Avail Media and TVN announced their merger has now closed and the new company is now called Avail-TVN. “Today, Avail-TVN becomes the largest independent provider of end-to-end content aggregation, management and distribution offerings,” said CEO Ramu Potarazu. The new company reaches 120 million consumers through more than 230 cable, telecom, DBS, and hybrid providers. The merger was first announced on May 18th.
Avail-TVN now becomes a major distributor of content to the entire multichannel video service provider community. Their closest competitor is probably Comcast Media Center. It’s an interesting combination. Avail’s roots, Broadstream and Auroras, were squarely rooted in small telcos, while TVN built its VOD empire with the largest of cable companies. The two companies are now moving forward together to represent the interests of the entire industry, regardless of their telecompetitor status.