October 18, 2006
Multicast's Online Video Technology Selected by BabyUniverse as Platform for BabyTV.com, the First Internet-based Television Network and Online Community for New Mothers
IP Network to Support Live Broadcasts and YouTube-style User-Generated Video Content
(Atlanta, GA) - October 18, 2006 - Multicast Media Technologies, Inc., announced today a landmark technology alliance with BabyUniverse (Nasdaq: POSH - News) to provide a superior technology platform for BabyUniverse's BabyTV.com, the Internet's first integrated broadcast channel and social networking community focused on the needs of new and expectant parents. BabyTV.com is slated to launch in late 2006 with live broadcast events, pre-recorded shows and user-generated video uploads. Multicast and BabyTV.com share a collective commitment to provide services, education, entertainment and a sense of community to expecting and new parents via technologically sound and service-based systems.
In addition to its technology underpinnings, Multicast brings a wealth of network management experience to BabyTV.com from similar efforts focused on the female demographic. Having successfully launched more than 40 Internet broadcast networks and delivered strategic solutions to more than 400 customers worldwide, Multicast's proprietary and client-focused broadcast offerings boast an aggregate audience that is more than two-thirds female. Multicast is responsible for leading female-focused Internet broadcast networks for clients such as The Knot.
BabyTV.com will initially launch with cross-marketing visibility to the 1.7 million monthly unique visitors of BabyUniverse-owned e-commerce properties such as BabyUniverse.com, PoshTots.com and DreamTimeBaby.com, and content properties such as PoshCravings.com and ePregnancy.com. Multicast will deliver BabyTV.com in an interactive format in which the consumer can tune in to broadcast-quality streaming television, upload videos to share with the community, interact with synchronized call-to-action events, engage in e-commerce transactions, browse links on the Web, and participate in BabyTV.com's community features, without ever leaving the integrated presentation platform. Furthermore, Multicast's platform provides advertisers, sponsors, designers and manufacturers with an unprecedented and enviable marketing arena.
"Multicast is excited to partner with BabyUniverse, an extremely well-known brand in the family and child arena," says Lou Schwartz, CEO of Multicast. "BabyTV.com is a prime example of a broadcast channel that would succeed in a traditional television environment. However, the added interactivity makes it so much more suited for a broadband experience. With the increased popularity of user-generated videos surfacing online, I am looking forward to providing a quality platform for parents to showcase highlights from their children's lives."
Multicast's Digital Media Management System (DMMS) is the only platform that enables corporations, municipalities, universities, churches and other content producers to own and operate their very own Internet broadcast channels at a fraction of the cost of traditional television, cable and satellite broadcasting. Multicast provides an integrated system for the management of digital content, the scheduling of video and audio broadcasts, and the linking of such broadcasts with interactive features. The end-result is an uninterrupted TV-like experience available for the Web viewer any time of the day or night, allowing for constant connections with users around the globe. Multicast utilizes its own DMMS and Active Digital Broadcast System to provide a complete solution for the seamless deployment of a 24/7, live or on-demand, interactive global broadcast channel.
"We are extremely excited to launch BabyTV.com with the support of Multicast," says John Textor, Chairman and CEO of BabyUniverse. "As a first-of-its-kind combination of television and the Internet in the baby and parenting space, we can satisfy the appetite of our audience for high-quality, informational content while providing our advertisers with an incredibly targeted and valuable marketing platform. With a long-established leadership position in the baby space, and with our principals' deep relationships within the entertainment industry, we are well positioned to convert our first-mover advantage in this new media arena into a long-term value proposition for our shareholders."
About BabyUniverse
BabyUniverse, Inc. (Nasdaq: POSH - News) is a leading online retailer and content publisher in the pregnancy, baby and toddler marketplace. Through its Web sites, BabyUniverse.com and DreamtimeBaby.com, the company is a leading online retailer of brand-name baby, toddler and maternity products in the United States. Through its Web sites PoshTots.com and PoshLiving.com, the company has extended its offerings in the baby and toddler market as a leading online provider of luxury furnishings to the country's most affluent female consumers. Through PoshCravings.com and ePregnancy.com, BabyUniverse has also established a widely recognized platform for the delivery of content and new media resources to a national audience of expectant parents. BabyUniverse is pursuing a dual strategy of organic growth and acquisition growth that is designed to establish BabyUniverse as the leader in the online baby marketplace. Beyond the baby segment, the company intends to leverage its efficient and growing e- commerce platform to acquire other female-oriented e-commerce, marketing and new media companies. The overall objective of BabyUniverse is to establish a market-leading e-commerce and new media business focused on the high-growth female marketplace.