VCs rushing into TV market
This caught my attention. "All the Irish broadsheets cover the launch of a new national television station, which is due to begin broadcasting in the Spring. The Irish Examiner reports that over EUR14 million has been invested in Channel 6 by a consortium of investors which includes ACT Venture Capital and Delta Partners. The station is aimed at the 15-to-35 age group and is expected to compete directly with RTE2 and TV3." I'm still trying to work out why VC's would want to invest in Broadcast - All current investment activities are in the Online space (most 15-35 year olds spend the majority of there time online or using mobile services) Look at events such as CES, read John Battelle's Search book, etc.
posted by fergusb @ 1/06/2006 01:40:00 PM
4 Comments:
My reply not much different - there is a tremendous value associated with traditional media because of the viewing figures. Leading to strong advertising revenues.
And those revenues are stable - at least for a 10 year span and that is enough for VC's!
I deinfitely enjoy the internet space - however I have a mate involved in local media in Ireland and his pitch to investors was short and almost immediately successful :-)
keith
Great comments
I know broadcast media is a great business - but my observation was on VC activity (in an Irish context).
The overall global trend is that the advertising dollar is shifting online - Google/Yahoo and recent Microsoft moves are proof of that pudding.
Would those VCs invest in an online business? Would they invest in an Irish online service ? Would they have invested in Google in 1999 ? Would they have invested in Skype in 2002 ?
Do we have a problem in the Irish investment market with online ?
For the exact same reason as City Channel's successful fundraising - cheap advertising. TV as an advertising medium is very attractive to Irish businesses, despite the fact that an Adwords strategy would be far more attractive.
Part of your original question was "I'm still trying to work out why VC's would want to invest in Broadcast" and that was certainly answered!
"Would those VCs invest in an online business? Would they invest in an Irish online service ? Would they have invested in Google in 1999 ? Would they have invested in Skype in 2002?"
Damned if I would/will begin to start answering those :-) Although there has been investment in the last couple of years in Irish web services and online businesses.
If I was a VC and offered the choice today - I would probably go with a traditional media offering as there is a relatively certain payback over a defined period. And that is how I would keep my investors happy.
Investors for online etc should possibly come from the angel/individual investor pool.
keith
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