MediaSite, Inc. Launches MediaSite.net
Video and Audio Web Site
World’s First Showcase Offering Online Search, Preview and Purchase of Video and Audio Content

Pittsburgh, PA—March 1, 1999—MediaSite, Inc., the leading developer and supplier of software, systems and services to create searchable, Web-based video and audio Media Sites, today announced the launch of MediaSite.net (www.mediasite.net), the first Web site offering search, preview and purchase of online video and audio content. MediaSite.net is the only video Web site with searchable stock footage, news and information, and training and education content using the speech, language and images within the content itself and V-commerce (tm) (video E-commerce) ordering and billing.

Video Content Meets the Web on MediaSite.net

MediaSite.net does not own video content, but is a clearinghouse offering added value for content providers. Content placed on MediaSite.net is enhanced for Power Search using MediaSite.net segmentation, speech, language, image and annotation processing, and becomes a direct revenue source for providers. Easy-to-use MediaSite.net is hosted on a high-capacity network provided by Lucent Technologies. The site also uses the industry leading RealNetworks G2 Player and is compatible with Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. MediaSite.net is powered by the MediaSite System (tm) for video and audio cataloging and search, which is currently used by NBC, BBC, Turner, IBM, the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Livermore National Labs.

"Video cataloging and search technology will help users derive better use of video content and management of content overload, somewhat akin to how current day search engines help us sort out what is useful to us on the Web," said Sujata Ramnarayan, industry analyst, Gartner Group’s Dataquest.

Unlike Web sites that provide a few fixed video clips or text-only summaries, on MediaSite.net users can search through hundreds and thousands of hours of content and instantly receive video clips. For example, users search with keywords or use MediaSite.net Power Search to select visual and content-based criteria, such as image, color, camera angle, category, reporter, date, description and location to immediately search with pinpoint accuracy. Users can quickly skim through ranked results and see free previews of storyboards, stream video clips to their desktop, place choices in a shopping basket, and purchase or store the content online.

"MediaSite.net is the first truly searchable video Web site. Its unique V-commerce capabilities pave the way for video, audio, film and TV to be instantly searched throughout the globe," said Mark Juliano, president and CEO of MediaSite. "MediaSite.net’s video and audio cataloging, indexing and search technology, and online purchase takes advantage of the convenience and immediacy the Internet offers, while opening up new distribution and revenue channels for video content providers."

"MediaSite.net is furthering the media management industry by demonstrating the value of applying video cataloging, indexing and search technology - integrated with E-commerce - to a range of content types," commented Lou CasaBianca, executive director, Media Asset Management Association.

MediaSite.net Offers Multiple Types of Content

By offering different types of valuable content from a single interface, MediaSite.net allows users searching on, for example, "Presidential Impeachment" to pull up current news clips as well as a history class covering impeachment policy, all from one Web site.

Stock Footage
MediaSite.net is a clearinghouse offering valuable content from many stock footage houses. Only the MediaSite.net stock footage site allows users to search, preview, purchase (using a "pay-per-clip" model) and receive a variety of content online from a single site. With MediaSite.net Power Search, users can also search with pinpoint accuracy by image, color, shot type, etc.

Stock footage houses including Action Sports Adventure and Hot Shots/Cool Cuts have placed their content online on MediaSite.net. "We are very excited about supplying footage for MediaSite.net during this trial stage. The sophisticated speech, text and image searching capabilities of the MediaSite technology, coupled with the E-commerce functionality, make for a powerful combination. We look forward to future endeavors between our respective organizations as stock footage finally becomes a reality on the Web," said Peter Humphrey, director of Internet Business, Action Sports Adventure and Hot Shots/Cool Cuts.

News and Information—Beyond TV on the Net
The Internet is becoming an increasingly important medium for customized news and information delivery. Unlike news and information sites focused on drawing viewers specifically to drive advertising revenue, MediaSite.net goes beyond TV on the Net and offers valuable content coupled with sophisticated searching, and shares all revenues with content owners. MediaSite.net viewers can watch what they want, when they want, from anywhere, with news available as quickly as an hour after airing. Tools and technology from MediaSite.net are in development to make zero time delay Internet-based Searchable TV a reality. With this kind of Searchable TV, users can search up to the minute TV news or stored programming.

Explains Howard Affinito, business affairs manager of Pittsburgh, PA-based KDKA-TV, a content provider placing news and programming on MediaSite.net, "KDKA has always been a leader and an innovator. By placing our daily newscasts online, we’re at the cutting edge of searchable television. Our viewers will have the ability to access the specific information they need, such as news, topics covered on our weekly business, sports and current events shows and weather forecasts at their convenience. By offering searchable television, we’re also serving viewers who miss the newscast, are out of town or live beyond our broadcast area."

Training and Education
MediaSite.net offers an easy way to search, preview, view ("pay-per-view") and purchase ( "pay-per-videotape") training and educational video from a variety of training companies, universities and schools. For example, users who need to re-certify (medical practitioners), undergo continuing education (CPAs), are in fields with advancing technology (software programmers), or students searching for information are prime candidates for using MediaSite.net.

MediaSite.net content provider Duquesne University is the first to offer fully searchable video courses over the Internet. "With this new technology, we can enhance the learning experience by offering course programming that can be pre-recorded, edited and searched using natural English inquiries," explained Dr. John Shepherd, director of Duquesne’s Multimedia program. "In addition, we can also reach a broader audience of students via the Internet. We expect that this program will become a model for universities around the world, giving our students access to learning tools anytime and anywhere."

Key Advantages of MediaSite.net

Easy-to-Use: MediaSite.net is easy to use and navigate and is compatible with widely used Internet software including RealNetworks G2 Player, Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

Focus on Content: MediaSite.net offers diverse, valuable content by acting as a clearinghouse for stock footage houses, news and information providers, and training and educational organizations. No other site offers this range of valuable content types and sources for online video search, preview and purchase.

Most Sophisticated Searchable Video Available: MediaSite.net’s core cataloging and search engines are based on the MediaSite System, the most advanced suite of software and services for making video as searchable as text via intranets, extranets and now the Internet. Advanced MediaSite System search options go beyond streaming video on the Web and include:

Power Search: Unlike sites using a single text search box, MediaSite.net offers query by a combination of fields such as subject, lighting, angle, orientation, video/film format, time, date, etc.

Image and Text-Based Queries: The MediaSite.net video search engine allows image search by dragging an image into the query window. The search engine then returns similar images. An upcoming feature is the ability to find and match faces.

Search Result Previews: MediaSite.net lets users preview video in faster than real-time, to precisely select video clips. Clips can be viewed as: time-coded storyboards, text descriptions, filmstrips with a storyboard and audio, low-bandwidth streaming video and full transcript of audio track or closed captioning.

Flexible V-Commerce Purchasing: MediaSite.net customers can leverage the power of V-commerce to order video clips online, or have video delivered on a "pay-per-view", "pay-per-clip" or "pay-per-videotape" model. MediaSite’s V-commerce solution will also track customized user preferences and optionally notify users when new video matching their profile is available.

"The underlying speech, language and image technologies used in MediaSite.net allow Web users to search and navigate in the fourth dimension – time," said Professor Howard Wactlar, vice provost of research computing at Carnegie Mellon University and chairman of MediaSite. "With speech-to-text alignment, OCR capabilities and other functionality found nowhere else, MediaSite.net is making video as searchable as text."

MediaSite.net Core Technology

MediaSite.net is powered by field-proven video cataloging, search and retrieval technologies. In addition to powering a clearinghouse Web site, MediaSite.net software and systems are also sold to customers interested in creating their own Media Sites.

"With the increasing use of video across a range of industries, the need for easy-to-use tools to make video as searchable as text is becoming increasingly critical. The video cataloger market alone is projected to increase to $29 million in 1999 and $63.5 million in the year 2000. MediaSite.net's coupling of Web technology and E-commerce with video search and retrieval software will only further that growth," said John McCormick, strategic analyst, Frost and Sullivan.

The MediaSite System includes MediaSite Logger (tm), MediaSite Builder (tm) and MediaSite WebFinder (tm). Together, Logger and Builder offer the most advanced creation tools available, integrating speech and image recognition and language understanding technologies. MediaSite WebFinder provides the search and retrieval system.

Free MediaSite Downloadable Software

MediaSite Logger for cataloging video and MediaSite WebFinder for video search and retrieval can now be downloaded at no cost from MediaSite.net. With these sophisticated tools, content providers can catalog their content, which can also be hosted on MediaSite.net.

"With no-cost downloadable video cataloging and search software and a turnkey solution, MediaSite.net is opening up the benefits of searchable video to new audiences by making it easy to place searchable video content online," said Lou CasaBianca, executive director, Media Asset Management Association.

The full MediaSite System also includes the database, video and Web server components necessary to manage, retrieve and play video and audio over the Internet. MediaSite Database Server (tm) is the Oracle, Informix or IBM-based system for managing metadata, key information extracted from video and audio. MediaSite Video Server (tm) includes RealNetworks or Microsoft NetShow streaming media. MediaSite Web Server (tm) contains Web, WebFinder and V-commerce software and hardware.

Pricing

MediaSite.net service costs are based on a fixed hourly or site-based cataloging cost, optional hosting and management fees, as well as a royalty model in some cases. Pricing varies upon content, type of cataloging performed and volume. Basic downloadable versions of MediaSite Logger and WebFinder are available at no cost on www.mediasite.net.

About MediaSite

MediaSite, Inc. is the leading developer of software, systems and services to create searchable video and audio Media Sites. MediaSite offers the MediaSite System, a core set of software, systems and services required to develop a superior Media Site. With the MediaSite System, video becomes as searchable as text. The unique feature of MediaSite's technical approach is the integrated application of speech recognition, language understanding and image understanding technologies based on software components of Carnegie Mellon University's Informedia Digital Video Library Project, an $8 million public-private sponsored research project. For more information, visit www.mediasite.com.