Hulu investors, Providence form joint venture with Baidu to create online video company in China

Posted by Andrew | Media and Entertainment, Technology | Saturday 27 February 2010 4:52 am

BEIJING, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, today announced that Baidu and Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”) have signed an agreement pursuant to which Providence will invest$50 million in Baidu’s new online video company to develop an advertising supported online video business providing premium licensed content in China. Baidu will continue to maintain majority ownership in the company. The new online video company has registered http://www.qiyi.com as its domain name.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081103/BAIDULOGO )

“The online video market has great potential for growth in China,” said Mr. Robin Li, Chief Executive Officer of Baidu, Inc. “Providence is our ideal partner in this space as it has rich experience in investing in and managing businesses that distribute licensed content online. With Baidu’s strong ability to drive traffic and offer innovative products that suit user needs, we are very excited about the future prospects of this new company.”

“We are very pleased to partner with Baidu and are confident that this new venture will become an industry leader,” saidJonathan Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Providence. “As the world’s largest Chinese language internet search company and also the dominant video search engine in China, Baidu has unmatched competitive advantages in its user base and traffic. The new venture will provide users with a first-class viewing experience, and will work with regulators to ensure the lawful distribution of professionally produced media and entertainment content on the internet.”

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best way for people to find information. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu’s ADSs, each of which represents one Class A ordinary share, are currently trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “BIDU.”

About Providence Equity Partners

Providence Equity Partners is the leading global private equity firm specializing in equity investments in media, entertainment, communications and information services companies around the world. The principals of Providencemanage funds with over $22 billion in equity commitments and have invested in more than 100 companies operating in over 20 countries since the firm’s inception in 1989. Significant existing and prior investments include Bresnan Broadband Holdings, Casema, Com Hem, Digiturk, Education Management Corporation, eircom, Hulu, Idea Cellular, Kabel Deutschland, NexTag, Ono, PanAmSat, ProSiebenSat.1, Recoletos, TDC, Univision, VoiceStream Wireless, Warner Music Group, Western Wireless and Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network. Providence is headquartered in Providence, RI(USA) and has offices in New York, London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and New Delhi. Visit http://www.provequity.com for more information.

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1Gbps to your home

Posted by Andrew | Uncategorized | Wednesday 10 February 2010 7:40 am

Google, the world’s biggest online search engine, wants to turbocharge your Internet connection.

The company said Wednesday it is getting into the broadband service business with trials for fiber networks that will deliver Internet access speeds that are 100 times faster than what most Americans are getting today.

With its announcement, the Internet juggernaut added to a fast-growing list of industries it has barreled its way through. Tuesday, it announced a social networking feature directly aimed at Facebook. Late last year, it got into the cellphone business with a smartphone to rival Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry. The list goes on: The book, music, video, newspaper and map businesses have all been shaken by Google’s steady march to place its marker on those industries for the Web.

“Our goal is to experiment with new ways to help make Internet access better and faster for everyone,” wrote Google product managers Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly in the blog titled, “Think big with a gig: our experimental fiber network.”

The company said it will build fiber-to-the-home connections to a small number of locations across the country that will deliver Internet access speeds of 1 gigabit per second. It will take bids from municipalities beginning through late March to determine what areas would be part of its experiment. Google said access prices for consumers would competitive and that its network would reach at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the company doesn’t currently have plans to expand beyond the initial tests but will evaluate as the tests progress.

Why are they doing it? To experiment with applications ultra-fast broadband access could support. The firm also wants to try out new ways to build fiber networks and share those lessons to other network operators. Google, a proponent of open-access policies, said its network would give consumers a choice of multiple service providers.

The company emphasized it would adhere to network neutrality rules it has pushed for with federal regulators. Such rules would prevent a carrier from treating content differently. That could include favoring Google’s applications on the network over others.

“We hope this will serve as an example to other network operators that the open model should not be feared, but should be emulated,” said Markham Erickson, executive director of the Open Internet Coalition. “Profit and openness and mistakenly seen to be in conflict; in fact we believe they are synergistic and amplifying.”

Some of the fastest connections through cable, DSL and fiber access cap off around 20 to 50 megabits a second. Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told The Washington Post during a visit late last year that ultra-high-speed Internet connections were imperative for a next generation of applications to take off for the Web. Currently, he said, most network services fall short.

At such speeds, a rural health center could receive streaming three-dimensional medial imaging over the Web and discuss health issues with a physician in a Los Angeles, for example. Downloading high-definition, full-length feature films would take about five minutes, Google said.

Google has been experimenting with broadband service for years. It has been running a WiFi network in its headquarters city of Mountain View, Calif. It is also advocating at the Federal Communications Commission to use unlicensed spectrum, called White Spaces, for broadband services.

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Akamai beats the street yet again, returns to double digit growth

Posted by Andrew | CDN, Media and Entertainment, Technology | Thursday 4 February 2010 7:49 am

Akamai announced last night a return to double digit revenue growth of 12% and a 1% uptick to earnings. The numbers significantly beating street estimates and managements guidance.

Despite a challenging economy Akamai continues to show strong growth in all segments of its market including Media and Entertainment which skeptics had predicted severe discounting from competitors would upset the Akamai Apple cart.

CEO Paul Sagan once again has demonstrated that a balanced CDN service portfolio of data distribution, media and entertainment and web acceleration services are the key to success in this space.

With the potential growth in HD video clips and subscription based IPTV content in continued demand by consumers as well as the growth in cloud computing, Akamai is in a great position to take advantage of these macro economic trends.

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