Online video has never been hotter, and investors are frantically searching for new deals -- absurdly so.
See the piece we just wrote about prolific investor Ron Conway, who says the competition for deals is so intense, entrepreneurs are commanding the "dining room table." Third rate venture capitalists, in desperation, are bribing entrepreneurs to take their money by giving them cash bonuses upfront.
We're not certain which deals he was referring to specifically, but today sees more action in the online video area area:
1) First, Waltham, Mass-based PermissionTV, which enables companies to add video distribution on their own sites, will announce it has raised $9 million from Castile Ventures and Point Judith Capital.
PermissionTV operates behind the scenes, providing a back-end that simplifies the creation and management of branded internet TV channels for companies such as Adobe or even Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. PermissionTV comes with its own video player and content management tools. PermissionTV is different from Me.tv, which lets users create their own video channels. PermissionTV focuses on working with name brands and professionally produced video. PermissionTV 's customers also include Fox Interactive, FHM Magazine, and Bob Vila.
2) San Francisco's YourTrumanShow has unveiled yet another platform from which amateur video producers can share themselves with the world.
YourTrumanShow, which is currently in private beta, is positioning itself as a "bridge between blogging and video and storytelling" that aims to produce the next generation of reality TV stars. Instead of focusing on non-stop action like Justin.tv or everything-that-comes like YouTube, YourTrumanShow wants people to use its site to tell videotaped stories, fictional or real, and carry them through many episodes. It's hard to imagine that the internet needs another outlet for user-generated video, but YourTrumanShow is, at the very least, a legitimate and endearing attempt at squeezing some hokey juice out of internet TV. More here.
3) Invasion of video players continues. Kyte got funding yesterday. Rifftrax has acquired Cuts, another video player company we wrote about here. The cool thing about Cuts is that it lets you grab video from any site — with help from a bookmarklet — and lets you edit it at Cuts.com. You can send the code to friends, who can make changes to the video, rolling back your edits and making new ones. And there's Chime.TV, another player that lets you create your own thematic channels, share them with friends, search through videos on sites such as YouTube and Google Video. The site is somewhat confusing, however.