Livestation reveals global appetite for live TV news online

Livestation, the award-winning Internet broadcast platform for live TV news, today announced that it has completed a successful technical trial which has revealed a strong interest in live TV news on the desktop.

14 April 2008

Livestation viewers have been spending more than four hours a month catching up with the news. According to Matteo Berlucchi, Livestation's CEO, the figures are a strong indication that there is an unfulfilled appetite for live news online. "These statistics are extremely impressive and significantly higher than we expected, considering the limited selection of channels available during the trial."

The technical trial included international broadcasters Al Jazeera, BBC, Bloomberg, EuroNews, France 24, Sky and Canal Plus. Livestation is now preparing to release its beta version in the run up to its public launch later this year.

Developed by information broadcast technology leader Skinkers, Livestation enables anyone with a broadband connection to watch leading international television and radio news channels on their desktops free of charge. Combining the latest application level multicast technology co-developed with Microsoft Research with a sophisticated alert system and community building features, Livestation is setting a new standard for online TV.

Livestation provides an economically viable and scalable solution for delivering live television to mass audiences over the Internet and unlike other live streaming solutions, Livestation offers broadcasters a 'fixed cost' option. The new beta version of Livestation is being demonstrated in Booth #C944 at The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas.

In the ramp up to launch, Livestation is adding a number of new channels including Setanta Sports News, a leading UK sports news channel with all the breaking news from the world of sport including football, rugby, boxing, cricket athletics and darts which will be available to viewers in both the US and the UK.

A July 2007 survey of DVR owners by Ofcom found 94 and 90 percent preferred watching news and sports live, rather than recorded. Research firm GP Bullhound also identified a strong market for live Internet television. "While the Internet TV market has been focusing on developing on-demand video platforms, we believe that the market for live video streaming is potentially much larger and of more interest and appeal to computer users", said Grant Warrell, Director of GP Bullhound. "Live content creates valuable shared experiences and usually represents premium content, making it a key source of revenues for broadcasters. By bringing people together at the same time, live content also creates formidable new opportunities for audience interactivity when delivered on the Internet."

Chris Cramer, the former President of CNN International, and a strategic advisor for Livestation, says the platform challenges the old viewing model. "Watching or listening to a single news service is a thing of the past. I believe Livestation is the future of live information."

While Livestation is currently available on the PC only, a prototype of the first Mac-compatible version will also be on display at The NAB Show. The final Livestation product is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2008, and in the meantime viewers can register to download the pre-release beta version at www.livestation.com.

"Our technical trial users have been extremely pleased with Livestation’s superior video quality and ease of use, and their feedback has been invaluable in taking the platform to the next stage," said Matteo Berlucchi, CEO of Livestation. "Following the success of the technical trial, we will continue to strengthen the user experience during the beta period, and add more world-class news channels to realize our vision as the most comprehensive source of global news available anywhere."

About Livestation

Livestation is for anyone who wants to be able to follow live news coverage from leading broadcasters around the world. While the web increasingly provides a primary source of breaking news, there has so far been no single place to access live television and radio coverage from multiple channels. Livestation is specifically designed to deliver live broadcasts to large audiences over broadband, providing a global platform for coverage of news, sport and events. Users can sign up for the beta here.

Livestation has been developed by Skinkers, the market leader in information broadcast technology for the enterprise. For more information, visit www.skinkers.com.

For further information

Kate Lothian
Livestation
+44 (0)20 7579 8352
kate.lothian@livestation.com

Mike Manning
Cohn & Wolfe for Livestation
415-365-8526
mike_manning@cohnwolfe.com