GoDaddy Registry will now operate and market the .tv domain.
GoDaddy Registry (NYSE: GDDY) has won the contract to operate Tuvalu’s .tv country code domain name.
Tuvalu is a small island nation of about 10,000 people. It struck internet gold because its ISO country code is TV, and it was therefore assigned the .tv country code domain.
It entered into a deal with Verisign in which Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) operated and marketed the domain. That deal came up for renewal and GoDaddy won the bidding.
Companies have adopted .tv domains as online video content has taken off. It is a nice registry business with high annual registration fees and some domains commanding premiums. There are roughly 500,000 domains in the namespace.
As lucrative as the contract was, it was not enough for Verisign, which runs the .com namespace, to have bothered fighting for the renewal. A Verisign spokesperson told Domain Name Wire, “We declined to participate in the tender process for business reasons.”
It’s possible that, given the name’s success, Tuvalu commanded more of the pie and made it not as interesting for Verisign. Even at current contract terms, it wouldn’t be a big deal to Verisign. (The company has not made an SEC filing, suggesting it might be immaterial to the company.)
The other reason Verisign might have chosen not to participate is that the deck seemed to be stacked in one registry’s favor to win the deal. But maybe not: Kieren McCarthy wrote that the tender seemed to be designed for Donuts to win the deal. Apparently, the deck wasn’t completely stacked.
The Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs, Tuvalu Government announced the deal on Facebook today:
I find it humorous that the government official is standing in water. Rising sea levels threaten Tuvalu. Eventually, it may be wiped out by the sea. If that happens, a new plan suggests that the .tv extension would cease to exist.
So maybe Verisign’s business decision was actually because the company believes climate change will rapidly intensify. (I’m joking.)
Interesting
That pic in the water is distracting me, I need a back story on why.
Does this mean better opportunities and sales? Verisign stopped advertising the
.tv names. I remember them having a website called Channelme.tv. I own a premium . tv name and hopefully the change will increase value. Godaddy is good at advertising. I hope they launch a .tv marketplace soon.
It could be. This was probably part of their pitch.
One Year later we get information of our provider that the price of our .tv domain will increase to 130 EUR / year. That is an increase about 250%. Does this have something to do with GoDaddy?