DBG, the New York-based video ad network and branded content creator, has made its first acquisition with Digital Sports Venture, a platform which syndicates college sports videos. The company made the announcement earlier today. In August, we spoke with DBG's Chief Product Officer Matthew Corbin about the company's expanded syndication platform for premium publishers called CLiP. The new acquisition will be integrated [...]

SAN BRUNO, Calif -- YouTube has introduced a new editing functionality which allows content creators to convert conventional video files to 3-D. YouTube also supports the upload and publication of content shot with 3-D equipment. Viewers can watch YouTube with a variety of special glasses and devices. While there is limited interest in 3-D content online, YouTube aims to "remove the barriers" to [...]

With consumers spending time online, many big brands are reaching them online through the development of original Web series and exclusive online program sponsorships. In this 45-minute video, five top publishers and advertising executives examine the the state of branded and sponsored video on the Web -- what works, what doesn't and where this nascent media may be going. The session is [...]

SANTA MONICA, Calif -- Yahoo! has the exclusive worldwide rights to live stream the "Decade of Difference" concert, the star-studded benefit honoring the ten-year anniversary of the Clinton Foundation and a celebration of the former President's sixty-fifth birthday. The October 15th concert will take place at the Hollywood Bowl and will feature Lady Gaga, Usher, Juanes, Kenny Chesney, K'naan, The Edge, Bono and [...]

LOS ANGELES - There is an emerging upside for Web original video content, but it has to be good and the role of sponsoring brands needs to be discreet, says these Web studio executives from AOL, Blip.tv, Disney, Indelible and The Collective in this 45-minute session. Participants include Ross Glick, Co-Founder, Indelible; Gabe Lewis, Head of Original Video, AOL; Dan Weinstein, Manager, [...]

LOS ANGELES -- Independent content creators are finding a balance between artistic expression and building a business with the participation of brands. These were among the themes to emerge from the 45-minute session with some of the Web's most innovative creators, including Yuri Baranovsky, Actor, Writer, Producer; Brandon Laatsch, Cinematographer, Taryn O’Neill, Actor, Writer, Producer and Freddie "W" Wong, Actor, Producer. The [...]

Break Media, the Los Angeles-based video producer of original video for young men, has 1.5 million downloads of its App for Apple iOS and Android, says Andy Tu, VP of Marketing. Tu says user engagement with the Apps are notable with frequent visits and longer time spent with content. In the interview, he speaks about new programming initiatives and the growth of [...]

Watch live streaming video from beet_tv at livestream.com            Beet.TV Leadership Webcast Connecting Video News with New Audiences Presented by Taboola   As the technology of news creation, distribution and consumption is quickly changing, publishers have the opportunity to connect with new audiences through original content creation, site design, search and discovery.  These topics will be explored in a ninety-minute Webcast with leading digital news executives [...]

BrightRoll, the San Francisco-based online video advertising services company, has announced a product which guarantees video advertisers a specified number of impressions to their target audience. The company says this is the first product of its kind. Yesterday, we spoke with BrightRoll CEO Tod Sacerdoti about the company's video advertising buying platform and the value it provides to publishers and advertisers. Andy Plesser  

Lloyd Braun, former Chairman of ABC Television, content chief at Yahoo and now co-partner in the Los Angeles-based television studio BraunBerman, shares his views on the economics, strategies and realities of creating original content for the Web in this 20-minute session on Beet.TV. The interview is conducted by Karen Cahn VP for Branded Partnerships at AOL. She joined AOL six months [...]

The Wall Street Journal has just published a poignant video of Walt Mossberg's private visit with Steve Jobs shortly after his liver transplant. You can find the Journal's obit of Jobs here. A great loss. Rest in peace.

PARIS -- The organizers of the Monaco Media Forum have announced the plans for the three-day, invitation-only digital media summit to be held November 9-11.   Titled "Screen Wars," the overarching theme of the event will be the convergence of broadcast television, Hollywood and the digital world. This week in the Beet.TV studios in Manhattan, we spoke with Spencer Reiss, the conference's Program [...]

YuMe, the Redwood City-based video advertising technology company, has released a standard interactive pre-roll ad format they announced today. The new product allows advertisers to introduce social functionality and product links. For an overview on the new product, the value of interactivity of pre-roll ads and overview on the industry, we spoke with YuMe's Chief Revenue Officer Scot McLernon. More on today's news up [...]

Reaching mass scale, with 42 million monthly unique visitors, AOL has decided to "double down" on original, premium video programming and announced plans for 15 new series, including one with Jennifer Lopez. Yesterday at an Advertising Week event in Manhattan, we spoke with AOL Video chief Ran Harnevo about the opportunity for AOL to produce and monetize premium content through sales [...]

Today, Yahoo announced a revamped video channel and a slate of eight new video series oriented for woman. Last month in Santa Monica, we visited the Yahoo Studios to interview video chief Erin McPherson on the company's expansion around original programming.   We have republished that video today. Andy Plesser

"Video could not be more important to our future, and is a personal mission of mine," says Rob Barrett, VP for News and Finance at Yahoo, in this interview with Beet.TV. Barrett explains that video will be the primary medium on mobile and tablet devices and increasingly on the Web.  We spoke after ABC News and Yahoo announced a joint production and [...]

Although ABC News clips currently comprise some 20-25 percent of video news on Yahoo News, that percentage will increase with the introduction of new original Web programming, co-branded segments and live streaming on Yahoo, says Joe Ruffolo, SVP for Digital at ABC News, in this interview with Beet.TV. This morning, ABC News and Yahoo announced the new joint effort at glittery [...]

BMW, perhaps the first brand to present original filmmaking on the Web, has a new series which targets upscale prospects for its new 6 Series. Called "Alter Egos," it features the casual pursuits of celebrities, including Ed Norton, Donna Karan, Tory Burch, Kevin Bacon and jewelry designer David Yurman.  The principal media outlet is the upscale Plum TV cable network and [...]

SAN BRUNO, Calif -- While videos uploaded by camera phones to YouTube can be entertaining and authoritative, they can be awfully wobbly. A new tool from the YouTube allows video producers to smooth out the shakiness. The improved stabilization feature is perhaps the most significant of the new set of online editing tools unveiled by YouTube last month.  (The first version [...]

LOS ANGELES - Victor Solis is producing a Web original sci-fi spoof called "Generic Girl" and has found a distribution partner in Dailymotion, the giant French-based video site.   While most independent video producers select Blip.tv or YouTube as the primary publishing platform, Solis says that Dailymotion has been heavily promoting the show. We spoke with Solis last month in Hollywood at the [...]