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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- August 16, 2000
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com 
o Rich Email Provider Radical Communication Raises $15 Million
o Riot Entertainment To Develop Wireless Service For Marvel
o ShowBiz Data Acquires Digital Savant
o Media Station Receives $15.2 Million in Funding
o Digital Infrastructure Company DoDots Raises $15 Million
o Chinese Music Site MusicZone To Use AltaVista Search Service
o Briefly Noted: Thomas Timberwolf, Viasource Communications,
Primedia, HireStrategy.com, Universal Studios Home Video,
WiredPlanet, Wink Communications, Americana Publishing,
Starz Encore Group, PublishOne, Tickets.com – Chicago Cubs,
TheGlobe.com - iEntertainment
_____________________________________________
o Rich Email Provider Radical Communication Raises $15 Million
Marina Del Rey, Calif. -- Radical Communication, a developer of audio,
video and rich media email technology, announced today that it has raised
$15 million in its latest venture capital round. Lehman Brothers’ Venture
Capital Group led the investment. Other investors included the EastWest
VentureGroup and Pioneer Internet Fund. Los Angeles-based Radical
Communication’s most popular product, called RadicalMail, allows users to
send interactive email. The company also announced today that it has named
Bruce Stein, former president of Mattel, as its new chairman and CEO.
http://www.radicalcommunication.com 
_____________________________________________
o Riot Entertainment To Develop Wireless Service For Marvel
Helsinki -- Riot Entertainment, a Finnish wireless company, is teaming up
with Marvel Enterprises to bring Spiderman and other superheroes to mobile
phones. In a statement, the companies said that Riot Entertainment will
create games and other interactive services, using Marvel's more than
4,700 characters, for mobile phones and wireless devices. Nokia Ventures,
News Corp., and Softbank UK have invested in Riot Entertainment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000815/ny_marvel__2.html 
_____________________________________________
o ShowBiz Data Acquires Digital Savant
Los Angeles, Calif. -- ShowBiz Data, Inc., an entertainment
business-to-business portal and fan web site, announced that it has
acquired Digital Savant, a developer of Internet-based entertainment
applications. The financial terms of the deal were not released. Los
Angeles-based ShowBiz Data recently launched cannesmarket.com, an exchange
for film rights that was developed in partnership with Cannes Market.
Digital Savant's main product helps filmmakers and distributors manage
press and marketing materials. ShowBiz Data said it will begin offering
Digital Savant's applications on its sites. Alex Shohet, the founder of
Digital Savant, will become the president of ShowBIZ Data, which is funded
by Los Angeles-based Zone Ventures, Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson,
German-based media conglomerate, Burda Digital Media and Chicago-based
Stern Joint Venture.
http://www.digitalsavant.com/press/press.html 
http://www.showbizdata.com 
_____________________________________________
o Media Station Receives $15.2 Million in Funding
Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Media Station, Inc., an interactive technology and
content aggregation company, today announced that it has received $15.2
million in its latest round of private equity financing. NTT
Communications, a Japan-based e-commerce platform provider, led the round.
Other companies participating in the funding round included Motorola,
Broadwing, Exelon Capital Partners, and Jeffries & Co. Michigan-based
Media Station has developed technology allowing users to remotely play
CD-ROM titles installed on a server residing at a broadband service
provider. "The investment community is recognizing that one of the hottest
segments in the Internet commerce area is the availability of rich,
interactive entertainment and educational content," said Van Baker, vice
president of e-commerce for The Garter Group. "On-demand broadband
multimedia could be the next big opportunity for the entertainment
industry."
http://www.mediastation.com/press/releaseAug1600.htm 
_____________________________________________
o Digital Infrastructure Company DoDots Raises $15 Million
Sunnyvale, Calif. -- DoDots, Inc., a Sunnyvale-based digital
infrastructure company, today announced that it has raised $15 million in
its second round of financing. Chase Capital Partners led the round; other
investors included Merrill Lynch, Staenberg Venture Partners, and Joe
Vetter. Softbank Venture Capital, which invested in the first round, also
participated in the second round. Sunnyvale-based DoDots has developed
technology for the distribution of streaming media, commerce,
transactions, games, music, and other applications.
http://www.dodots.com/ 
____________________________________________
o Chinese Music Site MusicZone To Use AltaVista Search Service
Palo Alto, Calif. -- MusicZone, an online music provider for the Chinese
market, today announced that it has chosen AltaVista’s web and multimedia
search services for its online music site. AltaVista, which has developed
search capabilities for MP3 files, music videos, and other images, said it
has one of the largest entertainment indexes on the Internet. MusicZone,
the first company to license AltaVista’s multimedia services, said it will
launch its site next month. "Top notch search technology is very important
to our business model, and AltaVista was a natural choice because of its
multi-lingual and multimedia search capabilities," said Bryan Biniak, CEO
of MusicZone. According to a report by the Yankee Group, Internet users in
Asia will exceed 374 million in five years.
http://www.musiczone.com 
_____________________________________________
o Briefly Noted:
(Los Angeles) CNet reported today that Warner Bros. Online plans to launch
a new animation character, called Thomas Timberwolf, based on the works of
animator Chuck Jones who developed the Looney Tunes characters almost 50
years ago. The article said that six-minute episodes of "Thomas
Timberwolf" will be shown on the Warner Bros. site and the Entertaindom
service. "Timberwolf's inception is the latest example of the Web's
growing influence as a sounding board for creative content," the article
said. "Companies such as Icebox.com, AtomFilms, Ifilm, iCast,
MediaTrip.com and Shortbuzz are luring animators and filmmakers to create
features destined for the television or the movie screen."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2538794.html?tag=st.ne.1005.thed.ni 
 
(Ft Lauderdale, Fla.) Trying to make it through a difficult market for
IPOs, broadband company Viasource Communications announced today that it
has reduced the size of its initial public offering from 11 million shares
to 6 million, and dropped the expected price range to $8-$10 a share from
$14-$16. Florida-based Viasource's services include long-term maintenance
for broadband video, voice and data technologies.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000816/ca_viasour.html  
(New York) Reuters reported that Tom Rogers, CEO of Primedia Inc., said on
Wednesday that traditional media companies are likely to come out ahead as
the Internet transforms the media industry. "Traditional media companies
are going to win the game. The Internet-only approach is not going to
work. Customer acquisitions and sales costs are killer to Internet-only
companies,'' Rogers told an audience at Jupiter Communications' online
advertising forum in New York. "Be wary of companies that say they have
successfully (completed) their evolution into the new media world,''
Rogers said. "We are still in the early innings.''
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000816/n16644784.html 
(Reston, Va.) Virginia-based HireStrategy.com, an online recruitment firm
focused on Internet companies, announced today the launch of its New Media
practice. HireStrategy.com said the New Media practice will focus on
start-ups and Internet companies.
http://www.hirestrategy.com/press-releases8aug162000.asp 
(Universal City, Calif.) Universal Studios Home Video announced today an
Internet marketing campaign with partners including MSN.com, Amazon.com,
and NeoPlanet, Inc. The partners will provide Universal Studios Home Video
with streaming video, online auctions, email messages, and custom
browsers.
(San Francisco, Calif.) WiredPlanet, a provider of streaming
entertainment, and Revolution, a music magazine, today announced a
partnership to create a “Revolution-branded music player” and the
"Revolution network," a network of streaming music stations. Starting in
October, Revolution said it will create a new radio each month to
correspond to the current issue of its magazine.
http://www.wiredplanet.com 
http://www.planetrevolution.com 
(Alameda, Calif.) Wink Communications, Inc., a provider of commerce over
television, today announced that six more television advertisers --
Nissan, Thomson, E-Trade, DLJdirect, SC Johnson, and MyTurn.com -- have
agreed to develop Wink-enhanced television commercials.
http://www.wink.com 
(Albuquerque, NM)  Americana Publishing announced today that it has agreed
to an Internet music licensing agreement with the Harry Fox Agency. The
licensing agreement is for Americana Publishing's americanasongs.com web
site. "We intend to offer a wide variety of music and we are committed to
pay royalties to artists and appropriate parties and provide the latest
technology to protect their works from unauthorized duplication," said
George Lovato, chairman of Americana Publishing, Inc.
http://www.americanasongs.com 
(New York)  Starz Encore Group, a premium movie channel service, and
StreamSearch, an aggregator and distributor of media on the Internet,
today announced a partnership to promote Starz Encore cable and satellite
programming on the web. "As television and computers continue to grow
closer together, our partnership will ensure Starz Encore premium movie
channels have a strong presence on the web," said Warren Zeller, vice
president of tactical marketing for Starz Encore.
http://www.ss.com 
http://www.starzencore.com 
(Santa Clara, Calif.)  PublishOne Inc., a developer of online publishing
and distribution services for business information publications, today
announced a new service built on digital rights management technologies.
The company said its service enables publishers to securely distribute and
sell reports, newsletters, journals, trade information, and other content
over the Internet.
http://www.publishone.com 
(Chicago, IL)  Tickets.com, Inc. and the Chicago Cubs today announced an
exclusive ticketing services agreement that will begin next year.
Tickets.com was recently selected to provide ticketing services to the
Major League Baseball web site.
http://www.tickets.com 
http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com 
(New York)  TheGlobe.com Network, one of the largest online community
networks, and iEntertainment Network, an online media company, have formed
a partnership to create three co-branded online games that will be
available to TheGlobe.com’s gaming communities.
http://www.theglobe.com 
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