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In November 2005, Internet video syndication and platform service operator Brightcove closed a $16.2m Series B Financing round. Interactive Corp, which counts Ticketmaster, Citysearch and Ask among its properties was one of the lead investors. As part of the transaction, IAC’s CEO Barry Diller joined the board of directors. Now a few years have passed and the companies have decided to get more involved with each other.

Under a deal announced today, Brightcove will provide tools for publishing video content to web, managing video syndication and integrating advertising too all IAC businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Score one for Ticketmaster.  In the ongoing battle to gain footing in secondary ticket markets, Ticketmaster has inked a high profile deal with the NFL to handle league sponsored resales.

The new service, named the NFL Ticket Exchange, will be hosted by Ticketmaster (Interactive Corp) and accessible from NFL licensed websites including NFL.com.  The site will go live in time for the 2008 season.  Both the NFL and Ticketmaster will jointly promote and market the offering.

Ticketmaster already hosted ticket exchange services for 18 of the 32 teams in the NFL.  The newly signed deal will expand the reach to the entire league.

Ticketmaster’s strategy of securing tickets by partnership follows a similar effort employed by more established secondary sellers Stubhub Click to Read More

Few new technologies have generated more PR and press coverage during periods of the past year than IPTV: peer to peer television broadcast over the net. Companies like Joost have billed themselves as TV’s future. Joost’s raised huge pools of funding, recruited a high profile CEO, even partnered with talent agency Creative Artists . Then they went quiet. Not much has been said about Joost in a while. Yesterday, they captured a few new headlines with the announcement of a partnership with the NBA. Today, they added PBS. Joost is back in the spotlight.

In partnering with the NBA, Joost will launch a channel showing current and classic NBA highlights on the Joost platform. The web distribution channel will be similar to other programming the NBA makes available via digital media, including offerings on YouTube and MySpace.

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It can takes hours or days or even weeks of dedicated play to reach milestones in the virtual worlds of online gaming.  A player addicted to World of Warcraft might search aimlessly to find a tool or special weapon.  To help, there are online forums: tips and suggestions, even auctions within the game itself.   There’s also a less savory choice. A black-market of sorts has arisen where players and fans can sell and trade already established accounts, or in some games, the in-game components that move a character. It’s real money paying for virtual, cash in exchange for time saved.

Live Gamer, a New York based startup is aiming to add legitimacy and security to these kinds of trades.  They estimate the market represents $1.8b in real money exchanged.  Their solution, which was announced today, is to offer a publisher supported platform for “real money trading of virtual property.” 

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There are always some who’ll hang on by a thread and look for a battle no matter the circumstance or how long the odds.  ReplayTV, once proud and promising rival of TiVo, fits that billing.   The company was first to market with a Digital Video Recorder.   They helped pioneer the DVR market in the late 90s and then found themselves virtually sued out of existence. Now they’re changing owners, again.  Satellite TV leader DirecTV will buy ReplayTV from D&M Holdings for undisclosed terms.

Founded in 1997, Replay was once a high flying star in the DVR market.  Sonic Blue bought the company in 2001 for $125m.  It then found itself in court, battling Hollywood over ad skipping functionality.  The protracted battle sent Sonic Blue in to bankruptcy.

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Check the buzz-meters and the Nintendo Wii remains one of the most popular topics online.   Yesterday, net tracking firm Hitwise said searches online for the console increased 274% over just the prior week (week ending Dec 8.)  For November 1 to December 11, comScore, similarly put a high tab on ecommerce spending. Their estimate: $20b.  Video games, both consoles and software have been a big part of that.  NPD’s monthly report is out and the numbers are staggering.

Nintendo, as has been the case, reigns mightily from the throne of best seller.  The playability and fun factor of the Wii continue to outpace the high powered computing and awesome graphics of the Xbox 360 and PS3.  For November, Nintendo had their best month yet with sales nearly hitting one million consoles (981k); and demand continues to outpace supply. Click to Read More

Just a few weeks ago, hybrid Internet music service Slacker was riding high.  After months of talk, their much anticipated portable was finally ramping up for distribution.  Aimed at making portable music convenient, buzz was building. On their website, they were taking orders.  Shipment of the WiFi enabled net radio device was targeted for December 13.  About a week ago, that quietly changed.  

On December 6th,  popular Wall Street Journal tech writer, Walt Mossberg, published a review after testing two prototypes of the Slacker player.  He noted that while sound was good and the WiFi link worked, his two prototype test units were “hobbled by bugs and glitches.”   One unit often failed to connect to his account.  Both sometimes failed to wake up after going to sleep.

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