This Six-Pack Is Finished: Anheuser-Busch (Finally) Kills Bud.tv
This story was written by David Kaplan.
Anheuser-Busch's broadband humor site Bud.tv has been dying for so long, most of the people who had high hopes for the site early on probably thought it was already in the recycling bin. But until tonight, the site had lingered on, as A-B's VP-marketing Keith Levy told AdAge Bud.tv was "sunsetting." Users going to the site now see only a snowy TV screen saying Bud.tv is no longer available. Instead they are asked to check out Budweiser.com or BudLight.com.
Bud.tv: RIP (2007-2009): Bud.tv was born in 2007, just after the Super Bowl that year, offering a mix of unbranded, original content, from reality to humor. A-B execs hoped it would draw about 2 million monthly uniques. Complaints that led to a set of restrictions designed to prevent under-age viewers from entering Bud.tv, ended up driving most potential users away. And so, Bud.tv's traffic nose-dived about 40 percent in its second month to just 153,000 uniques. Nevertheless, Bud.tv limped along the next two years. It's fate was probably sealed in December, when Tony Ponturo, one of the driving forces behind the $15 million effort, retired from the brewer as VP-Global Media & Sports Marketing.
From Bud.tv's ashes: Adidas.tv tries to avoid pitfalls: The death of Bud.tv follows the demise of another high-profile experiment in using broadband to integrate advertising and entertainment, Publicis Groupe's HoneyShed. But that's not stopping others from continuing to try to find the right formula. Following a private beta launch earlier this week, Adidas.tv will make its debut any day now, Adweek says. The athletic shoes site boasts a library of 75 videos is promising hundreds more to come. But there are some differences with the other sites that have come before. Adidas' videos will focus on individual sports and feature a mix of original content produced by the company and videos from YouTube. It will also rely heavily on syndication and will incorporate photos users upload on Flickr. And to make sure it gets the word out, Adidas.tv will post updates via Twitter.
By David Kaplan