.tv News.TV - Three Days from Expiration!

[MicroGuy]

It will be interesting to see if News.TV is renewed. It expires on Oct 29th, just three days from now.

 

[Michael Purse]

What's the premium on something like this?

 

[MicroGuy]

The asking price was $500K/Yr but most domainers speculate that the registrant negotiated a significant discount. Due to Enom's policy of not publishing renewals of registered premiums, no one knows for sure.

 

[snoop]

Ahead shows 25k per year, no idea if that is accurate. Is this the highest reg fee drop we have seen thus far?

 

[MicroGuy]

Just got off the phone with Brian Ross, CEO of Accelerize, the registrant of News.TV.

---------------------------------
Brian Ross, CEO, Accelerize New Media

"Brian Ross served as Senior Vice President of Business Development for iMALL, Inc. in 1994 and became Director of Investor Relations in June 1997. iMALL, Inc. was acquired by Excite@Home in October 1999 for $565 million. Mr. Ross served as a Business Development Manager in Excite@Home’s E-Business Services Group. After the sale of iMALL, Mr. Ross became a founding investor of GreatDomains Inc. which was sold to Verisign (NASDAQ:VRSN) for approximately $100 million. From March 2000, he was Director of Business Development for Prime Ventures Inc., a leading Venture Partner firm focusing on early stage companies in Southern California. In July, 2004 Mr. Ross became a founding investor in E-force Media, a diversified online marketing company where he acted as interim Director of Business Development. Mr. Ross attended University of California at Santa Barbara."
-----------------------------------

Mr. Ross and I talked for about 30 minutes. Most of the conversation involved him asking me one question after the next. The questions ranged from which developed websites I owned, to my thoughts on .TV, to the current weather conditions in South Carolina. This guy should have been a news reporter.

He assured me repeatedly that his company would be renewing News.tv and fully developing. I sensed by his tone that this was the company's "public" position. I asked him about the renewal price but he said that he couldn't disclose that information. He had never heard of Hollywood.tv.

I explained to him my concerns over the departure of Current.TV and ChannelMe.TV, the Verisign Contract, the rate of premium .TV drops, and the potential risks of operating a business on a ccTLD. He laughed when I suggested he watch the YouTube video (below) of Richard Rosenblatt at the .TV launch party. That struck me as a bit odd.

YouTube - Richard Rosenblatt - .TV launch party

After our conversation, I discovered some interesting business history between Brian Ross and Richard Rosenblatt. According to Richard's BIO he was also involved in iMall and Great Domains during the same periods as Mr. Ross.

-----------------------------------
Richard Rosenblatt, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO | Demand Media

"As Founder, Chairman and CEO, Richard sold iMALL in 1999 to Excite@Home for $565 million. iMALL was one of the first Internet companies to recognize the power of user-generated content. It offered users a suite of tools that enabled them to build their own eCommerce stores and conduct transactions over the Internet."
-----------------------------------

I also found it interesting that such a strong connection exists between Brian and Richard and also strange that Accelerize is waiting to the very last minute to renew the domain.

There is certainly much more to the story than Mr. Ross was willing to share during our conversation. But I did get the feeling that $25K/Yr (best guess) for a domain is peanuts to this company and that development would not be coming anytime soon. After digging into a few earnings reports and press releases I discovered that the bulk of their new development is done using Wordpress and premium CMS templates.

I should add that he never once appeared to waiver from his belief in .TV and tried to reassure me that there was nothing to worry about. I believe his exact words were, "believe me, it's covered".

-End.

 

[snoop]

But I did get the feeling that $25K/Yr (best guess) for a domain is peanuts to this company and that development would not be coming anytime soon.

I really doubt it is peanuts to them. They look to have revenue of about $4million per year and running on about a $2million annual loss. That isn't company that can afford to do nothing with a 25k/yr name in my view. It sounds to me like they will be out of business unless they can make some very major changes or raise more capital.

 

[MicroGuy]

I really doubt it is peanuts to them. They look to have revenue of about $4million per year and running on about a $2million annual loss. That isn't company that can afford to do nothing with a 25k/yr name in my view. It sounds to me like they will be out of business unless they can make some very major changes or raise more capital.

You are correct. They are bleeding cash according to their earnings data. The shareholders could be out of the loop on .TV. It will be interesting to see if they actually renew. IMO.

 

[stutter]

well done Microguy.. great initiative.

 

[garptrader]

Even companies which are doing so-so (or worse) financially will continue to make investments, renew licenses, implement systems, contract consultants, hire executives with six-figure compensation packages, etc. Also don't forget that a domain can be renewed even after the official renewal date.

 

[MicroGuy]

Even companies which are doing so-so (or worse) financially will continue to make investments, renew licenses, implement systems, contract consultants, hire executives with six-figure compensation packages, etc. Also don't forget that a domain can be renewed even after the official renewal date.

One thing that I failed to mention in my original post was how our conversation began after Mr. Ross called me.

I had left a message earlier in a general mailbox inquiring about the possibility of purchasing News.TV. During the initial phases of the conversation Mr. Ross asked me about my financial backing, so I assume the reason he called me back was to explore the possibility of a transaction involving the domain.

---------- Post added at 02:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 PM ----------

Update: News.TV was renewed today.

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

Very interesting. :D Good work!

 

[BobTurker]

If he called you back, then I think he really might be looking to unload the domain, regardless of what the “official” position of the company is. Him insisting they were going to renew it could just be a bargaining point to pump up the price if you were going to be offered it.