Sony is part of a "Group' Hug

Filed in archive Internet TV on August 24, 2006

Video sharing sites are a hot commodity. I recall reading somewhere that venture capitalists have poured more than $150 Million into 40 or more new startups just in the first 6 months of this year. YouTube's success, of course, was the catalyst of this trend.

Well, news is out that Sony just bought Grouper (the 10th largest video sharing site according to Hitwise) for $65 Million. A quick lookup on Hitwise reports that Grouper had 542,000 visitors last month, that's almost $120 per visitor! No wonder VC's are set to create more of them; its like printing money.

Sony plans on growing the user base and scout for new talent. After all, video sharing sites are a popular venue for non-established video creators to show their stuff. Sony will also be able to promote their own new releases since Grouper makes it easy for other sites (like blogs) to include Grouper's video on their pages.