ABC'S 'THE DREW CAREY SHOW' STREAMING VIDEO
INTERNET EVENT BREAKS RECORDS NEARLY 650,000 STREAMS WERE SERVED WHILE NEARLY TWO MILLION Visits Were Received on the 'Drew Cam' Web Sites, Where Viewers Could Enjoy The Show, Ask Questions About the Webcast, and Chat on Message Boards Joint Effort by Executive Producer Bruce Helford and Warner Bros. Television Brings Together ABC.com, Warner Bros. Online, and Microsoft Among the Ten Top Technology Companies
BURBANK, Calif., Nov 22, 1999 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A new
generation of convergence programming was created this past week by
"The Drew Carey Show," as last Wednesday's "Drew Cam" episode Webcast
brought nearly two million visits, serving nearly 650,000 streams. The
first-ever simultaneous primetime television-Internet Webcast was
hosted by Warner Bros. Online and ABC.com. The November 17 webcast
marks one of the largest online audiences watching a streaming media
event, with the streams greatly surpassing other events. Even with
these record-breaking numbers, many fans may have been turned away.
"Bruce Helford is once again leading the pack," said Peter Roth,
President, Warner Bros. Television, "and we are ecstatic about standing
with him at the cutting edge of the merger between entertainment and
the Internet. But, this success would not have been possible without
the historic collaboration of Helford, Mohawk Productions and Warner
Bros. Television with ABC Television, Warner Bros. Online, ABC.com,
Microsoft and the top technology companies."
-- The overnight household average rating for the "Drew Cam" television
episode was the second highest of the season, following the "Live"
show (11/10/99) the week before! The ABC television broadcast of
"Drew Cam" towered over competition, with 17.6 million viewers, and
posting a 8.6 rating/22 share among adults 18-49
-- In three half-hour increments, the recent NetAid concert garnered an
average 277,000 streams, while the recent Victoria's Secret lingerie
model webcast picked up even less streams -- but Drew attracted a
sexier 650,000 streams, beating both events
-- The "Drew Cam" Webcast garnered more viewers than many cable networks
on Wednesday night, and proved that streaming media is a viable
entertainment format for the next generation of video for the Web
Wednesday night's ABC.com and Warner Bros. Online Webcast, based on an
idea by former ABC executive Michael Becker, was made possible by
Microsoft's Windows Media Technology and a premier group of technology
companies who joined together for the first time ever in a streaming
video consortium. In addition to MICROSOFT, the ten top technology
partners in this unprecedented consortium included AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES,
INC., DON MISCHER TECHNOLOGIES, E-MEDIA, ENRON COMMUNICATIONS, GLOBIX,
IBEAM, INTERVU, SANDPIPER/DIGITAL ISLAND, SONIC FOUNDRY MEDIA SERVICES.
The ten technology partners had to be brought together to pool the
bandwidth and hosting resources required to accomplish the event. Using
the consortium of multiple network partners to distribute the traffic
loads, Microsoft Windows Media running on Windows NT and other
technologies were able to automatically distribute users to the most
available hosting servers to meet the massive simultaneous demand
across three time zones.
In this unique "The Drew Carey Show" episode, television viewers
watched daily activities in Drew's life, while the Internet audience
saw synchronous Webcam footage of what is happening in Drew's home when
he's out of his house. The Web-only activities included a cameo
appearance by Ed McMahon bringing a ten million dollar check for Drew,
only to find he is not at home; a party in Drew's home attended by
neighborhood dogs, and dancing ghosts. "The Drew Carey Show," which is
produced by Mohawk Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros.
Television, is executive produced by Bruce Helford, Drew Carey, Clay
Graham and Deborah Oppenheimer. The series was created by Drew Carey
and Bruce Helford and airs Wednesdays (9:00-9:30 pm ET/PT) on the ABC
Television Network. The episode was written by Holly Hester, based on a
story by Michael Becker and directed by Sam Simon.
Press Contacts: Sharan Magnuson of Warner Bros. Television,
818-954-7666, sharan_magnuson@warnerbros.com; or Michelle Bergman of
ABC.com, 818-623-3460, michelle.s.bergman@abc.com; or Kevin Brockman of
ABC Television Network, 310-557-7777, kevin.brockman@abc.com; or Harry
Medved of Warner Bros. Online, 818-977-3011, harry@wb.com.
SOURCE Warner Bros. Online
(C) 1999 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
prnewswire.com
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WEB PAGE: abc.com
GEOGRAPHY: California
INDUSTRY CODE: ENT
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