Rocketboom Purchase Shows Sony Will Buy Anything
Sony Pictures Television, like every branch of the Sony world, always seems to be swimming around in a pool of twenties. They arrive late, bring money, and buy whatever they like. They apparently like the semi-snarky vlog news site Rocketboom.com a lot; they've acquired the rights to distribute it in all media platforms. They plan on plopping it into their existing Crackle site, which has a large network and is no doubt hungry for things to show to web-savvy hipsters. But seriously; seven figures for Rocketboom? Andrew Baron, owner of Rocketboom, explains:
Upon becoming free to make a move, we signed up with Creative Artists, and engaged in months of talks about possible partnerships with traditional Hollywood companies as well as an amazing amount of non-media oriented businesses moving into the media space, and eventually got a very good sense of what Rocketboom is worth, what our options were and what we wanted to do to move forward.
Relevant to Rocketboom’s business, there are “kinds” of companies that could provide a strategic partnership for Rocketboom like Google, Ebay and Microsoft, for instance, which dominate in tech online, or companies like CBS, ABC and Disney, which are known for TV Broadcast and Film, or even companies like Apple and Intel which produce electronics that receive our distribution.
We were compelled by Sony because they are a complete package. They have so much experience in all of these special areas. With regards to infrastructure and support, they are industry leaders in TV and Film, electronics, gaming, music, the list goes on all the way to the advertising infrastructure that is already well established.
In other-words, instead of gaining capital to burn while continuing to build or seek an advertising solution, we now have one of the most prominent advertising solutions out there, along with increased distribution, a road map for expansion and a guarantee that I believe is an unprecedented deal for this space.
Well, maybe, or in other words, instead of burning our own capital, we're going to burn Sony's, and let them worry about monetizing it. Maybe it's just me, but Rocketboom only had two good reasons to look at it, and Amanda Congdon owned both of them -- and she doesn't work there anymore.
Upon becoming free to make a move, we signed up with Creative Artists, and engaged in months of talks about possible partnerships with traditional Hollywood companies as well as an amazing amount of non-media oriented businesses moving into the media space, and eventually got a very good sense of what Rocketboom is worth, what our options were and what we wanted to do to move forward.
Relevant to Rocketboom’s business, there are “kinds” of companies that could provide a strategic partnership for Rocketboom like Google, Ebay and Microsoft, for instance, which dominate in tech online, or companies like CBS, ABC and Disney, which are known for TV Broadcast and Film, or even companies like Apple and Intel which produce electronics that receive our distribution.
We were compelled by Sony because they are a complete package. They have so much experience in all of these special areas. With regards to infrastructure and support, they are industry leaders in TV and Film, electronics, gaming, music, the list goes on all the way to the advertising infrastructure that is already well established.
In other-words, instead of gaining capital to burn while continuing to build or seek an advertising solution, we now have one of the most prominent advertising solutions out there, along with increased distribution, a road map for expansion and a guarantee that I believe is an unprecedented deal for this space.
Well, maybe, or in other words, instead of burning our own capital, we're going to burn Sony's, and let them worry about monetizing it. Maybe it's just me, but Rocketboom only had two good reasons to look at it, and Amanda Congdon owned both of them -- and she doesn't work there anymore.
