CBS buys video blog Wallstrip

Wallstrip video showThe video blog, Wallstrip, which describes itself as “stock culture meets pop culture”, has been acquired by CBS. The price is unknown, but CBS has denied it’s 5 million dollars as was first reported by the gossip blog, Jossip. At the time is was suggested that the main attraction for CBS was securing the services of the shows dynamic host, Lindsay Campbell, who was to become the new face for the studios online video initiatives.

That’s not the case says NewTeeVee. The deal is just as much about the talent behind the camera:

Wallstrip creator Howard Lindzon said CBS bought the show in part because of its “web 2.0” attitude towards widely syndicating and distributing its video… “Quincy wants to be everywhere,” he said, meaning Quincy Smith, CBS’ dealmaker and the initiator of the Wallstrip purchase. The team will be part of CBSNews.com, helping out with its video projects.

In other words, the deal should be viewed as an acquisition of a production company, rather than a single show. CBS clearly hopes to leverage what the Wallstrip team have learnt from their online video experiments, as well as harness the team’s ability to put out very cost effective content, with a distribution model that embraces the distributed nature of the net.

On a personal note, I count myself as a fan of the show. I’m not really all that interested in the stock market, but Wallstrip does a good job of explaining the cultural phenomena behind market success stories (and in an entertaining way), such as how Apple positions itself as a lifestyle company, and why people go crazy over Nike.

Congrats Wallstrip!

(If you’re new to the show, check out the announcement episode.)

last100 is edited by Steve O'Hear. Aside from founding last100, Steve is co-founder and CEO of Beepl and a freelance journalist who has written for numerous publications, including TechCrunch, The Guardian, ZDNet, ReadWriteWeb and Macworld, and also wrote and directed the Silicon Valley documentary, In Search of the Valley. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

9 Responses to “CBS buys video blog Wallstrip”

  1. Than ks for the coverage and you are right on for the actual purchase reasons

  2. Excellent purchase, $5mill??? that is a great deal,—they are on many of the top financial sites, they have great writers—a great host—-in fact—i’ve read in many places that lindsey campbell is the new maria bartiromo or more—i like the deal, again if it falls thru tell them to contact me or if there is anything else out there like that let me know!!! –Patrick Kerr, OilGasFutures.Com

  3. Steve says:

    Just one step at a time. This is a very good thing.

  4. […] Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh. And more recently, the company acquired the video blog Wallstrip — not just to secure the services of the show’s dynamic host, Lindsay Campbell, as was […]

  5. […] targets are met.” CBS seems to be on a Web2.0 spree. The company also annouced the acquisition of the video blog WallStrip. It’s really about using the web to get the content out to an increasing number of people. […]

  6. […] either for its debut or bypassing traditional distribution altogether. Earlier in the year we reported on CBS’ purchase of the production company behind the show “Wallstrip”, noting that the media giant aims […]

  7. Steve says:

    Just one step at a time. This is a very good thing.

  8. Dengan kata lain, kesepakatan harus dipandang sebagai akuisisi perusahaan produksi, bukan pertunjukan tunggal. CBS jelas berharap untuk memanfaatkan slot deposit pulsa apa yang telah dipelajari tim Wallstrip dari eksperimen video daring mereka, serta memanfaatkan kemampuan tim untuk mengeluarkan konten yang sangat hemat biaya, dengan model distribusi yang merangkul sifat didistribusikan dari internet.

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