CastTV

CastTV was a former Internet video search and aggregation company based in San Francisco, California. After the company was acquired by the Tribune Company in 2010, its popular consumer website was closed down and the core technology was used to build various enterprise data products, including Online Video Data, which powers the universal video search for Google, Roku, TiVo, and other online video providers.

CastTV
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Video search engine
Founded2006
Headquarters
San Francisco, CA
,
US
Founder(s)Edwin Ong & Alex Vikati
URLwww.casttv.com
Current statusAcquired

CastTV was founded in 2006 by Edwin Ong and Alex Vikati.[1] Services included a video search engine and the licensing of video search technology to media companies.

CastTV's search index incorporated both popular and longtail content, including TV shows,[2] movies, celebrity, news, sports and viral videos.[3] The company filtered out expired videos, duplicate videos, and video spam.[4]

History
  • Early 2006: CastTV is founded by husband and wife entrepreneurs, Edwin Ong and Alex Vikati.
  • December 2006: CastTV secures its first customer: Gemstar - TV Guide.[5]
  • April 2007: CastTV raises a $3.1M Series A from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and additional funding from investors including Ron Conway and Marc Andreessen. Advisors include Rajeev Motwani and Timothy Chou.[6]
  • 2008: CastTV launched consumer beta.[7]
  • December 2010: Acquired by Tribune Company.[8]
  • 2011: Tribune launched Online Video Data product powered by CastTV technology.[9]

References
  1. About CastTV, by CastTV Inc., retrieved on June 3, 2008.
  2. The Best Guides to Watching TV Online, by Liz Gannes, NewTeeVee, September 25, 2009.
  3. Beyond YouTube: New Ways to Find Video on the Web, by Joseph De Avila, The Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2008.
  4. New companies launch: Yap, Cognitive Code, Viewdle, Faroo & more, by Chris Morrison, VentureBeat, June 3, 2007.
  5. Gemstar-TV Guide Licenses Online-Search Technology Archived 2008-09-17 at the Wayback Machine, by Todd Spangler, Multichannel News, June 21, 2007.
  6. CastTV Raises $3.1 Million, Battles Google And AOL In Video Search, by Mike Arrington, TechCrunch, April 24, 2007.
  7. Catch Your Favorite Shows and Viral Videos at CastTV, by Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker, January 14, 2009.
  8. Tribune Media Buys Video Search Engine CastTV, by Leena Rao, TechCrunch, December 16, 2010.
  9. Tribune Media Services Launches New Metadata Products for Entertainment Guide Providers
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