Bolt Calls it Quits

The long-lasting yet haggard video sharing site Bolt.com has finally shut down.

Just this past March, it looked as if the 11 year-old veteran of the online video space had a fighting chance to stay alive. After settling a copyright infringement case with Universal Music Group that accused the site of allowing its users to illegally share the label’s music videos, GoFish breathed life into company with the announcement of an acquisition.

As part of the deal, Bolt planned to shift from specializing in user-generated content and focus on original content production. Fomer-Bolt CEO Aaron Cohen had told Variety, “User-generated content is not the future for this business…It’s in enabling users to participate in the framework of better-produced assets.”  But such was not the case. 

### GoFish recently decided not to acquire the site, leaving Bolt with few other options.

It’s a shame. Independent web-only production houses involved with big media players are now popping up all over the place – 60Frames, Funny or Die, My Damn Channel, Next New Networks, et all. With its management team well versed in online video, I was expecting to see some decent quality content come out of Bolt Productions.

GoFish’s current original programming lineup of shows like Hooman on the Street, Hidden Celebrity Webcam, and Seduce a Celeb actually isn’t terrible, but could’ve used an influx of experience to take it to the next level.