- Ryan Magnussen
Ryan Magnussen is an American businessperson and media entrepreneur. In 1995, he foundedZentropy Partners , which grew to become the fifth-largest interactive advertising agency in the United States. Magnussen started Hollywood-basedRipe Digital Entertainment in 2003, after selling Zentropy toInterpublic Group for $50 million in 1999, according to the Wall Street Journal.cite web | last=Steel | first=Emily | url=http://ripedigital.com/pdf/RipeTV-Casts-Net-for-Young-Males-WSJ-2006.pdf | title=RipeTV casts net for young males | publisher=The Wall Street Journal]Education
Magnussen graduated from the
University of Southern California ,Marshall School of Business in 1995. During his time as an undergraduate at USC, he developed an award-winning business plan for a class project that would eventually grow to becomeZentropy Partners , according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. cite web | last=Crowe | first=Deborah | url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Why+try+mobile+phone+media%3F+For+the+bikini+babes,+of+course-a0139523936 | title=Why try mobile phone media? For the bikini babes, of course | publisher=Los Angeles Business Journal]Business ventures
Magnussen formed
Zentropy Partners , an interactive advertising and branding company, in 1995 just prior to thedot-com boom . Under his leadership, the "thriving Web-design firm" hit $80 million in annual revenue in three years. [cite web | last=Pomerantz | first=Dorothy | url=http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2004/1129/164_print.html | title=Attention deficit television | publisher=Forbes] Global advertising conglomerateInterpublic Group acquired Zentropy in 1999 for $50 million. In 2001, Zentropy was folded into the MRM Worldwide division ofMcCann-Erickson .In 2002, Magnussen founded Ripe Digital Entertainment, a media company that develops
video-on-demand television networks for cable, the Internet, and wireless devices. Ripe has since launched three on-demand networks — [http://www.ripe.tv RipeTV] , [http://www.octanetv.com OctaneTV] and [http://www.flow.tv FlowTV] . In October 2006,Time Warner ,Hearst-Argyle Television , and other venture-capital firms invested $32 million in Ripe Digital Entertainment to fund additional networks. [cite press release | title=Ripe Digital Entertainment announced $32 million Series B investment by Hearst-Argyle, Time Warner, Columbia Capital, and Rho Ventures | publisher=Time Warner | date=2006-10-09 | url=http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1544097,00.html]Magnussen's RipeTV targets a young, male audience with short-form programming that is available on cable television, broadband, and mobile devices. [cite web | last=Olsen | first=Stefanie | title=I want my RipeTV? | url=http://news.com.com/I+want+my+RipeTV/2100-1025_3-5460662.html | publisher=News.com] As of October 2006, the on-demand network was broadcasting in 20 million homes via
Comcast andTime Warner , and it drew an average of three to four million views per month, according to the Wall Street Journal.cite web | last=Steel | first=Emily | url=http://ripedigital.com/pdf/RipeTV-Casts-Net-for-Young-Males-WSJ-2006.pdf | title=RipeTV casts net for young males | publisher=The Wall Street Journal]Pioneered by Magnussen and partners, Ripe Digital Entertainment's "immersive advertising" model allows viewers to watch programs and ads simultaneously as commercial messages are embedded in each show.cite web | last=Crowe | first=Deborah | url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Why+try+mobile+phone+media%3F+For+the+bikini+babes,+of+course-a0139523936 | title=Why try mobile phone media? For the bikini babes, of course | publisher=Los Angeles Business Journal] Big-name sponsors that advertise on Ripe Digital Entertainment networks include
Chrysler 's Dodge,Cingular , andProctor & Gamble 's Old Spice.cite web | last=Steel | first=Emily | url=http://ripedigital.com/pdf/RipeTV-Casts-Net-for-Young-Males-WSJ-2006.pdf | title=RipeTV casts net for young males | publisher=The Wall Street Journal]References
External links
* [http://ripe.tv RipeTV] , official site
* [http://octanetv.com OctaneTV] , official site
* [http://flow.tv FlowTV] , official site
* [http://www.mrmworldwide.com MRM Worldwide] , official site
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