ABC.com will be the first in the industry to stream HD video available on the web, providing its users a new online viewing experience. According to the president of Disney-ABC Television Group, it will be “true high definition resolution video”, 1280 X 720 resolution.
The stream will start as a beta test this Julie from series as Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty. Also coming this fall, the ABC.com player will include national news as well as local content that’s geo-targeted to participating markets.
ABC.com’s broadband player currently offers full-length episodes in high quality standard resolution of over a dozen series. In addition it is being offered as small mini screen that users can position wherever they choose on their desktops.
CBS revises its broadband strategy
CBS’s Innertube broadband channel is not working. CBS admitted that Innertube, launched a year ago, it is not drawing an audience. And the company plans to pursue a “drastically revised strategy” that involves syndicating its video all over the place instead of trying to draw people into its own site.
“We can’t expect consumers to come to us,” says the president of CBS Interactive. “It’s is arrogant for any media company to assume that.” Most of the networks are betting that they can build their own Internet video portals, underestimating the power of syndication.
Roo will expand its resources after getting $25 million
Roo Group, a leading video solutions company, has completed $25 million private equity financing, in a common stock transaction. The participants are institutional investors, the majority of which are existing investors. Roo.com will use the money to fund ongoing operations, pursue acquisitions, develop its video platform and expand the company’s sales and marketing resources.
The market cap of the company is right now $70 million. The company is also planning to enter into Hispanic market, Jared Pick, Director of Distribution Sales, said to IBLNEWS.
Trying to chase Google, Microsoft makes a $6 billion ad buyout
In its largest acquisition ever, Microsoft acquired Seattle-based online ad company aQuantive for $6 billion, an 85 percent premium over yesterday’s closing price. Microsoft had lost out in the bidding on a number of online ad companies over the last several months, most notably Google’s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick.
The buyout clearly demonstrates Microsoft’s long-term commitment to digital advertising. The company is trying to chase Google in the race to see who can do the most to nurture the nascent online advertising space in years to come.
The new ad frontier is aimed at demographically targeted multimedia ads that his consumers as they use their cell phones, listen to podcast, play video games and watch Internet-enabled TV programming.
Research firm eMarketer expects annual online ad spending to climb 122 % to $36.5 billion by 2011.
Reuters, sold for $17.2 billion to Canadian Thomson
Canadian publisher Thomson Corp. agreed to buy Reuters for $17.2 billion, creating the world’s leading provider of news and data for professional markets. The buyout still needs antitrust clearance from Brussels and Washington, and shareholder approval to complete merger.
Thomson will control about 70 percent of the new company, and Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer will be CEO.
With 34 percent of the financial information market, the new Thomson-Reuters will overtake privately-owned Bloomberg on 33 percent.
Two equity firms buy Clear Channel for $19.5 billion
Clear Channel Communications, the largest U.S. radio broadcaster, accepted an offer to be purchased for $19.5 billion from to two equity firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, both of Boston.
The Mays family, founders of Clear Channel, and the company’s top shareholders had been feuding over the future of the company since last year.
