VOD provider Akimbo shuts down

Internet video-on-demand provider Akimbo today has been confirmed by NewTeeVee as having shut its doors. The company says it has so far been unable to raise enough cash to remain profitable for its video delivery services and has decided to drop all but a bare minimum of staff while it seeks a mergers and acquisitions partner to buy up the company's assets. All video services run by the company at present, including Homezone and MavTV, are still running, according to checks.

Chief finance officer Peter Chantel is now known to be the only remaining executive at the company but declines to say how many remaining employees are at Akimbo; the company has been steadily laying off employees, with 10 dropped earlier this month and another 14 as part of ramping down its operations this week.

The company is considered one of the early pioneers of networked media set-top boxes and as late as 2006 was supplying features using an RCA hub that would ultimately be offered in devices like the Apple TV or the recently unveiled Roku Netflix player, delivering Internet-based movies on demand through MovieLink as well as a host of TV and TV-like channels. Lack of demand ultimately forced Akimbo to bring its services to the web and ultimately to drop its direct-to-public services entirely as it began supplying content for others' services, with only a handful of active clients.

Filed under: industry
Other story tags: Apple TV, Netflix, Roku, Movielink, RCA, Akimbo