Ryan Magnussen

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Ryan Magnussen is an American businessperson and media entrepreneur. In 1995, he founded Zentropy Partners, which grew to become the fifth-largest interactive advertising agency in the United States. Magnussen started Hollywood-based Ripe Digital Entertainment in 2003, after selling Zentropy to Interpublic Group for $50 million in 1999, according to the Wall Street Journal.[1]

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[edit] 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 become Zentropy Partners, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. [2]

[edit] Business ventures

Magnussen formed Zentropy Partners, an interactive advertising and branding company, in 1995 just prior to the dot-com boom. Under his leadership, the "thriving Web-design firm" hit $80 million in annual revenue in three years.[3] Global advertising conglomerate Interpublic Group acquired Zentropy in 1999 for $50 million. In 2001, Zentropy was folded into the MRM Worldwide division of McCann-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 — RipeTV, OctaneTV and 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.[4]

Magnussen's RipeTV targets a young, male audience with short-form programming that is available on cable television, broadband, and mobile devices.[5] As of October 2006, the on-demand network was broadcasting in 20 million homes via Comcast and Time Warner, and it drew an average of three to four million views per month, according to the Wall Street Journal.[1]

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.[2] Big-name sponsors that advertise on Ripe Digital Entertainment networks include Chrysler's Dodge, Cingular, and Proctor & Gamble's Old Spice.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Steel, Emily. RipeTV casts net for young males. The Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ a b Crowe, Deborah. Why try mobile phone media? For the bikini babes, of course. Los Angeles Business Journal.
  3. ^ Pomerantz, Dorothy. Attention deficit television. Forbes.
  4. ^ Time Warner (2006-10-09). "Ripe Digital Entertainment announced $32 million Series B investment by Hearst-Argyle, Time Warner, Columbia Capital, and Rho Ventures". Press release.
  5. ^ Olsen, Stefanie. I want my RipeTV?. News.com.

[edit] External links


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