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RSSThe Los Angeles-based Revver is seeking between $300,000 and $500,000, as well as assumption of around $1 million in debt, CNET reports. Additionally, staff reportedly has shrunk to half of what it was in 2006.
In better days, the site, which vetted each clip for copyright infringement and shared ad revenue 50-50 with the uploaders, formed alliances with Hollywood talent agency CAA and with U.K. TV channel Fame TV.
Revver also lured some well-known video creators to the site. The most famous include the creators of LonelyGirl15 -- a serialized show that purported to be about the life of home-schooled 15-year-old Bree, but was actually scripted by three California residents. After building a cult following on YouTube, the show migrated to Revver in September 2006.
Other of the better known video creators to move to Revver were Eepybird's Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, who created the Diet Coke-Mentos geyser videos.
News of the site's troubles comes as online video is surging in popularity. ComScore recently reported more than 75% of U.S. Internet users watched a video online in November, averaging 3.25 hours of video per person during the month. Those who watched online video last January spent an average of just 2.52 hours doing so, according to the report.
But at the same time, there's more competition for video viewers. In addition to market leader YouTube, sites like Revver also now compete against TV networks that run programs on their own branded sites as well as MySpace, which entered the market in a big way with shows like "Prom Queen" and "Quarterlife" and start-ups like Hulu.com (a joint venture of News Corp and NBC) and Joost.
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As someone close to a few employees currently there, would you agree that Revver's demise also comes from of a failure of their upper management teams vision, leadership and understanding of the web's viable business models?
Austin www.rimfirecommunications.com