Why are you not invested in .tv?

[*AllThings.tv*]

I am trying to understand why some domainers are not leveraging the .tv extension to diversify their portfolios. If you can share your thoughts with me, I would greatly appreciate it and I will begin a summarized list for everyone to review here.

Like so many .tv enthusiasts on this site, I credit the .tv extension for bringing me into the world of domaining and I have since invested in .com and .mobi.

I have learned a tremendous amount and continue to learn more every day, but I want to learn more why others are staying away. Is it that you feel the .tv extension is hype, is it overpriced in your opinion, are the returns not as great as the ones you are seeing in other areas, or the short term outlook not lucrative enough to justify the investment (but you possibly see the potential .tv has in the future)?

I genuinely want to know.

 

[hmcintyre]

In all seriousness, I simply do not understand enough about the .tv domain at the moment.

I've read the .tv forum a little bit, but I don't understand things like how certain names have extremely high renewal fees. I don't understand the market enough, I don't understand the value, I don't understand how much I can resell a name for.

My lack of .tv domains can really just be summed up by the fact that I don't understand enough about it to be confident enough to invest in .tv names at the moment. That may change, and I hope it does, but as it stands that is how it goes.

 

[harkster]

It may be the greatest thing since <insert your favorite perversion here> but it is of no interest to me. Add to that what appears to be a manipulated pricing structure it becomes even less interesting.

I hope the .tv players make a bundle but it isn't for me.

 

[accent]

1. Established extension - best names are taken
2. High initial cost and renewals
3. Concern about tiered pricing / unstable cc extension
4. I do not own a video camera and have no content to offer.

 

[Broker]

I'm in :tu:

 

[mrizos]

Well I got my first ones last night (youbuy.tv and helpyou.tv...estibot said it (youbuy) was estimated at 28k...and yes...i now know "DO NOT USE ESTIBOT")

anyway..people ripped into me for buying a .tv...COM COM COM they say.

so, there's my sad experience so far with .tv

 

[AdoptableDomains]

1. Bad vibes from my first try. years ago I saw a domain I wanted was available. I tried to reg and it said my cost would be something like $500,000 A YEAR!
2. TV is popular, but a pretty small subject to base a TLD on.
3. Most real "TV" players are big (as in ABC, CBS, FOX, etc) and it would be hard to compete in the development arena, making potential, buyers fewer than a broaded base of people in the business. What would it cost to create a real TV channel? See where internet radio has gone for where I think internet TV channel might go.
4. High reg prices, weird price structures, Unknown future renewals rates.
5. I still think of Tuvalu.
6. Too many other extensions I think I can do better with.

 

[OctaneInv]

At first, it was price, if I could find something in .TV for $40 and the same in a different extension for $10, why go .TV?

I now own a few .TVs, but I'm still very cautious of buying them in fear of a flop.

 

[VisualArtistFrankBonilla]

Abstracts.tv

I am enjoying the heck out of my www.Abstracts.tv ! In one month exactly today, it has over 20,000 views! I have over a 1000 videos from www.Youtube.com loaded. O f course, I had to pay $24.95 to register, but don't have to pay for web-hosting!
When Me.tv allows us to have advertising, I hope to start making a few cents here and there. This is first domain I have purchased, that I don't intend to sell.
Of course, I aslo sold www.Uv.tv for $4,355 recently, so I like my .tv!!!!!! I don't understand it either!


Frank :sold:

 

[Mike]

I jumped on board with 5 .TV names. Mainly one word dictionary key terms - that don't get any type in traffic whatsofrigginever...none, zilch, nada...grrrr

Then i had the next lightning sharp idea! Aim for TV shows; so i registered www.bigmedicine.tv - i got the DN before the actual show started to air on TLC and thought that there might be some type ins.... since the show started, i had 2!!, yes, T W O... this is beyond highly annoying...

As many others already mentioned. a very unstable pricing structure that caters to the ones with deep pockets, creating a really uncomfortable environment.
Overall, i started to reconsider my (small) investment into .TV and i'm in the process of selling my names off, refocusing on other more reasonably priced extensions.

Just my .2 €

 

[networkmsia]

In all seriousness, I simply do not understand enough about the .tv domain at the moment.

I've read the .tv forum a little bit, but I don't understand things like how certain names have extremely high renewal fees. I don't understand the market enough, I don't understand the value, I don't understand how much I can resell a name for.

My lack of .tv domains can really just be summed up by the fact that I don't understand enough about it to be confident enough to invest in .tv names at the moment. That may change, and I hope it does, but as it stands that is how it goes.

agreed

 

[frank_view2008]

I invested in .mobi instead of .tv.

 

[BinderGang]

It's really the price. I do have a few .TV's, but there's plenty of nice .TV domains available that aren't generic or premium and I pass them over because of the price.

 

[kev]

I think .tv is already established and the fear of a flop is unfounded due to some of the big players involved. .tv will be around for a very long time to come and the guys with some nice generics will be laughing all the way to the bank

 

[dnb8]

my reason why I don't have any .tv is to high reg fee

 

[hullswingerscom]

anyone can go and get a great .tv name now.that tells you everything.
maybe with dot tv domainers asking in this forum and not the dot tv forum maybe dout setting in

 

[kev]

anyone can go and get a great .tv name now.that tells you everything.
maybe with dot tv domainers asking in this forum and not the dot tv forum maybe dout setting in

afraid not...i think all the decent names with a reasonable reg fee are gone

 

[Len]

In response to Intelbank. I personally am getting 10x more traffic to my .tv parked pages than my .mobi's. I don't have any explaination as to why but that's how it is.
In exactly 1 month that www.whistle.tv has been up and running I have had 1670 visitors to the site. Not as many as some but much much more than I expected without any advertising whatsoever! This has launched far better than any of my .com sites. Once the tools are available to monetize I feel that whistle.tv will be definately a money maker for me.
Where else can you get a domain with web hosting + all the tools for $24.95/yr??
For that price I would at the very least try it out. What is there to lose?

 

[RogueWriter]

Before I first got into .TV domains, the main thing holding me back was the premium pricing concept. I really had a hard time believing that domains with $500, $1,000, $10,000 annual reg fees could be resold profitably. However, two things changed my mind.

1. Several large sales have been posted for the extension over the last six months, many of which were multiples of a high premium registration fee domain.

2. Look at, say, Business.tv . enom lists it as $500,000 annual fee, which is just huge. Yet, how much would it cost you to purchase Business.com, $200 million? Do you want or have $200 million to tie up in a single asset, something that cannot even house your company, just a domain name? Or, commit to spending $500,000 per year, which would take almost 400 years with zero % interest to match, expense-wise.

Even if you discount the perceived value of .TV, there is a fair argument there as to cash flow versus perceived value of the asset.

Anyways, the way I look at it is this: The fact that there are some issues with the extension is a good thing, because it filters out competition who might otherwise register some good domains before I finish registering what I want.

 

[Mike]

In response to Intelbank. I personally am getting 10x more traffic to my .tv parked pages than my .mobi's. I don't have any explaination as to why but that's how it is.
In exactly 1 month that www.whistle.tv has been up and running I have had 1670 visitors to the site. Not as many as some but much much more than I expected without any advertising whatsoever! This has launched far better than any of my .com sites. Once the tools are available to monetize I feel that whistle.tv will be definately a money maker for me.
Where else can you get a domain with web hosting + all the tools for $24.95/yr??
For that price I would at the very least try it out. What is there to lose?

I agree with the $24.95/yr, or the FREE version since it's built into your enom.tv account. Thankfully, i have all my .tv domains there. [rant] However, where's the monetization for these domains? I have yet to see enom coming through and allow adsense or any other tool that would return some level of cashflow. I'm certain that enom will not continue to provide serverspace/bandwith for free forever, i wouldn't be opposed to consider a split between enom and myself regarding the advertising revenue from my sites and call it Parking 3.0 if you will. Until this happens, though, where and what are the options? Generic parking? No hits/type ins. Development? Yeah, if you have the needed tools and knowledge to actually get something halfway semi professional launched - which i don't. I'm not the total negativist here, i just haven't seen any driven development from an extension that is being administered in VERY questionable fashion. I firmly believe that these so called premium domains are hurting the extension and prevent a fair & open market situation. In fact, the closest term that comes to mind is: Monopoly. One company decides which domains are premium, sets the reg and renewal fee, etc.
In a free economy, that is built upon distinct pillars of equality and fair trade, the price administration of Demand Media and eNom is highly disturbing to me. In a .com scenario, if any of us had been early enough, any of us could have registered Stocks.com or Dictionary.com, in .tv extension - only the ones with the deepest pockets can bid on a premium term. Now, if that's not screwed up, then i don't know. [/rant]
I believe the extension is here to stay, i also believe that having normal priced .tv domains is going to pay off at some point. Major players in the .tv extension are not really stepping up to the plate at this time, however, the tendencies of development are pointing towards TV online in all aspects, making the .tv extension a conceptual inevitability.
Domains like Defeat.TV for sports, Affair.TV for dating or Chalk.TV for kids programming are probably going to take off at some point. The question is just - when? Especially considering a minimum of $24.95 reg/renewal, ROI vs. time becomes a valid concern....

IB