FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:
SutherlandGold Group
Erika Shaffer
1Cast@sutherlandgold.com
(206) 972-5514
KIRKLAND, Wash., October 21, 2009 — After building an audience consuming more than 3.2 million video clips each month while still in beta, personalized video pioneer 1CAST (www.1cast.com) today unveiled an all new version of its web platform and announced it has also extended its overall reach to Boxee, the first social media center, making 1CAST the first service to integrate viewing experiences across 3 Screens: InteractiveTV, Online, and Mobile.
1CAST is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in video content viewing, where content is pushed directly to viewers based on their interests, and consumable across multiple networks and device types – mobile, PC and now the living room through its new partnership with Boxee.
“In our time constrained world, we want to help consumers make sense of today’s highly fragmented video environment, by putting the right content in front of the right viewer as quickly and efficiently as possible – whenever and wherever they are,” said Anthony Bontrager, 1CAST’s president. “The concept of video or channel surfing is a thing of the past. Content owners and advertisers alike want and need a highly engaged audience in a cross-platform environment, and our goal is to deliver that to them.” Bontrager continues, “Our mission of providing a uniquely personalized viewing experience for consumers, enabling them to get multiple perspectives on any given topic, feeds today’s always-on culture which expects news to find the viewer rather than the other way around.”
With the launch of its new, highly intuitive user interface, 1CAST enables viewers to quickly access the day’s top news across a variety of topics – Business, Politics, World News, Lifestyle, Entertainment and more. Subscribers draw from content that is being added every hour to 1CAST from leading content providers around the world, offering the freedom to watch trusted news sources, or browse through multiple content categories. What’s more, they can share videos directly with their friends through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter; on blogs, or even share via email.
Avner Ronen, CEO of Boxee said, “One of Boxee’s goals is to help users easily discover entertainment that’s relevant to them. 1CAST’s centralized approach makes it easy for people to get great videos from a variety of sources without having to jump between search results and websites to find them. When people find more content, they watch more content, which translates into a better user experience and more revenue for content owners.”
During the nearly yearlong private beta, 1CAST has expanded its roster of content partners to include most major global broadcast news programmers such as BBC World News, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business News, Reuters, Dow Jones, AFP and more.
1CAST’s partner network is also a great service for websites or other portals looking to add an engaging, rich media experience to their sites. Web publishers, broadband-enabled device manufacturers, and other video platform providers can partner with 1CAST to bring its unique player and video search platform to their users in a customized and branded experience.
Today, viewers can already access 1CAST from their web browsers, or tap into their personalized newscasts on the iPhone or Android mobile phones simply by downloading the 1CAST app from the iTunes App Store or the Android Marketplace.
The popularity of 1CAST's beta version has led to strong growth in viewers and consumption. On average, 1CAST users visit the site up to 4 times daily, spending nearly 30 minutes viewing content. Total visits in have increased steadily at a compounded monthly growth rate of more than 130% since May 2009.
About 1CAST
1CAST is the world's first cross-platform broadcast news and information service to put users in control of what, when and how they consume video news content. 1CAST's unique video search and newscast platform delivers near real-time video clips of the latest headlines in business, politics, sports, technology and entertainment. Viewers can also create personalized newscasts around the topics and people they are most interested in and access these personal channels across any broadband enabled or wireless device. News networks worldwide use 1CAST to reach new audiences, ensure their current audience can engage with their content in a uniquely relevant manner and to further monetize their daily news programming. Advertisers partner with 1CAST because the company is a trusted source of professional, high-quality news programming that can be delivered in a highly targeted manner across multiple platforms. 1CAST is backed by Eagle River Holdings, LLC. For more information, visit www.1cast.com.
About Boxee
Boxee is the first “social” media center, whose free, downloadable software is changing the way consumers experience home entertainment. On a computer or connected to an HDTV, Boxee gives users a simple way to bring all their entertainment into one place including personal movies, TV shows, music and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Netflix, MLB.TV, Comedy Central, Pandora, Last.fm, and flickr. Users can also share information about what they’re watching so friends can enjoy it too through legal sources online. More than half a million people use Boxee to get their entertainment. Learn how you can join them at www.boxee.tv.