Hybrid Domainer

Hexonet now offering premium .tv back orders and drop catching

By: RH

Hexonet getting into the Premium .tv backorder arena.

In July of 2011 we wrote an article that explained what was going on with .tv with regard to back ordering premium .tv names. The article I got your back, I mean backorder explained that a few people had scooped up all the back orders using Name.com. Name.com has been the only company to offer drop catching for premium .tv domains. So if you owned a legacy premium and were paying $1000 a year, the strategy if you wanted to keep the domain would be to let it drop and pay a one time fee. After that if would be regular renewal pricing. Well a few people went in and got all the backorders, so the legacy owner would have to pay them, or keep paying the premium pricing.

Name.com does not allow for multiple backorders, so only one person controls the backorder.  In the 2011 article I wrote how,

What came of this was back ordering roulette.  Others started back ordering at Name.com who has been the number one registrar for .tv back ordering and drops.  So now someone paying $1000 a year for a name was looking to secure the back order for $49.99 at Name.com.

When they got there, the name was already back ordered.  So this put the registrant in an interesting position, abandon the name, seek out the back order holder, or renew for $1000.

Jim Holleran a long time .tv investor posted a thread on Namepros offering $200 to the holder of the back order for georgia.tv.  No one contacted him so he paid the $500 and kept the name.

Dr. Chris Hartnett in an exclusive interview at Allthings.tv talked about how he dropped a bunch of premium names he wanted to keep but could not justify the premium renewal.  Michael Berkens picked up a bunch of the domains up on the drop.

I asked another premium holder what he was doing ? " Renewing them all, fuck these vultures, fuck every single one of them."

Well now the game is changing. Hexonet caught some premium names lately including Sanfrancisco.tv and Hamburg.tv. I contacted them and they explained they are now approved for premium .tv sales but the process is not yet automated. Robbie Birkner explained to me they hope to have that process completed by the end of the year.

For now it will work like this:

Unfortunately we do not offer .TV Premium Domain Backorders in an automated fashion yet.  This is planned for the first quarter of 2013.  In the event you are interested in any .TV Premium Domain Backorders, then the temporary procedure is as follows:

a.) Whenever you are interested in a premium .TV domain, kindly send the domain to rbirkner@hexonet.net and CC jwagner@hexonet.net

b.) Once received we will confirm the VeriSign Premium Price to you + 20%. If you agree, then we will place the domain in our backorder script and hope for the best.

c.) If the domain is registered successfully, then you have 4 days to provide payment otherwise the domain will be deleted again.

d.) If there a multiple backorders for the same .TV Premium Domain, then the domain will enter a private auction via premiumsale.com.

Robbie explained that for now you only want to place your interest on names close to expiring, without the system being automated they will not take a backorder for a name expiring next year. Right now you will not have to deposit any money, just email him your interest in a name, if they win it you have 4 days to pay, if more than one person has interest it goes to auction the way it should.

Competition is certainly good imo and its nice to see Hexonet providing some in the .tv space. I can say there are other registrars currently looking to jump in as well.

Fabulous to offer .tv domains

By: RH

The Australian based domain registrar Fabulous is now offering .tv domains.

Announced today,

Fabulous who uses tier pricing from 1 to 7 will be offering .tv domains from as low as $21.99.

Tier	# of domains	.com	.net	.org	.info	.tv
Tier 7	0 to 100	$9.99	$7.99	$9.49	$9.49	$24.99
Tier 6	101 to 250	$9.09	$7.29	$8.59	$8.79	$24.49
Tier 5	251 to 500	$8.99	$7.19	$8.49	$8.69	$23.99
Tier 4	501 to 1000	$8.89	$7.09	$8.39	$8.59	$23.49
Tier 3	1001 to 2500	$8.79	$6.99	$8.29	$8.49	$22.99
Tier 2	2501 to 5,000	$8.69	$6.89	$8.19	$8.39	$22.49
Tier 1	> 5,000	$8.49	$6.69	$7.99	$8.19	$21.99

Dot Tv wraps up one of its best months ever in the aftermarket

By: RH

April was certainly a good month for the .tv extension. Earlier in the year Verisign extended its contract with the Island nation of Tuvalu, and that may or may not have given more comfort to those investing in the extension. Whether the contract extension helped or not, there were many five figures in the extension for the month of April.

April  started out with Ammar from Allthings.tv selling Jeu.tv (Game in French) for $50,000. A little history behind Jeu.tv as its an exercise in investing for the long haul vs selling early.

The name was first secured in 2006 during the great 70 % off sale. Verisign held a promotion that not everyone knew about, that provided 70 % off upfront and 50 % off renewal.

Here is the thread where the initial registrant mentioned Jeu.tv.

The name was secured for $225 and the name got traffic, 10 to 15 uniques a day. At the end of January 2008 the domain sold for $4500. The person who bought the name let it drop in 2010. Ammar regged the domain, paying a one time premium fee with non premium renewal fee after that. He was able to tell that registration into $50,000.

Igal Lichtman/MrsJello, kept things moving after his $25,000 sale in March of Kids.tv to ES.tv. He sold a three domain package of Film.tv, Filme.TV and Filmy.tv for $65,000. All three names were registered in 2000.

Jim Holleran sold Medico.tv (Doctor in Spanish) for $10,000 and EyeCare.tv for $10,000.

Telepathy Inc. sold Doctor.tv for $25,000.

Donnied79 from Allthings.tv sold Salute.tv for $9500.

Jeff Overman who has become a star in the .tv market, sold ENG.tv and INT.tv for $3500 total.

Ronnie McKenna a long time Scottish .tv investor sold Drugs.tv for $5000.

Machinery.tv sold for $1250

Hail.tv for $2000

TwoJa.tv a polish name sold by Nick from TwoMoon.com sold for 850 Euros.

Euronews.tv sold for $1000

Cairns.tv an Austalian Geo sold for $1334 on NameJet.

Sing.tv sold at Allthings.tv for $1350.

Ken from DomainNameLife sold SquareMeal.tv for $1500.

There were no special auctions like the Verisign/Sedo auction of a couple years ago. So from a pure aftermarket sales standpoint,this makes April 2012 one of the best months ever.

Congrats to everyone.

GeoChannel .tv domains getting regged in bulk

By: RH

Another big play in Geo Channel.TV ?

It looks like Joel Williams picked up 43 Geo Channel .tv domains that all dropped on 3/28/12.

Geo Channel.tv have had their popularity off and on from .tv investors, alot of these names are being registered for the third time.

In the US many cable stations use the Channel suffix in their name. History Channel, Travel Channel and Weather Channel are just a few.

There have not been any public GeoChannel.tv sales of any significance. The only channel .tv that made the charts was BusinessChannel.tv for $10,000 by a broadcasting company in Turkey years ago. They later dropped the name.

amsterdamchannel.tv
aspenchannel.tv
clevelandchannel.tv
columbuschannel.tv
dfwchannel.tv (Dallas Fort Worth)
FortWorthChannel.tv
JacksonvilleChannel.tv
NewOrleansChannel.tv
OrlandoChannel.tv
RioChannel.tv
SanDiegoChannel.tv
SanJoseChannel.tv
TampaChannel.tv
AustinChannel.tv
BaltimoreChannel.tv
BostonChannel.tv
DallasChannel.tv
DetroitChannel.tv
MyrtleBeachChannel.tv
NewYorkCityChannel.tv
PhillyChannel.tv
SaltLakeCityChannel.tv
ScottsdaleChannel.tv
WashingtonDCChannel.tv
ACChannel.tv
DenverChannel.tv
HamptonsChannel.tv
NycChannel.tv
NyChannel.tv
PhiladelphiaChannel.tv
PhoenixChannel.tv
SacramentoChannel.tv
SanAntonioChannel.tv
TourismChannel.tv
WashingtonChannel.tv
AtlantaChannel.tv
AtlanticCityChannel.tv
CincinnatiChannel.tv
HoustonChannel.tv
PalmSpringsChannel.tv
SavannahChannel.tv
StLouisChannel.tv
StartupChannel.tv

For whatever reason BoulderChannel.tv was the only Geo that day that was not regged so if you like this niche its available. SDChannel for San Diego dropped also and is available. Non geo AuctionChannel.tv is available.

Coming up in the next few days on the drop is RacingChannel.tv,GourmetChannel.tv and CharlestonChannel.tv.

Kids.tv sold for $25,000

By: RH

We spoke to Igal Lichtman today, known by many in the domain world as Mrs. Jello. He verified to us that the domain Kids.tv has been sold to Byron Allen's company. Entertainment Studios.

About Entertainment Studios

Entertainment Studios, Inc.
Our Television Networks division, Entertainment Studios Networks owns Six (6) 24-Hour HD Networks – CARS.TV, PETS.TV, RECIPE.TV, COMEDY.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV and ES.TV. The Television division produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 18 television programs, making it the largest independent producer/distributor of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. Entertainment Studios provides video content to broadcast television stations, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners. The home entertainment division, Entertainment Studios Home Entertainment (ESHE), is becoming one of the premier independent suppliers of DVD, CD and umd™ products. With a library of over 4,000 hours of owned content and a growing array of licensed titles, ESHE markets and distributes a collection of films, television programs, concerts, fitness, and children’s direct-to-video programming. Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded the company in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Raleigh.

The domain sold for $25,000.  This is a great purchase for ES.tv in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how Kids.tv comes along as 4kids.tv has been a popular site for years.  Congrats to Igal and best of luck with the purchase to ES.tv.

It was a nice week for .tv and tv.com names

This week was one of the best weeks for the .tv extension and its cousin TV.com for all of 2011.

Talk.tv sold for $40,000

MM.tv sold for $6000

Welt.tv sold for 3400 Euros

OX.tv sold for $1800

Bobo.tv sold for $1500

XQ.tv sold for $795

Along with the .tv sales, Marstv.com sold for $3998 and DangerTv.com sold for $3000 and rounding out the tv.com sales was Yeahtv.com for $2000.

Domaining is not just for domainers

Over the years on forums and blogs there seems to be a disconnect. Domainers seem to be upset or not understand that everyone is looking to make money.

Parking companies, Registrars,Registries,Secondary exchanges and on and on. It seems selling domains is honorable and everyone else is shady, a scam or a rip off.

A lot of domainers will tell you that the new tld program is a money grab.  What is the name for their domains for sale ? I mean no one needed you to register them, by that logic you regging a bunch of domains is just a money grab.  Its not a money grab on any side, its just business. Hopefully its done legit and everyone can make some money.

There also is some hierarchy, domainers have always felt they were at the top of that chain. Afterall they were the ones with the genius to register these bits of data.

So when domainers look at extensions where they cannot make money, the extension sucks. Well maybe for the domainer but not for the registry or registrars. Both imo are higher up on the ladder.

I have been involved with .tv for a long time. It amazes me that some in 2011 are still talking about 2004 issues.

There still exists premium pricing and some legacy .tv for renewal.  Verisign does not care what the domainer thinks.  First .tv is a small part of Verisign. Second they are happy with their way.

Owning a registry is being the king of the extension, and its good to be the king.

Verisign does not care, you can only get a company to do something if you hold some leverage. You don't like legacy premiums ? Ok, drop them, Verisign actually would like that you did. You have no leverage. 

This is my opinion of how a call to Verisign would go:

Legacy Owner: "Hello is this Verisign ?
Verisign: Yes
Legacy Owner : I don't like premium renewal, you better change it or else
Verisign : Or else what ?
Legacy Owner: I will drop the name
Verisign : Great, because all those other domainers you think are on your team (hahahah you sad deluded fool) They are fighting to be first for the back order. So you drop it and have a good day.
Legacy Owner: ehhh, I mean,ehhh, wait, what ?
Verisign: Thank you for calling Verisign

As the industry matures domainers will have to work harder and smarter. Frank Schilling did not like what was going on with parking.  For the moment Internet Traffic looks to be a game changer for big domainers with traffic domains.

More people are going to come into this industry looking to make money. They may not always be asking domainers for their opinion, so domainers need to hedge their bets and stay on top of their portfolio.

Verisign and .tv want to give you a chance to win $10,000

From the Watch.tv Blog today comes info on this $10,000 Contest:

As anyone who follows us across all of the social sites knows, we love video here at .tv. In fact, not only do we love video, but we also love all of our fans and followers who are making great online video. So, when we started talking about new ways of telling the .tv story, it seemed really obvious – let YOU do it!

We know that all of you watch commercials and online video spots and think, “I can do WAY better than that!” Well, we here at .tv we want you to show us what you’ve got and enter for a chance to win $10,000! Starting September 13^th we want you to upload your own commercial (between 30 and 60 seconds) to Facebook.com/WatchDotTV that tells everyone why you should Get Seen on.tv! The winning entry may also be used as part of an upcoming .tv online campaign. We’re looking for videos that are fun, original, creative…and family-friendly!

We’ also have some great prizes!

The Grand Prize: $10,000 (and the winning entry may also be used as part of an upcoming .tv online campaign!)

First Prize: A Canon 7D with 28mm-135mm lens (Estimated retail value $2,200)

Second Prize: A Panasonic GH2 with a 14mm – 140mm lens (Estimated retail value $1,500)

See our Official Rules here:

All Entries will be judged by a panel consisting of online video experts (we’ll announce them in a couple of weeks) and representatives from Verisign, Inc., who will pick the Top 10 Entries. Starting November 3^rd, we’ll post the Top Ten Entries on the Facebook.com/WatchDotTV page for public voting.

Voting will end November 13^th at 11:59:59 PST and we’ll announce our Grand, First and Second Prize winners on or about December 1, 2011.

For full details on how to enter and the Official Rules, visit Facebook.com/WatchDotTV.

Are you ready to take your shot? Show us why you should Get Seen on.tv!

Good luck and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Make a .tv Commercial Contest starts on September 13, 2011 at 12:00:00 AM ET and ends on October 23, 2011 at 11:59:59 PM ET.  Open only to legal residents of the 50 US/DC (excluding Puerto Rico), 18 years or older at the time of entry. Grand Prize is a $10,000 check payable to the winner.  First Prize is a Canon 7D Camera with 28mm – 135 mm lens valued at $2,200.00. Second Prize is a Panasonic GH2 Camera with 14mm – 140mm lens valued at $1,500.00.   Click on Official Rules for details on entry instructions, and restrictions. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: VeriSign, Inc, 21345 Ridgetop Circle, Dulles, VA  20166. Subject to full Official Rules.

© 2011 VeriSign, Inc. All rights are reserved.

P.tv does not sell at Great domains auction

P.tv was on auction at Sedo and only received a high bid of $15,500 and did not sell. The domain was registered on 3/18/2010 during the glitch that allowed many premium names to be regged for no premium. The registrant of P.tv got lucky with D.tv the same day he regged P.tv. Michael Berkens of World Wide Media, purchased D.tv for $18,000. Berkens wrote that he turned down $125,000 for the name saying he believed it was worth $500,000

The 1 letter space in .tv is dominated by its two most prolific investors. Thunayan Khalid Al-Ghanim and his FMA corp own several 1 letter .tv. We spoke with him last month

Igal Lichtman who registers names under CyberTavern and Mrs Jello, owns several including A.tv. We spoke with him last month too

Surprised the name did not get offers at least as high as $20,000.

Someone call Seth MacFarlane as Family Guy once aired an episode called PTV, enjoy.

 

I got your back, I mean your backorder

Showing again how when you run a registry with no consistentcy, several other things pop up that are ridiculous.

In March of 2010, .TV changed their game.  They did away with premium renewals.  The thing that made the extension get called out in a negative light, looked like it had been fixed.  But while people started to get pumped up about a non premium renewal, there was more to the story.

The non premium renewal was only for names regged March 18,2010 and going forward.  So if you owned a name where you were paying a premium renewal, you had to keep paying or drop the name, and then hope to catch it for a one time payment and then non premium renewal. 

What came of this was back ordering roulette.  Others started back ordering at Name.com who has been the number one registrar for .tv back ordering and drops.  So now someone paying $1000 a year for a name was looking to secure the back order for $49.99 at Name.com.

When they got there, the name was already back ordered.  So this put the registrant in an interesting position, abandon the name, seek out the back order holder, or renew for $1000.

Jim Holleran a long time .tv investor posted a thread on Namepros offering $200 to the holder of the back order for georgia.tv.  No one contacted him so he paid the $500 and kept the name.

Dr. Chris Hartnett in an exclusive interview at Allthings.tv talked about how he dropped a bunch of premium names he wanted to keep but could not justify the premium renewal.  Michael Berkens picked up a bunch of the domains up on the drop.

I asked another premium holder what he was doing ? " Renewing them all, fuck these vultures, fuck every single one of them."

Successful .tv investor James Black said to me that he wished everyone had of worked together to secure each back order with the owner.  He did help some on his own to get their name and pointed them out to many more .tv holders.

Its a shame .Co got Lori Anne Wardi and not the .tv relaunch. I have no doubt she would have had .tv running a lot more smoothly.

Let's hope with the new gtlds there is none of this nonsense.