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MediaSite Provides Internet Broadcasting Systems Superior Online
Video Search Capabilities For Web Users
PITTSBURGH, PA (May 2, 2000) MediaSite,
the pioneer in providing automated video management solutions on the Internet, announced
that is providing services to Internet Broadcasting Systems (IBS) to deliver its local
users superior depth and choice in their interactive video experience. IBS, a company
leading the convergence of local television news and the Internet with its network of
local Web channels, has now launched thirteen Web sites that are all leaders in their
local markets, including Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Toronto. As the
number of IBS affiliates rapidly grows, MediaSite will work with IBS to publish searchable
video in all current and future markets.
Partnerships with Hearst-Argyle Television and with Post-Newsweek
stations, a division of The Washington Post Company, will mean that IBS reaches 35 percent
of U.S. households. The network is spreading across Canada as well in alliance with the
CanWest Global network. IBS generates extensive amounts of Internet video each day,
serving approximately 100,000 video streams daily. MediaSite PublisherÔ
Suite 4.0 provides IBS with a secure support for the bursts in video traffic that result
from breaking news announcements. An end-to-end solution, MediaSite Publisher will help
IBS organize its expanding content and make its video easy to navigate and search for its
Web audiences.
"A relationship with MediaSite ensures that we stay on the
forefront of video delivery techniques on the Web," says Dave Abbott, Chief
Technology Officer at IBS. "Video on the Web is in its infancy all we can be
sure of is that things are going to change at an incredible pace. With MediaSite on our
side, we are going to will continue pioneering the techniques that are going will to bring
the convergence of television and the Web."
"With the explosive growth of video news content on the Internet,
IBS was the first to recognize the importance of deploying an automated solution for
indexing video news for use on its web channels," said Krishna Pendyala, co-founder
of MediaSite. "Since IBS will process hundreds of hours of video news daily from over
forty television news channels, they needed a scalable solution that limited the number of
production employees while guaranteeing a personalized and interactive end user
experience. We are thrilled to have been chosen by IBS and we look forward to
participating in the success of their phenomenal growth."
MediaSites Publisher software package allows IBS
to continue to offer its sites added value as well as a comprehensive
way to manage the extensive amount of Internet video each
local news station produces each day. Using MediaSite Publisher,
IBS automatically indexes and encodes television newscasts
so that the video is quickly searchable, enabling Web users
to sort video content and narrow a search to a specific point
of interest. Not only does this offer IBS audiences a rich,
interactive video experience, it offers IBS new revenue models
by driving more targeted advertising, merchandising, and video
syndication opportunities.
About MediaSite
MediaSite, Inc. is a leading provider of
infrastructure enabling Internet and broadband video automationproduction
workflow, video management, searchable and interactive video
applications, and video-driven e-commerce. MediaSite's patented
technology and tools deliver quantum gains in video search
and navigation, helping content producers realize the full
e-commerce potential of their video resources. The company
is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with offices
in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C.,
as well as an international division. Originally part of a
Carnegie Mellon University research project, MediaSite was
formed in 1997 and clients include: CBS Affiliates (WCBS,
KDKA), HealthInfo, Internet Broadcasting Systems (IBS), Ogilvy
& Mather, Time Warner Cable (NY1), Turner Entertainment,
U.S. Air Force, and Warner Brothers.
About IBS
Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (IBS) is the first and largest
network of local Web Channels Web sites that combine the
"must-know" local content of the dominant TV affiliate in a top market with a
broad range of Web services, backed by extensive promotion from the station. With more
than 25 million Web page views per month, IBS is launching local channels across a total
of 42 markets, including 26 of the top 50, primarily with #1 or #2 ranked stations. In the
last quarter alone, IBS has launched local channels in Boston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
Orlando, Sacramento, Toronto and Ottawa. IBS will debut later this spring in Houston,
Detroit, Kansas City, West Palm Beach and three more cities in Canada. IBS is launching
across 24 U.S. markets in partnership with Hearst-Argyle Television (NYSE: HTV), across
six U.S. markets in partnership with Post-Newsweek stations, a division of The Washington
Post Company (NYSE: WPO), and across Canada with the CanWest Global (NYSE: CWG) network.
The IBS network of TV partnerships reaches 35 percent of U.S. households.
Since launching its first site in 1996, IBS has been recognized for
excellence in online journalism by major organizations like the National Press Club, The
Associated Press, and the Society for Professional Journalists. Other investors in IBS
include InfoSpace (Nasdaq: INSP) and St. Paul Venture Capital.
For more information, visit www.mediasite.com.
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