The Boulder Daily Camera

 

Booyah goes for Internet video bang

Boulder firm launches online broadcasting

 

By Evan Krasomil, For the Camera
February 16, 2006

 

"Booyah!" is defined — according to the business cards of employees of Booyah Networks — as "a statement of joy used after one performs a seemingly undoable or amazing task."

 

"One of our employees early on — a young guy, who I think watched 'SportsCenter' a lot — just said 'Booyah!' anytime something good happened," said Michael Shehan, co-founder, president, and chief executive officer of Booyah Networks. "We just thought it would be a fun, goofy name, but also mean something as well."

 

Aside from being the name of their business, "Booyah!" just might be a term that company executives will start using with regularity if the Boulder firm's foray into Internet broadcasting takes off.

 

Booyah Networks — founded by Shehan and Steve Swoboda in 2001 — is a digital marketing and technologies company that consists of three divisions: Booyah Paid Search, a network of online search traffic providers; The Booyah Agency, an online advertising agency; and The Booyah Broadcasting Group, a division specializing in the distribution and sales of broadband video content.

 

The most recently developed division is BBG, which was founded last year.

 

BBG is designed to be a one-stop service for video content owners who are looking to distribute and profit off of their content, but may not be adept in the specifics of distribution.

 

"Content owners are who we're approaching first. That's who the big user is of our system," Shehan said. "It's a platform that enables content holders and video rights holders to easily publish their content to the Internet, and to monetize it. To get distribution and syndication of that content."

 

Shehan and Swoboda say the realm of online video is growing rapidly. As more consumers turn to the Internet for video content, more content holders are looking to deliver online. Instead of turning to the more traditional method of distributing content via television networks — where Swoboda says there is more competition and much less room for growth — many content owners are finding that they can better reach their target audience via the Internet.

 

"Cable TV penetration is extended across the U.S., as much as it's going to be. It's fully built out," said Swoboda, who is the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Booyah Networks. "Whereas broadband Internet access is continuing to increase nationwide every quarter. The video — and the broadband access — go hand-in-hand."

 

The demand for broadband video content has proven to be immense in recent months. Apple Computer's iTunes store — which started selling downloadable TV shows, short films, and music videos in October — cited more than 1 million video downloads during the first 19 days.

 

Forrester Research, a technology research firm, says the number of households with broadband access will double — from 31 million to 64 million — during the next four years, with access to online video "becoming standard both at work and at home," according to a recently published report.

 

BBG is currently working on some deals with content owners, but Shehan declined to name them. He does, however, see a strong role for BBG's future in distributing niche content.

 

"I met a guy who produces films on flying. He's trying to get someone to pick them up. Well, who's going to pick them up? The pilot channel? Is there a pilot channel? Probably not," Shehan said. "But you know what? There are a lot of pilots on the Internet, and there are a lot of pilot sites. For a niche content owner — with what we can provide — it's like, 'Now you're talking. Now I can see an audience for my content.'"

 

Booyah Networks, located at 4730 Walnut St., is growing and profitable, Swoboda said. Booyah's sales increased from

 

$8 million in 2004 to $13 million last year. The business currently employs 26 people, and hopes to employ between 35 and 40 by the end of this year.

 

With the founding of BBG, and with the ever-increasing demand for broadband video content, Swoboda and Shehan say they are confident about their upcoming prospects.

 

"We're in a perfect position because we have no bureaucracy. It's all growth for us, so we're going to go after it as hard as we can. That's our advantage," Shehan said. "We're not tied to some existing business model. We don't have that problem. We just have the problem of trying to grow as fast as we possibly can."

 

Visit Booyah Broadcasting online at http://www.BooyahBroadcasting.com