Here’s the big media deal everyone has been waiting for. Or at least, here’s the report: Sharon Waxman of TheWrap reports that cable giant Comcast is buying all of NBC Universal from GE for $35 billion. Comcast says the report is “inaccurate.”
Start-ups whose business plans are based on selling advertising are having a very hard time raising money. But start-ups that want to make money by helping other people sell advertising? That’s another story.
Today’s example: Rubicon Project, a Los Angeles-based advertising-optimization start-up, has raised a $9 million C round led by Peacock Equity, the joint venture co-owned by GE Capital and GE’s NBC Universal.
Even when the M&A market was shut down, Wall Street couldn’t stop speculating about GE’s intentions for its NBC Universal unit. And now that it’s deal-making time again, the chatter is getting very noisy.
Hence the flurry of coverage over yesterday’s remarks by Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, in which he said…not very much.
Daylife, a news aggregator that launched a few years ago with a good deal of hype but has since retreated to the back pages, has landed another investor: Getty Images has bet $4 million on the company, which has raised some $12 million to date.
Sure, you’re watching lots of video on the Web. But that doesn’t mean you’re cutting back on your boob-tube time. At least not yet.
Does Google need a Hollywood guide? It may be getting one: Jim Wiatt, the former head of the fabled William Morris talent agency, has been talking to the company about a consulting gig for its YouTube video site.
Wiatt, who is leaving his old job in the aftermath of his agency’s highly contentious merger with the Endeavor agency, discussed the idea with Google and YouTube executives in Mountain View last week, multiple sources said.
Hey Googlers! Ever wonder what life is like on a big-deal, nationally televised reality show? If you’re working at the main Googleplex in Mountain View, you may be able find out: Just ask Preeti Mistry. You can find Mistry at Charlie’s Cafe, where’s she’s back to work running Google’s much celebrated cafeteria. But earlier this year, she was a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” which kicked off its sixth season this week. And she survived the first episode, clams and all.
Really doesn’t matter if you have the slightest interest in track and field. If you have a pulse, you will be amazed when you see Jamaican marvel Usain Bolt smashing yet another sprinting record, which he did just minutes ago at a German track meet. It will take NBC’s Universal Sports quite some time to get you the clip, but you can watch it right now on the world’s biggest video site.
Another big player has signed onto Comcast’s Web TV trial: Discovery Communication is handing over a few of its shows for the cable provider’s program, which gives subscribers online access to (some) of the shows they get on TV. Discovery joins other big names like CBS and HBO in Comcast’s “On Demand Online,” which launched last month in a few thousand homes.
Yet another sign that revenue-free start-ups can still attract investors, given the right pitch: Boxee, the software company that makes it easy to get Web video onto your TV, has raised a $6 million B round led by General Catalyst. I’m told the new round pegs the company’s value in the $25 million to $30 million range. What’s the appeal? The chance that the company could play a role in the disruption of the $70 billion TV business.
As predicted, TV ad sales are down. And as predicted, TV networks are hoping they come back sometime in the next year, along with the economy. In the meantime, what do cheap TV ad prices do for Web video sales?
Remember last week, when President Barack Obama threw out the first pitch at baseball’s All-Star Game? And remember the ensuing fuss about his form? And remember how Jon Stewart sliced through all of the crap with his typically incisive wit?
Alas, you’ve got no choice but to remember that last part. It has disappeared from the Web, apparently at the behest of Major League Baseball.
Yesterday, Google told Wall Street that its business had “stabilized” during the spring, but it may be one of the only media companies that gets to say that.
GE’s NBC Universal, for instance, just posted second-quarter results that were as bad as its first quarter. Jeff Zucker’s TV and movie unit said revenue was down eight percent, and profit down 41 percent for the three months ending June 30; in the previous quarter, revenue was only down two percent, while profit was down 43 percent.
Yet another addition to the growing list of programmers signing on to Comcast’s “On Demand Online”: CBS will join the cable provider’s trial program, which will allow subscribers to get Web access to shows they get on TV.
CBS will join previously announced partners Time Warner, which is offering up programming from its Turner channels and HBO; Liberty Media’s Starz, and smaller players like Scripps, Rainbow and A&E. The twist is that CBS is the only broadcaster to sign up for the trial.
Now that Joost has given up the ghost and bailed out of the Web video portal business, who’s next? A good bet: Veoh, one of the best-funded would-be YouTubes. Multiple sources tell me the company is aggressively marketing itself to would-be buyers, and it’s asking for less than the $70 million investors like Michael Eisner have plowed into the company. Meanwhile, rival MetaCafe is looking for a “strategic investor.”
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »
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