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WOWIO

Former digital media company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WOWIO
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WOWIO, Inc. was a Los Angeles–based digital media company founded in 2006 that offered ad-supported Ebooks and later expanded into webcomics communities and electronic publishing platforms (including WEvolt, Drunk Duck, and Pop Galaxy). After a series of acquisitions and ownership changes, the company shifted its focus in 2017 toward investments in real estate, hospitality, and entertainment ventures. As of 2018, WOWIO had deregistered its common stock and become largely inactive.[1][2]

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History

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Founding and early model

WOWIO was founded in 2006 in Los Angeles[3] by author and entrepreneur William Lidwell.[4] Its original goal was to provide readers with free, downloadable Ebooks in exchange for embedded advertisements.[4] Initial offerings in the WOWIO catalogue included public domain titles like Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein, and comic book titles such as the Tenth Muse series.

In April 2008, the company announced a partnership with Fangoria Comics / The Scream Factory to host a selection of the two companies' horror titles on WOWIO for free (for a limited time).[5]

Platinum Studios, Brian Altounian

In June 2008, Platinum Studios, a media company that developed, published, and licensed comic book properties for adaptation into film, television, and other media, announced that it had begun talks to acquire WOWIO,[6][7] hoping to make it a "major cornerstone" of "a global digital publishing distribution initiative."[8] The two companies projected that the acquisition would be concluded early in the third quarter of 2008,[8] but issues related to WOWIO's non-payment of quarterly earnings delayed the sale.[9][a]

In June 2009, WOWIO was purchased outright from Platinum Studios by Brian Altounian, a former Time Warner executive,[11] former COO of Platinum Studios[12] — and still a member of its board.[3][b] Altounian's Alliance Acquisitions, LLC,[14] became a minority owner of WOWIO, along with a group of investors; Platinum Studios no longer had any ownership stake.[3]

Expansion

In June 2010, WOWIO raised $1.7 million and purchased the online community WEvolt.[15] WEvolt, created by comic artist Jason Badower and Matt Jacobs, enabled artists to create, share, and monetize their work through ad sales and merchandising opportunities. Users could distribute their original content or use the site as an aggregator of online media.

In June 2010, a week after its purchase of WEvolt, WOWIO acquired DrunkDuck.com from Platinum Studios.[16][17] Drunk Duck, launched in 2001 by Dylan Squires, was a webcomics community of mostly amateur creators. It had been acquired by Platinum Studios in September 2006; the company planned to use Drunk Duck as its primary online platform, publishing all of Platinum's comics on the site before print and treating it as the first step in his "full-circle commercialization" model.[18] At the time of its acquisition by WOWIO, however, Drunk Duck featured only a handful of Platinum Studios-owned titles[18] along with a community of 95,000 subscribed users.[16]

By 2013, WOWIO distributed content across five proprietary websites,[19] including:

  • WOWIO.com
  • DrunkDuck.com (later to become TheDuckWebcomics.com)
  • WEvolt.com
  • PopGalaxy.com (distributed on YouTube)

In May 2014, WOWIO's parent company rebranded itself as "Studio W," focused on digital publishing and media distribution, and launched a new corporate website, StudioWDigital.com. Simultaneously, the company launched a new mobile eBook app featuring over 350,000 titles from Ingram Books, available on Android and later other platforms, as part of its expansion into mobile digital publishing and ad-supported eBooks.[20]

Decline and dormancy

Beginning in 2013, most of WOWIO's platforms became inactive within the next few years. In mid-August 2013, the Drunk Duck site went offline. After repeated delays, it briefly returned in September 2013, only to go down again. On October 10, 2013, the site was relaunched as TheDuckWebcomics.com.[21][22]

In 2015, management of The Duck Webcomics platform transitioned to members of its own user community,[23] and the platform has continued to operate independently. As of the 2020s, The Duck Webcomics remains an active hub for webcomic creators, hosting thousands of titles and maintaining a user-driven forum and publishing tools.

Similarly, the PopGalaxy YouTube channel ceased posting new content in 2014 (as of 2025 it has 140 subscribers).[24]

Ceast and desist; Altounian's ouster

In January 2015, the State of California issued a desist and refrain order against Altounian and Alliance Acquisitions, citing that between 2008 and 2011 they had offered or sold securities through untrue or misleading statements.[25] Altounian was removed as WOWIO CEO in September 2015.[13] During his last months as CEO, WOWIO went public with an initial share price over $1; within months, the share price fell below $0.01.[26] Robert H. Estareja, President of WOWIO since February 2015, replaced Altounian as CEO in September 2015.[27]

Shift to real estate; deregistration

In 2017, Estareja was replaced as CEO by Tony Anish, who announced the new strategic direction for the company.[2] New management acknowledged that "the Company has been dormant due to a lack of funding and the inability to take the products they have been working on to market,"[2] and changed its strategic direction. The company announced plans to operate as a holding company supporting investments in entertainment, restaurants, tourism, and real estate, including housing projects in Northern California and Arizona.[2] Announced ventures included Castlerock Bar and Grill, Canyon Café, and Wishing Well restaurant in Arizona; Lodgenuity, a hospitality consulting and management company;[28] and land in Avenal, California, for low-income housing.[29]

The company deregistered its common stock in July 2018;[1] the Lodgenuity purchase was canceled in 2019.[30]

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Comics titles hosted on WOWIO (selected)

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Notes

  1. [a]
    Third quarter earnings for 2008 — calculated on a new formula more favorable to WOWIO — were eventually paid.[10]
  2. [b]
    Altounian served as a Platinum Studios board member from 2005 to 2011.[13]

References

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