Megan Fong had no idea she’d be an Internet pioneer when she answered a job listing a couple of years ago for an unknown Denver media company.
Today, the Boulder native is a veteran “cyberjockey” for ManiaTV.com, an Internet television network.
“I auditioned for an on-air talent job right after high school in June 2004,” said Fong, 20. “The idea of an online TV network wasn’t there before Mania TV. When I told my parents where I was working, they had nothing to compare it to.”
Internet-based videos and television shows are soaring in popularity among viewers, investors and advertisers. Google’s $1.6 billion acquisition of video-clip website YouTube.com last month has further validated the medium, with ManiaTV receiving more attention and ad dollars.
“I was in Los Angeles two weeks ago. People know who we are. That’s changed from six months ago,” said Richard Ayoub, vice president of programming and development for ManiaTV. “The deal is putting a spotlight on the company. We’re perceived as an innovator.”
In a converted warehouse near East 38th Avenue and Steele Street, ManiaTV airs live TV shows 24 hours a day on its website. Shows are focused on music, videos, extreme sports and celebrity interviews. Comedian Tom Green airs a variety show on ManiaTV four days a week; it’s streamed from his Los Angeles living room.
With 50 percent of viewers ranging from 18 to 24 years old, ManiaTV shows have hip and edgy titles like “Too Short for Hollywood,” “The Daily Independent” and “Freak Show.”
In addition to the locally produced shows, viewers are invited to upload their own videos and create their own TV channels. Some update their channel several times a day with new footage.
“It’s fun, crazy, wacky TV,” said founder and chief executive Drew Massey. “Three years ago, people thought I was crazy. There’s an avalanche of money coming this way.”
ManiaTV is privately held and is expecting to reach profitability within 15 months. The company wouldn’t release revenue numbers but said advertising revenue is up 400 percent this year.
The YouTube deal proves that people are watching and uploading content to online video sites, Massey said. In January, ManiaTV had 200,000 unique site viewers. That number has skyrocketed to 3.2 million in September, according to ComScore Media Metrix, an Internet audience-tracking company.
ManiaTV has also syndicated its content, forming partnerships with the likes of Yahoo, Comcast, NBC Universal, eBags and Sports Illustrated.
Advertisers are also paying attention, shifting funds from traditional TV campaigns to the Web. ManiaTV boasts “blue chip” advertisers such as PepsiCo, Ford, GM, HBO and Nike.
In addition to banner ads, advertisers purchase sponsorships to entire shows, where “cyberjockeys” promote the products on-air.
“We’re attracting blue-chip advertisers because it’s a peer-to peer experience,” spokesman Jason Damata said. “Our CJs are the same age as our viewer. We’re a trusted content filter.”
Online video is becoming a big business because of such advertising attention, said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst for Forrester Research.
“The result is, a lot of these startups will be able to get some traction,” he said. “The challenge is to be able to differentiate. If you’re calling yourself a YouTube but smaller, that’s not a good way to characterize yourself. If you’re able to differentiate, there’s a whole lot of room.”
ManiaTV has 75 full-time employees. Its management team is culled from technology and entertainment heavyweights such as Sony, IBM, C-Span, Hotjobs.com and the syndicated TV show Extra. That experience is balanced with young staffers and cyber jockeys. The average age of a ManiaTV employee is 26.
There are a few simple rules that guide ManiaTV and its content – no hate, no porn and no copyrighted material.
“We’ve never been sued,” Massey said. “If we get a complaint about something, we take it down. We’re very copyright-owner friendly.”
Massey, 36, previously founded P.O.V. Magazine in the mid-1990s. He envisioned ManiaTV several years before launching the site. He secured the domain name ManiaTV.com in 1998, and waited until high-speed Internet access reached critical mass, or more than 20 million homes.
“I’ve been working on this since September of 2001,” he said. “I’m confident in our business plan. We’re built around a 60-year-old advertiser-driven TV model.”
Massey, a Fort Collins native, started ManiaTV with the help of friends, 12 credit cards and a third home mortgage.
Now he said he’s fielding calls from advertisers, potential investors and a couple of companies interested in acquiring ManiaTV. He said he’s not looking to sell the company, but would entertain an offer if he and his team could keep running the site with the same edginess.
“We’ve got a little more work to do,” he said. “I look at it as a 20-year horizon. We’re building a life-lasting entertainment company. We’re not a flash in the pan.”
Staff writer Kimberly S. Johnson can be reached at 303-954-1088 or kjohnson@denverpost.com.
Al Día: Para leer este artículo en español. denverpost.com/aldia
