Viewpoint Corporation and SportsLine.com Ink Deal to Launch "AirTime," a Breakthrough Video Ad Technology
NEW YORK, NY (ots)
Viewpoint Corporation (NASDAQ: VWPT) and SportsLine.com, Inc. -- a leading Internet sports media company and publisher of CBS SportsLine.com -- today announced an agreement to launch Viewpoint's video ad deployment technology called AirTime for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship in March 2004.
AirTime technology is designed to allow publishers and advertisers to place high quality video ads within existing web page inventory. Since video ads play within a publisher's site layout -- not on a separate page or in a popup -- AirTime allows advertisers to easily replace conventional ads with video. Additionally, because ads are pre-cached, buffering delays are eliminated so users see video ads immediately upon landing on any page.
"AirTime delivers incredibly high quality video without buffering, even on narrowband, and without an interruption of the web page experience," says Jay Amato, Viewpoint's CEO and president. "And AirTime goes much farther than similar Web publishing applications, because advertisers can place any video ad in any publisher's standard ad unit and because it enables next generation per-user targeting, rotation, tracking and reporting. No one else can deliver those capabilities."
Viewpoint -- a leading provider of Internet graphics and delivery systems -- enters the video ad marketplace at a time when analysts say advertiser demand for video delivery is increasing dramatically, even more than demand for rich media ad delivery. AirTime, part of Viewpoint's Creative Innovator ad deployment and management system, is currently being incorporated into the CBS SportsLine.com site so that advertisers will get instant, reliable video ad playback in time for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship that begins on March 16, 2004.
"The sports fans who visit CBS SportsLine.com and the advertisers who advertise with us expect the very best," said Bruce Jaret, vice president of sales marketing services and operations for SportsLine.com. "Fans demand instant, innovative presentations of sports information that are not only seamless but exciting, and advertisers have come to expect SportsLine.com to be on the cutting edge of Internet advertising. Our new relationship with Viewpoint enables us to provide those cutting-edge experiences for our fans and for the advertisers looking to connect with them."
Revenues for the relationship will be calculated according to the Internet advertising industry's usual model of price-per-impression delivered by Viewpoint to SportsLine users.
"Our technology has a reputation for providing high quality, cutting-edge graphical content to forward thinking companies like SportsLine.com," added Mr. Amato. "Now, with AirTime, we're providing those benefits to Internet video publishers and advertisers. Viewpoint is setting the standard for vibrant, cost-effective in-page video ads that provide advertisers with robust tracking and reporting. No one else even comes close."
About Viewpoint
Viewpoint Corporation is a premiere interactive-visualization distribution company providing visual application development, content assembly and delivery technology to leading companies such as America Online, IBM, Kimberly Clark, Electronic Arts, General Motors, Lexus, Toyota, Scion, Samsung, HP-Compaq and Sony. The company has 100 employees at its headquarters in New York City and in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.
This press release may contain "forward-looking" statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar expressions that reflect Viewpoint's current expectations about its future performance. These statements and expressions are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Viewpoint's actual performance to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these statements and expressions. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include those described in the Company's filings and reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the lack of assurances that Airtime will be incorporated into the CBS SportsLine.com site in time for the NCAA Division I Mens's Basketball Championship.Viewpoint, Creative Innovator and AirTime are trademarks of Viewpoint Corporation. Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2004 Viewpoint Corporation. All rights reserved.
ots Original Text Service: Viewpoint Corporation Internet: http://www.presseportal.ch
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