AOL has been making a hard push and pouring hundreds of millions into building out its online video operation.
On Tuesday, it created a division -- AOL Video – to unify those efforts. Or, as AOL put it, to “aggregate its vast online video library assets under one strategic umbrella, and to drive the creation, production and syndication of high-quality online video content for its millions of users.”
As part of its announcement, AOL released some video data, too:
Comparing data from comScore July 2010 to October 2010, AOL video streams increased from 192 million to 493 million, an increase of 157%. “You’ve Got…” the video series that launched on the new AOL.com on November 1, generated more than four million views in its first two weeks, and featured a diverse guest list including Kelly Ripa, Barack Obama, Good Charlotte and the Marines in Afghanistan. For comparison, that puts “You’ve Got…” on-pace with a top 10 Web series. Overall, video views on the new AOL.com are up more than 3X since launch.
“In just a few short months, you can see by the data that our commitment to video is really paying off for users and advertisers,” AOL Studios president David Eun said while announcing the new division. “We have no doubt that video is the future of content on the Web, and AOL’s goal is to be the market leader at every point on the value chain."
Ran Harnevo, co-founder of 5min Media -- the "Web’s largest video syndication platform" that AOL acquired in September -- will oversee AOL Video as senior vice president.
