BroadbandTV, the Vancouver-based online video vendor that got its start, like other companies such as AwesomenessTV, within YouTube's multichannel network ecosystem, is now closing in on Google Sites (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) when it comes to monthly views of its video content.
The company pointed to a comScore report that showed BroadbandTV closing in on other online video giants. For example, the provider placed fourth among desktop computer views of video content (ads not included), with 45.26 million views, in February. That number also placed it decidedly in first place among YouTube partner channels.
By comparison, VEVO tallied 44.16 million desktop video views in the same period, placing fifth in all video content properties and second among partner channels, and Maker Studios garnered 39.96 million views, placing it down in ninth position, just ahead of Twitter, for all video content.
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Source: comScore |
And BroadbandTV said in a release that it ranks third in the world for online video views, behind Google and Facebook.
More interesting, though, is that the ranking -- along with the sheer size of its YouTube partner network and its other services -- positions BroadbandTV for "another period of significant growth," according to CEO Shahrzad Rafati in a Globe and Mail article.
In 2013, BroadbandTV sold 51 percent of the company to RTL Group for $36 million -- a fairly decent amount at the time, the Globe and Mail noted. However, with the company moving into position to challenge the two biggest user-generated online video sites in terms of views, BroadbandTV could be worth much more, the newspaper speculated.
Although the halcyon days of YouTube MCNs being bought for $500 million and higher by major companies like Disney and partnerships like Otter Media appear to be past, media companies and service providers are still hunting for valuable pieces of the OTT ecosystem. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) recently shelled out $159 million for just under a quarter of AwesomenessTV, an investment that may have boosted the former MCN's value to $650 million.
BroadbandTV is also known for its work in helping enforce content rights on YouTube (the company's Viso Novi platform helps clients identify fan-uploaded videos and then apply a solution such as running ads on those videos, with the revenue going to the client/content owner). The solution could be a tempting value-add to prospective investors or buyers. Add to that the company's recent rebrand and its shift to new digs in Vancouver, and the signs are in place that the company is looking for new opportunities -- and new investment.
For more:
- see this Globe & Mail article
- see the release
Related articles:
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