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Entertainment Services: The future is mobile

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It is no exaggeration to say that the future of entertainment is mobile and that the future of mobile depends on reliable networks that are able to deliver more capacity. As more and more people watch video on their mobile devices (tablets and laptops as well as smartphones), so the strains on the mobile infrastructure continue to mount. For the mobile industry, this is a never-ending challenge.

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hmvod is an OTT entertainment programs streaming platform. We dedicated to continuously roll out more new breakthroughs, bringing about state-of-the-art online video contents and audiovisual experience.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING,BUSINESS

Discord: A Novel Medium for B2B Marketing

Article | August 4, 2022

Discord is a real-time chat platform where anyone with a community can interact. Users can talk to others in the community on special channels and get invites to join different servers. Many people prefer to reach out to online customers through social media, but messaging apps like Discord have 20% more monthly active users than traditional social media platforms. (Business Insider) Discord generates revenue through premium subscriptions and game distribution. It does not use advertisements. However, it can help marketers through its community that grows with video, voice, text communication and more. Let us look at how: Helps Build a Moderated Community You can set up a Discord server as a moderated social discussion platform. Create different channels based on your audience’s preference and allow them to bond. And as your community grows, so will the popularity of your business. Word-of-mouth marketing is still very effective. Connects Your Brand with Like-minded Audience You can also meet others who share your interests on various Discord servers. When you know what you're looking for, finding relevant servers is simple. Check with your team members, and your community, and join those groups. There, you'll meet other business owners and pursue collaboration opportunities. Allows Sharing Relevant Industry Content Share your website articles and other industry updates on Discord. You can take the advantage of your employees’ social media presence because they are linked to a single server. They'll spread the word about the articles through other Discord servers and their personal social media accounts. It will assist you in gaining authority among your target audience. Another way to market your company is to post branded memes, GIFs, and funny screenshots. Helps Offer Great Customer Service People expect prompt service, and because Discord delivers messages in real-time, you can address issues as they arise. You can easily send direct messages to members and have private conversations with them. Parting Words Although Discord is primarily a messaging app for individuals, it also has many advantages for B2B marketing. Discord is ideal for community management and true engagement.

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TECHNOLOGIES,BUSINESS

B2B Movie Placements: What to Expect?

Article | July 20, 2022

As films evolved into the popular medium that they are today, brands followed suit. They took advantage of a large network of new ways to market, from print media to radio to television. Product placement, a part of branded entertainment marketing, became more common from the 1980s. Today, every moviegoer is familiar – sometimes painfully – with paid product placements. And every marketer has heard commentary on both good and bad B2C product placements. But what about B2B movie placements? Ever heard of those? If you are a B2B enterprise looking to try it out, here are some major differences between B2C and B2B movie placements: Impress the producers Create an enticing pitch for the producers, which can influence them enough to bring them to the creative department. Sell your brand or product to them (indirectly) to help them understand how it will improve the realism of their scene or set. Make them realize how your product or service can help them. Placement isn’t always ‘placement’ Prospective B2B buyers aren’t going to squint their eyes to find your product while watching a movie. However, they might actually remember your brand if you host pre-opening events around the world for them and their families to watch a popular movie. If they enjoy the movie and establish an emotional connection with it, they will definitely think of you while making any kind of purchase decision. Things might not work out No matter how hard you try to show your brand in a good light in a certain scene or situation, sometimes things happen that you can't control or ignore. In such cases, you might have to get all the branding out instead of settling for negative publicity, which could be a viable option for a B2C brand. B2B Movie Placement: A Success Story FLIR, a client of Hollywood Branded, is the leading provider of thermal military camera equipment. It co-starred in one of Warner Brothers' biggest hits of 2018, Rampage. FLIR connected with the right member of the production team and ensured that the brand was pictured in a positive light. FLIR shared its technology with the filmmakers and got advertised to its business customers, mostly film-loving decision-makers, through the movie and the way it was shot. The film earned $427M at the worldwide box office.

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VIRTUALIZATION,MEDIA AND BROADCASTING

Branded Entertainment in B2B: Why is it Important?

Article | July 13, 2022

Global B2B companies churn out content pieces such as infographics, case studies, assessments, and other forms of thought leadership content to create brand awareness. But is this content enough to engage the customers and the market? Not really. Marketers like you need to look into branded entertainment to get more customer engagement and brand loyalty. What is Branded Entertainment? Adweek loosely describes “branded entertainment” as any content that starts a positive conversation around a product, service, or set of values. This content builds a story around your product or services, showing it in a positive light and getting the audience to engage in your content as much as a film or a TV show. As opposed to other marketing endeavors, branded entertainment doesn’t focus on your products and their features but on entertaining the audience. Incorporating Branded Entertainment into Your Marketing Strategy Here are some ways to get it done without much hassle: Web Series Original programming, such as web series published on the brand’s social media channels, can help you raise awareness through stories that share your brand’s values instead of directly marketing your product or services. PR Stunts Create social media brand content that is entertaining and exciting enough for the audience to make it viral. Such PR brings positive media attention to your brand and creates mass awareness for your brand or product. Videos Volvo's entertaining video of Van Damme's split stunt on YouTube has 114.5 million views. The video didn't need a call-to-action because it wasn’t to convert leads. Instead, it was meant to showcase a piece of business-use truck technology and get engagement. Podcasting GE used podcasting for advertising twice, once with its show ‘The Message’ and again with its new series ‘LifeAfter.’ Neither show discusses GE's products. Instead, they were "GE-presented" and were received well. Summing It Up People are less likely to comment on or share brand posts directly, but they are more likely to tweet or share them on their Instagram stories. This way you can measure the impact of branded entertainment. B2B marketers should consider branded entertainment as a way to build trust and start conversations between their brands and their audience to get a long-term ROI.

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SOLUTIONS,BUSINESS

Driving ROI of Your B2B Marketing with Entertainment

Article | July 7, 2022

B2B companies are harnessing entertainment to drive their marketing ROI. They are using strategies that meet the changing needs of B2B customers and take advantage of how technology is improving. Let us examine the top five entertainment marketing strategies that can get engagement for your B2B content: On-Demand Content Rules B2B corporate Salesforce recently announced a new streaming service—Salesforce+—that exclusively caters to businesses. If you want to try something like this, you don’t need to create a new streaming platform. Instead, you can use your social media accounts to share unique content that your target audience will find interesting. Presentation Shouldn’t Be a Priority Your B2B audience isn’t any different from the audience that consumes basic TikTok videos, reality TV shows, or YouTube clips that don’t have the best scripts. Any grippingly human content presented on popular channels of entertainment appeals to the viewer and can influence their buying decisions. Harness User-generated Content Harness user-generated content like videos, reviews, and testimonials. When your customer tells your brand’s story or how your brand helped them solve their problems, the content is engaging and authentic for your prospects and influences their purchase decisions. Additionally, such content receives high engagement and improves your brand’s reputation. Relevance Wins Hearts If the content you are producing is entertaining and engaging, addresses the pain points and demands of your target audience, and is timed perfectly to match the dynamic market needs, your prospects might relate to your brand better and avail your product or services. Create Immersive Experiences Through Events With the help of experience experts Boost Experiential, Google created an Event Series to target small businesses in the U.S. They led a nationwide initiative to offer educational seminars and coaching to small businesses. They held events in 50 states and introduced Google’s tools to thousands of business owners. As a result, they have got more than 50, 000 small businesses online. Entertainment Could Be a B2B Trend for 2022 Create valuable, memorable, entertaining, and engaging content addressing customer pain points. Make it available to your target audience through popular channels like streaming sites, social media, webinars, live events and more to get your marketing ROI.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING,BUSINESS

Boost Your B2B SaaS Business with Live Streaming

Article | August 4, 2022

Discord is a real-time chat platform where anyone with a community can interact. Users can talk to others in the community on special channels and get invites to join different servers. Many people prefer to reach out to online customers through social media, but messaging apps like Discord have 20% more monthly active users than traditional social media platforms. (Business Insider) Discord generates revenue through premium subscriptions and game distribution. It does not use advertisements. However, it can help marketers through its community that grows with video, voice, text communication and more. Let us look at how: Helps Build a Moderated Community You can set up a Discord server as a moderated social discussion platform. Create different channels based on your audience’s preference and allow them to bond. And as your community grows, so will the popularity of your business. Word-of-mouth marketing is still very effective. Connects Your Brand with Like-minded Audience You can also meet others who share your interests on various Discord servers. When you know what you're looking for, finding relevant servers is simple. Check with your team members, and your community, and join those groups. There, you'll meet other business owners and pursue collaboration opportunities. Allows Sharing Relevant Industry Content Share your website articles and other industry updates on Discord. You can take the advantage of your employees’ social media presence because they are linked to a single server. They'll spread the word about the articles through other Discord servers and their personal social media accounts. It will assist you in gaining authority among your target audience. Another way to market your company is to post branded memes, GIFs, and funny screenshots. Helps Offer Great Customer Service People expect prompt service, and because Discord delivers messages in real-time, you can address issues as they arise. You can easily send direct messages to members and have private conversations with them. Parting Words Although Discord is primarily a messaging app for individuals, it also has many advantages for B2B marketing. Discord is ideal for community management and true engagement.

Read More
TECHNOLOGIES,BUSINESS

Discord: A Novel Medium for B2B Marketing

Article | July 20, 2022

As films evolved into the popular medium that they are today, brands followed suit. They took advantage of a large network of new ways to market, from print media to radio to television. Product placement, a part of branded entertainment marketing, became more common from the 1980s. Today, every moviegoer is familiar – sometimes painfully – with paid product placements. And every marketer has heard commentary on both good and bad B2C product placements. But what about B2B movie placements? Ever heard of those? If you are a B2B enterprise looking to try it out, here are some major differences between B2C and B2B movie placements: Impress the producers Create an enticing pitch for the producers, which can influence them enough to bring them to the creative department. Sell your brand or product to them (indirectly) to help them understand how it will improve the realism of their scene or set. Make them realize how your product or service can help them. Placement isn’t always ‘placement’ Prospective B2B buyers aren’t going to squint their eyes to find your product while watching a movie. However, they might actually remember your brand if you host pre-opening events around the world for them and their families to watch a popular movie. If they enjoy the movie and establish an emotional connection with it, they will definitely think of you while making any kind of purchase decision. Things might not work out No matter how hard you try to show your brand in a good light in a certain scene or situation, sometimes things happen that you can't control or ignore. In such cases, you might have to get all the branding out instead of settling for negative publicity, which could be a viable option for a B2C brand. B2B Movie Placement: A Success Story FLIR, a client of Hollywood Branded, is the leading provider of thermal military camera equipment. It co-starred in one of Warner Brothers' biggest hits of 2018, Rampage. FLIR connected with the right member of the production team and ensured that the brand was pictured in a positive light. FLIR shared its technology with the filmmakers and got advertised to its business customers, mostly film-loving decision-makers, through the movie and the way it was shot. The film earned $427M at the worldwide box office.

Read More
VIRTUALIZATION,MEDIA AND BROADCASTING

B2B Movie Placements: What to Expect?

Article | July 13, 2022

Global B2B companies churn out content pieces such as infographics, case studies, assessments, and other forms of thought leadership content to create brand awareness. But is this content enough to engage the customers and the market? Not really. Marketers like you need to look into branded entertainment to get more customer engagement and brand loyalty. What is Branded Entertainment? Adweek loosely describes “branded entertainment” as any content that starts a positive conversation around a product, service, or set of values. This content builds a story around your product or services, showing it in a positive light and getting the audience to engage in your content as much as a film or a TV show. As opposed to other marketing endeavors, branded entertainment doesn’t focus on your products and their features but on entertaining the audience. Incorporating Branded Entertainment into Your Marketing Strategy Here are some ways to get it done without much hassle: Web Series Original programming, such as web series published on the brand’s social media channels, can help you raise awareness through stories that share your brand’s values instead of directly marketing your product or services. PR Stunts Create social media brand content that is entertaining and exciting enough for the audience to make it viral. Such PR brings positive media attention to your brand and creates mass awareness for your brand or product. Videos Volvo's entertaining video of Van Damme's split stunt on YouTube has 114.5 million views. The video didn't need a call-to-action because it wasn’t to convert leads. Instead, it was meant to showcase a piece of business-use truck technology and get engagement. Podcasting GE used podcasting for advertising twice, once with its show ‘The Message’ and again with its new series ‘LifeAfter.’ Neither show discusses GE's products. Instead, they were "GE-presented" and were received well. Summing It Up People are less likely to comment on or share brand posts directly, but they are more likely to tweet or share them on their Instagram stories. This way you can measure the impact of branded entertainment. B2B marketers should consider branded entertainment as a way to build trust and start conversations between their brands and their audience to get a long-term ROI.

Read More
SOLUTIONS,BUSINESS

Driving ROI of Your B2B Marketing with Entertainment

Article | July 7, 2022

B2B companies are harnessing entertainment to drive their marketing ROI. They are using strategies that meet the changing needs of B2B customers and take advantage of how technology is improving. Let us examine the top five entertainment marketing strategies that can get engagement for your B2B content: On-Demand Content Rules B2B corporate Salesforce recently announced a new streaming service—Salesforce+—that exclusively caters to businesses. If you want to try something like this, you don’t need to create a new streaming platform. Instead, you can use your social media accounts to share unique content that your target audience will find interesting. Presentation Shouldn’t Be a Priority Your B2B audience isn’t any different from the audience that consumes basic TikTok videos, reality TV shows, or YouTube clips that don’t have the best scripts. Any grippingly human content presented on popular channels of entertainment appeals to the viewer and can influence their buying decisions. Harness User-generated Content Harness user-generated content like videos, reviews, and testimonials. When your customer tells your brand’s story or how your brand helped them solve their problems, the content is engaging and authentic for your prospects and influences their purchase decisions. Additionally, such content receives high engagement and improves your brand’s reputation. Relevance Wins Hearts If the content you are producing is entertaining and engaging, addresses the pain points and demands of your target audience, and is timed perfectly to match the dynamic market needs, your prospects might relate to your brand better and avail your product or services. Create Immersive Experiences Through Events With the help of experience experts Boost Experiential, Google created an Event Series to target small businesses in the U.S. They led a nationwide initiative to offer educational seminars and coaching to small businesses. They held events in 50 states and introduced Google’s tools to thousands of business owners. As a result, they have got more than 50, 000 small businesses online. Entertainment Could Be a B2B Trend for 2022 Create valuable, memorable, entertaining, and engaging content addressing customer pain points. Make it available to your target audience through popular channels like streaming sites, social media, webinars, live events and more to get your marketing ROI.

Read More
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hmvod

hmvod is an OTT entertainment programs streaming platform. We dedicated to continuously roll out more new breakthroughs, bringing about state-of-the-art online video contents and audiovisual experience.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING,BUSINESS

One Equity Partners Completes the Acquisitions of Gamut and CoxReps from Cox Media Group

Gamut | August 16, 2022

One Equity Partners ("OEP") announced it has completed the previously announced acquisitions of Gamut and CoxReps from Cox Media Group ("CMG").OEP is a middle-market private equity firm with approximately $10 billion in assets under management, seeking to build market-leading companies through transformative combinations within the industrial, healthcare, technology, and media sectors in North America and Europe. Gamut, the award-winning leader in local OTT media, helps brands connect with relevant streaming audiences in every DMA. CoxReps is the country's premier national television representation company and delivers local, smart media solutions on a national scale on behalf of the most respected broadcast groups in the United States. “We are excited to complete the acquisition of Gamut and CoxReps, which together manage more than $1.5 billion in combined annual media spend, spanning both linear and connected television. Both Gamut and CoxReps are leaders in local video advertising, perfectly poised for further investment to support and grow their long-standing relationships with station group clients, CTV publishers, and agency customers, It’s also part of OEP’s investment strategy to tap into the best industry expertise, so we’re pleased to welcome Mark Rosenthal as Executive Chairman, along with Doug Knopper as a Director; together, they will help guide the future strategy of Gamut and CoxReps." -Andrew Dunn, Managing Director of OEP The presidents of both companies will report to Rosenthal as Chairman of the companies' Board of Directors. Rosenthal has had a long and successful career in media, having served as President and COO of MTV Networks, overseeing all of the Viacom/Paramount cable network properties; as Chairman and CEO of Interpublic Media, where he was responsible for all media buying across all of Interpublic's advertising agencies; and as CEO of Katz Media, the TV, digital, and radio representation firms. Knopper has extensive experience in the adtech, advertising, and media industries. He co-founded and led FreeWheel, the video advertising technology platform sold to Comcast in 2014. Before that, Knopper was General Manager for DoubleClick in New York and London and held leadership roles at multiple advertising agencies and media companies. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Magnite. I'm delighted to join Gamut and CoxReps, and I look forward to working with their top-notch teams to explore new and creative avenues of collaboration in order to drive deeper revenue synergies between the two companies," said Rosenthal. "While both companies will remain separate, by working even more closely together, we will offer advertisers the powerful bundle they need to realize the full potential reach of local TV advertising and thereby bring more dollars into local markets for station group clients and CTV providers. Progress Partners served as financial advisor to Cox Media Group and Terrier Gamut Holdings. The companies were represented on the transaction by Perkins Coie LLP and Fenwick & West, with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP serving as special regulatory counsel. One Equity Partners was represented by Latham & Watkins. About One Equity Partners One Equity Partners (OEP) is a middle-market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, technology, and media sectors in North America and Europe. The firm seeks to build market-leading companies by identifying and executing transformative business combinations. OEP is a trusted partner with a differentiated investment process, a broad and senior team, and an established track record generating long-term value for its partners. Since 2001, the firm has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide. OEP, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.oneequity.com. About Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation (d/b/a Cox Media Group) is an industry-leading media company with unparalleled brands, award-winning content, and exceptional team members. CMG provides valuable local and national journalism and entertainment content to the people and communities it serves. The company's businesses encompass 14 high-quality, market-leading television brands in 9 markets; 52 top-performing radio stations delivering multiple genres of content in 11 markets; a Washington, DC news bureau; and numerous streaming and digital platforms. CMG's TV portfolio includes multiple primary affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, and MyNetworkTV, as well as several valuable news and independent stations. For more information about CMG, visit www.coxmediagroup.com. About Gamut Gamut, the award-winning leader in local OTT media, helps brands connect with relevant streaming audiences in every DMA. Leveraging its direct access to brand-safe, premium OTT inventory, and advanced advertising tools, marketers can reach desired local audiences on a national scale with highly engaging and personalized ads. With more than 20 years of digital media experience, Gamut is committed to delivering the highest level of service and expertise to ensure maximum results for its clients and partners. About CoxReps CoxReps is the country's premier national television representation company, delivering local, smart media solutions on a national scale on behalf of the most respected broadcast groups in the United States. The company is driven by a highly talented workforce with experience and expertise in innovative research and targeted advertising solutions and a deep understanding of the media landscape. This approach allows CoxReps to identify and fulfill opportunities for customers at local and national scale.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING

Veritone Creates AI-Driven Revenue Opportunities for Enterprise Media & Entertainment Companies on AWS

Veritone, Inc | August 09, 2022

Veritone, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERI), creator of aiWARE, a hyper-expansive enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) platform, has announced an extension of its work with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support its Media & Entertainment (M&E) customers. Last year, Veritone joined the AWS for Media & Entertainment initiative that helped content creators, rights holders, producers and distributors easily identify industry-specific AWS capabilities and accelerate transformation across five key industry innovation centers. By continuing to support the AWS for Media & Entertainment initiative, Veritone reaffirms its commitment to modernizing how IP owners of all sizes produce, distribute and ultimately monetize their content.Veritone brings a portfolio of content-enabling technologies and services that, when running on AWS, allows for end-to-end production in the cloud. With aiWARE as the enterprise platform, companies can build and deploy AI-powered workflows while seamlessly integrating with their current datasets, applications and processes. “Working in lockstep with AWS allows us to deliver the most current content production, management and monetization tools, which help M&E customers to overcome the challenges of processing digital content at greater speeds and depth with metaverse and Web3 activations, Combining the power and scale of AWS along with our aiWARE technology, applications and services ensure that IP owners and content creators have a complete arsenal to create and maximize revenue opportunities regardless of where they exist or appear.” -Ryan Steelberg, president and co-founder of Veritone With Veritone, we can combine our skill sets and capabilities to offer a revolutionized way to create and monetize content no matter where creative workforces are located, said Chris Blandy, global leader of strategy and business development for media & entertainment, AWS. Leveraging Veritone’s AI platform on AWS, content creators and distributors are unlocking new ways to monetize existing libraries and create more engaging programming. The demand for content is not slowing down, and having the ability to identify and access the right asset immediately is essential for meeting the demanding pace of production. Veritone and AWS magnify benefits for Media & Entertainment organizations With aiWARE serving as a foundation to incorporate AI and intelligent workflow capabilities into a content production environment, M&E brands can leverage aiWARE-based applications on AWS, such as Veritone Digital Media Hub, to streamline the management of unstructured data to activate the monetization of their vast media archives. By automating metadata tagging and creating intelligent and actionable media data lakes, content creators can efficiently uncover valuable content and ensure new assets do not become lost, allowing brands like the San Francisco Giants and CBS News to activate decades worth of content. “Leveraging AI to structure our digitized archive of 80-plus years of Giants baseball history, aiWARE and Digital Media Hub have accelerated and expanded our content projects,As part of the Veritone ecosystem, we like how we can incorporate more tools and capabilities as needed, future-proofing our content production for omnichannel fan engagement including Web3.” -Paul Hodges, vice president of content and entertainment, San Francisco Giants. As the next phase of content creation becomes more immersive and driven by “phygital” experiences, creators need tools to extend the content lifecycle to reach and access customers wherever they are consuming media. Veriverse, a portfolio of metaverse-ready solutions for the Enterprise, provides that much-needed bridge M&E brands are trying to cross to capitalize on the Web3 opportunity. Winner of back-to-back NAB Product of the Year awards for Veritone Voice and Veritone Avatar, Veriverse adds another layer of capability that is positioned to become industry standard. Veritone Voice and the rest of the Veriverse portfolio change how brands engage with their customers. With the ability to deploy internationally, including in the U.K., Veritone accelerates international product and service implementations while also taking into account GDPR standards, said James Poulter, CEO, and co-founder, Vixen Labs. From conversational AI applications to human-driven digital personas in immersive environments, we can truly make the digital experience feel human and authentic anywhere. In addition to Digital Media Hub and Veriverse, the Veritone portfolio of applications on AWS includes Attribute and Discovery, broadcast solutions designed to track and search content and provide proof-of-performance metrics. Additionally, through Veritone One, a performance-based audio and influencer agency creating impactful advertising for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, and Veritone Licensing, a full-service content licensing and clearance service activating content from some of the world’s most sought-after archives, companies have a one-stop-shop to implement a modern content practice to unlock their full revenue potential. Veritone’s artificial intelligence products and services are available at www.veritone.com. About Veritone Veritone (Nasdaq: VERI) is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and solutions. The company’s proprietary operating system, aiWARE™ powers a diverse set of AI applications and intelligent process automation solutions that are transforming both commercial and government organizations. aiWARE orchestrates an expanding ecosystem of machine learning models to transform audio, video and other data sources into actionable intelligence. The company’s AI developer tools enable its customers and partners to easily develop and deploy custom applications that leverage the power of AI to dramatically improve operational efficiency and unlock untapped opportunities. Veritone is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has offices in Costa Mesa, California; London and San Diego. To learn more, visit www.veritone.com.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING,BUSINESS

Kinetic by Windstream Deploys Cisco and Qwilt’s Open Caching Solution to Elevate Streaming Experience in North America

Cisco and Qwilt | August 08, 2022

Cisco and Qwilt announced the deployment of their unique content delivery solution across the North American network of Kinetic by Windstream, to enable superior streaming performance to its customers throughout the United States. The adoption of Cisco and Qwilt’s open caching solution considerably improves the quality and efficiency of live and on-demand video delivery while increasing Kinetic’s network capacity for other forms of media. Kinetic will deploy Qwilt’s open caching technology across its 170,000 miles of fiber network across the US. The deployment helps Kinetic address the growing number of live streaming events and other media consumption, as households increasingly turn to streaming services and expect broadcast quality to the home. Cisco’s edge compute and networking infrastructure, combined with Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud for Content Delivery Solution, makes this possible by preparing Kinetic’s network to support increasing data volumes and improving the streaming experience. Gary Cooke, Senior Vice President of Engineering for Kinetic, said: “We tell our customers ‘High Speed for Here’ – whether live, on-demand, or other forms of media content. By partnering with Qwilt and Cisco, we’re ensuring our fiber-backed network has the scalability and capacity needed to handle the growth in demand for all forms of streaming content. By integrating innovative edge technologies across our network, we’re bringing high quality content closer to our customers than ever before. Open caching, an open architecture developed and endorsed by the Streaming Video Alliance, offers a platform that federates content delivery infrastructure deployed deep inside service provider networks. It provides open APIs, protection, and security mechanisms for content publishers. The open caching approach helps service providers quickly deploy an edge delivery footprint and addresses the needs of global and regional content providers for more capacity, consistency in content delivery, and performance assurance. The deployment also creates a telco cloud foundation for future use cases, such as website delivery and edge computing. “Streaming is the future of content delivery, but it doesn’t have to mark the end of great quality content experiences. By embracing content delivery at the edge through open caching technology, service providers are embracing a new model to manage their network capacity. Working alongside Qwilt, we’re equipping Kinetic by Windstream with the tools needed to bring fantastic experiences to its customers across North America and in doing so, democratize capacity across its nationwide infrastructure.” -Theodore Tzevelekis, Vice President and Head of Business Development, Mass-scale Infrastructure Group, Cisco Alon Maor, CEO and Co-Founder of Qwilt, said: “Soaring demand for streamed content brings an urgent need for service providers to scale their networks for the future. Through Cisco and Qwilt’s united vision, we empower service providers like Kinetic by Windstream to do more with their assets while accelerating their digital transformations. We look forward to helping modernize the way Kinetic delivers content and ready their growing network for the future of content experiences. About Qwilt Qwilt’s mission is to deliver connected experiences at the quality they were imagined. Its model is built on partnerships with service providers and content publishers, globally, to create a fabric that powers high-performance delivery of media and applications at the very edge of neighborhoods, big and small. Qwilt’s open architecture and inclusive business model make local edge delivery more accessible than ever before, unlocking more reliable, higher quality-of-experience at greater scale than previously possible. A growing number of the world’s leading content publishers and cable, telco, and mobile service providers rely on Qwilt for Edge Cloud services, including BT, Telecom Argentina, Telecom Italia, and Verizon. Founded in 2010, Qwilt is a leader of the Open Caching movement and a founding member of the Streaming Video Alliance. Qwilt is backed by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco Ventures, Disruptive, Innovation Endeavors, Marker, and Redpoint Ventures. For more information, visit www.qwilt.com. About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by reimagining your applications, securing your data, transforming your infrastructure, and empowering your teams for a global and inclusive future. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on Twitter. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. About Kinetic Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream Holdings, a privately held FORTUNE 1000 communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at GoKinetic.com. Follow us on Twitter at @GoKineticHome. From Fortune. ©2021 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license. Fortune and Fortune 1000 are registered trademarks of Fortune Media IP Limited and are used under license. Fortune is not affiliated with, and does not endorse products or services of, Windstream.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING,BUSINESS

One Equity Partners Completes the Acquisitions of Gamut and CoxReps from Cox Media Group

Gamut | August 16, 2022

One Equity Partners ("OEP") announced it has completed the previously announced acquisitions of Gamut and CoxReps from Cox Media Group ("CMG").OEP is a middle-market private equity firm with approximately $10 billion in assets under management, seeking to build market-leading companies through transformative combinations within the industrial, healthcare, technology, and media sectors in North America and Europe. Gamut, the award-winning leader in local OTT media, helps brands connect with relevant streaming audiences in every DMA. CoxReps is the country's premier national television representation company and delivers local, smart media solutions on a national scale on behalf of the most respected broadcast groups in the United States. “We are excited to complete the acquisition of Gamut and CoxReps, which together manage more than $1.5 billion in combined annual media spend, spanning both linear and connected television. Both Gamut and CoxReps are leaders in local video advertising, perfectly poised for further investment to support and grow their long-standing relationships with station group clients, CTV publishers, and agency customers, It’s also part of OEP’s investment strategy to tap into the best industry expertise, so we’re pleased to welcome Mark Rosenthal as Executive Chairman, along with Doug Knopper as a Director; together, they will help guide the future strategy of Gamut and CoxReps." -Andrew Dunn, Managing Director of OEP The presidents of both companies will report to Rosenthal as Chairman of the companies' Board of Directors. Rosenthal has had a long and successful career in media, having served as President and COO of MTV Networks, overseeing all of the Viacom/Paramount cable network properties; as Chairman and CEO of Interpublic Media, where he was responsible for all media buying across all of Interpublic's advertising agencies; and as CEO of Katz Media, the TV, digital, and radio representation firms. Knopper has extensive experience in the adtech, advertising, and media industries. He co-founded and led FreeWheel, the video advertising technology platform sold to Comcast in 2014. Before that, Knopper was General Manager for DoubleClick in New York and London and held leadership roles at multiple advertising agencies and media companies. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Magnite. I'm delighted to join Gamut and CoxReps, and I look forward to working with their top-notch teams to explore new and creative avenues of collaboration in order to drive deeper revenue synergies between the two companies," said Rosenthal. "While both companies will remain separate, by working even more closely together, we will offer advertisers the powerful bundle they need to realize the full potential reach of local TV advertising and thereby bring more dollars into local markets for station group clients and CTV providers. Progress Partners served as financial advisor to Cox Media Group and Terrier Gamut Holdings. The companies were represented on the transaction by Perkins Coie LLP and Fenwick & West, with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP serving as special regulatory counsel. One Equity Partners was represented by Latham & Watkins. About One Equity Partners One Equity Partners (OEP) is a middle-market private equity firm focused on the industrial, healthcare, technology, and media sectors in North America and Europe. The firm seeks to build market-leading companies by identifying and executing transformative business combinations. OEP is a trusted partner with a differentiated investment process, a broad and senior team, and an established track record generating long-term value for its partners. Since 2001, the firm has completed more than 300 transactions worldwide. OEP, founded in 2001, spun out of JP Morgan in 2015. The firm has offices in New York, Chicago, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam. For more information, please visit www.oneequity.com. About Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation (d/b/a Cox Media Group) is an industry-leading media company with unparalleled brands, award-winning content, and exceptional team members. CMG provides valuable local and national journalism and entertainment content to the people and communities it serves. The company's businesses encompass 14 high-quality, market-leading television brands in 9 markets; 52 top-performing radio stations delivering multiple genres of content in 11 markets; a Washington, DC news bureau; and numerous streaming and digital platforms. CMG's TV portfolio includes multiple primary affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo, and MyNetworkTV, as well as several valuable news and independent stations. For more information about CMG, visit www.coxmediagroup.com. About Gamut Gamut, the award-winning leader in local OTT media, helps brands connect with relevant streaming audiences in every DMA. Leveraging its direct access to brand-safe, premium OTT inventory, and advanced advertising tools, marketers can reach desired local audiences on a national scale with highly engaging and personalized ads. With more than 20 years of digital media experience, Gamut is committed to delivering the highest level of service and expertise to ensure maximum results for its clients and partners. About CoxReps CoxReps is the country's premier national television representation company, delivering local, smart media solutions on a national scale on behalf of the most respected broadcast groups in the United States. The company is driven by a highly talented workforce with experience and expertise in innovative research and targeted advertising solutions and a deep understanding of the media landscape. This approach allows CoxReps to identify and fulfill opportunities for customers at local and national scale.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING

Veritone Creates AI-Driven Revenue Opportunities for Enterprise Media & Entertainment Companies on AWS

Veritone, Inc | August 09, 2022

Veritone, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERI), creator of aiWARE, a hyper-expansive enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) platform, has announced an extension of its work with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support its Media & Entertainment (M&E) customers. Last year, Veritone joined the AWS for Media & Entertainment initiative that helped content creators, rights holders, producers and distributors easily identify industry-specific AWS capabilities and accelerate transformation across five key industry innovation centers. By continuing to support the AWS for Media & Entertainment initiative, Veritone reaffirms its commitment to modernizing how IP owners of all sizes produce, distribute and ultimately monetize their content.Veritone brings a portfolio of content-enabling technologies and services that, when running on AWS, allows for end-to-end production in the cloud. With aiWARE as the enterprise platform, companies can build and deploy AI-powered workflows while seamlessly integrating with their current datasets, applications and processes. “Working in lockstep with AWS allows us to deliver the most current content production, management and monetization tools, which help M&E customers to overcome the challenges of processing digital content at greater speeds and depth with metaverse and Web3 activations, Combining the power and scale of AWS along with our aiWARE technology, applications and services ensure that IP owners and content creators have a complete arsenal to create and maximize revenue opportunities regardless of where they exist or appear.” -Ryan Steelberg, president and co-founder of Veritone With Veritone, we can combine our skill sets and capabilities to offer a revolutionized way to create and monetize content no matter where creative workforces are located, said Chris Blandy, global leader of strategy and business development for media & entertainment, AWS. Leveraging Veritone’s AI platform on AWS, content creators and distributors are unlocking new ways to monetize existing libraries and create more engaging programming. The demand for content is not slowing down, and having the ability to identify and access the right asset immediately is essential for meeting the demanding pace of production. Veritone and AWS magnify benefits for Media & Entertainment organizations With aiWARE serving as a foundation to incorporate AI and intelligent workflow capabilities into a content production environment, M&E brands can leverage aiWARE-based applications on AWS, such as Veritone Digital Media Hub, to streamline the management of unstructured data to activate the monetization of their vast media archives. By automating metadata tagging and creating intelligent and actionable media data lakes, content creators can efficiently uncover valuable content and ensure new assets do not become lost, allowing brands like the San Francisco Giants and CBS News to activate decades worth of content. “Leveraging AI to structure our digitized archive of 80-plus years of Giants baseball history, aiWARE and Digital Media Hub have accelerated and expanded our content projects,As part of the Veritone ecosystem, we like how we can incorporate more tools and capabilities as needed, future-proofing our content production for omnichannel fan engagement including Web3.” -Paul Hodges, vice president of content and entertainment, San Francisco Giants. As the next phase of content creation becomes more immersive and driven by “phygital” experiences, creators need tools to extend the content lifecycle to reach and access customers wherever they are consuming media. Veriverse, a portfolio of metaverse-ready solutions for the Enterprise, provides that much-needed bridge M&E brands are trying to cross to capitalize on the Web3 opportunity. Winner of back-to-back NAB Product of the Year awards for Veritone Voice and Veritone Avatar, Veriverse adds another layer of capability that is positioned to become industry standard. Veritone Voice and the rest of the Veriverse portfolio change how brands engage with their customers. With the ability to deploy internationally, including in the U.K., Veritone accelerates international product and service implementations while also taking into account GDPR standards, said James Poulter, CEO, and co-founder, Vixen Labs. From conversational AI applications to human-driven digital personas in immersive environments, we can truly make the digital experience feel human and authentic anywhere. In addition to Digital Media Hub and Veriverse, the Veritone portfolio of applications on AWS includes Attribute and Discovery, broadcast solutions designed to track and search content and provide proof-of-performance metrics. Additionally, through Veritone One, a performance-based audio and influencer agency creating impactful advertising for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, and Veritone Licensing, a full-service content licensing and clearance service activating content from some of the world’s most sought-after archives, companies have a one-stop-shop to implement a modern content practice to unlock their full revenue potential. Veritone’s artificial intelligence products and services are available at www.veritone.com. About Veritone Veritone (Nasdaq: VERI) is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and solutions. The company’s proprietary operating system, aiWARE™ powers a diverse set of AI applications and intelligent process automation solutions that are transforming both commercial and government organizations. aiWARE orchestrates an expanding ecosystem of machine learning models to transform audio, video and other data sources into actionable intelligence. The company’s AI developer tools enable its customers and partners to easily develop and deploy custom applications that leverage the power of AI to dramatically improve operational efficiency and unlock untapped opportunities. Veritone is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has offices in Costa Mesa, California; London and San Diego. To learn more, visit www.veritone.com.

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MEDIA AND BROADCASTING,BUSINESS

Kinetic by Windstream Deploys Cisco and Qwilt’s Open Caching Solution to Elevate Streaming Experience in North America

Cisco and Qwilt | August 08, 2022

Cisco and Qwilt announced the deployment of their unique content delivery solution across the North American network of Kinetic by Windstream, to enable superior streaming performance to its customers throughout the United States. The adoption of Cisco and Qwilt’s open caching solution considerably improves the quality and efficiency of live and on-demand video delivery while increasing Kinetic’s network capacity for other forms of media. Kinetic will deploy Qwilt’s open caching technology across its 170,000 miles of fiber network across the US. The deployment helps Kinetic address the growing number of live streaming events and other media consumption, as households increasingly turn to streaming services and expect broadcast quality to the home. Cisco’s edge compute and networking infrastructure, combined with Qwilt’s Open Edge Cloud for Content Delivery Solution, makes this possible by preparing Kinetic’s network to support increasing data volumes and improving the streaming experience. Gary Cooke, Senior Vice President of Engineering for Kinetic, said: “We tell our customers ‘High Speed for Here’ – whether live, on-demand, or other forms of media content. By partnering with Qwilt and Cisco, we’re ensuring our fiber-backed network has the scalability and capacity needed to handle the growth in demand for all forms of streaming content. By integrating innovative edge technologies across our network, we’re bringing high quality content closer to our customers than ever before. Open caching, an open architecture developed and endorsed by the Streaming Video Alliance, offers a platform that federates content delivery infrastructure deployed deep inside service provider networks. It provides open APIs, protection, and security mechanisms for content publishers. The open caching approach helps service providers quickly deploy an edge delivery footprint and addresses the needs of global and regional content providers for more capacity, consistency in content delivery, and performance assurance. The deployment also creates a telco cloud foundation for future use cases, such as website delivery and edge computing. “Streaming is the future of content delivery, but it doesn’t have to mark the end of great quality content experiences. By embracing content delivery at the edge through open caching technology, service providers are embracing a new model to manage their network capacity. Working alongside Qwilt, we’re equipping Kinetic by Windstream with the tools needed to bring fantastic experiences to its customers across North America and in doing so, democratize capacity across its nationwide infrastructure.” -Theodore Tzevelekis, Vice President and Head of Business Development, Mass-scale Infrastructure Group, Cisco Alon Maor, CEO and Co-Founder of Qwilt, said: “Soaring demand for streamed content brings an urgent need for service providers to scale their networks for the future. Through Cisco and Qwilt’s united vision, we empower service providers like Kinetic by Windstream to do more with their assets while accelerating their digital transformations. We look forward to helping modernize the way Kinetic delivers content and ready their growing network for the future of content experiences. About Qwilt Qwilt’s mission is to deliver connected experiences at the quality they were imagined. Its model is built on partnerships with service providers and content publishers, globally, to create a fabric that powers high-performance delivery of media and applications at the very edge of neighborhoods, big and small. Qwilt’s open architecture and inclusive business model make local edge delivery more accessible than ever before, unlocking more reliable, higher quality-of-experience at greater scale than previously possible. A growing number of the world’s leading content publishers and cable, telco, and mobile service providers rely on Qwilt for Edge Cloud services, including BT, Telecom Argentina, Telecom Italia, and Verizon. Founded in 2010, Qwilt is a leader of the Open Caching movement and a founding member of the Streaming Video Alliance. Qwilt is backed by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Cisco Ventures, Disruptive, Innovation Endeavors, Marker, and Redpoint Ventures. For more information, visit www.qwilt.com. About Cisco Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. Cisco inspires new possibilities by reimagining your applications, securing your data, transforming your infrastructure, and empowering your teams for a global and inclusive future. Discover more on The Newsroom and follow us on Twitter. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. About Kinetic Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream Holdings, a privately held FORTUNE 1000 communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at GoKinetic.com. Follow us on Twitter at @GoKineticHome. From Fortune. ©2021 Fortune Media IP Limited. All rights reserved. Used under license. Fortune and Fortune 1000 are registered trademarks of Fortune Media IP Limited and are used under license. Fortune is not affiliated with, and does not endorse products or services of, Windstream.

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