VeriSign just filed its 8-K detailing the sale of the Kontiki business to a new entity, Kontiki Inc., which is a majority-owned subsidiary of MK Capital. "VeriSign received compensation of $1 million and 3,980,000 shares of the Purchaser’s Series A Preferred Stock".

MK Capital is already closed for the day so I’m not able to ask them if they will say how many outstanding shares are in the new company and what percentage VeriSign owns. While the rumored price being talked about last month was $40 million, it’s really hard to know what the deal is valued at without knowing how many outstanding shares there are and what the new Kontiki is valued at.

As I predicted back in December, I always expected that VeriSign would exit the CDN business once they began to contemplate whether or not they wanted to stay in the market with the service. Come April, it was already clear that a deal would be done to take them private.

The kontiki.com domain now goes to a website with details on the Kontiki acquisition and includes a new Kontiki logo I have never seen before. Don’t know for sure if that will be their new logo and brand but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

NewTeeVee.com has posted an interview from today with Eric Armstrong, Kontiki’s new president.

On Monday May 19th, the Streaming Media East show is teaming up with the NY Video 2.0 Meetup group to host a pre-show networking and reception event at the Hilton hotel in NYC. NY Video 2.0 is giving six promising local startups the big stage for 5 minute product demos. After the presentations, join us in the lobby (Bridges Bar) of the Hilton hotel for some drinks.

Presentations start at 6:30pm and will be in the Murray Hill Room of the Hilton hotel on the second floor. The hotel is located at 6th Avenue between West 53rd and West 54th Streets.

This networking event is free, open to everyone and we invite you to spread the word. We’re expecting over 400 people to attend so reservations are required. If you are a member of the NY Video 2.0 Meetup group, you can RSVP via their website. Or, send me an e-mail with your name, title and company and I’ll add you to the registration list.

If your company is interested in picking up some of the cost of drinks at the bar, please contact me. We are looking for a few drink sponsors and can give plenty of on-site exposure.

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, I will be presenting my latest data in a session entitled "CDN Pricing: The Going Rate For Video Delivery". (Note: My latest pricing data can always be found at www.cdnpricing.com)

With more CDN players in the market than ever before, trying to figure out what you should pay for delivering video can still be quite complex. This presentation will offer real pricing numbers from large, globally focused content delivery networks and show you the average going rate when you outsource delivery to a third party. The session will also cover some of the variables that determine the final price and how you should accurately compare the delivery services of one CDN to another, and it will give you a list of providers in the market today.

Have a topic or question for the session that you want to see
addressed? Submit it in the comments section and I'll add it to the
Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the StreamingMedia.com business and we've still managed to keep the conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day conference ticket is only $895.

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, the National Academy of Media Arts & Sciences will be leading a panel session entitled "How Old Media Is Embracing Online Video and New Media".

This session will discuss how converging media technologies are redefining traditional distribution methods; how interactive and on-demand services are changing, and how entertainment and news video is being consumed. Come hear from some of the leading publishers, broadcasters, and advertisers about the impact that video and new media is having upon their business models.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Peter Price, President and CEO, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
• Jordan Hoffner, Head of Premium Content Partnerships, YouTube
• Isaac Josephson, Director, Product Management, ABC News Digital Media
• Vivian Schiller, SVP, GM, NYTimes.com
• Richard Glosser, Executive Director of Emerging Media, CondeNet

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we’ll add it to the Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open
and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day
ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the
StreamingMedia.com business and we’ve still managed to keep the
conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day
conference ticket is only $895.

At the Streaming Media East show on Tuesday May 20th, we have a special session entitled "Mergers and Acquisitions: Wall Street’s View". Acquisitions, partnerships, funding, and failures are all making headlines at an increasing rate.

At times it is difficult to understand why these events occur, what drives them, who is involved, and how they affect the rest of the industry. This panel of venture capitalists, equity research analysts, and others will discuss their views on the state of the markets, what gets them excited, what concerns them, and how it could impact the way you do business.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Brian Essex, Analyst (formerly at Morgan Stanley)
• Colby Synesael, SVP, Equity Research, Telecom, Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.
• Kevin Ryan, Co-founder, Chairman, Panther Express
• Neil Squeira, Partner, General Catlyst Partners
• Ray Conley, CFA, Palo Alto Investors

Have a topic or question for any of the speakers you want to see
addressed? Submit it in the comments section and we’ll add it to the
Q&A portion of the session.

Registration is still open
and you can see all the various pricing packages, including a one-day
ticket on our website. Six years since we took over the
StreamingMedia.com business and we’ve still managed to keep the
conference very affordable for everyone to attend. A full two-day
conference ticket is only $895.

If you’re a financial analyst tasked with covering the content delivery market, you’ll want to come to the Streaming Media East conference taking place at the Hilton hotel in NYC on May 20th and 21st. On Tuesday, May 20th, I’ll be presenting my latest data on CDN pricing in a presentation entitled "CDN Pricing: The Going Rate For Video Delivery". On Wednesday May 20th, we’ll also have a panel of analysts and investors on a special session entitled "Mergers and Acquisitions: Wall Street’s View".

In addition, we’ll have nearly 20 video delivery companies exhibiting and or speaking at the show including Akamai, AT&T, Abacast, BitTorrent, CDNetworks, Digital Fountain, EdgeCast, Highwinds, Ignite, Internap, Level 3, Limelight, Mirror Image, Move Networks, Panther Express, PowerStream, StreamTheWorld, VeriSign. Contact me if you want a special discount code for financial analysts.

This morning, Vusion, a company formerly known as Jittr Networks officially launched their offering to the market. While most people would compare Vusion to Move Networks, instead of using traditional CDNs like Move does, Vusion is also acting as the CDN and is doing all of the video delivery themselves. While the company is not yet willing to say how much money they raised, they have been in stealth mode for a few years and have taken at least a few million. With the launch, Vusion also announced that Island Def Jam Music Group is using the service, but it’s hard to know if this is a regular paying customer, or more of customer who is getting some free services in exchange for Vusion being able to have content to showcase at launch.

Like Move, Vusion requires users to download software and is primarily going after high-bitrate and HD quality content with what they call their "patented WARP technology". Specifically going after content owners that require high-bitrate and
HD delivery use to be something that newer CDNs in the market were
touting as being a real differentiator. But today, the space is already
quite crowded with numerous companies focusing specifically on high
bitrate delivery. Move Networks, BitGravity, Digital Fountain, Grid Networks and now Vusion all seem to be competing for the same type of customer.

I had a long conversation with the Vusion folks a few weeks back and they came off as being smart and being very focused on the market they want to go after. But that alone won’t guarantee success in today’s  climate and with the continued influx of new providers on the market, it is getting really difficult to distinguish one provider from another. Many are really trying to focus on how the quality of their video is different, but to be honest, I can’t even tell the difference most times. At some point, quality no longer becomes the deciding factor and it will come down to all of the other important elements that go into a quality service offering.