MTV wanted its own YouTube, and Viacom has obliged, continuing its thrust into the digital realm; it plans to acquire Atom Entertainment in a bid to expand its online video and game holdings.
Viacom's MTV Networks will acquire Atom for $200 million, bringing under its aegis several popular online video and gaming destinations, including Atom Films, AddictingClips, Shockwave.com and AddictingGames, ClickZ reports. The sale is expected to close this quarter. Atom Films was a dominant source of online video and film before the meteoric rise of consumer-generated content and video-sharing sites like YouTube and MySpace. MTV's deal with Google this week calls for the distribution of MTV video content, along with in-stream ads, to third-party sites.
Acquiring Atom Entertainment advances Viacom's multiplatform strategy of building an engaging universe of music, gaming, entertainment, news and interactivity for targeted audiences, the companies said in a statement. The acquisition is in line with Viacom's digital strategy and "adds great scale with users, improves our growing casual gaming position, and brings a world-class digital video library and a fantastic management team," Viacom CEO Tom Freston said.
Atom's videos will be made available across MTV's 24 broadband channels, writes Reuters, adding that Viacom in May acquired a builder of online game forums, Xfire, for $102 million. Atom Entertainment was formed about five years ago with the merger of Atom Films and Shockwave.com, which offered online games.
