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Michelangelo Volpi, known generally as Mike, was for a long time the person most mentioned as successor to Cisco CEO John Chambers.  Before leaving this year, the man named after an artist,  spent 13 years at Cisco, including seven as the head of their mergers and acquisitions group.  During that tenure, he was responsible for the first seventy acquisitions – many across the time zones of the world.  He was also active in pushing the sale of Cisco’s networking equipment to many media power houses.  Now, Mr. Volpi will be taking on a new challenge as the CEO of hugely funded, largely hyped, talent-agency-represented, IPTV company Joost. 

In his new endeavor as CEO,  Mr. Volpi’s will likely find some overlaps to his past experiences and a host of new challenges to resolve. Click to Read More

The news in the later part of this week was all about the music, but not the music you listen to … it was about the music you watch.  

In a series of announcements several companies made clear they were taking music videos playing online seriously.   Some of the major names grabbing the headlines included labels Warner Music and EMI, search giant Google, and of course, Apple, which these days is always within a whisper of another headline regarding consumer entertainment technology.

Here’s a recap of developments in three news flashes:

News Flash 1: Warner Music

Warner Music, one of the Big 4 record labels, made public plans launch its own online video site.    The planned site, which will be built in partnership with UK based Premium TV, will house the entire archive of Warner Music’s music video collection.  Multiple sites are planned with content organized by artist, label (there are many labels under the Warner Music umbrella) or genre.  Click to Read More

CBS is serious about its online content.  That may not have been clear with last weeks confirmed purchase of news videolog Wallstrip, but with today’s announcement that they were buying UK based Internet radio company Last.fm it certainly is.

Now, in addition to a sizable investment in IPTV company Joost, and an active content distribution strategy of its own, CBS will add a community driven music network that has more than 15million users spread around more than 200 countries.

In announcing the deal, CBS CEO Les Moonves said “[Last’s] demographics play perfectly to CBS’s goal to attract younger viewers and listeners across our businesses.”  With Joost, Wallstrip and now Last.fm, CBS is clearly trying to build that audience quickly. 

To acquire Last.fm, CBS will pay $280m in cash.  The founders of Last, which was started in 2002, will continue to run Last.fm independently but they will almost certainly be exploring joint efforts with the CBS Radio Division.

In its overall content strategy, it almost seems that CBS is positioning itself to compete Click to Read More

If your pockets are deep enough you can afford to pay to find good content.  At least that would seem to be the case for IPTV company Joost.  Just a few weeks after closing a substantial $45m Series A financing (that bought investors around the world only a minority stake), Joost has now signed a deal with Creative Artists Agency.

The LA-based talent agency will, according to a statement from the company’s head of business development, Michael Yanover (reported by Reuters), "provide Joost greater access to programming through [CAA’s] relationships with networks, studios, record labels, artists and independently-controlled content libraries."

With strategic investment from CBS and Viacom (more here), you’d think Joost already had access to significant media relationships and networks – but I suppose the more leads the better; so long as you can afford it or the price isn’t too steep.  (It’s not clear what Joost paid for the privilege)

One thing is clear – Joost is trying hard to capitalize on all the press and publicity it can. For most startup’s, or aspiring actors, getting an agent may be a big deal but in and of itself, it’s not newsworthy. Joost seems to have a knack for getting themselves in the press (a feat, it’s founders also accomplished well with their past startup, Skype). Given the publicity, I’m surprised their competitor Veoh (which is backed in part by Hollywood notable Michael Eisner) hasn’t tried to steal, or share, in the limelight.

Whatever money Joost is spending, I hope they allocate a more sizable amount toward the quality of their service. I’ve experimented with Joost a good bit this past week and I’m not yet impressed. I know it is still a beta (and am therefore withholding final judgment), but the reality doesn’t yet live up to the hype (and the hype seems to be getting bigger day by day!). Right now, its like watching an amateur baseball player with a good swing and talking about him playing in Major League Baseball and being a superstar. The guy may or may not have the talent, but he’s not in the bigs yet, and a lot needs to happen for him to get there– I’m not a big enough baseball fan to want to watch the amateur games.

[Note: Joost is still invitation only.  As previously noted, if you’d like an invitation to try the service send an email from the Contact Page here on Metue or leave a comment and put Joost Invite as the title, or the subject.  I’ll be happy to pass one along, no strings attached (though I'd welcome any emails of people's thoughts on the Joost experience for inclusion in a future article).]

Around May 13, New York based blog Jossip began running with a story that small video-blog/news site Wallstrip was being acquired by CBS.  Information regarding the deal at the time was credible enough to suggest it was highly likely the rumors were dancing around truth, so  I ran with the story here on Metue as well.

Now, a week and a half later, the New York Times has confirmed what many of us already knew: the deal did happen.  While terms weren’t disclosed, CBS did announce the deal and said that Wallstrip would retain its identity.   CBS will work with the creators of Wallstrip to develop Internet programs and information for mobile phones and portable devices.

The Wallstrip content will be added to the portfolio of materials being  produced by CBS’s interactive unit which is actively pursuing an online strategy that includes original content and syndication to web properties including,  AOL, YouTube, and likely, IPTV startup Joost which CBS recently invested in.

The announcement of the deal did not mention specifics regarding the price of the deal. (It was most likely several million dollars below the rumored price of $5m. With $600k in investment and virtually no revenue, it’s more likely the deal topped out at around $2m). Also notably missing in the confirmation of the deal was any information about the fate of Wallstrip’s video host: Lindsay Campbell.

When the first peeps about the deal were circulating almost two weeks ago, most were speculating that Lindsay was a major part of CBS’s interest in the site and purchase  – and that she was only available with the program and not as an independent employee.  Be interesting to see where she ends up. Based on the couple episodes of Wallstrip’s programming I’ve scene, she seems like she could have a successful career in front of the camera. Quoting what I wrote in the previous article on the Wallstrip rumor: "She [comes across as] well educated, credible and articulate, balanced with a style that feels hip, casual and light-hearted enough to appeal to younger audiences in Gen X and Gen Y."

UPDATE

As is often the case in deals involving private companies, especially when the news is still being closely held, there is much speculation regarding terms of a deal, and the finances of the company involved. In my first post on the rumor, before it was confirmed, I noted accurately that reports of Wallstrip having zero revenue were wrong. That’s been further confirmed in the blogs of some of Wallstrip’s investors (here and here). There’s been no information, nor is their likely to be any released, regarding what revenue Wallstrip did or did not have. Characterizing their revenue as “virtually none” was speculative based on the age of the company and the nature of their business. Whatever the actuals, whatever the ROI, I’m sure it’s an exciting time for all at Wallstrip. It’s easy to question deals but speculation takes nothing away from the check they’ve got in their hands for something they built.

Earlier today, MySpace announced it would be launching branded video channels that will feature news and lifestyle video syndicated from partners including the New York Times and National Geographic.

The announcement was timed to make a statement.  This is the week when the major television networks begin the sales push for advertising for their fall show lineup. By announcing today, MySpace is boldly saying “Net Video is here to stay, and it’s going after TV.”

Among the content to be offered will be shorts from National Geographic shows like Explorer, movie reviews, content from News Corp’s IGN Entertainment channel, as well features on young celebrities, animation, and a channel from the popular web property The Daily Reel – a selection of short video clips from around the web.

Some large portion of the content will be available through a number of other outlets including traditional and Internet TV (National Geographic has been actively licensing its content including most recently to IPTV company, Joost). 

New York celebrity, gossip and news blog Jossip was reporting today that CBS News (CBS Corporation) was acquiring Jossip’s fellow New York blog Wallstrip for approximately $5m in cash with a formal announcement likely early this week.

I try to stay away from reporting on rumors but sources and information regarding this deal are credible enough to suggest it is highly likely the rumors are dancing around truth – though the price may be exaggerated.

Wallstrip is a video blog characterized as one part Saturday Night Live and one part CNBC.   It’s comedic, off-beat approach targets Generation Y and the so-called "YouTube Generation" with 3 minute episodes covering stock market news or corporate with a less than traditional tone.

Wallstrips’s audience is growing but it is not yet substantial and its content is considered inconsistent. It’s most popular episode was a show spoofing CNBC’s Jim Cramer. That episode generated 30k viewers in January. According to a Business Week article Wallstrip did reach 10k viewers in its first three months.  

While Wallstrip did receive 500k in Angel investment, from a technology standpoint there is little to no innovation worthy of acquisition – the site is built using Revver (a YouTube competitor) for its video technology and the open-source Wordpress platform is the foundation of  its website. Wallstrip’s website at this time is not directly ad-supported leading to reports that the company has revenue of $0. Jossip got that part wrong. Revver, the platform Wallstrip is built on (and distributed through) shares revenue from ads incorporated into the video 50/50 with the content creator. Revver’s revenue sharing system is well documented in their sites Frequently Asked Questions section. Still, Wallstrip’s revenue is likely small.

The rumor being reported is that CBS wants the services of Wallstrip’s host, 29 year old actress Lindsay Campbell for its own online, and possibly TV, news services.   (Lindsay’s bio and background can be found here on her personal site. She is originally from Northern California, has a degree from Stanford, and has appeared a number of New York based TV shows including Law and Order and the Sopranos.)

It’s not unrealistic that Lindsay’s caught the eye of folks at CBS. She extremely attractive and manages to comes across as more than just a pretty lady. She is well educated, credible and articulate, balanced with a style that feels hip, casual and light-hearted enough to appeal to younger audiences in Gen X and Gen Y. It’s certainly true that CBS is actively developing its online presence, including last weeks investment in Joost.  Lindsay may fit into that, and based on the rumor, would only sign a contract if Wallstrip was acquired.   

It’s unclear what underlies a price tag of $5m, or if that information is accurate.  Even as a relatively low dollar number, it seems exorbitantly rich for a start-up of Wallstrip’s stage based on available information, and likewise, however talented Ms Campbell may be, and however creative a method of recruiting/hiring personnel, $5m is an exorbitantly high cost for corporate headhunting.