Blip.tv Gets Support From Skype
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2007 10:43:00 AM
Blip.tv, which produces and distributes original programming online, has announced the closing of its series B financing. In addition, the digital video upstart has announced their first venture capital investors. Most notably, Ambient Sound Investments, the venture capital fund run by the founders of Skype, an online peer-to-peer telephony network, has signed on as investors in the company.
“Blip.tv is driving the evolution of television by creating a network that empowers a new breed of entertainers and producers who are changing the television industry,” said Mike Hudack, CEO of blip.tv. “Like Skype, blip.tv emerged from the grassroots, and we are thrilled that ASI shares our vision for the future of episodic content on the Internet – a future in which the gates are blown away and talented individuals have an opportunity to succeed on the basis of their own merits, rather than the connections they may or may not have.”
The investment announcement comes on the second anniversary of the digital video site, which hosts shows such as Wallstrip, The Show With Ze Frank and Webby winners JetSet and TerraTV. Blip.tv uses technology that allows advertisements to be embedded in the video wherever it is watched, and splits ad revenue with content creators 50/50. In addition to airing programming on their own site, blip.tv syndicates it across the web, as well as on television video on demand services.
