Web 3.0 & Viacom (Part 4)

Acquisition Targets In the past one year, Viacom has acquired Quizilla, Harmonix Music Systems, Atom Entertainment, Xfire, and Y2M: Youth Media & Marketing Networks. These acquisitions are strategic and fit well into the Company’s overall theme of youth focused entertainment. Viacom, through its Nick brand, is popular among the kids. Presumably, the Company would acquire

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Web 3.0 & Viacom (Part 3)

Web 3.0 Framework discussion Below is a quick overview of the Web 3.0 framework for the Viacom sites. We have not gone into the details of all the properties, but you can review the Web 3.0 section of this site for detailed discussions on some of the vertical categories, especially Online Music, a Viacom mainstay.

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Web 3.0 & Viacom (Part 2)

Vertical Strategy Viacom’s Internet properties are targeted to the youth and the young at heart. Entertainment for the youth market is the underlying tone in all its digital properties. The Company’s sites cater to Pre-teens, Teens and College Kids through its portfolio of Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and VH1 sites. It has created a niche

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Web 3.0 & Viacom (Part 1)

Introduction Viacom, Inc. is a leading entertainment conglomerate operating through two segments: Media Networks, which includes MTV Networks and BET (Black Entertainment) Networks, and Filmed Entertainment, which includes Paramount Pictures Corporation and Famous Music. The Company owns some of the most popular entertainment brands in the world including, BET, Famous Music, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick

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Online Video Beneficiaries: Media

Web 3.0 & Online Movies (Part 5)

M&A and VC Activity In April 2007, Comcast acquired online movie ticket destination Fandango for $200 million. Fandango is a fast growing site with about 5 million unique monthly visitors. Founded in 2000 by seven of the top 10 largest U.S. theater chains, Fandango services movie ticketing for more than 15, 000 screens. Recently, Blockbuster

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Web 3.0 & Online Movies (Part 3)

Business Model Online Movie sites earn money mostly from advertisements, subscriptions and charges for movie rentals and download. Movie download revenues are forecasted to be $60 million in 2007, up from 133.4% in 2006. Movie download revenues are forecasted to cross $100 million in 2008. The online advertising industry is fast realizing the potential of

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Building the Electronic Arts of Casual Gaming: PlayFirst CEO John Welch (Part 4)

SM: Sounds like Shockwave was a great place to experiment and learn! JW: During this time I built a friendship with the principal software architect of the project, Brad Edelman, who is now co-founder and CTO of PlayFirst. I also met three other great people who now work at PlayFirst. Unfortunately, Shockwave spent most of

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