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In late July, just as HBO’s ThisJustIn video channel was getting canceled, another Internet video studio and distribution channel was coming online in Hollywood.  Rob Barnett, a former exec at CBS radio who also did time at  MTV and VH1, launched MyDamnChannel with creative assistance from entertainment industry veterans Don Was, Harry Shearer and David Wain.  (A detailed Metue profile of the original launch can be found here)

From the start, like Vuguru and 60 Frames Entertainment, the company’s aim was to create original professional quality content for syndication around the net.  Unlike those competitors, their plans included the launch of a distribution site of  their own.  Taking a multi-pronged approach, MyDamnChannel syndicated their videos on a YouTube channel and  also provided embed codes to allow viewers to link or include the videos on their own sites while they were actively looking for syndication partnerships.  Now, a little more than a month later, they’ve found their second partner in a deal with MySpace.

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Joining a host of production houses from startups to media powerhouses, Warner Brothers will release a wide offering of original video programming for Internet distribution.

The new programming, expected to be revealed today in greater detail, reverses an initial strategy that aimed to offload production costs onto advertisers.  Instead, as part of revitalized web strategy that includes a television spin off of their site TMZ.com and a planned animation-only video portal (called T-Works) , Warner is planning  to spend at least $3m for web production. 

The slate of content will include at least 24 productions in formats ranging from games and serials to short films. Click to Read More

Add social network Multiply to the list of well funded.  The company founded in 2003, which is focused on older users and those looking for a more closed environment to interact with those they already know rather than as a playground for making new contacts, pulled in $16m in a Series B Financing.   

The round was led by VantagePoint Venture Partners.  Point Judith Capital and previous Series A investors TransCosmos Investments also participated.

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Sometimes things happen in threes; at least that is the superstition.  Yesterday was literary triplicate.  In three unrelated announcements, the book publishing world saw an acquisition, a product introduction and a website makeover.

On the merger front, in the niche of author driven self-publishing services, Author House acquired rival iUniverse for undisclosed terms.  Both companies, which compete against Amazon (via its Book Surge Division), Lulu and smaller services like Blurb, provide a range of services for handling book design, layout, printing and post-print marketing.

In the remodeling realm, Google (which along with Amazon and Microsoft has been racing to scan and archive books for some time now) introduced Click to Read More

Scooby Doo where are you? …  on T-Works?

In what is yet another effort to cut out or at least limit the power of 3rd party Internet distributors (from YouTube to iTunes) Warner Brothers announced today they will create their own destination. 

The site, called T-Works will house their broad animation holdings.  To populate the site, they will cull from the legendary libraries of Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes and DC works.  Everything from Batman, to Bugs Bunny, to Scooby Doo will be at their disposal.

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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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Last week, NBC and Apple took off the gloves and brawled in the school yard.   This week, NBC is moving forward into the next round.

Things started out innocently enough.  Positioning for greater pricing flexibility and other concessions, NBC notified Apple that they wouldn’t renew their long term contract when it expired in December.   Somehow that contractually required notice became public.  Labels were applied in the media – good guys / bad guys. Sides were taken.   Details slipped out that NBC was positioning for more pricing flexibility and the option of bundling products.   Sources said Apple wouldn’t budge.  Things escalated.    Apple snapped back and said they wouldn’t make NBC’s upcoming fall line up available.  Things simmered.  Tempers boiled. 

Yesterday, NBC fired back.  In a surprise announcement, they said they had struck a partnership deal with Amazon.  Click to Read More