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Veoh

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Veoh
Type of site
Video Distribution
OwnerJon Goldman, Chief Executive Officer[1]
Created byDr. Ted Dunning
Employees754
URLhttp://veoh.com
RegistrationFree

Veoh, an Internet Television company based in San Diego, California, allows users to find and watch major studio content, independent productions and user-generated material. Content is significantly restricted to access just within the United States.[3][4] The company is a subsidiary of Israeli start-up Qlipso.

The company received media attention[5] after Michael Eisner, a former Disney chairman, joined the board. In April 2006, he was one of the investors (along with Time Warner) in the US$12.5 million second round of financing for Veoh and re-affirmed his status in August 2007 as an investor in the company's US$25 million Series C financing round.

In a controversial move, Veoh made its service unavailable to most markets (Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Central and Eastern Europe) in May 2008.

On February 11, 2010, in an open letter published on his blog, company founder and former CEO, Dmitry Shapiro, indicated that "the distraction of the legal battles, and the challenges of the broader macro-economic climate have led to our Chapter 7 bankruptcy." [6]

On April 7, 2010, it was announced that Israeli start-up company Qlipso acquired Veoh for an undisclosed sum. Qlipso aims to use the acquisition to add users and revenue to its multi-user content sharing service.[7]

History

Veoh was founded by Dmitry Shapiro. The company launched an early version of its distribution technology in September 2005 and debuted its full beta service in March 2006. Veoh officially launched (out of beta) in February 2007.[8] Veoh has raised about US$70 million from venture capital and media investors. Time Warner, Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company, Spark Capital, Shelter Capital Partners, Tom Freston's Firefly3 LLC, Jonathan Dolgen (former chairman of Viacom Entertainment Group), Intel, and Goldman Sachs are all major investors.

In addition to the user generated content that Veoh broadcasts, Veoh has distributed content from major media companies including CBS, ABC, The WB, Viacom's MTV Networks, ESPN, FEARNet, Billboard, Ford Models, US Weekly, TV Guide, and others. Independent creators found on Veoh include NextNewNetworks, 60 Frames, Can We Do That?, Goodnight Burbank, and Dave and Tom.

In 2008, the domain veoh.com attracted approximately 17 million unique visitors monthly according to a Quantcast.com study.[9] According to the company's internal metrics, Veoh has more than 28 million unique users per month.[citation needed]

In January 2009, Veoh announced a new site including support for iPhone/iPod Touch and the Veoh Video Compass. Upon introduction, some controversy arose over the lack of friends lists, mail services, as well as some video info[citation needed].

In April 2009, following layoffs in November 2008, Veoh reduced its staff by 25 more to 45 remaining employees and reinstated Dmitry Shapiro as its CEO, replacing Steve Mitgang.[10] On February 11, 2010, it was reported that Veoh had laid off most of its remaining staff and is currently in the process of filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.[11]

Viewing options

Veoh offers two viewing options. The Veoh.com site, which is currently used by approximately 19 million viewers per month, allows viewers to watch streaming web video from across the Web including via their iPhone or iPod touch. Although somewhat like YouTube, Veoh.com offers a broader selection of network television content and allows viewers to watch full episodes of TV shows and full-length movies. Veoh.com hosts a range of programming, from user generated content to studio content. Veoh also provided a software application, VeohTV Beta, that enabled "lean back" and remote controllable viewing of web content. In December 2008 Veoh transitioned from VeohTV to the Veoh Web Player. The Veoh Web Player enables users to watch full-length videos on Veoh.com within their browser. It also enables users to download video from Veoh.com and other websites.[12] Veoh Web player comes with Veoh Video compass, many times full versions of the show are not available directly on the website and instead are only offered to those who have downloaded and use their software to access the content.

Publishing videos

Publishers can use their PC to upload videos for distribution. Veoh transcodes the video file so the video is available on Veoh.com, streamed on the publisher’s own web site, and in portable devices like iPhones, iPod Touches, iPods and Sony PSPs. Publishers are able to customize the presentation of their content, automatically publish via RSS feeds, and organize video programming into episodic series or complete channels.

Technology

Veoh uses both peer-to-peer (for its player software application) and Adobe Flash-based streaming video (for its website) technologies. Veoh claims its use of peer-to-peer in the player application enables distribution of longer form video files at a much lower cost. It also means that bandwidth costs will not rise in direct proportion to the number of users. Veoh systems use LAMP and Java.[citation needed]

According to the official website, Veoh is freeware.

Recommendations

Veoh's recommendations engine is intended to enable viewers to find content that interests them. The recommendations engine was originally built by co-founder Dr. Ted Dunning, Chief Scientist for Veoh. Subsequently it was renovated by John Dimm in 2007 and finally restructured, refined, and maintained by Alexander Sherbak in 2008 through 2010 utilizing patent pending cluster identification algorithms. Veoh recommendations are based on user view history. As users watch videos, the Veoh recommendation system presents directly relevant video choices based around view histories of users with similar viewing/watch patterns.

Blocked Countries

In late May 2008, Veoh discontinued service in many countries. The company stated that the decision was made in order to focus on the more than 33 markets in which it has the most viewers.[13]

As of May 31, 2008, upon trying to access the site from a Latvian IP address a screen is displayed:

Veoh is no longer available in Latvia & Mauritius

— www.veoh.com

Without prior notice, users from these countries were denied the ability to backup the contents they have contributed to the website. As of June 2008, visitors (IP addresses) in the vast majority of countries, including Asia, portions of Europe, Africa, Central America, and South America, have reported being blocked or experiencing a similar message for their region.

Gaude Paez, a spokesperson told NewTeeVee.com “The markets we are exiting collectively represent less than 10 percent of our viewer base.” She maintained that the decision was “not about saving resources but rather refocusing those resources.”[14] Recently, however, the restriction has been removed from certain territories such as Puerto Rico. Indian users have reported that the Veoh restrictions were lifted for a month, yet came back in August. Brazil and Argentina were still blocked in January 2010. As of March 30, 2009, Veoh also blocked the Czech Republic, Lebanon, Malaysia and Serbia. Egypt, Martinique and Pakistan were also blocked in June. Turkey, Thailand and UAE were blocked as of October 2009. The ban on Malaysia has since been removed.

Blocked Country Last Update Allow since
Guatemala 30-SEP-2010 --
  • June 23, 2006 IO Group, Inc. filed a complaint against Veoh Networks, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for California's Northern District.[15] The Court has granted the Veoh’s motion for summary judgment, that it was entitled to the statute's "safe harbor" provision.[16]
  • September 4, 2007 Universal Music Group Recordings, Inc. et al. filed a complaint against Veoh Networks, Inc. et al. in the California Central District Court.[17] On September 15, 2009, the case was dismissed with the judge stating that Veoh was taking the necessary steps to stop copyright infringement.[18] Universal Music Group planned to appeal the decision.[18]
  • February 12, 2010 Veoh plans to file for Bankruptcy under Chapter 7 on March 19, 2010.
  • April 8, 2010 Veoh assets acquired by Qlipso.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.veoh.com/corporate/team
  2. ^ http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-08/israeli-start-up-qlipso-acquires-veoh-to-add-users-revenue.html
  3. ^ http://www.veoh.com/error/tvshows-restricted-geo
  4. ^ http://newteevee.com/2008/06/01/veoh-blocks-some-international-access
  5. ^ ""Eisner Invests in TV Startup".
  6. ^ http://www.dmitryshapiro.com/blog/?p=160
  7. ^ Ackerman, Gwen (April 08, 2010), "Israeli Start-Up Qlipso Acquires Veoh to Add Users, Revenue", Business Week {{citation}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  8. ^ Marshall Kirkpatrick (2007-02-12). "Veoh Relaunches Powerful Video Sharing Service". Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  9. ^ Veoh attracts approximately 17M visitors online monthly
  10. ^ Leena Rao: Veoh Lays Off 25 Employees And Shifts Focus Away From Competing With YouTube And Hulu April 1, 2009
  11. ^ Peter Kafka: Veoh finally calls it quits: Layoffs yesterday, bankruptcy filing soon February 11, 2010
  12. ^ http://www.veoh.com/downloadFlow.html
  13. ^ Liz Gannes (2008-06-01). "Veoh Blocks Some International Access". Retrieved 2008-06-23.
  14. ^ Paez to NewTeeVee About Veoh Blocking
  15. ^ IO Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc.
  16. ^ Court decision (PDF)
  17. ^ UMG v. Veho Case Documents
  18. ^ a b "Veoh wins Universal Music case". Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles TImes. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009. [dead link]
  19. ^ McMahan, Ty (April 8, 2010). "Veoh Lives On — Behind the Acquisition of the Video Site". The Wall Street Journal.

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