--Aggregator Signs Deal with ISP, freedom2surf
London-based Aggregator--a fledgling broadband video company which in July secured £9 million in new funding in a Series A round that was led by 3i, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Intel Capital, and which plans to launch a range of broadband TV services in the UK that will target niche, underserved audiences, including hobbyists and ethnic minorities (note: the company recently launched its first broadband TV service, "MoeTV," which is targeted at Russian ex-patriots living in the UK--see [itvt] Issue 7.00 Part 3)--has signed a co-venture agreement with MercuryMedia, a distributor of documentaries and factual and entertainment programming (note: MercuryMedia is perhaps best known for having released on the Web the 9/11 conspiracy documentary series, "Loose Change"). Their partnership will see the companies developing a broadband TV service, called "joiningthedots.tv," which they say will draw on MercuryMedia's extensive library of documentaries and factual programs, and which is scheduled to launch in February with around 200 titles. According to the companies, the new service, whose motto will be "independent films for independent people," will offer programming on such topics as current affairs, history, the arts, nature and science, as well as a portal for user-generated factual content, and discussion forums. "Today's TV schedules are driven by ratings and increasingly present a banal blend of soaps, gossip and reality shows, resulting in very limited space for high-quality, independent factual programming," MercuryMedia managing director, Tim Sparke, said in a prepared statement. "We believe that broadband is the natural space for documentary and we are excited to be co-venturing with Aggregator to create a permanent showcase for all kinds of factual films. Having released the 'Loose Change' documentary series and attracted over 30 million online viewers, we know that broadband provides the direct and independent route to the viewer that our genre of programming needs and deserves."
The new service will be located on an Aggregator-designed Web portal, and will be based on the company's content delivery platform. Aggregator says that it will carry out a range of service creation tasks, including metadata tagging, encoding, and user interface design. The company was co-founded by Martin Goswami, who serves as its CEO and who was formerly commercial director at BSkyB; and by Chris Griffin, who serves as its director of programming and who was formerly director of channels at Granada Media. The company's CTO, meanwhile, is ex-Liberate CTO, Raymond Drewry.
In other Aggregator news: the company has signed a deal with UK-based ISP, freedom2surf, that will see the latter offering Aggregator's broadband TV services (note: the services will be available both on the PC and on hybrid set-top boxes). Aggregator says that it will work closely with freedom2surf and other ISP's to enable its customers to watch programs on-demand and, where appropriate, to allow those customers to automatically download content during off-peak hours to ensure high-quality downloads and minimal disruption to the broadband network.
Originally Published: November 6, 2006 in [itvt] Issue 7.03 Part 3
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