MTV to Mweb ?
Continuing an aggressive online acquisition strategy, Viacom's MTV Networks announced the acquisition of online, short form entertainment pioneer Atom Entertainment. Seattle based Atom's four online destinations include atomfilms.com, addictingclips.com, addictinggames.com, and shockwave.com.
There's some synergy between Atom's short-form entertainment and casual gaming sites and recent MTVN additions IFILM, XFIRE, NeoPets, Y2M and GameClips.com.
No mention how broadband channel MTV Overdrive will leverage programming and content from these recent content players in the MTVN aresnal, but THR suspects MTVN Preso Judy McGrath has a master intergration plan.
4 Comments:
Hmmm...I wasn't happy about the MTV acquisition of iFilm and for good reason it seems. The content seems more like marketing promo now and there's much more invasive advertising. Sigh...is this the price of success on the web?
Is promotional content really that bad a thing? Some would argue it's easier to ignore in a browser than on a billboard! Besides, the rank and file at iFilm have created a nice product, why shouldn't they continue to get a paycheck?
iFilm's rank & file should absolutely continue to get a paycheck, however, as one involved with various mergers and acuisitions over the years, there will undoubtedly be changes in iFilm's content, site, and service due to the MTV Networks acquisition.
Promo content isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but if you're expecting something else (ie objective coverage of the film industry) then it can be misleading.
I'm all for people getting a paycheck. Absolutely. But I'd like to see people getting a paycheck without widespread sacrifices in the content. The great thing about iFilm was the independence from the corporate packaging of content. Now that it's been acquired, that's going away. I think that's sad. I just wish there was a way it could be both profitable and maintain it's independent spirit. I pay subscriptions to some sites like Salon so they can do just that.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home