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IPTV company Joost quietly made their first acquisition earlier this week (at least quietly relatively the hype that usually surrounds them.)   Joost bought digital programming guide OnTheToob.com (and with it, its developer).   Terms were not disclosed but the likely cost was trivial.

OnTheToob developed RSS feeds and channel guide interfaces built around the Joost platform.  The company, which was not much more than a personal project, had been working with Joost since April.  As part of the deal, the creator of the technology will join Joost as an employee.

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In July, display advertising was a noted weak spot when Yahoo reported 2nd quarter earnings.  In an effort to provide an immediate boost,  Yahoo today acquired internet advertiser Blue Lithium for $300m in cash.

Blue Lithium, which was founded in 2004 and was preparing for an IPO,  is something of a blind-buy network.  They sell a publishers advertising inventory but do not disclose to advertisers precisely what sites the ads will run on.  Instead, they serve them “blind” based on various demographic and targeting criteria.  Many of the Blue Lithium publisher relationships are also not exclusive.

In July Blue Lithium ranked as the 5th largest online ad network according to ComScore. Click to Read More

There are all kinds of games built around the idea of six degrees of separation.  Probably the most famous is “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” a game that challenges you to connect two actors by their co-stars to Kevin Bacon in 6 moves or less. It’s so popular, in fact, there’s even a website that will make the connections for you.    Another version of the game ought to be: Six Degrees of Electronic Arts.

The gaming industry is currently popular with investors but especially, it seems,  if a new company includes alumni from Electronic Arts.   Looking back over recent deals, the EA connection seems to be everywhere.

First, there are two newly funded companies: Media Machines and Rocketon, both have leadership schooled on the EA campus.

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Going into the holiday weekend, two Santa Monica companies joined the ranks of the newly funded.  Jacked, an interactive Internet TV-companion platform has raised $6.5m and gaming company Trilogy Studios has closed a $3.2m second round.

Trilogy Studios was founded in 2005 by gaming industry veterans. Click to Read More

Vivendi SA, the French-based entertainment conglomerate and owner of Universal Music, reported second quarter earnings earlier today.  They results were mixed. 

Second quarter earnings were reported at $813m (594m Euros). (Down heavily from last years $1.5b (1.1b Euros) largely due to gains from selling shares in DuPont).  Per share, the company earned 67c a share for the quarter.

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Just a week ago, I wrote, half in jest that 8 figure deals were becoming increasingly common and frighteningly familiar Internet video startups.  I didn’t think I’d be reiterating the point again so soon.  But, turns out, another round of extreme funding has already come down the pipeline. I thought wrong.

Besting Veoh’s $25m and Metacafe’s recent $30m but shy of Joost’s $45m and Brightcove’s $59.5m, French-based video sharing site Dailymotion has raised a $34m second round.   The round was led by European firms Advent Venture Partners (London) and AGF Private Equity (Paris).  On top of $9.5m contributed last October, it brings the total funding raised for the site in one year to $43.5. 

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Usually when a company’s name or product becomes a verb, or otherwise enters the vocabulary of pop culture lexicon, it means the company created something pioneering (and usually lucrative) or utterly atrocious.  For Tivo (Nasdaq:TIVO), the pioneering title is an unquestionable fit but the moniker of lucrative is more elusive.  People may be "Tivo-ing" shows but TiVo isn’t making a lot of money. Wednesday after the close of Market, Tivo reported earnings for their second fiscal quarter.  The numbers were uninspired. Click to Read More