OMEN
01-26-2010, 02:21 PM
IDG News Service - In a move intended to beef up its Seed.com content management system, AOL Inc. has bought StudioNow Inc., a provider of online video services and tools to the corporate market.
StudioNow will provide "a fully functional video creation platform" for Seed.com, AOL said in a statement today.
Seed.com is a site where AOL lists topics that it wants freelancers to cover with articles, photos and videos that AOL pays for and publishes on its Web properties.
AOL, which became a publicly traded, independent company in December after being spun off by Time Warner Cable Inc., is betting on the use of original content as key to its strategy for boosting its traffic and, in turn, its disappointing online advertising business.
The StudioNow deal, which closed last week, is worth $36.5 million in cash and stock. AOL will pay part of the cash over the coming years.
In Time Warner's fiscal third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, 2009, AOL's advertising revenue dropped 18% year on year. Globally, online ad sales fell only 1% in that quarter, according to research firm IDC. AOL's online ad market share in the U.S. has fallen from 8.2% in early 2005 to 4.4% in last year's third quarter, according to IDC.
In December, AOL initiated an ongoing staff-reduction process, with the goal of ultimately cutting one-third of its 6,900 employees.
Founded in 2007, Nashville-based StudioNow will continue running its business for the corporate market. The services it offers companies include the creation, storage, management and syndication of online video content. StudioNow has a network of about 3,000 professional freelance videographers, including filmmakers, editors, animators and writers.
StudioNow will provide "a fully functional video creation platform" for Seed.com, AOL said in a statement today.
Seed.com is a site where AOL lists topics that it wants freelancers to cover with articles, photos and videos that AOL pays for and publishes on its Web properties.
AOL, which became a publicly traded, independent company in December after being spun off by Time Warner Cable Inc., is betting on the use of original content as key to its strategy for boosting its traffic and, in turn, its disappointing online advertising business.
The StudioNow deal, which closed last week, is worth $36.5 million in cash and stock. AOL will pay part of the cash over the coming years.
In Time Warner's fiscal third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, 2009, AOL's advertising revenue dropped 18% year on year. Globally, online ad sales fell only 1% in that quarter, according to research firm IDC. AOL's online ad market share in the U.S. has fallen from 8.2% in early 2005 to 4.4% in last year's third quarter, according to IDC.
In December, AOL initiated an ongoing staff-reduction process, with the goal of ultimately cutting one-third of its 6,900 employees.
Founded in 2007, Nashville-based StudioNow will continue running its business for the corporate market. The services it offers companies include the creation, storage, management and syndication of online video content. StudioNow has a network of about 3,000 professional freelance videographers, including filmmakers, editors, animators and writers.