NEW YORK (October 23, 2008) - Responding to the growing demand to move broadcast content from the air to the Web in a simple, painless way, Critical Media today announced Syndicaster 2.0, the next generation of its Web-based, real-time broadcast-to-online video platform. Syndicaster 2.0 leverages the technology behind the world's largest real-time broadcast video capture infrastructure - which processes more than 15,000 hours of broadcast video every day. The new service enables broadcasters to search, create, edit and distribute online video clips within seconds of airtime, exponentially extending the shelf life and reach of their video assets.
In the current digital media landscape, broadcasters face a unique and daunting challenge: adapt to the rapidly evolving online marketplace or suffer the consequences. No longer is it enough for broadcasters to simply air content and post it to their own Web sites hours later, when it is already stale and out-of-date. The 24x7 news cycle demands that broadcasters be equipped to rapidly search, edit, create and distribute clips to multiple Web destinations all within seconds of broadcast.
Syndicaster 2.0 unshackles broadcasters by allowing their editorial staff to fulfill this critical task from anywhere and to process the video from multiple stations from one access point. The new platform empowers broadcasters to access their on-air content in near real-time from any computer anywhere at anytime and immediately create video clips for online distribution via a simple, password-protected Web interface (Syndicaster.tv).
"Syndicaster 2.0 is no less than a full online video ecosystem for broadcasters, offering real-time ingestion, transcoding, robust editing tool sets, remote Web-based access, instant publishing and syndication of created clips," said Sean Morgan, CEO, Critical Media. "And all this with full control and massive online distribution potential for broadcasters' content assets. There is no need to invest in expensive editing workstations that need to be installed and maintained in a broadcast station and no need for editors to be present in the broadcast facility during airtime."
New features exclusive to Syndicaster 2.0 include:
The inherent value of Syndicaster 2.0 lies in the fact that station groups finally, for the first time, have access to all of their content, from all of their markets, in real-time on one standards-driven platform. This enables broadcasters to better compete in their local markets while also helping them create new revenue streams from their content within seconds of airtime, maximizing the value of their video assets via real-time syndication to thousands of distribution points across the globe.
"Advertising-based revenues are going to fuel the broadband video industry for the foreseeable future," said Ion Puspurica, EVP, General Manager, Broadcaster Services Group for Critical Media. "The ad model requires scale and syndication is the best way to deliver it. With Syndicaster 2.0 we have eliminated all the friction points that typically hinder the massive distribution of broadcast assets in online syndication, giving broadcasters unlimited opportunities to drive revenue from their broadcast content."
Critical Media Inc. is a company at the forefront of real-time broadcast media capture, search, syndication and information services. The Company provides tools and services to content consumers, providers, distributors and advertisers, leveraging its real-time broadcast capture infrastructure. Every day, Critical Media digitizes and monetizes over 14,000 hours of keyword searchable broadcast content from 4 continents. The Company is comprised of two divisions, the Information Services Group which markets Critical Mention, the company's dynamic real-time business intelligence platform, utilized by 25% of the Fortune 100, and the Broadcaster Services Group focused on building the world's largest ad-supported repository of fully searchable, authoritative video news and information - ClipSyndicate, while providing broadcasters and content owners with risk-free, streamlined solutions, such as its clip publishing platform - Syndicaster, and other solutions intended to take all complexity out of distributing and monetizing their video assets online. Critical Media was founded in 2002 under the name Critical Mention by Sean Morgan, one of the founders of Screaming Media - the largest text syndication company on the Internet now owned by Dow Jones, Inc. and is headquartered in New York City. For more information please visit www.critical-media.com.