Solutions
Media and Entertainment | September 14, 2023
Entertainment technology industry leader IMAX Corporation® (NYSE: IMAX) and PFT, the creator of AI-powered technology solutions for the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry, today announced plans to expand their strategic relationship beyond theatrical and into the streaming ecosystem.
Under the arrangement, IMAX will expand access to its Stream Smart™ technology to PFT customers across Europe, Asia, and Australia. The expanded partnership will dramatically increase the global availability of Stream Smart™, which helps streaming platforms deliver maximum picture quality while significantly reducing distribution and storage costs.
"We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with IMAX, an industry trailblazer with a remarkable legacy of revolutionizing the global entertainment industry," said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, Global CEO of PFT. "For over a decade, CLEAR®, our flagship product, has spearheaded digital packaging and delivery services for prominent streaming platforms worldwide. CLEAR® & Stream Smart will help optimize our customers' encoding pipeline, so they deliver better streaming quality while optimizing CDN & storage costs."
"Many of Hollywood's biggest streaming platforms use Stream Smart™ to ensure quality and reduce costs, and we're excited to work with our partners at PFT to extend the reach of our technologies throughout key markets in Europe, Asia, and Australia," said Vikram Arumilli, General Manager of Streaming and Consumer Technology at IMAX. "Our suite of streaming technology products, including Stream Smart™, provides a best-in-class service for direct-to-consumer broadcast and streaming companies, and PFT's' ability to leverage this for their customers is a win-win for both organizations."
PFT and its parent company, DNEG, are industry leaders providing a full suite of technology and creative solutions, including IMAX post-production and 3D mastering.
IMAX and DNEG joined forces in 2022 for post-production, which included Indian films like Jawan, Pathaan, and RRR. This extended partnership will build upon the established theatrical relationship between IMAX and DNEG to develop a comprehensive video optimization solution. Stream Smart™ is an enterprise software product designed to deliver the best image quality and optimize delivery to unlock cost savings. This product was built from cutting-edge scientific advancements, state-of-the-art engineering, trusted studio relationships, and rooted in a real-world at-scale Emmy®-winning collaboration with Disney Streaming Services and SSIMWAVE.
Stream Smart™ will be the centerpiece of the IMAX showcase at IBC 2023. Sign up to meet with PFT and IMAX Streaming & Consumer Technology group at IBC:
About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture, and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you've never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX systems to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, making IMAX's network among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.
IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles, with additional offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo, and Shanghai. As of June 30, 2023, there were 1,718 IMAX systems (1,638 commercial multiplexes, 12 commercial destinations, 68 institutional) operating in 87 countries and territories. Shares of IMAX China Holding, Inc., a subsidiary of IMAX Corporation, trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code "1970."
About Prime Focus Technologies
Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) is the creator of CLEAR® and CLEAR® AI. It offers streaming platforms, studios, and broadcasters transformational AI-led technology and media services powered by the cloud that help them lower their Total Cost of Operations (TCOP) by automating their content supply chain. PFT works with major companies like Walt Disney-owned Star TV, Channel 4, ITV, Sinclair Broadcast Group, A&E Networks, Warner Media, PBS, CBS Television Studios, 20th Century Fox Television Studios, Lionsgate, Showtime, HBO, NBCU, TERN International, Disney+ Hotstar, BCCI, Indian Premier League and more.
About DNEG
DNEG (www.dneg.com) is a world-leading visual entertainment services company for the creation of feature film, television, and multiplatform content, with worldwide offices and studios across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
DNEG's critically acclaimed work has earned the company seven Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects and numerous BAFTA and Primetime EMMY® Awards for its high-quality VFX work. Current and upcoming DNEG projects on behalf of its Hollywood and global studio and production company partners include Spy Kids Armageddon (September 2023), No One Will Save You (September 2023), The Gilded Age S2 (October 2023), Nyad (November 2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (December 2023), Lift (January 2024), Dune: Part Two (March 2024), Mickey 17 (March 2024), Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (April 2024), Garfield (May 2024), Borderlands (August 2024), Furiosa (2024), That Christmas, Coyote vs. Acme, The Gorge, and Animal Friends.
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Media and Broadcasting
prnewswire | August 21, 2023
Hard Rock Digital today launched its Hard Rock Bet platform in New Jersey, delivering an elevated experience to online players throughout the state and guests of the retail sportsbook at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The highly-rated Hard Rock Bet platform integrates online casino, sportsbook, and rewards into one easy-to-use, frictionless experience, and is available on iOS, Android, and online at HardRock.bet.
"The launch of Hard Rock Bet in New Jersey marks an important milestone as we introduce an integrated product containing our new iCasino platform alongside our highly rated sportsbook," said Marlon Goldstein, CEO of Hard Rock Digital. "We are incredibly proud of these proprietary products and are excited to bring this elevated experience to New Jersey to entertain our players like no one else can."
"We're excited to welcome Hard Rock Bet to New Jersey! The Hard Rock Bet platform will provide our guests with an upgraded gaming experience both online and at our retail sportsbook, which will have a much broader selection of available bets, daily boosts, and promotions," said George Goldhoff, President of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. "This new platform will allow us to better engage, entertain, and reward our guests with a best-in-class experience however and whenever they play."
Proprietary iCasino
The New Jersey launch marks the debut of Hard Rock Bet's proprietary iCasino, which like Hard Rock's proprietary sportsbook experience, is easy to use and offers players more ways to play, with hundreds of slots, table games, and live dealer games. The platform will offer classic slot titles, exclusive new releases, and new titles each month from the top providers in the industry.
Aside from the new gaming options, Hard Rock Bet will offer New Jersey players a significantly upgraded and seamless experience including faster user flows for sign-up, log-in, deposits and withdrawals.
Loyalty Rewards
New Jersey players will also be able to participate in a revamped online rewards experience through Hard Rock Bet's Loyalty Rewards program, which offers unified rewards across sportsbook and online casino. Prizes and experiences in the online Rewards Store will be constantly updated and include bonus play/bets, cash, Mystery Wheel spins, and even a Tesla. The tiered rewards program will provide additional benefits and allow players to earn points and rewards more rapidly.
Hard Rock Bet Loyalty Rewards will also be integrated with Hard Rock's land-based rewards programs, where available. In New Jersey, online casino play will also earn players Wild Card Comp Dollars and Tier Credits for in-person rewards at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
Hard Rock Bet
Hard Rock Bet is among the highest rated online real money gaming experiences with a 4.8-star rating in the App Store and has continued to add more ways to play by recently launching Play-by-Play betting, personalized daily Overdrive Boosts, and Flex Parlays – a new feature that allows players to adjust the number of bets needed to win a multi-bet parlay. In addition to New Jersey, the Hard Rock Bet platform is currently available for sportsbook players in Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.
About Hard Rock Digital
Hard Rock Digital is the exclusive Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming vehicle for interactive gaming and sports betting on a global basis. Known the world over for its famous cafes, casinos, hotels, and music memorabilia collection, Hard Rock's legendary hospitality and entertainment serves as our foundation as we build the future of sports betting and internet gaming. Headquartered in Hollywood, Florida, and with offices in Austin, Texas and Atlantic City, New Jersey, Hard Rock Digital is dedicated to creating the best place to play for sports fans and mobile gamers everywhere.
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Technologies
businesswire | July 31, 2023
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. announced that it has issued an open Request for Proposals seeking a next-generation audience measurement partner capable of providing data that accurately reflects the scale and power of the company’s national and local media businesses. As one of the country’s largest omnichannel media companies, with a newly reimagined ad sales group, Nexstar believes media measurement must innovate in new ways, with innovative new products and cutting-edge technology that better serve the needs of advertisers, publishers, and consumers.
“Nexstar has an unprecedented collection of media assets, including the largest local broadcast group in the United States, a national cable news network, a free over-the-air television network, and a variety of digital media properties, and we need deeper, richer data about the audiences interacting with them,” said Michael Strober, Nexstar’s Chief Revenue Officer. “We believe current methods of audience measurement inadequately reflect our national reach and the effectiveness of the local activation we deliver to advertisers and marketers. We need to accelerate the pace of innovation in cross-platform measurement not just with national content, but with the content generated in every one of our local markets. We also must ensure that the best data is operational across the company.”
Nexstar intends to modernize the way audience measurement is conducted and utilized with advertising clients, and recently appointed Hanna Gryncwajg as Vice President of Measurement Innovation to lead this effort and oversee the RFP process. The company has also been actively engaging with new measurement partners, working earlier this year with VideoAmp and iSpot to deliver linear and streaming audience data generated across its media platforms.
“Our work with several new measurement partners has demonstrated the benefit of fresh thinking and the need for a much more expansive set of measurement capabilities across our entire footprint," said Ms. Gryncwajg. "We are looking for innovations and roadmaps that can deliver game-changing improvements to help us maximize the effectiveness of Nexstar’s portfolio for advertisers across the whole funnel – from awareness to conversion and purchase. We need to measure what matters most, and we need to do that across all of our endpoints with speed and precision."
About Nexstar Media Group, Inc
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is a leading diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across television, streaming and digital platforms, including more than 300,000 hours of news, sports, and entertainment programming each year. Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group comprised of top network affiliates, with 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 212 million people. Nexstar’s national television properties include The CW, America’s fifth major broadcast network, NewsNation, America’s fastest-growing national news and entertainment cable network reaching 70 million television homes, popular entertainment multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network. The Company’s portfolio of digital assets, including The Hill and BestReviews, are collectively a Top 10 U.S. digital news and information property. In addition to delivering exceptional content and service to our communities, Nexstar provides premium multiplatform and video-on-demand advertising opportunities at scale for businesses and brands seeking to leverage the strong consumer engagement of our compelling content offering.
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Industry Market
PRnewswire | August 08, 2023
Lionsgate and Hasbro today announced that they have signed an agreement under which Lionsgate will acquire the independent content platform eOne in a transaction valued at approximately $500 million, comprised of cash of $375 million subject to additional purchase price adjustments, and the assumption of production financing loans. The agreement is subject to Hart-Scott-Rodino approval and customary closing conditions.
eOne is a world-class producer of scripted and unscripted television and motion pictures with global distribution and a 6,500-title film and television library. Under the agreement, Lionsgate will acquire a library that includes titles such as 1917, Atomic Blonde, Green Book, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Renegade and Designated Survivor. eOne's scripted television business is powered by The Rookie TV franchise, now in its sixth season on ABC, the hit spinoff The Rookie: Feds, and production of Showtime's critically-acclaimed horror thriller Yellowjackets. eOne's unscripted business is led by the long-running hit reality series Naked & Afraid, now in its 11th season on Discovery.
eOne's film division has a track record of critically-acclaimed films including last year's action adventure The Woman King, which debuted to widespread critical acclaim, the Academy Award-nominated The United States v. Billie Holiday, and 1917, eOne's highest-grossing UK release ever. As part of the agreement, Lionsgate also will acquire film development rights to Hasbro's Monopoly, based on the wildly popular board game. The eOne acquisition will allow Lionsgate to continue to scale its operations in the UK and Canada, where it has recently launched production partnerships with BBC Studios (Ghosts), Channel Four (Motherland), the CBC (Son of A Critch), Rogers' CityTV (Wong & Winchester) and Bell Media.
"The acquisition of eOne checks off all the boxes in areas that play to our core strengths," said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. "It will be immediately and highly accretive, adds a world-class library with thousands of properties, strengthens our scripted and unscripted television business and continues to expand our presence in Canada and the UK. The deal is the culmination of our long-standing relationship with the immensely talented team at eOne, and it continues to build our position as one of the world's leading independent content platforms with a stockpile of great intellectual properties and a unique, non-replicable portfolio of assets."
The deal was negotiated by COO Brian Goldsmith, EVP & General Counsel Bruce Tobey, EVP Corporate Development Miles Delaney and VP Corporate Development Suzy Felfeli for Lionsgate. Jefferies & Co., Ernst & Young and Sheppard Mullin advised Lionsgate on the transaction.
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate encompasses world-class motion picture and television studio operations aligned with the STARZ premium global subscription platform to bring a unique and varied portfolio of entertainment to consumers around the world. The Company's film, television, subscription and location-based entertainment businesses are backed by a 18,000-title library and a valuable collection of iconic film and television franchises. A digital age company driven by its entrepreneurial culture and commitment to innovation, the Lionsgate brand is synonymous with bold, original, relatable entertainment for audiences worldwide.
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