The High School sports battle

On the heels of Hearst's announcement of HighSchoolPlaybook.com comes Belo's HSgametime.com and Emmis' IHSAAsports.org. From a naming standpoint I think Hearst is the clear winner.

From Mediaweek:

"Hearst-Argyle’s HighSchoolPlaybook, an online, on-air and mobile brand that combines social networking with high-definition video, stats, music and merchandising, initially launched on seven of its 26 stations; four also launched YouTube pages. The TV group also plans to syndicate the brand next year in markets where it doesn’t own stations.

Belo launched HSgametime.com covering football in six of its markets, with plans to complete the rollout to all 15 of it stations by September.

“High school sports is an untapped area,” said Chris Campbell, director of interactive media for Emmis and managing director of IHSAAsports.org, which is running the Indiana-wide site as a stand-alone brand with its own staff and sales. “We’ve found an overwhelmingly positive reaction from advertisers who are hungry to reach the multiple demographics that high school sports attract.”

“We’re treating high school sports as a community,” said Terry Mackin, executive vp of digital media for Hearst-Argyle. “You can talk to friends, talk to groups, move pictures back and forth, participate in contests about which school is the most spirited.”

From Lost Remote:

"Belo is in the middle of a multi-market rollout of HSGameTime.com, a national high school sports site with local ties to each of its TV and newspaper properties. Beyond the stuff you’d expect, the site features a social network for both parents and teens, as well as the capability for users to host their own blogs and upload video and photos. Much more later, but in the meantime, check out the Dallas version of HSGameTime, one of the first to launch."

From the old favorite Little Lost Robot!

"I’ve been busy lately, helping train up our small army of high school VJ reporters for football season - “sideline reporters”, we’re calling them. Of course, high schoolers are video sponges these days, with all their YouTubin’ and Facebookin’, so it’s actually been rather smooth going.

Anyway, I’m getting kinda excited about my station/company’s new endeavor and I can’t wait to see what the fledgling reporters come up with. The hardest thing about the whole process was learning the video editing software - after spending most of my career becoming an AVID master, it’s kinda frustrating to learn a $79 over-the-counter editing program that’s completely counter-intuitive. But there’s people smiling on the back of the box who look like they’re enjoying it, so I’m gonna give it another shot."

Hearst-Argyle's Highschool Playbook

Hearst-Argyle launched High School Playbook in seven markets.

From Broadcast&Cable:

“We’re targeting three demographics,” says Hearst-Argyle Executive VP Terry Mackin, “teens, the parents of teens, and the [local] adult community that’s interested in high school sports.”

Mackin termed the project a “seven-figure investment, minimally,” that took about a year to create."

From Lost Remote: Michael Gay

"Seven Hearst-Argyle markets launched a new social networking site that is focused around local high school sports. HighSchoolPlaybook.com provides an environment where teens can share video and photos about their schools’ sports teams, cheer leading and bands.

Many of the stations have even hired a group of student sideline reporters who are using HD cameras to shoot local sports stories and reports for the site. According to Broadcasting and Cable, Hearst-Argyle plans to license the service to non-Hearst-Argyle stations in the next year. As part of the launch, Hearst-Argyle also launched five new YouTube channels for the stations involved in HighSchoolPlaybook."

Hearst buying Kaboodle (updated)

Aggregation marches on.

From PaidContent:

"Hearst has announced its second online acquisition in two weeks: first it bought UGO for between $100-$150 million, and now it is buying shopping recommendation site Kaboodle, reports WSJ. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. (Updated: Om says the price was around $40 million).

It started as a general sharing service, where people could save their search results from other sites, for other users to review…and then it quickly morphed into a commerce/shopping recommendation site, where users can browse, tag and collect finds from other shopping sites. The site’s 250,000 registered users can also rate and review the products they save...it generates revenue through advertising and affiliate relationships with more than 1,000 retailers.

Hearst wants to include Kaboodle’s service into the websites of its magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, mixing content with commerce. Also, it wants to develop Kaboodle into a larger independent lifestyle site by adding more content and then more advertisers, the story says."

From GigaOM:

"According to our sources went for somewhere around $40 million. Manish Chandra, founder and CEO of the 18-month old start-up based in Santa Clara, Calif., declined to comment on specific terms of the deal.

When I asked him why he decided to sell the company, he candidly replied, that “the stakes are getting higher, and others [competitors] are raising a ton of money.” What do that say, any exit is a good exit.

Chandra said that since a large percentage of Kaboodle users are women, and the site has an e-commerce/shopping component, it fit nicely with the larger goals of Hearst. He also added that the deal doesn’t impact its deals with Conde Nast properties.

There is an interesting pattern in some of the buys by big media corporations. They are not just buying pure-content, but instead seem to be interested in content-enhancing tools that rely on communities than individual content creators. Newroo, Photobucket, Reddit, Last.fm, Clipmarks and now Kaboodle fit that profile."

From WSJ:

"The deal marks Hearst's attempt to tap a new area of e-commerce that combines online social networking with shopping, as it pursues new ways to engage magazine readers online while investing in fast-growing Internet businesses. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Hearst says it is likely to build pages on Kaboodle featuring products from many of its 19 U.S. magazine titles, such as Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, aiming to generate buzz around the magazines by allowing shoppers to sound off about the products they feature online. It wants to develop Kaboodle into a larger independent lifestyle site by linking it with deep-pocketed advertisers and more editorial content."

From Under the radar:

8. What does the future look like for Kaboodle?

Manish Chandra: We believe Kaboodle's social shopping community will fundamentally alter the landscape of online shopping - by connecting people with similar taste and style, and tying together the entire shopping process, from product discovery to purchase.

Most shopping platforms built to date have been optimized, not for lifestyle goods, but for products where decisions are based primarily on features and price, like electronics and computer hardware and software. These same platforms provide a solitary shopping experience, and work well for people who want to quickly and efficiently complete a transaction completion."

Update: From CNET:

"With its impressive technology, tools and audience, Kaboodle is a natural overlap for Hearst Magazines," Cathleen P. Black, president of Hearst Magazines, said in the statement. "We think Kaboodle has terrific potential for many of our brands, especially in the fashion, beauty and consumer technology categories. Our readers will be able to find the products featured in our magazines, shop electronically with their friends and get their feedback. It's another means for making sure our readers stay engaged in today's saturated media landscape."

Worldwide Biggies raises $9m round

These guys have been out for about a year and have just decided to raise a round.

From NewTeeVee:

"Albie Hecht, the former president of Nickelodeon, has raised $9 million and secured distribution deals for Worldwide Biggies, his young adult- and family-focused digital studio. Worldwide Biggies is not exclusively devoted to online productions, though web distribution is a part of all of its projects.

“We birth things online but make sure they have multi-platform DNA so they can be transported elsewhere,” said Hecht in an interview Monday. That means constraining itself a smaller budget — a.k.a. lots of green screens — and having the agility to quickly incorporate viewer feedback. “We can constantly be version 3 the day after version 2,” he said.

NBC Universal, Hearst Corp., Greycroft, Platform Equity, and PrismVentureWorks invested in the company, which already has a hit under its belt with The Naked Brothers Band TV series (accompanied by webisodes and podcasts) for Nickelodeon.

NBC plans to partner with and potentially invest in additional digital entertainment studios, with Worldwide Biggies being the first and additional deals in the works, said George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer at NBC Universal, in an interview Monday."

UGO acquired by Hearst

Hot off the rumor mill.

From Techcrunch:

"We got a tip earlier this evening that Hearst acquired New-York based UGO and will announce the deal tomorrow. It sounds like Forbes got a tip as well, and a better one: they’re saying the price should be around $100 million. UGO is a popular new media site that was founded in 1997 and, according to Forbes, is generating around $30 million/year in revenue.

They spring up in rumors often as a company that makes the rounds trying to sell itself, and a lot of companies have passed on them, at this price. The company has raised $82 million in capital."

From the site:

"UGO Networks is the ultimate online entertainment playground for people with “Gamer DNA.” UGO engages its massive audience with interactive content and information about the hottest games, movies, TV shows, music, comics, technology, sports and celebrities. Attracting a young, predominantly male demographic, UGO reaches 11 million monthly unique U.S. visitors and over 28 million worldwide, consistently placing among Nielsen//Netratings’ Top 10 multi-category entertainment properties. The company delivers customized, high impact advertising programs for its world-class client base."

From Forbes:

"Moses has been trying to sell his company for more than two years. Just about every media giant out there has taken a look at the deal, and then taken a pass. The nine-year-old company has 82 employees and brings in some $30 million in revenue and an estimated $6 million in EBITDA. A nice little company, to be sure, but let’s put that into context. MySpace, which aims for a similar audience, is expected to bring in $1 billion in revenue this year. And it’s three-and-a-half years old.

Kenneth Bronfin, president of Hearst Interactive Media, said he plans to retain both Moses and McCracken, and allow them to run the company as a separate entity. Bronfin will also consider more acquisitions to help build out the UGO property. Areas for growth include user-generated content (UGO still gets all its content from full-time employees and paid freelancers) and video."

From Reuters:

"There's a lot of focus on entertainment, whether new movies or DVDs," Hearst Interactive President Kenneth Bronfin told Reuters. "We're appealing to this demographic by what they love to do on the Internet."

"This is the first operating division within my group and we will help to grow it and do additional acquisitions," he said."

Lin and Hearst launch social networking tools

Today both Lin and Hearst are launching social networking tools like user blogs, comments polls and recommendations.

From Lost Remote:

"Lin Television’s 29 websites are rolling out user-generated videos, photos, audio, blogs, ratings, polls, and other community-driven content powered by VMIX. “This is a significant milestone for our company and further advances our strategic vision of leading the industry in the convergence of local broadcast television and digital innovations,” said Vincent Sadusky, president and chief executive officer of LIN TV."

From Lost Remote:

"Hearst-Argyle’s WXII12.com is the first Internet Broadcasting site to debut comments, ratings, recommendations, user blogs and profiles powered by Pluck’s SiteLife Social Media Suite. Other sites will launch the technology soon. “Content becomes more relevant when the audience has a voice in creating it,” said IB EVP Clayton Rose. “Pluck’s SiteLife will go a long way in allowing visitors to share and discuss local news and topics that matter–in a way that complements a TV station’s news coverage."

Hearst partners with Youtube

Hearst partnered with Youtube to create Youtube channels for five of their local TV sites.

From WSJ: (subscription required)

"Hearst-Argyle Television Inc., one of the nation's largest operators of local TV stations, will distribute news, weather and entertainment video to Google Inc.'s YouTube in a revenue-sharing agreement.

The deal marks the first time TV stations will get paid when people view their content on the video-sharing site. Hearst will receive an undisclosed portion of the revenue generated from advertising sold against the video clips it makes available to YouTube."

From Lost Remote:

"In a first for a local broadcaster, Hearst-Argyle stations will share in the revenue generated by video clips they post to YouTube. Starting today, five stations have launched channels on YouTube: KCRA, WCVB, WBAL, WTAE and WMUR. Other stations will follow soon. Each channel features a variety of notable clips, from news stories to promos to bloopers. Revenue details were not disclosed.

A WCVB investigative piece plays on YouTube. One of the big upsides for Hearst-Argyle stations, besides the increased distribution and searchability, is their videos are now embeddable on local blogs."

Hearst partners with Brightcove

A big day for Brightcove.

From the press release:

"Video is a crucial piece to an online news and information presence today," said Lincoln Millstein, senior vice president & director of Digital Media for Hearst Newspapers. "We are excited to roll out Internet video channels and vlogs using Brightcove on our newspapers' Web sites and across the Web. The video will enhance offline content and will also build an entire experience and community around this new content."

"Hearst Newspapers includes some of the most respected and widely read publications in the news business today," said Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive officer, Brightcove. "We are excited to be working with Hearst to engage readers with new video offerings and encourage community involvement. The Internet video channels will not only expand the reach of individual newspaper brands, but will also foster new revenue opportunities through online advertising."