Pseudo Bites the Dust
显然，在高负债和运营成本的重压下，Pseudo (www.pseudo.com)shut down Monday.
Pseudo's home page has the message, “感谢所有的观众和才华，让Pseudo如此特别."
该公司最近聘请CIBC Oppenheimer帮助其筹集新一轮融资, and was rumored to be looking for a buyer. Just last week, Jeanne Meyer, Sr. Pseudo的营销副总裁否认了关闭的传闻. “我不会对谣言和猜测发表评论，”她当时说. "While they're entertaining, they're not true. It's business as usual."
But on Monday, the rumors proved true, as David Bohrman, Pseudo的首席执行官向他的员工宣布，由于未能成功筹集更多资金，该网站将关闭.
Calls to Pseudo were unreturned today.
The eulogies are already coming in. “我非常难过，”sync总裁托马斯·爱德华兹(Thomas Edwards)说。www.thesync.com). “他们是该领域令人难以置信的先驱."
Pseudo's Last Ditch Efforts
Pseudo只是最近一个倒闭的内容网站. Recently, content companies like Pop.com、DEN和FasTV都因缺乏资金和投资机会而关闭. 甚至更多的内容公司(iCast, Shockwave).例如，APBNews, NBCi, LoadTV和Emusic)已经勒紧腰带并裁员.
6月下旬，Pseudo解雇了58名员工，并彻底改变了公司的模式. 计划是将十个频道合并成一个连续直播节目, thus saving money in video production. 然而，Pseudo最近的最后努力并没有被很多人接受. 尽管该公司在最近的共和党和民主党大会期间获得了大量的媒体和流量, the bump didn't last long enough.
爱德华兹说，采用互动聊天的直播形式并没有帮助吸引更多的观众. “你需要网红来实现它，”他说. 此外，世界各地的时差给观众带来了更多的不便. “对纽约有利的，对中国不利，”他说. Edwards points to one of his popular shows, Snackboy, 哪个有一个健康的档案，可以随时被访问.
爱德华兹经营他的内容网站已有多年, on a shoestring budget, with just two employees--himself and his wife.与Pseudo不同，他的节目是录制的，然后在他空闲时编辑，然后出现在网站上. 但爱德华兹承认，直播形式可能是一件好事. When TheSync.网站尝试直播JenniCam的Jenni (www.jennicam.com), traffic "went through the roof."
Where's The Competition?
With the exception of shockwave.Pseudo是最后一家仍在运营的备受瞩目的纯在线内容公司. Companies like MediaTrip, Icebox and iCast still remain, but aren't doing original content, or are focusing on web animation.
另一个低调的内容竞争对手是PlayTV，它是Play (www.play.com),which makes a web broadcasting box. PlayTV (www.playtv.com)每天有大约六场不同的现场表演, such as "Two Guys on a Couch" which features, well, 两个男人坐在沙发上，想聊什么就聊什么, "But Seriously with Brian Malow", a talk show that mixes comedy and science, and the ever popular "Kiki at Midnight,， Play的联合创始人兼传播者Kiki Stockhammer会在这里进行一场“随心所欲”的表演.
According to a source at Play, 他们计划将PlayTV作为一个新的娱乐网站进行营销, but they're now rethinking that strategy, calling the environment "a little risky".
Pseudo's History
1994年，Jupiter Communications联合创始人约书亚·哈里斯(Joshua Harris)创立了Pseudo, 而原本是打算成为会员娱乐场所的另类, young, urban culture. Early in its life, it featured just text chat, and gradually added audio, and finally video to its shows.
尽管有很多关于DEN在好莱坞挥霍无度的报道，但Pseudo似乎也出手阔绰. 早期，Pseudo在纽约市中心的工作室举办了大型派对. 据一位参加派对的人说，周五录制结束时，有很多人喝酒和抽大麻. 公司的传说是，哈里斯在刚创办公司时甚至住在工作室里.
In an attempt to become more mainstream, Pseudo聘请了电视界的资深人士来制作节目, and even got David Bohrman, a former CNN executive, to sign on as CEO.
Funding Dries Up
Just last May, Pseudo从一群投资者那里获得了1400万美元的额外资金, 包括由奢侈品集团路威酩轩(LVMH)支持的desfoses International，, Tribune Ventures, and Intel Capital.
Despite the withering of its investment, 英特尔投资“仍有兴趣对有助于互联网经济增长的公司进行战略投资," said Robert Manetta, 这家半导体巨头投资部门的发言人.
In addition, as for future investments, like the one Intel Capitalmade in Pseudo, Manetta says, “当然，我们希望看到宽带富媒体内容领域的公司发展壮大——无论这些公司是否领先于时代."
But the cash influx just wasn't enough, 直到今天早上，波尔曼还在忙着寻找买家或其他投资者.
Yankee Group的分析师史蒂夫·冯德哈尔(Steve Vondehaar)表示:“Pseudo已经没有时间了。.“他们已经存在了很长时间，只是不能再等三年让市场发展起来."
但Vondehaar并不认为Pseudo的垮台是整个行业的丧钟, “我敢保证，有一群新玩家正准备成为多媒体网络广播员, 拥有充足的资金，准备向流媒体消费领域投入资金," said Vonderhaar. “只有当我们看到其中一家公司取得成功时，我们才能说, ‘Oh, that’s what Pseudo was missing.’"