Anheuser-Busch pulled the plug on it’s $15 million broadband humor site Bud.tv.
A-B’s VP-marketing Keith Levy told AdAge Bud.tv was “sunsetting.” Users going to the site now see only a snowy TV screen saying Bud.tv is no longer available. Instead, they are asked to check out Budweiser.com or BudLight.com.
Born-on dating indicates Bud.tv first appeared during the Super Bowl in 2007. The site had a mix of unbranded, original content, from reality to humor. A-B execs hoped it would draw about 2 million monthly uniques. But really tight restrictions designed to prevent under-age viewers from entering (entrants’ names were checked against a database of state-issued identification that sometimes kept even legal-age consumers out). Bud.tv ended up driving most potential users away and their traffic nose-dived about 40 percent in its second month to just 153,000 uniques.
Because of the barrier to entry, Anheuser-Busch’s CEO August Busch IV had been famously quoted online as saying “I can’t even figure out how to get into the website.”
Full story at AdAge.com.
