NEW YORK, May 7, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Narrowstep, Inc., the TV-on-the-Internet company, announced today that it will demonstrate its AdServer(tm) system and its "TV Station in a Box" products at the Streaming Media East Conference at the Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York City, May 11-12, 2004, booth 31.
Iolo Jones, CEO of Narrowstep, said, "The AdServer provides the missing link in the delivery of TV revenues to broadband video. ABC, NBC and CBS became the media giants they are by having sponsors pay for programming, and that is the same model the AdServer follows. And it improves on their approach by enabling the full control and management of advertising content. It represents a quantum change in the way advertisers can operate in broadband video delivery."
The AdServer is a key component in Narrowstep's "TV-Station-in-a-Box" product line for the internet. The AdServer system allows users to upload, store and manage commercials, advertorials and sponsored programs. An advertising campaign can be quickly and easily constructed and automated because users are able to build profiles from an existing user database, either by demographics or by theme. The system also allows for the geographical targeting of commercials. Full audit trails and detailed metrics are provided on usage and viewing figures, and AdServer, like Narrowstep's MediaServer and ChannelServer products, meets the highest standards for Digital Rights Management security.
Jones said, "AdServer's profiling capacity ensures that the best possible ads are played for each viewer. Technically, two viewers in the same room can be watching the same channel, but will receive different ads because their profiles are subtly different."
AdServer plays the most targeted commercial that maximizes revenue, relying on a fuzzy logic engine, similar to the one that has contributed to Google's success. The fuzzy logic engine sorts through the various prices advertisers have offered to pay and the number of ads contracted to air, choosing the optimal piece to show.
Jones, who will attend the conference, also said, "As an example of how this works, Narrowstep created High.TV, a channel for extreme-sports enthusiasts, a demographic and interest group that is ideally suited for a global recruitment campaign from the Royal Marine Commandos, which can recruit from anywhere in the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth, but not in the US or Europe. Narrowstep's AdServer can automatically determine which viewers fit that requirement and play the recruitment ad just at viewers in those countries. In other words, High.TV viewers in Fiji, Canada, Gibraltar and the US watch the same entertainment and news programming, but AdServer ensures that the Royal Marine Commando ad is seen only where they can legally recruit. And it does so without human intervention."
AdServer is the revenue generating component in Narrowstep's "TV-Station-in-a-Box" suite of products. The suite also includes the MediaServer that enables content to be stored, indexed, scheduled and played out. It also handles the registration of users and the management of access rights, as well as producing detailed metrics on users' interaction with the content. Furthermore, it can interface with existing digital asset management, content management and access management systems as well as providing central auditing and control of distribution. Uniquely, where required, the system is able to identify the location of a user - and provide ongoing monitoring of the location via an existing mobile network. This ensures that the integrity of rights can be preserved across territories.
Jones said, "This system is specifically useful as part of a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for the exploitation of secondary rights that may otherwise remain unallocated or to ensure availability of service for corporate and mission critical distribution systems."
The other component in Narrowstep's "TV-Station-in-a-Box" product line is the ChannelServer, an electronic program guide and scheduling system capable of building online and broadcast schedules from an easy-to-use interface. Users can easily build and modify sequences, schedules and assign them to channels. The channels will then be made available to online and broadcast playout sources. ChannelServer interfaces with both the MediaServer and the AdServer providing a total broadcast solution for the internet and also for traditional broadcast playout based on 4-24Mbps standards.
Jones concluded, "Narrowstep is positioned to bring a new dimension to the delivery of video. We have made it possible to launch a new TV station, complete with a revenue stream, for a fraction of what it used to cost. Content owners now have a new way to unlock the hidden revenues in their video libraries. Advertisers can create custom ad campaigns and track their results easily and efficiently. And viewers can watch what they really want to watch, when they want to watch it without paying an up-front premium."
Narrowstep's clientele and business partners include such world-renown companies as the BBC, Telewest, British Telecom, EMI Record, Virgin Atlantic, Sadlers Wells Theatre, the British Government, HSBC, Nokia, Quiksilver, Saab Salamon, T-Mobile, Sony Ericsson, and Microsoft. The Company has recently moved its headquarters from London to New York, at 429 E. 52nd St., Suite 35F; Phone: 212-935-4840.
About Narrowstep Inc.
Narrowstep, Inc. delivers television on the internet, helping it clients turn web sites into web channels and creating a new model for broadcasting to targeted audiences that it calls narrowcasting. Narrowstep can provide a comprehensive service to help sports bodies and organizations maximize their income from mobile, wireless, broadband and broadcast distribution. Its MediaServer(tm) manages video and media using an easy-to-use, web-based interface - the product interfaces with a wide range of content management, digital rights management and digital asset management products and systems. Narrowstep's ChannelServer(tm) is a unique program scheduling tool that schedules and runs a client's online TV station, while its AdServer(tm) commercializes the delivery of broadband content on the internet using the premier broadband advertising product - select content and channels, profile, schedule, measure and report on campaigns. High.TV is Narrowstep's own broadband television channel for extreme sports enthusiasts, a demonstration of the company's product that also provides a regular stream of income. Narrowstep's technology is being deployed by leading cable companies, ISPs and content owners globally.
Safe Harbor
Certain matters discussed in this press release are "forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, the Company's statements regarding trends in the marketplace and potential future results are examples of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the timing of projects due to the variability in size, scope and duration of projects, estimates made by management with respect to the Company's critical accounting policies, regulatory delays, clinical study results which lead to reductions or cancellations of projects, and other factors, including general economic conditions and regulatory developments, not within the Company's control. The factors discussed herein and expressed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstance.