Wowio
| Public | |
| Industry | Books, Comics |
| Founded | August 2006 |
| Founder | William Lidwell |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
|
Key people
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Brian Altounian |
| Products | E-books |
| Services | Publishing, Merchandising |
| Owner | Brian Altounian Alliance Acquisitions, LLC |
| Divisions | Wevolt TheDuckWebcomics.com @Brand Pop Galaxy |
| Website | http://www.wowio.com |
WOWIO is a publicly traded media company based in the United States. It is an online destination that provides users the ability to share and consume digital media content, such as e-comics and E-books, while providing revenue-generating opportunities for creators and publishers through advertising and merchandising programs.
WOWIO's chairman is Brian Altounian, a former Time Warner executive and board member of Platinum Studios.
WOWIO was founded in 2006 in Los Angeles by "author and entrepreneur" William Lidwell. Its original goal was to provide readers with free, downloadable E-books in exchange for embedded advertisements. Initial offerings in the WOWIO catalogue included public domain titles like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, and comic book titles like the Tenth Muse series.
In June 2008, Platinum Studios announced that it had begun talks to acquire WOWIO, hoping to make it a "major cornerstone" of "a global digital publishing distribution initiative." The companies projected that the acquisition would be concluded early in the third quarter of 2008, but issues related to WOWIO's non-payment of quarterly earnings delayed the sale.
In June 2009, WOWIO was purchased outright by Brian Altounian, formerly Platinum Studios' COO (and still a Platinum Studios board member). Altounian's company Alliance Acquisitions, LLC is a minority owner, along with a group of investors; Platinum Studios no longer has any ownership stake or percentage. Third quarter earnings for 2008, calculated on a new formula more favorable to WOWIO, were eventually paid.
In June 2010, WOWIO raised $1.7 million and purchased the online community WEvolt. WEvolt, which was created by Jason Badower (a comic artist from Australia who has illustrated and colored several Heroes graphic novels) and Matt Jacobs, enables comic book artists to create and share their work with their fans. Its online platform allows creators of comics (and eventually other media) to generate revenues by participating in ad sales and other activities such as merchandising. Users can create and submit their original material for broader distribution consideration, or they can simply use the site as an aggregator of their favorite online content.
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Wikipedia