WatchMojo.com has started producing segments out of Miami (here is one example) and we’ll be expanding to New York City (come hell or high water, as they say) in 2008.
I’ll be in Manhattan on February 13th and 14th for meetings, but in between, I’d love to meet up with people interested in getting involved with WatchMojo.com. I’m talking about hosts and camerapeople/videographers mainly.
Drop me a line at ash@mojosupreme.com if you are interested.
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WatchMojo NewsletterYahoo! - a stock I’ve owned all the way up to $34 (many times) and come back down to $22 (many times) and never sold (unlike others like aQuantive and Electronic Arts where I made money time and time again trading within a range) is being circled by private equity investors, as well as strategic media players such as AOL, News Corp. Viacom, MSFT, AT&T, CBS, according to Peter Lauria of the NY Post (owned by News Corp.).
Bear in mind, the NY Post has frequently pumped the MSFT/YHOO merger rumor, helping push up the stock 18% in one day back in March, after which point both companies denied the rumor. But with the stock in the gutter, and 2008 being all about display/banners and videos (where Yahoo! is strong), then it’s a matter of time before someone launches a bid. From Lauria’s article:
“Yahoo has an execution problem, not a structural problem, and whenever you have an execution problem there are a lot of smart people with a lot of money that think they can do better,” said UBS analyst Ben Schachter. “Each day Yahoo’s stock gets cheaper, it raises the interest among these people. Yang and Filo don’t want to sell until they’ve had a real chance to turn the business around. Where the stock is now, however, they might not have that option.”
I mentioned the Yahoo! going private option all the way back in summer of 2007 fall of 2006, and a lot of people said “no way” so at the risk of saying “I told you” I think that private equity remains a very viable option, both with regards of feasibility and in terms of result.
Henry Blodget adds: “So the most likely buyer here is probably private equity. And it’s not hard to guess what a big PE buyer would likely do: Go private, lever up, pay a huge one-time cash dividend, fire a couple thousand people, sell off everything but the core business, and go public again.”
I’m not saying “told you so” mainly because it has not happened, but I will say this: if any private bankers want to discuss this, and how to maximize value, you know where to find me. In fact, while we’re talking crazy, here are some more not-so-crazy options for Yahoo!:
- status quo (a $100B market cap by 2010?)
- merger with eBay
- merger with Viacom
- merger with CBS
- acquisition by/merger with Microsoft
- taken private
- sale to AT&T
- can Google buy Yahoo!?
- Spin off ad network unit
What would you do with Yahoo!?
One reason why we’re very bullish on MySpace’s long term prospects is because it is positioning itself firmly as a media platform. Indeed, MySpace is forging many ties to secure its place as an entertainment hub. As social networking continues to face challenges in converting marketers’ interest to ad commitments, MySpace has taken crucial steps to position itself to benefit from online video advertising, in addition to social networking advertising (see this for the side-by-side analysis of these two).
MySpace is so massive, so important in any equation and so feared (especially now that it is a part of Rupert Murdoch’s all-encompassing News Corp.) that it is being attacked on all fronts:
- fending off Facebook in social networking,
- chasing YouTube in video distribution
- and vying with Yahoo! in terms of size (as measured by pageviews).
MySpace has tripled in size since News Corp. acquired MySpace’s parent Intermix for $580M in 2005 and continues to grow, adding features and launching initiatives at a breakneck pace.
Soon, News Corp. will launch an ad network, taking on even more players.
This morning, BBC Worldwide announced a partnership with MySpace TV. It’s a sign of the times, more than ever, companies partner and cooperate to compete in an ever greater fragmented world of distribution. It’s also a tacit admission of established media giants that their bigger competitors remain piracy, user-generated content and a lack of clear business model to power their forays online.
It’s no surprise then, that BBC chose to syndicate videos on MySpace TV, too:
The BBC has already found some success syndicating content on the Google Web site YouTube, where its videos have garnered more than three million views since last February. MySpaceTV is the second most popular video Web site, behind YouTube.
For the BBC, the latest deal offers an opportunity to widen the release of its content, trying to reach younger consumers where they socialize.
“This partnership continues our strategy of putting BBC content right at the heart of where audiences spend their time and watch video online,” Simon Danker, the director of digital media at BBC Worldwide, said in a statement.
The partnership is significant for the 13 local-language versions of MySpaceTV around the world, because MySpace’s previous collaborations with television networks have been restricted to certain markets. The BBC content will be available anywhere in the world on MySpace’s 23 regional sites.
“Our users are consuming an enormous amount of video,” said Jeff Berman, the general manager of MySpaceTV. With the deal, Mr. Berman is expected to be promoted to executive vice president for marketing and content. The former marketing chief left in November.
By way of disclosure, I should state that our own WatchMojo.com is very proud to have beaten BBC to the punch by signing up MySpace TV to distribute our video programming. In fact, we signed up to eight channels which I doubt any other content provider has (don’t worry BBC, you beat us in many other ways). Our channels include:
Auto | Business & Tech | Comedy | Fashion | Lifestyle | Sports | Travel | Video Games
I’ll also take this moment to mention, by the way, that our channels (old | new) on YouTube have generated more than 3M views… so we’re actually quite proud and shocked about that (again, BBC, don’t worry, I’m sure you have a lot going for you, too).
While indeed YouTube is the largest online video destination, do not underestimate MySpace’s awesome size and ability to drive awareness and streams.
Think Global, Act Local
More importantly, this allows MySpace to leverage BBC’s content to 23 local MySpace derivative sites.
Small Step for BBC, Giant Leap for Online Video
This is just one more validation of online video in general, MySpace TV and short form video in particular. Such an adoption by BBC will only make more marketers pause and take note than online video is far more than UGC and pirated programming. Of course, for this to really prove win-win, both sides need to adhere to a long-term outlook because while online video expenditures grows to past $1B in 2008, online video is awfully similar to where search was in 2001, in other words, a massive component of online video desperately looking for a revenue model.
But once the audience is there, and the content is there, then the money will follow.
As YouTube and MySpace continue to jockey for online video supremacy and the fight for #3 intensifies, the value of high-quality, professional content continues to soar… but of course, we are biased in saying that.
Disclosure: News Corp. was my employer from October 2005 to December 2005 after it bought the company that bought my old company. WatchMojo.com is now a content provider to MySpace TV.
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