Next New Networks Ponies Up for its Crush on Obama Girl
Next New Networks has acquired BarelyPolitical.com for an undisclosed sum, adding the creator of viral video phenomenon Obama Girl to its growing array of niche channels. BarelyPolitical, founded in June by Ben Relles …
Context & Ripple Effects
Next New Networks launched in January 2007 with $8 million from Spark Capital on a thesis of building micro television networks — small, branded niche channels rather than one big portal. Buying BarelyPolitical.com, founded just months earlier in June by Ben Relles, is the first clear sign that the roll-up strategy extends beyond homegrown channels to acquiring whatever viral property already has an audience.
The timing matters: the 2008 campaign is heating up and political web video is suddenly contested ground, with MySpace and MTV already partnering on politics earlier this year. Meanwhile legacy attempts at online video marketplaces are faltering — NBC's NBBC syndication experiment was wound down in July — leaving room for owned-and-operated niche networks to absorb both talent and advertisers.
First-order effects
- Ben Relles and the BarelyPolitical operation move under Next New Networks' umbrella, giving the company a proven viral franchise — Obama Girl — heading into the 2008 election cycle instead of having to build one from scratch.
Second-order effects
- Rivals chasing the same election-year audience, notably the MySpace-MTV politics push, now compete against a funded network holding the cycle's breakout viral property, raising the price of any remaining independent political-video creators.
Third-order effects
- If acquisition beats organic development for niche channels, the micro-network model consolidates around buying proven audiences — making viral creators the scarce asset that funded networks bid for, with the 2008 campaign as the forcing function.
The trend: Online video is shifting from portals and marketplaces toward funded niche networks that acquire proven viral properties, with the 2008 election accelerating the political-video land grab.