Sonicbox and iBEAM Partner to Deliver Compatible Systems For Internet Radio Digital Ad Insertion
Companies Seek to Make It Easy for Internet Radio Stations to Generate Revenue
biz.yahoo.com
NEW YORK, Streaming Media East 2000, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonicbox Inc., creators of the iM Band, and iBEAM Broadcasting (Nasdaq: IBEM - news), a leading provider of Internet broadcast network services, today announced an agreement to make their ad insertion technologies compatible.
Both companies agreed to work together to adopt a common flagging specification for marking ad spots in streaming digital audio content. Digital flagging allows ad spots within radio broadcast streams on the Internet to be marked so that they can be striped over with new, targeted ads. Radio stations widely view this capability as the key to delivering significant NTR or ``non-traditional revenue.''
``Our agreement with iBEAM marks a change in how stations will select Internet ad insertion partners by enabling them to focus on revenue relationships, instead of maintenance of proprietary ad insertion systems,'' said Niko Bolas, president of Sonicbox. ``Radio stations want to make money from the Internet, not manage a variety of incompatible advertising technologies that complicate their ability to distribute and monetize their content.''
``iBEAM has built a broadcast network that enables stations to reach a large Internet audience and make money,'' said Peter B. Desnoes, president and CEO of iBEAM. ``Cooperation with Sonicbox on the fundamentals for ad insertion lets us serve a broader range of customers with our value-added services.''
Through compatibility, Sonicbox and iBEAM's focus will be on ways to increase station revenue, without straining station infrastructure or human resources. Stations can now select the revenue model that works best for them without having to install multiple systems at their station.
Separately, Sonicbox will also team with iBEAM to provide iM Band stations with superior streaming capability. By encouraging iM Band stations to use the iBEAM network, Sonicbox is looking to ensure that iBand stations will have wide-bandwidth and high availability at a reasonable cost.
About Sonicbox, Inc.
Sonicbox Inc., creators of the iM Band, delivers the first Internet radio network that brings ``Best of Planet'' programming to your favorite stereo. Sonicbox makes listening to high-quality Internet radio and audio from around the world as easy as tuning your FM dial. With software, hardware remote tuners and the company's proprietary iM Tuning technology, listeners can easily tune to a wide range of stations for enjoyment on their stereos from anywhere in the home. The Sonicbox ad insertion technology creates a strong revenue engine for their Internet radio stations partners on the iM Band. More information is available on the web at: sonicbox.com.
About iBEAM Broadcasting
iBEAM Broadcasting©, headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., was founded by data communications, television, and telecommunications professionals in 1998. iBEAM is a privately held company funded by Crosspoint Venture Partners, Accel Partners, Media Technology Ventures, Stanford University, Intel Corporation, Liberty Digital Corporation, Covad Communications, Microsoft Corporation and Sony Corporation.
NOTE: Sonicbox, iM, iM Tuner and iM Band are trademarks of Sonicbox, Inc. |
