Next New Networks gets funding — for another niche video play

Next New Networks is the latest company to launch a niche content strategy — this time, online TV sites tailored to specific themes.

The New York company has received $8 million in a first round of funding from Spark Capital, an East Coast venture capital firm focused on media companies.

The logic is clear. Advertisers like niche sites. Nothing really new here, so this investment is not very surprising. The only question is, why does it need $8 million?

Next New Network is so early, that it has nothing really to show yet. Co-founders Fred Seibert and Emil Rensing started Frederator and VOD Cars, respectively, but those are nascent sites that will change significantly soon, the company tells us. Other co-founders include Herb Scannell, who is chief executive, Jed Simmons and Tim Shey. Scannell is former vice chairman of MTV Networks and president of Nickelodeon. The others are all experienced media execs too.

The business model is advertising tailored to the niche of the particular video site’s audience. Each show will run between three and 12 minutes long. It is similar to Revision3, the San Francisco company started by Digg co-founders Jay Adelson and Kevin Rose (which we wrote about here). That company raised only $1 million.