Humor conglomerate National Lampoon Inc. (AMEX: NLN) announced the formation of a new broadband video network today, edging their stock slightly up. This network – which will be named, predictably enough, the National Lampoon Video Network – will premier with a number of other Internet-based video content providers.”The news of these partnerships will significantly increase National Lampoon’s reach on the Web, providing the National Lampoon brand of sophomoric college comedy to more people in more places than ever before,” the release stated.
In addition, the company stated that the new network will provide National Lampoon advertisers with more platforms to reach its audience. Among these platforms include Internet juggernaut YouTube and other companies such as GoFish, Veoh, Joost, Lycos and BiggyTV.
There’s very little need to explain what National Lampoon does. The company started as a humor magazine back in the 1970s as an offshoot of the Harvard Lampoon, and was considered one of the most popular humor publications of its time. The magazine was so popular it started the careers of a number of humor writers, and birthed numerous movies still famous today, such as Animal House and National Lampoon’s Vacation. Although the magazine officially stopped publishing in 1998, the minds behind the publication have continued to produce humorous content, including weekly television broadcasts of the National Lampoon Network to colleges across the nation.
National Lampoon CEO Daniel Laikin was pleased with the news, saying he saw the new network as the next step in National Lampoon’s growth into the expanding broadband-based video industry.
“Formation of the National Lampoon Video Network reinforces our commitment to the marketplace, to original comedy content, and to our young adult audience,” Laikin said. “Our ability to come out of the gate with such a prestigious, broad-based group of distribution partners also reflects a clear acknowledgement that we, our brand, and our content are highly valuable and relevant today.
“We are thrilled to be making these partnerships in the online entertainment world and feel they underpin our commitment to embracing the changes facing the entertainment business today,” Laikin continued. “By combining these networks with our other ventures, including National Lampoon on AOL, our Brightcove partnership, and our independent broadband channel, TogaTV, gives us a strong presence as this marketplace grows. With these new partnerships we look forward to offering our audience and advertisers a great deal more.”
Investor response to the news was muted at best; the price per stock share of National Lampoon stock edged up a mere 3 percent, or 7 cents to $2.00 by Thursday afternoon.
Attempts to contact National Lampoon management and media contacts went unanswered.
