Vimeo to buy into Livestream, marks first move into live video

Vimeo has agreed to acquire live video solution Livestream. The company has also rolled out its own live product to offer professional live streaming capabilities directly through its platform, marking its first move into live streaming. When the acquisition concludes, Livestream’s offering will be integrated with Vimeo’s, according to a press statement.Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed and are expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Upon closing, Livestream co-founder and CEO Mark Kornfilt will report to Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud (pictured), taking on the role of general manager of Live. Meanwhile, some clients which have worked with Livestream include Dow Jones, Philadelphia Eagles, Tough Mudder and Spotify.According to Sud live streaming was a top request from its creator community this year. The new offering will hence allow creators to capture, edit, stream, and archive live events, as well as host, distribute and monetise videos, all in one workflow which aims to be seamless.The move into live streaming will also allow Vimeo to have a more complete video solution in the market, allowing it to match up with YouTube’s live stream services, which was launched in 2011 with YouTube Live.“With the launch of Vimeo Live and the addition of Livestream’s impressive team and innovative product suite, we can empower a diverse range of creators to produce beautiful live experiences with professionalism and ease,” Sud added.“Together, we will be able to go faster and further in making live video a truly ubiquitous form of communication for businesses and organisations,” Mark Kornfilt, Livestream co-founder and CEO, added.Creators using Vimeo Live will be able to see who is attending their event by enabling email capture in the player, turn on live chat, and view live and archived stats to track performance. The addition of Livestream's syndication tools will also allow live distribution across social platforms in the future, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Twitter, the press statement read.It also aims to help creators with all aspects of their video hosting and live streaming workflow – from broadcasting and auto-archiving to storage, management and collaboration to distribution, marketing and analytics. Post-event videos can also be monetised directly to audiences worldwide as a rental, purchase or subscription. Moving forward, Vimeo will also integrate live with its over-the-top (OTT) technology, enabling live content in branded apps across iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon, Samsung, and more.