Several leading media players, including Time Warner, along with a company headed by former Disney chief Michael Eisner, are investing in a San Diego-based company specializing in Internet-based media distribution.
Veoh Networks Inc. recently announced it had raised $12.5 million in capital financing from Time Warner Inc., Eisner's The Tornante Co., and Spark Capital. Other board members include Art Bilger, managing partner of Shelter Capital Partners and former vice-chairman of Akamai, and Dmitry Shapiro, founder and CEO of Veoh Networks.
Veoh Networks' "peercasting" platform delivers broadcast-quality entertainment and informational content via the Internet, using "unique distribution technologies" to allow for unlimited capacity for both long- and short-form, high-definition programming. Veoh presents consumers with choice in video and television content, by enabling entertainment professionals and enthusiasts to distribute broadcast quality video content without constraints of cost, geography or capacity issues. Registered users can view full-screen quality on their PC, television or portable device, including iPods and PSPs.
"Cable and satellite fundamentally changed the way television was distributed by creating the capacity for greater choice in programming. Veoh revolutionizes television again by leveraging the Internet to expand broadcast capacity to the point that every single user, whether an individual or a media company, can create their own 'channel' and every 'channel' can be supported by its own business model," said Eisner. "In the past, distributing television programming required an enormous broadcast infrastructure. Veoh enables anyone with an Internet connection to distribute and receive programming in the highest quality."
"Spark sees Veoh becoming the 'industry standard' for the conflux of media, entertainment and technology," said Dagres. "We believe Veoh will reinvent the way rich media is distributed, consumed and monetized."
