It’s been a while since my last .TV Spotlight post and while this section started out as a weekly column and has been sporadic lately, my goal is to publish a .TV Spotlight post on a monthly basis moving forward.
So much happening in the .TV space in the last few weeks. The first thing I want to focus on is the results of the most recent Sedo Great Domains auction where a handful of top .TV names were up for auction. I watched the tail end and noticed the following names ended with bids that did not meet the reserves. Stream.tv $35k, Digital.tv $32k, Cable.tv $17k, FR.tv and IL.tv $9,999. I feel that Stream, Digital and Cable .TV’s are among the top .TV names in existence and I was not surprised they did not sell this in this price range. That being said, I just found out that Cable.tv is now back at Sedo auction with a bid meeting the reserve of $20,000. I wish the seller the best of luck and hope to see some more serious bidders step into the ring on this name.
Watch.tv, the site that Verisign uses to promote .TV domains has recently announced on its blog a contest asking supporters of .TV to make a commercial. From Watch.tv:
Starting September 13th we want you to upload your own commercial (between 30 and 60 seconds) to Facebook.com/WatchDotTV that tells everyone why you should Get Seen on.tv! The winning entry may also be used as part of an upcoming .tv online campaign. We’re looking for videos that are fun, original, creative…and family-friendly!
The top prize is $10,000 and the top two runners up get some pretty slick camera/camcorders. You can add your entry and check out other entries at the Watch.tv contest Facebook page. This is a pretty cool idea and I hope it will be effective in helping to raise awareness about .TV.
A few notable recent sales worth mentioning. Karate.tv chopped out $4k, Ferien.tv (means holiday in German) went for €7k and Alzheimers.tv sold for $1,750. As always, you can head over to AllThings.tv a forum dedicated to only .TV domain names to check many more recent sales and catch up on other .TV related news, etc. Another good source for information as well as .TV brokerage is DomainSales.tv, a site run by .TV investor, Vito aka ‘TheDotStop’.
Some sad news about a well known domainer and .TV visionary came out over the weekend, James Barclay has passed away. Apparently he suffered from a rare lung disease which ultimately took his life. I did not personally know James but I took a lot from his postings at NamePros while first mulling over the idea of investing in .TV (his handle MillersCrossing). I am saddened to hear this news and I know many in the domainer community are shaken up as well. RIP James Barclay.
I’m going to round this post out by going back to the results of the Sedo Great Domains auction and the current auction for Cable.TV. First off, let me say that I am not hugely invested in .TV and my top .TV sale is only in the $x,xxx range but I was surprised to find in a discussion at NamePros that .TV investors who hold much more premium names than myself were baffled that the names Stream, Digital and Cable .TV’s reserves were higher than the bids placed and even mentioned they would take the money and run at those prices (all under $35k/ea). That got me thinking, why would .TV investors want to see these caliber names sell for so low? Yes, I say LOW. Look at other .TV sales over the last two years in the $15k – $35k price range (furniture.tv, christmas.tv, metal.tv, job.tv, stocks.tv to name few). IMHO names like stream.tv, digital.tv and cable.tv can command pricing well into the six figures if held onto tightly. I guess I am just surprised that even serious .TV investors feel there is a ceiling on names like these. I think that’s a bit crazy especially considering the continuing growth and adoption of .TV in mainstream media.
Good post Mike. I think if someone is going to layout six figures for any of these three domains, a sensible business plan needs to be established.
How do you monetize Stream.tv, you have tremendous competition in Ustream.tv who knew the domain Stream.tv was available for registration when they started. They avoided the big fee and went with Ustream.
I think there are just too many alternatives that can be used to avoid paying xxx,xxx for any of these domains. $25,000 to $50,000 seems to be the spot for me, for these three names.
Thanks Ray. You bring up very good points. I guess my gut tells me that .TV investors will be a large benefactor of the new gTLD movement in the coming years, combine that with more and more mainstream media embracing the extension it’s hard for me to accept that these names should sell for less than six figures.
Another interesting tidbit to add. America.tv which was recently dropped because of its $10k/year renewal was just picked up at the repriced premium of $9k. It is now a standard registration rate domain. More info including response from the buyer: http://tiny.cc/88qes
Hey Mike,
.TV is on a terror right now. Its a very exciting time to be involved in this extension
I really dont deserve the mention and link but thank you very much.
Keep up the great work!
Vito