Cuts Launch Costs and Time to Market in Half, Propels Enterprise-Class Scalability; Strategic “Platform of Trust” Powers eCommerce, Assures Content Rights Are Preserved Typifies the Next Stage in Building Secure Online Businesses.
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SANTA MONICA, Calif. & BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ExtendMedia today announced that its customer ClickStar Inc. has completed the creation of a novel broadband content management platform that serves as the foundation of its highly anticipated online entertainment service, to be launched this week. By using a new version of ExtendMedia’s software, OpenCASE™, ClickStar accelerated time to market, trimmed estimated launch costs, and future-proofed its infrastructure to support scalability and growth. Most importantly Extend’s software allowed ClickStar to create a strategic platform of trust to power the service’s eCommerce facilities and assure content rights are preserved.
ClickStar’s work with Extend software typifies the embrace of so-called white label broadband video solutions – projected to become a $1.9 billion market by 20111 - and the opportunity for such solutions providers to propel the online content industry to greater revenues at lower cost.
“At ClickStar our business mission is to build a direct relationship between artists and consumers while decreasing the time window between theatrical release and content availability online,” said James Ackerman, CEO of ClickStar.
“Extend’s software let us build out our infrastructure faster, at less cost, and with fewer staff members. This helped us meet our long-term road map for the business in an amazingly short time,” Ackerman continued. “Extend’s team and its enterprise-class product reflect an exceptional understanding of online content businesses. In Extend we found a partner, not only a vendor, and together we’re going to change the future of online entertainment. ””
Modularity Gives Customers Control
Clickstar’s team was able to wrap its client-facing software around Extend’s core platform, using OpenCASE’s well-documented APIs and web services. The ClickStar platform relies on the newest version of OpenCASE to run the commercial aspects of ClickStar’s online video business – including the definition and enforcement of product and pricing rules; collection and mediation of customer transactions; preparation of content assets; and digital rights management.
With OpenCASE’s rich complement of APIs, ClickStar fully integrated a custom-built player with all fundamental business systems, and added new features for global expansion, such as multiple languages and currency support. The software’s modularity allowed ClickStar to basically custom build from pre-designed components – an approach that decreased launch costs, while providing unprecedented flexibility.
Scalability for Opening-Day Crowds
“When we go live with content, it’s like opening day at the movies – we anticipate tremendous crowds and Web traffic at the site,” said Dan Graham, vice president of operations at ClickStar.. “When we did our due diligence on Extend, they had APIs available that other companies hadn’t even begun to build, and experience in deploying them. The fact that Extend’s software is enterprise-grade and also available as a hosted ASP solution was an essential factor in our decision. This approach gives us access to enough upside capacity when needed, yet offloads day-to-day management from our relatively small team.”
Leverages ExtendMedia’s New OpenCASE Release
The most recent release of OpenCASE gives ClickStar further control over its online content businesses. Coupon capabilities provide the ability to launch novel campaigns to attract new users and boost existing sales. Also, ClickStar now has access to a notifications engine, which can be used to alert consumers when new content has arrived.
Through the new OpenCASE Entitlement Manager, ClickStar can provide exceptional end-user customer support to further lower operational costs and boost end-user satisfaction. ClickStar’s customer support representatives can re-start downloads, provision devices, process refunds and analyze and solve problems in real time through an intuitive web-based interface.
The Trend in Online Content
“Major broadband content players are evolving away from one-off, promotional deployments and toward fully featured, integrated online businesses,” said Will Richmond, president of Broadband Directions, LLC, a market intelligence and consulting firm specializing in broadband-delivered video. “As ClickStar’s experience shows, succeeding in these time consuming and complex initiatives necessitates enterprise-class software and services able to support myriad customer requirements.”
“Building effective online content businesses requires strategic thinking, deep, broad enterprise class technology, and a genuine partnership that bring other players to the table to make that business work,” said Keith Kocho, founder of ExtendMedia. “Extend has the depth of expertise to serve as the foundation of ClickStar’s exciting new business model. We’re honored to help the company grow.”
About ClickStar Inc.
ClickStar Inc. is a broadband entertainment venture between Intel Corporation and Revelations Entertainment, the production company headed by Morgan Freeman and business partner Lori McCreary. ClickStar’s core mission is to offer Broadband Debuts, exclusive first-run feature films and Artist-Created channels from Hollywood’s biggest names with complete viewing flexibility and a unique opportunity to get closer to the stars. Visit ClickStar online at www.cstar.com. More information about ClickStar Inc. can be found at www.ClickStarInc.com.
About ExtendMedia, Inc.
ExtendMedia delivers digital content service infrastructure solutions that provide the foundation for today’s leading content businesses. Our flagship product, OpenCASE™, is a flexible content service management platform that allows companies to swiftly provision, secure, package and monetize digital content offerings. OpenCASE’s sophisticated business rules and automation controls allow our customers to lower operational overhead and adapt to changing business needs. Its rich feature set for metadata and asset management, DRM policy, syndication, billing, and consumer profiling powers the online offerings of top-tier media companies, broadband service providers, and mobile operators. ExtendMedia brings years of content management and delivery experience to the table in solving each customer’s unique challenges. ExtendMedia’s customers include Cablevision, Nelvana Entertainment, Bell Canada and MTS. For more information, please visit us at www.extend.com.
1 ABI Research, “Broadband Video ASP Solutions,” 10/12/06.