Virgin Media Selects Narrowstep to Power Broadband Video Offering
April 26 2007 - 9:58AM
PR Newswire (US)
LONDON and NEW YORK, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Narrowstep
Inc., (OTC:NRWS) (BULLETIN BOARD: NRWS) the TV on the Internet
Company, has been chosen by Virgin Media to power their online
video offering, comprising a range of factual and entertainment
content, sports and movies. Narrowstep currently powers more than
150 TV-over-IP channels, including Go Beyond TV for Land Rover,
London TV, RomeReports TV, and ITV Local. Virgin Media uses
Narrowstep's TelvOS(TM) internet TV technology platform and
services to co-ordinate and enable the management and play-out of
their recently-launched internet TV offering which can be accessed
at http://www.virginmedia.com/ by clicking on one of five
genre-themed on-screen buttons: Gaming, Knowledge, Movies, Sport
and TV. Content includes a mix of entertainment from Virgin Media
Television channels such as LIVINGtv, Bravo, Challenge and Trouble.
Whereas short-form broadband video clips have been around for
years, the ability to deliver television-quality long-format
streaming is a relatively new achievement and an area where
Narrowstep is setting itself apart from other internet TV
providers. David McCourt, CEO and Chairman of Narrowstep, said, "As
more and more consumers are seeking video online, it is important
to deliver top-end content in an efficient and usable manner. Our
partnership with Virgin speaks to Narrowstep's ability to deliver
and monetize high-quality, interactive, long- form content." Jason
Boswell, Acting Head of Commercial Development, virginmedia.com,
said, "We set out to take the best of both worlds - the linear
viewing experience of TV and the interactive two-way experience of
broadband - to play out the video content people want to watch with
browsing and click through opportunities, archive access and
advertising. Narrowstep provided us with the industry-leading
technology platform to do so." Virgin Media was formed in 2006
through a combination of cable businesses: ntl:Telewest and Virgin
Mobile. The merged business became the UK's first 'quadplay' media
company bringing together digital TV, broadband internet, mobile
phone and fixed-line phone services. The new business includes a
50% stake in UKTV, a joint venture set up between Telewest's
Flextech content division - now known as Virgin Media Television -
and the BBC's commercial wing, BBC Worldwide. Virgin Media
Television's wholly-owned channels also include Bravo and LIVINGtv.
Virgin Media's digital TV service is Virgin TV, the UK's second
largest pay TV service in the UK. Virgin Media's online portal,
http://www.virginmedia.com/, currently attracts between ten and 12
million users each month, making it a top 15 UK website. Visitors
to virginmedia.com see a simple menu of different content genres
and users can also access archived content. Advertising is then
scheduled around this content. The technology allows Virgin to sell
and schedule ads around content, report back into the business and
then onwards to clients the exact number of viewers who saw any ad.
About Narrowstep (TM) Narrowstep(TM) Inc. (OTC:NRWS) (BULLETIN
BOARD: NRWS) , the TV on the Internet company, is a leading global
provider of broadband television services. Narrowstep's proprietary
technologies and customer-focused services enable TV channels to be
delivered over the Internet. 100+ companies worldwide have chosen
Narrowstep because it offers the most television-like and true
community building broadband experience. The company's TelvOS(TM)
(Television Operating System(TM)) and nBed(TM) technologies enables
the most comprehensive delivery of video to mobile, wireless,
Internet, broadband, VoIP and entirely new IP-delivered broadcast
services. For more information, visit http://www.narrowstep.com/ or
call 212-404-1400 or +44 20 7498 3377. DATASOURCE: Narrowstep Inc.
CONTACT: Belinda Thomas, , or Parveen Kaur, , or Sophie Naylor, ,
all of Franklin Rae Communications, +44-(0)-20-7317-5400 Web site:
http://www.narrowstep.com/ http://www.virginmedia.com/
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