Babelgum’s chief operating officer Michael O’Callaghan is to leave the P2P online video platform, we have learned and confirmed with the company – just the latest senior-level switch this year. O’Callaghan is based in Dublin in his native Ireland, where the company is headquartered for tax reasons.
The company will now have changed its CEO, CTO and COO all in the last 13 months. The decision to swap original CEO Erik Lumer for Valerio Zingarelli last year has proved unpopular with some inside the company, with original CTO Mallku Caballero and his chief architect Gianni Scenini leaving earlier this year in opposition. Replacement architect Egidio Corsini was recently promoted to fill the CTO post. Prior to Babelgum, O’Callaghan had been VP and GM for Oracle’s European development centre in Dublin, plus its European chairman.
Babelgum is heavily financed by billionaire Italian telecoms tycoon Silvio Scaglia but, just one of many video platforms, has been trying to carve a niche in independent film and documentary. The company is planning to relaunch with a slimmed-down video player soon but it won’t quite be a switch from app to web as Joost and iPlayer have done. Last month, we referred to the “low production values” of the two productions so far from its