DivX Acquires Over-the-Top-TV Company, AnySource Media

DivX, a provider of video encoding technology, announced Tuesday that it has acquired AnySource Media, a company that has developed an over-the-top-TV solution, called the Connected HDTV Platform, which it says will be embedded in certain new HDTV sets later this year (note: the company has not yet announced any partnerships with TV manufacturers), and will allow users to connect their TV sets directly to a range of content and services on the Internet, enabling what it terms "virtual on-demand channels." The acquisition sees DivX paying $7.5 million in cash at closing, as well as additional cash payments of up to $7.5 million, payable over three years upon the achievement of various technical, revenue and distribution milestones. "Internet TV will transform the landscape for media distribution and advertising as we know it," DivX CEO, Kevin Hell, said in a prepared statement. "The AnySource streaming platform combined with our high-quality device certification program and our deep relationships with both consumer electronics companies and Hollywood studios, puts us in an enviable position in this rapidly emerging market. We look forward to bringing these two great teams together to realize our open, consumer-focused vision for digital media as it moves to a connected world."

AnySource claims that its software platform can support ecommerce transactions and enables rapid navigation and playback of virtual on-demand channels via HDTV's, Blu-ray disc players and other CE devices including mobile phones. The company bills its flagship Internet Video Navigator technology as enabling broadband video on a living-room TV set and as providing easy access to Internet-based videos, music, photos, games and data content at the touch of a remote control button. "AnySource is a solid strategic complement to DivX," AnySource co-founder and CEO, Mike Harris (who has joined the DivX management team and now reports to Kevin Hell), said in a prepared statement. "We are very excited to join DivX to redefine the TV viewing experience for millions of consumers, leveraging DivX's technology and vast ecosystem which now includes more than 200 million DivX devices shipped into the market." Added DivX CFO, Dan Halvorson: "The acquisition of AnySource's technology platform and the addition of their talented team advance our development schedule by at least one year. For the remainder of 2009, the acquisition will increase our headcount and integration costs by approximately $1.3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, net of taxes."

In other over-the-top news:

• As it had previously announced it would do (see the article published on itvt.com, July 30th), LG Electronics has begun offering Vudu's service on its LH50 1080p LCD series and PS80 Plasma 1080p series TV sets with "NetCast Entertainment Access" (note: the latter service also provides over-the-top access to such services as Netflix, Yahoo! Widgets and YouTube). More information is available here.
• Sony on Wednesday announced the European launch of Bravia TV's, Blu-ray disc players and Blu-ray home cinema systems with a feature called Bravia Internet Video. According to the company, the feature will deliver full-length programs over-the-top, thanks to agreements with ARD in Germany; M6 in France; Mediaset in Italy; RTVE, Antena3 and LaSexta in Spain; and Five in the UK. It will also provide a range of content from sites such as YouTube and Daily Motion. Sony's press release announcing the new feature is available here. Coverage from the UK newspaper, The Guardian, is available here.