.

Earlier this month, AOL said it would cut 2,000 jobs worldwide, or
about 20 percent of its workforce, while building up its online
advertising business. It recently acquired three online ad firms and
started Platform A, a new subsidiary in charge of selling online ads
across its Web properties.

Online Marketers Joining Internet Privacy Efforts

Most consumers are familiar with do-not-call lists, which are meant to
keep telemarketers from phoning them. Soon people will be able to sign
up for do-not-track lists, which will help shield their Web surfing
habits from the prying eyes of marketers.

Such lists will not reduce the number of ads that people see online,
but they will prevent advertisers from using their online meanderings
to deliver specific ad pitches to them.

Today the AOL division of Time Warner will announce a service of this
type, which will be up and running by the end of the year. Other
programs are likely to be articulated soon, as online advertisers
prepare for a two-day forum on privacy to be held by the Federal Trade
Commission.

AOL says it is setting up a new Web site that will link consumers
directly to opt-out lists run by the largest advertising networks. The
site's technology will ensure that people's preferences are not erased
later.

There is a silver lining for marketers, however: the AOL site will try
to persuade people that they should choose to share some personal data
in order to get pitches for products they might like. Most Web sites,
including AOL, already collect data about users to send them specific
ads — but AOL is choosing to become more open about the practice and
will run advertisements about it in coming months.

Consumers who have already seen some benefits from online tracking
systems — in the form of movie recommendations from Netflix, perhaps,
or product recommendations from Amazon — might warm to AOL's argument.

"Instead of having interruptive ads, instead of jarring things that
will grab your attention, things are hopefully tailored to be suitable
to your experience," said Jules Polonetsky, the chief privacy officer
for AOL. "We think tailoring advertising content in a way that is
useful is a good proposition."

Whether consumer privacy groups and other advertising companies agree
with AOL's philosophy will become clearer tomorrow and Friday at the
event put together by the F.T.C., the agency that monitors advertising
for deceptive and unfair practices. The gathering will feature privacy
officials from Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft, as well as experts in
the field of behavioral targeting, which is the delivery of ads to
people based on their online habits.

Advertising companies fashion their behavioral targeting models
differently, but generally the practice involves linking demographic
information and Web site visits. Under the practice, people who read
articles about babies would receives ads for baby gear even when they
move on to read articles about stocks, for example. Much of the
information is gathered anonymously, without links to people's names.

Consumer advocacy groups have in the past asked the F.T.C. to set up
some kind of do-not-track list for the Internet, but the commission
has been hesitant to issue regulations that might slow innovation on
the Web, said Eileen Harrington, deputy director of the agency's
Bureau of Consumer Protection.

"We all love the Internet, and the last thing we want to do is suggest
that the government would step in here in a way that would take that
away from consumers," Ms. Harrington said. "We haven't reached
conclusions on any of these questions. The big news here for us is —
and maybe it seems obvious when you say it fast — is that advertising
has changed dramatically."

Since 2004, companies have more than doubled the amount they spend on
ads on the Internet, shifting that money away from more traditional
outlets like television, radio and print publications. Companies will
spend $20 billion this year on Internet ads, the Interactive
Advertising Bureau, a trade group of Web publishers, estimates.

The growth has been fueled in part by technologies that enable
advertisers to use data about consumers on the Internet in ways that
were not possible in older media. Traditionally, viewers and readers
have been shown the same ads in the same places at the same times, no
matter their age, gender or interests. Advertising was designed for a
mass audience, leading to decades of water-cooler humor about that
funny commercial last night, shown to everyone who tuned in.

But to many consumer brand companies, making different ads for
different people is a better way to reach prospective buyers — and the
Internet captures enough data for them to do so.

AOL executives say they are happy to give people a way to keep their
Internet habits private, even though that would undercut AOL's own
behavioral targeting efforts. In July AOL acquired a behavioral ad
network company, Tacoda, that has been promoting opt-out options to
users for a year.

"We all have to build toward a future where we are delivering ads
people want and not just ads we want people to see," said Dave Morgan,
the founder of Tacoda who now works at AOL. "The only way to do that
is to listen to consumers."

Hulu adds Sony, MGM, launches test

Hulu, an online video service formed by two media conglomerates, will
begin a private test on Monday with two new partners in one of big
media's most ambitious attempts to court viewers wherever they spend
time.

The joint venture of General Electric's NBC Universal and Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp, which earlier had trouble persuading other big
content producers such as Viacom Inc and Walt Disney Co to join, now
adds shows from Sony Pictures Television and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Studios Inc., Hulu executives said.

The long-awaited free, advertising-supported service makes its debut
as consumer interest over watching video clips and television shows on
the Internet.

Despite Hulu's high powered backers, the service has drawn skepticism
among media and Internet executives, who have struck out on their own
by offering shows on its own sites and are either selling shows on
Apple's iTunes or offering it for free on other.

But these companies have yet to garner the hundreds of millions of
viewers on such services as Google Inc's top online video sharing
service YouTube.

"We are still in inning No. 2 in the whole game of online video,"
Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said, employing a baseball
metaphor.

Ahead of Hulu's anticipated public launch early next year, NBC
Universal has stopped offering its shows for sales on iTunes and
pulled its channel off of YouTube.

On Monday, Hulu will offer about 90 TV shows from the four companies
and smaller partners ranging from current prime-time hits such as
"Heroes" and "The Simpsons" to vintage shows "Miami Vice" and "The
A-Team."

It will also make about 10 feature films available including "The
Breakfast Club" and "The Blues Brothers."

Shortly after the test begins, these shows will also be made available
on a handful of the biggest online distributors Time Warner Inc's AOL,
Comcast Corp, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo.

"Given that they're late, I have to admit that they've actually
delivered more than I expected," said McQuivey.

McQuivey pointed to the site's ability to let users share and embed
entire shows or movies everywhere on the Web as surprising features to
be offered by a service controlled by media companies who have spent
its entire history directing where and when its shows can be accessed.

NOT YOUTUBE KILLER

Although framed in the press as big media's "YouTube-killer," Hulu
Chief Executive Jason Kilar, a former Amazon.com executive, said the
site aims to make it the premier destination for full length shows and
movies.

"We want to stand for a high quality approach to the content," Kilar
said in a phone interview on Friday, who drew a distinction from
YouTube's offering of video clips.

Viewers could easily mistake the site for another dot-com start-up:
one would be hard pressed to figure out who its corporate sponsors are
as Hulu's minimalist design is stripped of network logos and largely
consists of a white background with thumbnails of the shows adorning
the screen.

Videos are played in wide-screen format on the top of the screen, with
an options to dim the entire screen, view it full screen, or as a
separate smaller box separate from the site.

One distinguishing features created by a team that consists almost
entirely of executives from the Internet and technology industries,
addresses an issue that is unique to its service -- the ability to
find a spot within a show that a viewer wants to share.

The ability to share video or embed video clips of a funny or
interesting moment on a show have existed legally and not for years on
services like YouTube that restrict the uploading of videos to ten
minutes.

But access to full length shows presents a new problem -- finding the
right moment.

Viewers can adjust a slider at the bottom of the video window to clip
the exact spot within a show -- a particularly funny skit on "Saturday
Night Live" for instance -- to send or embed on another Web page.

Hulu also confirmed Providence Equity Partners has invested $100
million for an undisclosed stake in the company. Earlier, media
reports said the stake valued the company at $1 billion.

New Site!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/

nice new site...

Eyeblaster Simplifies Video Ads

Today Eyeblaster announced Channel Connect for In-stream Video, a
scalable and wholly integrated solution that transforms the process of
delivering online video ads. Pre-, mid- , post-roll and overlay ad
formats are all supported through Eyeblaster Ad Campaign Manager v2.0.

A recent eMarketer report forecasts online video ad spend will rise
89% in 2007 and reach a total of $4.3 billion by 2011. Still, despite
these numbers, online video continues to be and underutilized
advertising opportunity. The report continued that for every $100 US
marketers spend on television ads this year, only $1.10 will be spent
on video ads online.

Eyeblaster has joined with Brightcove, to provide Brightcove
publishers the ability of this new advertising solution. Chris
Johnston, director of ad product management at Brightcove said
"Eyeblaster has a long history of innovation in the rich media
advertising space. We are excited to bring the new Eyeblaster
capability to publishers using Brightcove to distribute and monetize
their Internet video content."

Chanel Connect for In-stream Video also supports publishers using
Windows Media playlists and other video players. CEO of Eyeblaster Gal
Trifon said that the previous "…lack of standardization meant that
agencies had to ship multiple video files – or even raw video tapes –
to individual publishers in order to satisfy the countless specs. To
complicate the process further, ads were also run and managed through
internal proprietary ad servers, making consolidated third party
reporting unavailable to agencies."

The solution standardizes video assets, enabling agencies to change
and optimize the creative on the fly. Both standard and enhanced
metrics are then made available to the agencies through Eyeblaster
Analytics.

PacketExchange Brings New Radiohead Album to Fans around the Globe in Record Time

British band Radiohead made its brand new album 'In Rainbows'
available for download to fans across the world this week. By doing
this, Radiohead posed a bold challenge to the traditional music
industry's business model by offering its new album via digital
download at a price open to fans' discretion.

With the music world's attention focused on the launch, the hosts of
Radiohead's official download site, w.a.s.t.e, needed a solution that
guaranteed uninterrupted delivery of the album. By selecting
PacketExchange, the leading provider of private high-speed internet
networks, w.a.s.t.e was able to bypass the public internet and its
bottlenecks, and enable fans to download the album 100 times faster
than via the public internet.

"With such a prestigious band as Radiohead, and such an important
release, we knew that we had to call on the services of a company who
could perform this delivery without a hitch. Fans had committed money
upfront for their download and were therefore entitled to get it as
soon as it became available and quickly. Ultimately people's
experiences on release day had to be the music and not the delivery,
and PacketExchange exceeded our highest expectations," says Julie
Calland, at Radiohead's band management company, Courtyard. "The
Radiohead album launch would have not been possible without
PacketExchange."

PacketExchange has been working with a number of partners utilizing a
combination of complementary delivery platforms to ensure 100%
guaranteed reliability and delivery of the album. PacketExchange
worked closely with w.a.s.t.e to understand their requirements and
developed the optimum solution for both the initial surge of demand
after launch and ongoing demand in the future. Following the launch
this week, users will have guaranteed access to Radiohead's album 24/7
directly over PacketExchange's eXpress service.

"If this album was sent over the public internet, it would have
bounced back and forth significantly slowing down the download. This
can have serious implications on the overall user experience and
jeopardize Radiohead and w.a.s.t.e's reputation," says Kieron O'Brien,
CEO of PacketExchange. "A recent survey we commissioned shows that on
average users wait no longer than ten seconds to get the content they
want so speed is absolutely fundamental."

Fox News Digital, Scripps Networks, Ogilvy, 24/7 Real Media, Digitas and DoubleClick Among Industry Leaders Joining Maven to Redefine Internet TV Advertising

Maven Networks, a leading Internet TV platform company, along with
several titans of the advertising, media and technology worlds, today
announced the formation of the Internet TV Advertising Forum, an
industry collaboration founded by Maven Networks to define
next-generation online video advertising standards. Inaugural members
of the Forum include Fox News Digital, Scripps Network, Ogilvy,
Digitas, TV Guide, 4Kids TV, Microsoft Corp., DoubleClick and 24/7
Real Media. The industry collaborative was established to help solve
the challenges and deficiencies associated with current online video
advertising models.

The goal of the Forum is to develop and standardize effective online
video advertising solutions that create engaging and appealing user
experiences as well as innovative and scalable monetization
opportunities. To accomplish this, Forum members will leverage
comprehensive research, development and usability testing of new ad
formats and technology capabilities to address the challenges
associated with launching successful Internet TV advertising
campaigns.

Maven today also announced the launch of the Maven Internet TV
Advertising Platform which will serve as the group's online video
advertising format foundation [see separate release]. This
breakthrough technology platform features cutting-edge new ad formats,
a dynamic and intelligent ad insertion engine, and sophisticated
inventory management and forecasting tools. The combined power of the
platform's feature set will help enable media publishers to unlock new
ad inventory and exponentially increase ad revenues. With Forum
members' insights, Maven will leverage the input of major industry
players to create a universally-supported, third party ad
server-compatible online video advertising platform.

"Online video advertising has so much potential yet it is not where it
needs to be today," said Hilmi Ozguc, Founder and CEO of Maven. "And,
no single segment of the community has been able to successfully
overcome the challenges posed by pre-roll video ads, the current
dominant format. Rather than build a proprietary solution in a vacuum,
we wanted to bring together key members of each industry segment
contributing to and benefiting from online video advertising to
develop a comprehensive and effective outcome that works for all media
companies, advertisers and consumers."

The Internet TV Advertising Forum will meet regularly to complete
several projects ranging from an in-depth research project designed to
identify and test various new video ad formats to the development of
technical capabilities that meet the individual needs of each market
segment participating in the collaboration. The results of this
research project will be made public by the end of 2007.

"We are seeing incredible pent-up demand for online video advertising,
not just the pre-roll model, but also for a new, more effective
model," said Jeff Meyer, SVP of Interactive Sales for Scripps
Networks. "Scripps Networks has taken a lead role in innovating
advertising online and on-air, and the Forum collaboration will
instantly provide a more deeply engaging consumer and advertiser
experience across all of our category-leading online lifestyle
properties."

Adotube Raises the Bar with New Online Video Advertising Standards

Adotube recently unveiled its latest online video advertising tool,
powered by Adotube Media Player technology, that allows advertisers to
deliver non-intrusive, demographically targeted advertisements through
video in Flash format. One of the outstanding features of Adotube's
In-Video Media Player is that the advertisements do not disrupt the
user experience.

Adotube's technology seamlessly integrates opt-in offers from leading
advertisers into video from any flash video source. Publishers can use
the space on a video stream in the same way advertisers use space on a
simple Web page.

"Our core philosophy at Adotube is to respect the Internet user.
Instead of Internet users being bombarded with advertisements that
interrupt their video viewing experience, with AdoTube's In-Video
Media Player, users who want to view ads can do so simply by rolling
their mouse over the ad's logo," says Leo Grzhonko, president of
Adotube.com.

Those advertisers and publishers who opt to use the In-Video Media
Player can quickly and easily integrate ads into video using several
lines of JavaScript code with an embedded tag or link. Advertisers who
register with Adotube are issued a unique advertiser ID, which can
then be used to download a Java plug-in.

"In-Video Medial Player is truly a revolutionary marketing tool that
can benefit everyone involved – the advertisers, publishers, and the
users themselves," Grzhonko says.