.tv The moment of failure for .TV - Or was it?

[GoneWalkabout]

There was, supposedly, a defining moment when .Tv names went from the status of ‘fighting the recession’ to ‘victim of the recession’. That moment was the Rick Latona auction of June 2009.

I remember looking at the names in auction at the time and thinking that most were of incredibly poor quality and nearly all were overpriced.

The list, from the time, with prices, is available at

Domainer Resource: RickLatona.com - ccTLD Extended Auction

As one of those names from the auction drops tomorrow, Amsterdam.tv (premium $1500) I thought I would have a quick look at what happend to the other names that were on auction. Surely, if these names were that good, they would still all be taken in 2010.

Well, here are the results


There were 146 .TV names in the auction

42 of those names were premium

104 were standard regs.


Today, only 10 of the 42 premiums are still taken:

Czech.tv 200 prem
Europe.tv 8500
Italy.tv 750
Moscow.tv 500
Paraguay.tv 250
printers.tv 500
Races.tv 300
Spain.tv 12749
Sweden.tv 600
Thailand.tv 1000

The remainder, having been dropped, are available from enom:

Amsterdam.tv 1500 prem
apparel.tv 250
appliances.tv 250
author.tv 250
Baking.tv 2000
Classic.tv 5000
Classics.tv 5000
closeout.tv 250
collectibles.tv 250
contests.tv 250
crafts.tv 500
desktops.tv 250
Forecast.tv 250
franchises.tv 250
Germany.tv 25000
giftshop.tv 500
Help.tv 25000
Holistic.tv 500
Home.tv 50000
inventions.tv 500
laptops.tv 250
Lawyers.tv 7500
monitors.tv 250
opportunity.tv 250
Racing.tv 5000
Sales.tv 5000
Satellite.tv 10000
Scooter.tv 500
Sushi.tv 500
today.tv 5000
Traffic.tv 10000
wholesale.tv 250


Of the standard reg names, of which there were 104, only 65 are still taken, while some 39 names have been dropped altogether and NOT picked up.

I won’t list the 65 names, but here are the 39 names that have been dropped, and are available right now. I doubt, even though I have printed the names, there will be a big rush to pick them up (even when we live in an age of the $12.99 reg):

BalearicIsland.tv
bassproshop.tv
BedAndBath.tv
BigAndTall.tv
BookDeal.tv
BookReviews.tv
Bosnian.tv
BreakDancers.tv
camerashop.tv
ChildrenShop.tv
CollegeTour.tv
CommerceAdNetwork.tv
ComputerCourse.tv
ComputerDeal.tv
Depotverwahrung.tv
etailers.tv
FoodStore.tv
FurnitureShop.tv
GiftStores.tv
golfproshop.tv
GoodDeal.tv
GourmetShop.tv
HardwareStore.tv
jewelryshop.tv
JewelryShow.tv
judaicashop.tv
KitchenTools.tv
LearnForex.tv
OfficeProducts.tv
PoolTable.tv
RetailOutlets.tv
schoolsupply.tv
SoftwareShop.tv
StudentShop.tv
TeamShop.tv
ToysAndGames.tv
TravelTours.tv
VideoContent.tv
VideoGameStore.tv



I have my own ideas and conclusions that can be made from this information:

1 In the main, the premium market is dead to all but the best names. Let this be a warning to all newbies.

2 Much of the talk of the failure of .TV is based on an auction of names that were either premium names, overpriced, or not even worth renewing.

3. Quality standard reg names ARE still selling, being renewed, and highly coveted.

 

[eyedomainous]

Nice job Jimbo...

Man, those numbers are depressing! But not surprising.

The extension appears to be strangeling itself with "overpriced" hands.

 

[WEEarraPEOPLE]

edited

 

[GoneWalkabout]

paraguay.tv expiry 10/19/2011

Not being dropped, no intention of dropping.

Please accept my apologies, that most certainly was a case of me simply cutting and pasting into the wrong box.

I will amend the post.

 

[GoneWalkabout]

UPDATE

Just a couple of hours after first posting it noew appears that TWO of the available names have been taken - CollegeTour and PoolTable

Funny!

 

[MrRhee]

I have my own ideas and conclusions that can be made from this information:

1 In the main, the premium market is dead to all but the best names. Let this be a warning to all newbies.

2 Much of the talk of the failure of .TV is based on an auction of names that were either premium names, overpriced, or not even worth renewing.

3. Quality standard reg names ARE still selling, being renewed, and highly coveted.

Jimbo,

I appreciate how much work you put into your posts, and this is not a direct attack on you or your post, but something very IMPORTANT to keep in mind is that not every premium .TV in that auction was in the hands of domainers/endusers. Many were plucked directly from the unsold .TV premium list and offered up via auction at higher pricepoints with discounted renewals.

Regarding the state of the premium .TV marketplace, I don't believe the market is "dead" for developers/end-users... but most people agree that .TV premiums are not domainer-friendly... so in that respect, the market is "dead". But as evidenced by recent premium purchases, it comes down to pricing. On Equity's blog, he posted that a huge geo .TV portfolio was sold by a former NP member and I believe many of those names were premium priced. So there is activity in the premium space, both direct via ENOM and in the aftermarket.

It is my belief that the overall economy is going to get worse before it gets better (and it ain't bad yet) and there will be more domain deals on the horizon for those who are holding cash and waiting to pull the trigger. Over the last 2 years, I sent out many emails to end-user domain owners, who refused to sell back then, but are now ready to talk. Plus, we have to deal with the new TLDs that are lining up that cost roughly $300K+ to apply/setup (w/ 7fig cash reserves if an auction takes place), compare that price (owning your own TLD) versus buying a category killer .com domain and you can see why some of the big domain industry players/investors are in a holding pattern waiting for ICANN to make a decision. Lots of money that could flow into the aftermarket is "on hold" right now. All these factors are driving domain prices down and whether any domainer wants to believe it or not, these new TLDs will pull money into the registries' pockets and away from the aftermarket. With domain parking almost flatlined for many, and minisites not performing up to expectations (or getting pulled from search engines), many domainers are hoping to develop or simply looking to sell. I see some players flipping great names just to stay in business OR in an effort to build up cash reserves to go on a buying spree as the aftermarket hits bottom... knowing when to sell/buy is an art form. I've seen it happen before when the bubble burst, and it will happen again... in fact it is happening now.

But to keep all this relevant to .TV, naysayers VS cheerleaders... both sides of the fight are right. Since everyone measures success differently, and each one of us will appraise domains differently... for some people the .TV aftermarket is dead while for others, myself included, I believe it is thriving and that the future has plenty of upside. All we need is some "news" to generate more activity/interest...



.

 

[MillersCrossing]

Edit

 

[MicroGuy]

Since everyone measures success differently...

False. In business, success is commonly measured by all. It's called the bottom line. IMO.

 

[snoop]

I think the auction was a bit of a reality pill for some people. The point at which they realised their premium were probably worthless or at best worth a fraction of the last renewal fee paid. It was one of those "the curtain has been raised and it isn't pretty" moments.

Let's take a look at the thread,

http://www.namepros.com/dot-tv/583439-june-4-is-this-tipping-point.html

You can see that views were mixed on the auction, many were expecting a bad result though.

2 Much of the talk of the failure of .TV is based on an auction of names that were either premium names, overpriced, or not even worth renewing.

3. Quality standard reg names ARE still selling, being renewed, and highly coveted.

This is stating the obvious. If a name can't sell, it is overpriced. It is rare for a name to not sell for any other reason. (though lots of other excuses may be made)

That doesn't mean the issue is pricing though because most of the names couldn't sell for 2 cents. They are overpriced at any level. The issue is quality, and that stems from the extension, renewal fees, and all that. The number of names actually worth anything in .tv is very low, that is the issue.

---------- Post added at 05:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------

False. In business, success is commonly measured by all. It's called the bottom line. IMO.

Exactly, that is all it comes down to, for those who like to measure it some other way eventually they'll be measuring it as above.

 

[gr8trfoo]

...

 

[freedom30]

False. In business, success is commonly measured by all. It's called the bottom line. IMO.

Alas!

 

[snoop]

What a sad and utterly unbearable world this would be if that were true. Money is not an end in of itself, only a means, a tool for relating value across a wide variety of human goods and services. If one fails to understand this their chances of true success are zero.

Not realistic, making money is what business is all about.

 

[gr8trfoo]

Exactly, that is all it comes down to, for those who like to measure it some other way eventually they'll be measuring it as above.

Were you a part of Domainstate for the money, snoop, or were there other reasons?

---------- Post added at 08:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 PM ----------

Not realistic, making money is what business is all about.

sounds like robospeak to me.

 

[snoop]

Were you a part of Domainstate for the money, snoop, or where their other reasons?

Think of it as the online equivalent of a "not for profit" ie not a business.

 

[gr8trfoo]

Think of it as the online equivalent of a "not for profit" ie not a business.

really? what charity have you donated your sales money too?



listen, my philosophy is that there is one life to live. each of us has to find oiur own purposes for our lives - a neverending effort. i think success as finding and following a path with heart, a way that even if i am the only one who believes in it, satisfies my soul. perhaps there are those for whom money alone does this - more power to them. but i wont let those few (or many) dictate to me what success should mean to me. and thats my bottom line.

 

[snoop]

really? what charity have you donated your sales money too?

I didn't say it was a charity, I said it wasn't run as a business. The site had no revenue stream, that is fairly obviously not a site that is run for profit.

 

[gr8trfoo]

I didn't say it was a charity, I said it wasn't run as a business. The site had no revenue stream, that is fairly obviously not a site that is run for profit.

as long as you are glad you were doing what you were doing then that is success in my book snoop. i didnt exactly agree with how you guys ran things over their or how people were treated sometimes - but at least you followed your hearts. i take my hat off to you on that count.

 

[snoop]

listen, my philosophy is that there is one life to live. each of us has to find oiur own purposes for our lives - a neverending effort. i think success as finding and following a path with heart, a way that even if i am the only one who believes in it, satisfies my soul. perhaps there are those for whom money alone does this - more power to them. but i wont let those few (or many) dictate to me what success should mean to me. and thats my bottom line.

People can do what the heck they like, but to suggest *business* is not about making a profit, that isn't realistic.

If you go to your accountant and tell him you run a venture which makes no money, and you have no interest in making money, he'll pretty quickly tell you that is not a business. Its probably a hobby, charity, not for profit etc.

 

[gr8trfoo]

business is anything you make it. i dont have to accept anyones definition of what it means or why it exists. i've seen a lot of people do terrible things only in order to make a profit. does that make them "successful"? you can say yes but i have my doubts.


anyway, this argument could go on and on and i'm actually pretty busy trying to find more opportunities to throw my good money after bad. g'night.

 

[snoop]

business is anything you make it. i dont have to accept anyones definition of what it means or why it exists. i've seen a lot of people do terrible things only in order to make a profit. does that make them "successful"? you can say yes but i have my doubts.

Let's revisit what Microguy said,

In business, success is commonly measured by all. It's called the bottom line.IMO.

That is 100% true, in business success is commonly measured by the bottom line. You can look at some other way of measuring business success, but not many people are likely to agree with your alternate measure, and those who aren't making a profit will not last in business.