- Ovum, Wednesday, August 2, 2006 11:49 AM
Earlier this week, ahead of its second-quarter earnings, Time Warner unit AOL unveiled plans to develop a new Web video portal. It enables users to search for clips on a variety of topics, upload
their own video, and watch videos on demand from content providers like Warner Bros., another Time Warner company.
Ovum says such a move couldn't have come a moment too soon for the ailing Time
Warner Web portal. It's no secret that the company has badly needed to reinvent itself. For too many years, AOL has been a "me-too Internet access provider," desperate to innovate. With this new
broadband video portal, it is. The new AOL Video is by far the most ambitious attempt at integrating the various facets of online video--but that too, could be its downfall.
Ovum points out the
company could be stretching itself too thin by trying to cater to different demos with too many services. AOL's TV portal comprises three principal offerings. First, 45 cable-like VOD channels with
content from A&E TV Networks, Comedy Time, Endemol USA, Expo TV, MTV Networks, National Lampoon, Procter & Gamble Productions, Sorpresa, TNT and Warner Bros. It has also signed on VOD aggregators like
TotalVideo and Wild America. The content will be ad-supported. The second product is a video search engine that includes results from outside AOL's network. The third will be a service called "UnCut
Video," which allows users to upload videos of themselves directly from several media devices.
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