Leading Participation Media Integration Company and Online Content Acceleration Provider Team to Deliver Landline, Mobile, and Online In-Show Integration for Major Broadcasters

 

FOR RELEASE ON: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2007

 

Los Angeles, Calif. and Cambridge, Mass. – Telescope, the leader in participation media services and Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) the leading service provider for accelerating content and applications online, today announced that the companies have provided the first multichannel voting platform for participation media events, part of a growing industry that has become more significant to broadcasters. The two companies have successfully delivered the application, which enables audience members of popular participation TV shows to send votes and interact via the Web, through their mobile devices, and using landline voice calls. 

 

FOX is among the first broadcasters to use the new Telescope-Akamai platform, which will be offered to a wide range of TV clients that demand real-time audience interaction through a robust multichannel environment. 

 

FOX’s ‘On the Lot,’ which concluded its run in August, tallied entries from landline, wireless, and online participants in real-time, using a powerful application, the Telescope Integrated Media Engine (TIME), for integrating Web votes into the overall tally.  This multichannel capability provides viewers with greater levels of choice in how and where they interact with a TV show, and makes their interactions relevant.  The combined Telescope-Akamai platform provides broadcasters with a robust, scalable set of technology services that can manage live events.

 

Participation Television (P-TV) is a growing format, which generated more than $300 million in revenue in the more mature UK market.  In the US, Americans used their mobile phones to text nearly 35 million times in the first quarter of 2007, generating roughly $35 million in revenue from premium SMS, according to Telephia.  As recently released network schedules indicate, P-TV is of growing importance to broadcasters, engaging audiences to watch and interact with programs.  Using the Telescope-Akamai solution, broadcasters can now add mass-scale Web interactivity to consumers’ choices.

 

"Our experiences with broadcasters have demonstrated that viewers are extremely loyal when voting online. We have delivered a rich interactive media platform for audience response that can be flexibly tailored to a wide range of participation media applications,” said Bill Wheaton, Vice President of Digital Media, Akamai Technologies. "The Telescope platform is one of the most complete participation media platforms in the industry and by leveraging both companies' solutions, joint customers get the reliability needed when investing in high-priority social media initiatives. We look forward to continuing to help our joint customers take advantage of the benefits of Participation Television."

 

Telescope was the first company to deliver a toll-free, mobile, and Web voting solution in 2005, for Discovery Channel’s ‘Greatest American;’ and the company has been a pioneer in the P-TV industry, delivering the first mass-scale voting application, the first U.S. call t.v. application, and the first participation t.v. application in syndication.

 

“The web is a very important tool for our broadcast partners.  We wanted to make sure we provided this channel to content owners when they were planning interactivity, and together with Akamai, we are providing our customers with the choice of platform, demonstrating the benefits of a truly multichannel solution” said Troy Sample, CEO of Telescope. “We have successfully proven, with our campaign implementations, that in-show integration with TV and the Web provides for a compelling way to attract audience interaction from the Web, as well as from mobile and land-line.  As best-of-breed partners, Telescope and Akamai can deliver customers a fully customized solution for audience response. We have learned a great deal from our work in the European market; namely, that technological innovation and creative license can co-exist, and ensure the integrity of the overall P-TV experience.  We believe that viewers need to be able to interact with their favorite shows via the channel of their choice, how they want and where they want.”

 

Executive-produced by Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg, ‘On the Lot’ gave aspiring filmmakers from around the world the chance to earn a $1-million development deal at DreamWorks.  After a global search and over 12,000 submissions, a group of talented filmmakers were selected from the applicants. These finalists were brought to Hollywood, where each week they unveiled their short films in the hopes of finally getting their "big break.”

 

The growth of P-TV has been led by consumers looking to move away from a passive viewing experience towards their desire to impact and interact with their favorite content. In order to satisfy growing viewer appetite, producers and content owners have been developing more options to engage their viewers.

 

About Akamai

AkamaiŽ is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and applications online. Thousands of organizations have formed trusted relationships with Akamai, improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance of their online businesses. Leveraging the Akamai EdgePlatform, these organizations gain business advantage today, and have the foundation for the emerging Web solutions of tomorrow. Akamai is "The Trusted Choice for Online Business." For more information, visit www.akamai.com.

 

About Telescope Inc.

Telescope is a participation media and mobile marketing pioneer.  The company provides mobile, landline and online interactivity services, including mass-scale television voting with the world’s largest phone voting solution, mobile marketing and content programs, text-to-screen, and application development for media and corporate clients. Telescope is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with offices in New York and London. Visit us at www.telescope.tv.

 

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Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, the effects of any attempts to intentionally disrupt our services or network by unauthorized users or others, failure to have available sufficient transmission capacity, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, changes in the technology with which Akamai’s services interoperate and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.