AllThingsD » anime

Exclusive: BermanBraun Buys Most of Shelby Bonnie's Whiskey Media

Kara Swisher — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:30:32 +0000

In a deal that was just signed, longtime Silicon Valley exec Shelby Bonnie has sold his social publishing start-up, Whiskey Media, to Santa Monica-based entertainment and interactive production company BermanBraun.

As part of the deal, BermanBraun will get three key sites of San Francisco-based Whiskey, including video entertainment-focused Screened, tech-testing site Tested, and Anime Vice, which covers anime and manga comics. It will also acquire Whiskey’s content-publishing platform.

Two other sites owned by Whiskey — games-oriented Giant Bomb and comic-book database Comic Vine — will be sold to another media company, which is rumored to be CBS Interactive.

Heaped on top of the niche content, aimed at passionate fans, Whiskey mixes in a lot of social networking, as well as user-generated content, along with its professional fare.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

But the major reason for the acquisition is that BermanBraun — which also makes popular sites for large portals such as Microsoft’s MSN (the Wonderwall celebrity site and Glo, aimed at the women’s lifestyle arena) and AOL (upcoming sites on weather, men and pets) — needs to be able to scale its online content production. The Whiskey platform should be able to allow it to more easily grow and create new sites more quickly, as well as mine data across them.

“With the addition of Whiskey’s first rate team and powerful, state of the art publishing, data and social tools platform, we will be able to further enhance our user experience and engagement, and provide our advertising partners with unparalleled data insights,” said Lloyd Braun and Gail Berman, who run BermanBraun, in a statement. “One of the other great parts of this acquisition is that we will have Shelby Bonnie in our lives. We have enormous respect for Shelby personally and professionally, and his insights, relationships and acumen will be invaluable to us.”

Bonnie, who was once CEO of CNET, which he helped found, added: “I have had the pleasure of knowing both Lloyd and Gail for years and they are two incredibly high integrity people who bring passion and creativity to the interactive space. As we see a dramatic changes in the whole media landscape, success will demand new skills and talents. BermanBraun’s content skills and vision joined with the Whiskey platform will create a combination that I believe is without equal. I couldn’t be more excited for the combination.”

Here is a video interview I did with Bonnie in mid-2010 about Whiskey:

[ See post to watch video ]

Whiskey Media's (And Former CNET CEO) Shelby Bonnie Talks Content and More!

Kara Swisher — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:39:53 +0000

Yesterday, BoomTown caught up with Shelby Bonnie, the former CEO of CNET who is now running Whiskey Media, the social publishing start-up.

Sausalito, Calif.-based Whiskey is debuting its latest site today, called Screened, focused on video entertainment, which will combine both professional and user-generated content, much as its other four sites–Anime, Vice, Giant Bomb, Comic Vine and Tested–do.

Heaped on top of the niche content, aimed at passionate fans, is social networking, as well as gaming and wikis.

It’s yet another twist on the creation and distribution of content and another example of how quickly the publishing industry is changing and innovating sometimes too.

From pay walls at News Corp. (NWS) to the run on low-cost content outfits to the decline of traditional media outlets and the growth of others, it’s definitely a dynamic time.

Here’s the video of my interview with Bonnie, who has been through a lot of these shifts:

[ See post to watch video ]

And here is the press release from Whiskey on Screened:

Whiskey Media Debuts Screened for Passionate Fans of Film, TV and Online Video

Media company’s fifth web property delivers measureable brand engagement by combining original editorial content with social gaming mechanics

San Francisco CA, May 20, 2010–Social publisher Whiskey Media today announced the debut of its fifth property, Screened–a new online destination dedicated to video entertainment across all screened devices. Screened, created by former CNET executives, joins Whiskey’s four other category-leading properties–Anime Vice, Giant Bomb, Comic Vine and Tested–in combining original editorial content with social networking, game mechanics and wikis to create one of the most relevant and engaging film, TV and video destinations.

“We see our model as a new breed of media company, native to the Internet and not just an assimilation of content that many sites have done before. The Internet generation expects their media to be socialized and relevant to their lives,” says founder and CEO Shelby Bonnie. “Social publishing attracts highly loyal, knowledgeable and motivated audiences and provides brands the opportunity for even deeper integrated engagement than currently available elsewhere online.”

Screened is created by fans, for fans

Screened will simultaneously spark and settle debates, create and squash rumors, and stimulate engaging conversations. The site will also feature a comprehensive movie and TV database with detailed information about films, actors, directors and writers, as well as other content such as locations, characters, objects, clichés and more.

Screened is built for the savvy entertainment fan who will watch video content across multiple devices and different screens. For a generation who will consume video entertainment across phones, iPads and computers in addition to movie screens and TV screens, Screened will help people find the best in Hollywood blockbusters, independent and classic films, TV shows and online video entertainment that can be watched or streamed to screens both large and small.

“The beauty of Screened is that its content is governed by real people who are passionate about movies, TV and video, and want to share their enthusiasm and opinions with like-minded people,” said Alex Navarro, general editor, Screened. “We’re entertainment enthusiasts too, which is why we’re so excited to create a dynamic community that we believe will be worthy of a discriminating audience’s time.”

Screened entertains and rewards with Quests

Like Whiskey’s other properties, Screened will feature game mechanics, called Quests, incentivizing viewers to become active contributors and motivating communities to participate at the editorial-level of content creation. Quests incorporate features typical of online social games–badges, points and scavenger hunts–rewarding site users for creating new pages, starting a forum topic, cleaning up existing content or engaging with brand advertisers.

During a one-week preview of Screened for members of other Whiskey Media properties, the community completed more than 24,844 Quests that produced 20,000 movie entries, 200,000 actor and movie images and 1,500 genres. The average person who contributes content contributes 43 items to the community and spends more than 11 minutes on the Screened site.

Beyond Screened, the community across the other four Whiskey Media sites has started more than one million Quests that have produced more than 7,500 new product reviews and product description pages since launch. Quests have been shown to increase page views and time spent on the site by more than 53 percent, providing increased opportunities for brand marketers to interact with Whiskey’s loyal communities.

Quests work because they are a part of the community experience in each Whiskey Media brand. The ability to share and consume information about the topics people love creates a different type of online community where each member is rewarded more for their knowledge and contribution versus whom they know. Quests create a way to show their knowledge and passion to a like-minded community.

Because Quests are an integral part of the community experience and enjoyment, they also provide ways for brand marketers to reach an audience without disrupting the audience experience.

“Whiskey Media is in a unique position to deliver engagement for brands given its community-based approach and ability to integrate campaigns into its sites, enhancing the user experience, not disrupting it,” said Brian Monahan, SVP, global lead social media, Universal McCann.

The Omega Men of the Internet?

Kara Swisher — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:00:37 +0000

BoomTown hates to miss any possible opportunity to reference a Charlton Heston movie and, thus, was struck by a report by a Wall Street analyst that Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) will be the sole survivors of the most recent digital age.

Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay said as much in a 310-page report, “U.S. Internet: The End of the Beginning” he penned, noting that only the search giant and the e-commerce pioneer had legs.

Yahoo (YHOO)? Acquired by Microsoft (MSFT).

IAC (IACI)? Split up into five too-teeny, ineffective parts.

And eBay (EBAY)? Acquisition bait for a “Microsoft-like suitor,” if it cannot goose the growth in its key auction business.

While BoomTown loves a good predictions piece as much the next blogger, the report’s conclusions feel like it has a bit of a backward-looking tone.

That’s because who knows what tomorrow brings, in a world few geeks survive.

Oops, now I am channeling the love song “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer and a Gentleman,” and that can’t be good.

Suffice it to say, there is a new company you’ve never heard of–that might not even exist yet–and that’s the one everyone really needs to be scared of.

But not scarier than this video in anime and with guns inexplicably blazing, using the Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes song–though BoomTown definitely likes it–here: