Revision3, the online-video production company started by Digg executives Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson, is the latest company to go through a round of layoffs. A source close to Revision3 tells us that nine people have been let go, plus a tenth who will be retained as a freelancer. Before the layoffs, Revision3 had approximately 35 employees.
Not surprisingly, news of the layoffs is all over Twitter: the first report of it appears to have come from Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron. He said he had received an e-mail from Damon Berger, senior director of creative and business development at Revision3, who said he was one of those laid off.
Blog guru Leo Laporte twittered about the layoffs several minutes later.
Revision3 posted an explanation to its blog later on Monday morning: the shows Pixel Perfect, Pop Siren, and Internet Superstar have been discontinued. The post did not say anything about how many layoffs there have been, though.
The start-up has also dropped its licensing deal with popular Web shows Epic Fu and Wine Library.
"About a week ago Revision3 let us know that despite a year of record revenue and viewership, they are feeling the effects of the economic crunch and need to make some urgent and tough decisions," a post on Epic Fu's production company's blog read. "As of the end of 2008, Revision3 will no longer be the Web licensing partner for Epic Fu, and we'll be leaving their network of shows. We wish Revision3 luck in the coming months and remain a fan and supporter of their shows."
In light of the economic downturn and the end of its Revision3 contract, Epic Fu production company Smashface has opted to make some layoffs as well, letting three employees go.
The San Francisco-based Revision3 has enjoyed most of its popularity among the Twitter-friendly geek set, signing deals with blogger personalities like wine critic Gary Vaynerchuk and former CNETer Veronica Belmont.
Lifestyle programming director Sarah Lane, a Revision3 mainstay, wrote on her blog on Monday afternoon that she had been laid off as well.
UPDATE: We have heard from a source close to Revision3 that in addition to Lane and Berger, Revision3 has laid off director of comedy programming and Internet Superstar host Martin Sargent and six others. Diggnation producer Glenn McElhose has been laid off as well, but will remain at Revision3 as a freelancer.
Last updated at 3:04 p.m. PDT.
Last year VideoClix.TV demoed an early version of its creepy, yet intelligent video advertising technology in an episode of Revision3's Diggnation, the popular podcast starring Digg.com's Kevin Rose and co-host Alex Albrecht. The technology, which inserts clickable advertising in every element of the video, gives users a way to be linked up to online retailers for any product or service that's seen in videos. It also lets users click on things not for sale to see any related information from elsewhere on the Web--a handy service that's usually ended up with horribly annoying results when applied to text ads (see IntelliTXT).
Today the company announced it will be put into use in all of Revision3's programming--starting with the latest episode of Diggnation filmed last week in Amsterdam. Other Revision3 shows will follow, including Tekzilla, The Totally Rad Show, and Internet Superstar. In its first version, users were required to download the video and play it back in Apple's QuickTime player to get the technology to work. However, in the latest model, the self-contained Flash player now includes small overlays that pop-up from the right side of the player and link off-site. There's also an entire list of embedded objects users can browse. Clicking any of them will skip ahead to the part of the show.
What the technology brings to the table is an alternative to the pre, post, and video overlay models of advertising usually seen in Web video. Services such as Asterpix have been moving toward such a model, linking to information or reference sites over advertising alone. Personally I find it much more useful and fun to use than current iterations of overlay ads, although I'm sure video purists will be turned off by how much product placement can be intentionally packed into videos without them even realizing it.
You can test out the new technology with the latest episode of Diggnation here. You can also check out the earlier iteration of the technology from a show filmed in 2007.
VideoClix.TV ads show up as small overlays on the side of the video. Seen here is clicking on Alex Albrecht's red laptop, which links up to the product page on Best Buy. Creeped out yet?
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Today Revision3 rolled out a new show called XLR8R TV (pronounced like "accelerator"), which is being pitched as a local music and event show for indie folks. Think of it as something you'd see on MTV, but local and without extravagant parties for high schoolers.
XLR8R TV will air twice a month and feature music artists from New York and San Francisco. It's a formula show with reoccurring segments about musicians, their fans, and how they make their music. What interests me is a segment called "A Day in the Life" which follows around an artist throughout the day. MTV had something similar with Diary, but the Internet can provide a level of realism the FCC might have censored.
We've never covered Revision3 before. For free media content, there's been a lot of buzz about Joost and Babelgum as of late, but Revision3 has been pushing out tons of original content to the masses without the need for a TV, a portable device, or a software install. Other notable programming includes the flagship official Digg podcast, Diggnation, and the irreverent cooking show CTRL+ALT+Chicken.
You can read more on XLR8R TV here.
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