Castfire

About 2 months ago, Saxotech contacted us to explore the Castfire solution. They were in the 11th hour with a competitor and termed one of my favorite new sayings (though it is not really new, just context), “consider this speed dating so we can make a decision.” Today, we are announcing a partnership between Saxotech and Castfire in which we will be integrated into their CMS to allow newspapers to seamlessly publish, distribute and monetize their audio and video.

Saxotech is a very impressive organization that you have probably never heard of! They provide the infrastructure, online and in print, for 400 newspapers worldwide. There website gives small, but impressive, metrics that reflects the power of their platform (as of 4/20/2007):

• 456 Customers
• 10,712 Users
• 13,755,545,896 page views

Castfire will provide the multimedia CMS to allow their customers to reach audiences across multiple platforms and devices: web, iPod, Zune, Apple TV, syndication, etc. In addition, the platform will allow their sales forces to monetize all of the content and provide additional revenue streams to their organizations. We will be working Saxotech to innovate and provide additional outlets for the content. Audiences expect content to be delivered in a variety of formats: print (*real* paper and the web), audio, enhanced audio, and video. This partnership will provide those features, and more, out of the box.

I can say, personally, that our interactions with Saxotech have been outstanding and the possibilities this provides are phenomenal. Their knowledge of the news publishing and our knowledge of multimedia publishing are a fantastic match! We will highlight customers as they become live, which will be shortly.

SAXOTECH and Castfire Partner to Provide an Integrated Video Solution for the Media Publishing Industry

Agreement Allows Media Companies to Reach New Audiences, Drive and Manage Viewership and Realize New Ad Revenue Opportunities

TAMPA, Fla., April 20, 2007 – SAXOTECH today announced it has partnered with Castfire to enable its media company Web sites to launch ad-supported Internet video channels, syndication initiatives and user-generated media campaigns.

SAXOTECH will integrate the Castfire solution with SAXOTECH Online™, an enterprise-class Web publishing platform developed exclusively to enable the rapid flow of content from news sources to dynamic, multimedia Web sites. With the technology integration, the two applications will work together to seamlessly publish video content.

SAXOTECH will offer a one-stop video solution empowering its customers to distribute content in a controlled video player on their Web sites, while at the same time providing additional revenue streams through pre- and post-roll ad spots. The toolset also allows for upload and management of user-generated content.

The Castfire solution is not limited to online video, but allows for the management and distribution of audio and enhanced audio. Castfire was designed as a platform to distribute multimedia content in all formats keeping media publishing companies ahead of the technology curve.

“SAXOTECH recognizes that video is a powerful medium; crucial to online news and information consumption,” said Peter Ibsen, executive vice president of strategy and products of SAXOTECH. “After a thorough evaluation, we are excited to partner with Castfire and believe the integrated video solution will provide our customers with a customizable architecture, robust features, and a templated system that will ensure a cohesive branded experience even with user-generated content.”

“This partnership blends two top media technologies integrated to provide a single environment for distributing news and information,” said Brian Walsh, CEO of Castfire. “Flexibility is key in reaching audiences and Castfire provides the ability to view not only on the Web but through RSS and with devices such as iPods, Apple TV or Tivo. We couldn’t be more excited to be working with SAXOTECH to bring next-generation technologies to media companies and their audiences.”

This technology relationship is a key element of SAXOTECH’s continued strategy for successful media businesses, outlining how next-generation media companies will benefit from a single, focused technology infrastructure and removing the need to manage multiple vendor integration.

The integrated video solution will be generally available in May, 2007.

About SAXOTECH
SAXOTECH is the leading provider of integrated Web and editorial content management software, and online advertising solutions designed exclusively for the media publishing industry. Our scalable, easy-to-implement solutions are used to plan, create, edit, design and publish for multiple channels and are backed by world-class customer support. Today, SAXOTECH’s solutions are in use by more than 450 publishers around the world. For more information on SAXOTECH, please visit our Web site at www.saxotech.com.

About Castfire
Founded in 2005, Castfire provides content management, distribution and monetization tools for audio and video online. Designed for high volume sites with large libraries of content, the system features easy to use interfaces and advanced APIs to allow publishers the ability to reach audiences across multiple platforms and in multiple formats. For more information on Castfire, please visit our Web site at www.castfire.com.

Sometimes it is shockingly evident to me that Castfire is able to move forward only because of the highly skilled members of the team. I have to publicly thank Christoph, Leo and David for each owning their part and getting this release into production. This week alone has seen 5 AM mornings — that’s finish, not start — three times!

To Christoph: yet again you amaze me, my friend. Castfire would not be here without the super human efforts you continually extend. As always, let’s keep moving on to the next release.