Granahan McCourt Acquisition

Via Paid Content:

"The blank check companies are beginning to appear in the digital media sector: now a heavyweight, RCN founder David McCourt, has filed with SEC to create a publicly traded company, Granahan McCourt Acquisition, that will raise $125 million from investors to buy controlling stakes in companies that make or distribute media and communications services…The venture will be his 11th in 25 years.

The SEC filing for IPO is here.

The firm’s board of directors includes former CIA director George Tenet, former ESPN chief Roger Werner and Starwood Hotels and Resorts founder Barry Sternlicht.

McCourt wrote an editorial in FT last month, about his view on the video market..reposted on his firm’s site here."

From the FT article:

"The media companies face a similar predicament, but with a twist: by promoting downloadable entertainment, they are unwittingly greasing the skids for emerging rivals. The threat to the content distribution cartel is not from cable television, TiVo or video games but from anyone with a video camera and some creativity.

A battle is already under way among applications developers to create the most advanced interactive tools and features to view and manipulate online content. Hollywood pooh-bahs will discover that releasing television and film on the internet is not simply another channel for their studios. It is the path into a competitive world they have never faced."