Online Video Service NextNew Receives $15 Million Funding; Goldman, Velocity, Pittman Invest

Online video production and distribution service NextNew Networks has
received $15 million in a new second round of funding...the round was
co-led Goldman Sachs and Velocity Interactive Group (Jon Miller is
already on the board from before). Previous investors Spark Capital
has invested again as has Saban Media Group and Bob Pittman.

NextNew, co-founded by former MTVN (NYSE: VIA - News) exec Herb
Scannell, former Sundance COO Jed Simmonds, former Hanna-Barbera
president Fred Seibert, raised a $8 million round in 2006. I have been
skeptical of video production studios like NextNew and since the
company started, many other competitors have entered the field. It is
a hits-driven business in a medium where a definition of hit is still
being defined.

Meanwhile, NextNew has also announced a deal with AOL (NYSE: TWX -
News) to provide AOL Video with about 2,000 episodes from some of the
short-form videos it has produced since its debut last March. AOL will
create a separate video channel for NextNew shows within its portal.

YouTube lets developers build their own YouTubes

YouTube, Google Inc's popular video sharing site, is giving away tools
that let Web developers tap the underlying database functions of
YouTube, in effect allowing users to build their own YouTubes.

The Silicon Valley-based video-sharing site said on Wednesday that it
is providing wholesale access to YouTube's extensive video library,
global audience, and the underlying video hosting and streaming
network that powers YouTube.

The move goes significantly beyond the current access to YouTube
videos in which any Web user can copy and embed selected videos onto
their own Web pages.

YouTube said its latest customization offerings allow anyone building
a Web site or Internet-connected software program to upload videos
straight to YouTube. They can fetch video feeds, comments, responses
or playlists from YouTube.

What YouTube is offering parallels an earlier move by Yahoo Inc to
open up the ability of its Flickr photo-sharing site to provide deep
access to Web developers in order to embed underlying features of
Flickr in other sites.

Web site developers can let users rate videos or add them to a
favorites list embedded within their own sites. They can also
customize and control the Adobe Systems Inc Flash video playing
software through which videos are viewed.

The expansion of what is known in technical jargon as APIs, or
Application Programmer Interfaces, lets developers build a so-called
"chromeless" Flash player -- a video-viewing window that is stripped
of formatting such as title bar, browser buttons or status bars so
they can create their own players.

These free customization features can be used in conjunction with the
existing APIs which launched last year and which provide the ability
to view videos on other sites and to search for videos on YouTube.

By adding underlying features and functions of YouTube, developers can
enable users to publish videos directly from their mobile phone
devices or encourage new users to share videos to the Web site, as if
they were on YouTube itself.

Internet TV subscriptions doubled in 2007

The number of Internet TV subscribers more than doubled in 2007 to
12.3 million worldwide, driven by western Europe where some broadband
suppliers offered the service for free, according to a report.

Western Europe, led by France, accounted for 57 percent of global IPTV
subscribers, research firm Informa Telecoms & Media said in a report
published on Tuesday.

Traditional telecom providers are seeking new revenue streams to
compensate for declining sales of fixed-line connections for voice
calls, and IPTV is a promising new area, especially for state
incumbents with extensive networks.

Informa said France Telecom, Iliad's Free, Neuf and Telecom Italia's
Alice had attracted more than 5 million IPTV subscribers between them
in France by bundling the service free with broadband offers.

A large number of those subscribers may not be paying for additional
content, however, Informa said.

"2007 was a watershed year for IPTV as many western European telcos
launched full packages," the report said, adding that IPTV was still
in its first phase of rollout and growth.

"It will be interesting to note their approach to IPTV in the future:
whether it is used to increase customer loyalty or whether it is a
genuine money-making stand-alone service."

China now has about 1 million IPTV subscribers and Hong Kong already
had 1 million in September, making it the world's most mature IPTV
market with 60 percent of DSL broadband customers subscribing for TV
over the Web, Informa said.

Informa also said the United States added more than 1 million
customers in 2007, largely thanks to fiber-to-the-home rollouts by
Verizon and AT&T. fiber-to-the-home delivers faster connections than
regular broadband.

In Germany and France, Deutsche Telekom and BT more than doubled their
subscriber numbers to reach more than 100,000 each.

Hulu makes public debut, adds Warner Bros shows

Hulu, the online video joint venture of News Corp and General
Electric's NBC Universal, will make its public debut on Wednesday with
programming from Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros Television Group,
Lionsgate and from sports leagues.

Missing from the list of providers are media mogul Sumner
Redstone-controlled companies Viacom Inc, which continues to hold
discussions, Viacom said recently, and CBS Corp, which has said it was
not averse to a licensing deal.

At launch, Hulu will offer full-length episodes of more than 250 TV
series from current hits such as "The Simpsons" as well as older shows
like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." It also will offer 100 movies
including "The Big Lebowski" and "Mulholland Drive."

Hulu said it has signed licensing deals with the National Basketball
Association and the National Hockey League.

Hulu's launch is a big bet by big media companies that consumers are
as eager to spend long periods of time watching TV shows and movies in
front of their computers as they are in front of their televisions.

Ahead of its test launch four months ago, the service, dubbed by the
press as a rival to Google Inc's YouTube video sharing site, was
skewered by the press and influential technology blogs for attempting
to compete with the Web's most popular video destination.

Hulu has won over some of its harshest critics including technology
blog, Techcrunch, which has since praised the venture for focus on
professional content, clean, easy-to-use design, and video quality.
Its readers voted it as the best video start-up of 2007.

With no marketing and a private test pool of users, Hulu Chief
Executive Jason Kilar said they have attracted over five million
viewers in the past month with its breadth of legally available
contemporary shows and clean design.

Some 80 percent of its entire video library is viewed every seven
days, a sign likely to be viewed favorably by programming partners
seeking ways to boost profits from vintage shows, Kilar said.

Shows on Hulu also are distributed on AOL, Comcast Corp's Fancast.com,
Microsoft Corp's MSN, News Corp's MySpace and Yahoo Inc.

AD FORMATS IMPRESS

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said he was most impressed,
not with its features, but with its range of options for advertisers.
"It's the part people overlook," he said.

Among the range of new advertising options, Hulu said that Nissan, for
example, can give Hulu viewers the option to choose to watch any one
of its several car ads.

Advertisers spend "billions of dollars getting the right ad in front
of the right person," McQuivey said of marketing to traditional
television viewers. Hulu's online advertising permits "self-selected
targeting."

McQuivey added, "From the advertisers perspective, it can't get any better."

Hulu said most of the companies which signed up for the test also are
a part of the official launch, including Nissan, Best Buy Co Inc, and
Unilever PLC.

Hulu is available at http://www.hulu.com/ starting Wednesday.

Jivox Hopes to Do for Video What Google’s AdWords Did for Display

from Adotas

Online advertising may be having a moment: according to a study by
Burst Media last month, only about half of online video viewers tune
out after seeing an instream ad. Self-service online video advertising
platform Jivox plans to capitalize on the burgeoning market by
offering smaller, mom-and-pop advertisers access to easy-to-create
online video ads, the company said today.

"Jivox was founded on the premise that businesses are ready to move
beyond ineffective banner ads and costly search advertising by adding
online video ads to their marketing mix, but they need help tapping
into this new medium. The Jivox platform allows local businesses,
independent professionals, and small enterprises to get their products
and services in front of the right customers in a way that is rich and
compelling and drives new business," said Diaz Nesamoney, founder and
CEO of Jivox. "Just as Google enabled small businesses to promote
themselves online with the introduction of Google AdWords, we believe
Jivox can empower small businesses to take advantage of the burgeoning
advertising opportunities within online video."

The Jivox platform combines a video ad creation tool, proprietary
targeting technology, reporting capabilities and a growing network of
publishers to offer advertisers a complete, do-it-yourself service for
online video ads.

Online video marketing is the fastest growing segment of digital
online marketing because their click-through rates are generally much
higher than banner ads and their ilk. The cost of creating the ads was
discouraging smaller businesses, which is where Jivox and its low-cost
alternatives come in for customers like The Diamond Broker.

"Google search advertising has been the primary means of advertising
for us at The Diamond Broker. We specialize in GIA Certified Diamonds
with Excellent Cut grade, and feature nationally known jewelry
designers and our own custom designs, so the visual part of what we do
is very important. Unlike our search engine advertising, with Jivox
video ads we are able to reproduce our in-office experience online.
For our product, video advertising is particularly compelling, as the
beauty of diamonds and diamond jewelry is best expressed visually,"
said Jeff Richardson, founder of The Diamond Broker in Los Altos, CA.
"We are very excited by the capabilities Jivox offers us to create
unique ads featuring our diamonds and fine jewelry."

In other news, Jivox raised $2.7 million in a seed round of financing
led by Opus Capital, a venture capital firm. Jivox says it will use
the money to develop its online video ad platform and expand its sales
and marketing forces.

Disney to Offer Some Vintage TV Series on Its Web Site

From the NYTimes

The Walt Disney Company will begin showing its classic television shows on the Internet, its chief executive, Robert A. Iger, told shareholders on Thursday.

"In the near future, you'll see more of that product available on Disney.com, either for free or through some sort of subscription," Mr. Iger, 57, said at the company's annual meeting. "Providing physical goods on DVD is tougher and tougher these days because shelf space is limited."

Disney, producer of the "Zorro" and "Davy Crockett" TV series in the 1950s, is expanding Web revenue by selling programs from ABC and the Disney Channel on Apple's iTunes Store and offering ad-supported episodes online. "Star Trek" from CBS and "The A-Team" from NBC have been added to those networks' Web sites. Mr. Iger did not say which shows Disney would provide.

CBS and NBC said last month they would put advertiser-supported episodes of older TV series online. CBS shows include "MacGyver" and NBC will provide "Miami Vice."

Disney bought Club Penguin, an online social network for children, in August to help increase Internet sales. Mr. Iger is also expanding Disney's cable network and animation businesses outside the United States. He is using hit TV programs and films like "High School Musical" and "Hannah Montana" to bolster sales in Disney's theme parks and its consumer products division.

"Each of these stories has been developed and enriched over time," Mr. Iger said at the meeting in Albuquerque. They "work on multiple technological platforms and appeal across multiple cultural and social backgrounds."

AARP Extends Platform, Launches TV Channel

In addition to its magazine and lobby efforts, it's launching AARP TV.

Targeting the 50+ audience, its first two syndicated shows - "Inside E
Street" and "My Generation"--will debut on March 10 and 11,
respectively. Both will be distributed through and air on Retirement
Living Television, which reaches more than 29 million households
nationwide. The two weekly half-hour shows extend from AARP's
lifestyle and news platforms.

"AARP TV is another way to reach and deliver valuable information to
boomers and 50+ America," said Kevin Donnellan, chief communications
officer, AARP. "There's a proven demand in the market to serve the 50+
demographic, and RLTV was a natural fit for us."

"My Generation" is a lively lifestyle magazine show that will feature
experts covering issues ranging from health and money to relationships
and volunteering. Hosted by Greg Williams (former sports anchor) and
Cynthia Steele Vance ("CBS Morning News"), "My Generation" will air
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 3 p.m. on RLTV.

"Inside E Street," the channel's new consumer affairs program, is
hosted by veteran journalist Sheilah Kast, who has worked for ABC, CNN
and NPR. It airs at 3 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. The focus is on hot
topics of the day, showcasing a balance of opinion leaders and
newsmakers. Key issues before Congress will also be addressed.

"We are pleased that AARP has recognized the value in teaming up with
RLTV, a cable network with a mission not only to change the way people
watch television, but the way they live their lives," said Brad
Knight, president, RLTV.

RLTV launched in September 2006, and is carried on DirecTV and Comcast.

Deutsch Selects NextMedium as Brand Integration partner

NextMedium, Inc., developer of the first marketplace for brand
integration, announced today that Deutsch, Inc. will be the first
advertising agency to partner with and utilize the company's Embed
platform to maximize brand integration opportunities for its clients.

"We talk to producers, networks and content providers all the time,
but NextMedium's platform adds a critical layer to the discussion,"
said Peter Gardiner, Chief Media Officer, Deutsch Inc. "It will give
us better access to inventory, campaign control and analytics, and
opens more doors for us enhancing brand capabilities for both Deutsch
and our branded entertainment practice Media Bridge Entertainment
(MBE)."

For agencies such as Deutsch, NextMedium's Embed platform serves as a
complete management system to secure and analyze brand integration
opportunities available in the marketplace. Deutsch will be able to
register its brands on the platform and define specific campaign
objectives, including demographic and psychographic targeting, desired
exposure types, and general branding objectives. The Embed matching
engine then displays contextually relevant inventory available from
its network of TV, music and film partners. Deutsch will be able to
negotiate creative aspects and secure inventory entirely through the
Embed platform.

Deutsch will also be using Embed Intelligence, NextMedium's analytics
package, to recommend campaign pricing and assess the media and
branding value after the campaign is complete.

"We have hundreds of registered brands in our network, but Deutsch is
the first to organize an agency-level commitment to offer a brand
integration marketplace to its clients," said NextMedium CEO, David
Bluhm. "We're thrilled to be partnering with a forward-thinking agency
that is committed to offering innovative brand building solutions."

Advertising.com Brings In-Video, Pre-Roll To The Masses

TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF an increasingly video-centric Web,
Advertising.com is now offering advertisers in-video ad formats and
pre-roll inventory placement on a cost-per-click basis, while also
maintaining a CPM payment structure for publishers.

Through the integration of Ad.com's proprietary AdLearn technology,
the new Performance Video Product is seeking to bridge the "value
proposition" to a broader set of advertisers and publishers.

"With the integration of AdLearn technology into our video network, we
can now provide a new video offering for direct-response advertisers
and additional video options for brand advertisers," said Lynda
Clarizio, president of Advertising.com.

"Because the new product offering does not require professionally
produced commercials, all advertisers can benefit from the increase of
consumers viewing video online," she added.

Part of AOL's Platform-A advertising business and the largest
third-party ad network online, Ad.com is in fact playing catch-up with
this latest offering.

Ad network and Web video technology startup VideoEgg, for instance,
has offered in-video ad formats since its birth in 2005, and recently
launched a network for advertisers to negotiate a price for
engagement, thus offering a more valuable indicator of consumer
interest.

Microsoft is one of the first companies to use VideoEgg's new AdFrames
Brand Response Network to distribute video content promoting Microsoft
Office. The ads will run across the Eggnetwork, which includes
hundreds of social sites and applications.

Like Ad.com's new offering, VideoEgg's model diverges from the norm by
which advertisers buy online inventory based on impression--spending a
set amount per thousand delivered views, what's known as CPM.

And competition is bound to increase for Ad.com along with the
increasing revenue flooding into the online video market. Indeed, the
U.S. online video advertising market is expected to grow from $989
million in 2008--to an estimated $7.15 billion by 2012, according to
Forrester Research.

Ad.com's new cost-per-click offering employs a 5- to 9-second video or
flash creative asset and is streamed within an in-player video
environment.

MySpace co-founder acquires video-sharing site

Brad Greenspan, co-founder of MySpace.com and founder of LiveUniverse,
an online entertainment network, announced that his company has
acquired ailing video-sharing site Revver.

Greenspan said in a statement that he plans to merge the offerings of
Revver and LiveVideo.com, his company's social-network and video site.
Revver will continue to operate under its own brand.

But the ex-MySpace executive did not pass up the opportunity to take a
few swipes at his former company. Greenspan opposed the 2005 sale of
MySpace to News Corp. and has badmouthed MySpace and its parent
company ever since.

Half of his press release announcing the Revver purchase is dedicated
to blaming MySpace for Revver's failure to attract fans.

Greenspan traces Revver's troubles to January 2007, when MySpace
blocked access to Revver's video player. MySpace banned Revver because
of its policy prohibiting third parties from posting ads on MySpace.

Revver embedded ads within videos and was booted. That's not how
Greenspan saw it.

"MySpace had become a predator aggressively blocking and censoring any
Web service it deemed competitive," LiveUniverse said in its press
release.

Funny thing is, none of the former Revver employees or founders I've
spoken to ever link the company's problems to MySpace. They typically
talk about YouTube's overwhelming command of the video-sharing sector.

Terms of the Revver acquisition were not disclosed, but sources
familiar with the deal say Revver was sold for pennies on the dollar.
Sources told CNET News.com last month that Revver was asking for
between $300,000 and $500,000 in cash and the assumption of the
company's $1 million debt.

News.com has since learned that Revver's debt was $2.5 million.
NewTeeVee, which broke the news of Revver's acquisition, quoted
sources who said that Greenspan paid just under $5 million for the
troubled company.

Investors had pumped about $13 million into Los Angeles-based Revver since 2005.

Yahoo Unveils Online Video Ad Formats

The two new formats include one in which an ad that appears either
before or after a video contains a cue for the viewer to mouse-over
the video window.

Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) on Wednesday introduced two online video
advertising formats, and said it would also offer overlay ads through
its recent acquisition of Maven Networks.

The two new formats include one in which an ad that appears either
before or after a video contains a cue for the viewer to mouse-over
the video window. Doing so displays a message in a semi-transparent
overlay on the video ad. The message prompts the viewer to click
through to the advertiser's site for more information.

Along with the above "clickable" ad, Yahoo introduced a three-second
splash ad that appears when a video is launched, but then becomes a
banner ad above the video window. When clicked, the banner pauses the
playing video and launches an interactive ad.

Yahoo has made the new ad formats available in the United States on
all videos across the portal's network. Companies that have used the
formats include Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE), Esurance, HBO, and Sharp.

Maven's overlay ad is an interactive or Flash media ad that runs
inside the video player, but on top of the selected programming. The
ads can be displayed as splash screens, as well as in the middle of
the video or as a live-feed insertion. "These formats increase the
available inventory and choices available to publishers," Yahoo said.

Yahoo acquired Maven Networks last month for $160 million. The
company didn't sell ads, but was heavily involved in testing new ad
formats that go beyond the typical clip that runs before the video.
Maven delivered content with ads inserted to more than 30 media
companies, including Fox News, Gannett, The Financial Times, Hearst,
E.W. Scripps, and CBS Sports.

Yahoo over the years has seen its overall share of the online
advertising market shrink, as Google became the dominant player,
primarily through its success with text ads tied to search results.
Yahoo's drop in stock price as a result of its failure to grab a
bigger share of the ad market has led to a takeover attempt by
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), which is ongoing.

Spot Runner Buys Weblistic to Boost Presence in Online Ad World

Online ad company Spot Runner announced today the acquisition of
Weblistic, an online marketing solutions agency that serves local
businesses. The deal was an all stock transaction – financial details
were not disclosed.

Spot Runner develops technology solutions for small local businesses
to help them create video ads for television. The acquisition of
Weblistic expands the company's online advertising capabilities and
complements its television and radio capabilities.

"Our objective is to help businesses drive awareness and attract new
customers through multiple media channels, in an integrated manner,
and online advertising is a top priority for us and for our clients,"
said Nick Grouf, chairman and CEO of Spot Runner. "With Weblistic, we
gain deep online advertising experience, cutting edge technology and a
top-notch team."

Weblistic has been a player in the online ad biz since the late 90's
when it developed the original technology for YellowPages.com.
"Weblistic has always been passionate about making online advertising
easy and turnkey for small and medium-sized businesses," said Ketan
Shah, CEO of Weblistic. "By joining forces with Spot Runner, which is
the clear leader in local advertising services, we are now able to
offer local advertisers a complete solution — including media planning
and buying for TV, radio and online, affordable and high-quality
creative, and expert consulting services."

Spot Runner bought GlobeShooter — a network of independent filmmakers
and videographers — in January.

YouTube to get live video this year

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen says that live streaming video is
something that YouTube has always wanted to do, and that this year,
with the resources of Google, it is finally going to happen.

Veoh is raising a round, claims to be pretty big and growing

from venturebeat

Updated with more information from the company

Online video startup Veoh is in the process of raising a $40 million
round at a proposed $150 million valuation and has hired investment
bank Bear Sterns to help with the effort, Silicon Alley Insider
reports.

San Diego-based Veoh is a distant competitor to market leader YouTube,
but still claims to be growing at a healthy rate. The site features
user-created videos, clips from partners such as the Independent
Comedy Network, as well as content from large companies like Viacom.
From what we hear, the company is well respected in the media world,
partially because it's made a point of forging partnerships with
entertainment companies.

However, Veoh's traffic numbers are contested, as they have been at
least since the company raised $26 million round last spring (our
coverage).

Last December, third-party analytics firm Comscore showed Veoh
bringing in nearly 16 million monthly unique visitors worldwide, with
only 3.5 million of those in the US. That's versus YouTube's nearly
250 million. Meanwhile, rival analytics firm Nielsen says Veoh
received more than 2 million unique US viewers in December (not
visitors).

[Update: Veoh tells me it has more than 23 million monthly video
viewers worldwide, defined as people who started playing a video on
the Veoh home site or on a Veoh video embedded in another site. It
says that Nielsen's panel may be missing large chunks of Veoh traffic,
because the panel is comprised of the wrong demographic. It says that
using a separate Nielsen tracking service, the web analytics firm
obtained numbers much closer to Veoh's own.]

Today, Spark Capital investor Bijan Sabet, who sits on Veoh's board,
writes that Nielsen's numbers are wrong, after SAI cited them in its
article.

Sabet says that Veoh's internal server logs show 21 million unique
monthly viewers in December, up from 2.5 million at the beginning of
the year. He also says that users are watching more than 30 million
hours of Veoh videos per month, now.

So maybe Veoh is pretty big, but like every other video company, it is
trying to figure out how to monetize. Many startup rivals have also
raised large amounts of money. Two examples: Last year, DailyMotion
raised $30 (our coverage) and MetaCafe raised $34 million (our
coverage). Hosting and streaming lots of videos gets expensive, and
right now there's no way to cover costs.

[Update: I asked the company about monetization. Veoh says the average
user spends more than 87 minutes on the site per month, with much of
the viewing happening during evening prime time hours. It says its
audience presents great opportunities for brand advertisers.]

DoubleClick brings HD to video ads

Advertisers can now create and deliver rich media video ads in high
definition to further captivate audiences, thanks to DoubleClick's
latest feature. Not all ads are created equal and the battle is on to
keep creative treatments and delivery methods "novel" and consumer
eyeballs focused.

Enter DoubleClick's rich media with HD video. Now Internet users can
experience online adverts in the same quality as other mediums,
quality that advertisers have had to sacrifice online. Ads may even be
expanded to fit full screen.

Epson is the first to use DoubleClick's new feature, implemented as
part of their "Epsonality" campaign. "HD Video lets us deliver our
creative in a way that reflects the high quality of Epson products,"
said Jordan Kretchmer, associate creative director at Butler, Shine,
Stern & Partners, creators of the campaign.

"Consumers aren't used to seeing such pristine video online, so we
expect the new HD technology to capture peoples' attention like a
standard video unit never could," he added.