Cisco Makes Another Buy In Online Video Space

Acknowledging that online video is officially big business, Cisco has agreed to buy online video content manager, ExtendMedia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Boston-based ExtendMedia had previously raised about $33 million in venture capital.

"Cisco has recently completed a number of large acquisitions in the video space, including last year's $3.41 billion purchase of Tandberg and the $590 million deal for Flip camera manufacturer Pure Digital before that," according to paidContent. "The space has seen some consolidation lately and with the growth of mobile video, the rate of acquisitions is likely to increase rapidly."

Under the choice headline, "Cisco buys ExtendMedia for multi-screen video mayhem," Venture Beat writes: "Cisco Systems will expand its professional video services with the acquisition."

What's more, "The move readies the Internet-infastructure giant for the day when online video streams come to a number of screens -- and providers of those streams gird for battle, hopefully with Cisco equipment and services," Venture Beat adds.

"ExtendMedia's systems manage video content through monetization for pay media and ad-supported business models," writes WebProNews. "Cisco says that with ExtendMedia, it will be able to help service providers deliver multi-screen offerings as the market transitions to IP video."

As such, "ExtendMedia will become a core component of Cisco's next-generation video architecture," MarketWatch explains.

"Cisco plans to put most ExtendMedia workers into its service provider video technology group, with a few others going into sales and service departments," according to the San Francisco Business Times.
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