Blip.tv Closer To 'Next-Gen TV Net' Goal

Mike Hudack of Blip tvOnline media company Blip.tv announced the addition of several content partners on Tuesday, including YouTube, Vimeo, NBCU Local Media NY, and digital video player Roku.

The startup assists independent content producers in a number of areas from hosting and distribution to ad monetization and promotion.

The new partnership with YouTube enables show creators to send episodes directly from blip.tv to their YouTube account. Blip.tv, meanwhile, can traffic ads on shows syndicated to YouTube, with a revenue share back to content creators.

"Our mission is to provide services of scale," said Mike Hudack, co-founder and CEO of Blip.tv. "We believe that we're building the next-generation television network."

Blip.tv's new relationship with Roku enables owners of the company's digital video player to watch Blip.tv shows on their TV sets. The Blip.tv channel will be available later this fall for Roku customers.

The deal with NBC means Blip.tv shows will air on WNBC's "NY Nonstop" broadcast channel in New York City.

Despite the bright prospects for original video online, growth is proving to be elusive to some of Blip's rivals. Digital media startup Next New Networks, which develops micro-television networks online like Pulp Secret for comic book buffs, recently laid off what the company described as fewer than 10 employees.

In addition to the new distribution partnerships announced today, Blip.tv already distributes to iTunes, AOL Video, MSN Video, Blinkx, Facebook, Twitter, Sony Bravia televisions with Bravia Internet Video Link, TiVo, Verizon FiOS Video On Demand, iPhones and the Internet Archive.

In addition, Blip.tv's partnership with TiVo expands today, as show creators can now syndicate shows to the pioneering DVR service with just one click on the blip.tv dashboard.

Using the new dashboard, creators can batch edit and reorder show episodes, reply to comments and friend requests from different Web sites directly from the dashboard, track video and advertising views and see, in near real-time, how much revenue their shows generate across every distribution channel in the blip.tv network.

Shows hosted and distributed on Blip.tv currently reach some 22 million viewers, totaling more than 72 million video views per month.

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