Updated: That was a short-lived exclusive: MTVN has issued a release about this, and says pretty much the same things as below. Company “plans to leverage SPIKE TV’s brand and on-air promotion power to elevate iFILM in the Web video landscape. In turn, spiketv.com will draw on the iFILM platform to stake out a position as the go-to viral video site for guys. The combined traffic of iFILM and spiketv.com will immediately give the site millions of impressions to sell under the SPIKE brand.” High hopes, surely.
iFilm, the online video site bought out by Viacom in 2005, is being folded into SpikeTV.com, paidContent.org has learned. The announcement will possibly go out later today. iFilm CEO is leaving his current position, but it is yet unclear whether he will leave Viacom, though that seems likely.
Also a bit unclear: whether iFilm brand will remain. Spike has a young male demo, and a substantial audience. and Viacom/MTVN wants to marry that SpikeTV.com, a site with not much audience but similar demo. The site/service will report into Erik Flannigan, SVP-Digital Media, MTVN Entertainment Group.
Viacom/MTV bought iFilm in October 2005 for $49 million. The site has gone through a redesign, added video sharing elements, and had a VH1 TV show spinoff (WebJunk 20), though competition for audience from the likes of YouTube and arguably neglect from MTVN side hasn’t helped the site much.