Verizon Wireless is making a move into the video on the mobile phone space, and doing it right. Today they announced a deal with my good friend (and former client) Peter Csathy’s new darling, Sorenson Media. The deal is all around Spark, the key element that makes video on Adobe Flash work.
Coming on the heels of an agreement with Avid earlier in the week, it’s clear that Csathy, who orchestrated the sale of SightSpeed to Logitech at a time when startups were not being bought late last year, clearly hasn’t lost his dealmaking touch.
What I like about this arrangement with Verizon is really simple. They have been pushing data plans on phones very heavily, and nothing is more user friendly and fun, that can deliver faster user uptake of those plans than video on mobile devices. With all the YouTube videos playable via Flash, that makes Spark an essential part of every played video file viewing experience.
I’d say everyone else just got squeezed out of Verizon and for Sorenson Media, Csathy has provided just the “spark” they needed.