Netlinkblue l.l.c. & Live Current Media Inc. Partner to Integrate Live Streaming Video and Mobile Access into IPLT20.com Destination
Official IPL Website now includes all Digital Assets to Offer Rich User Experience
DUBAI, UAE & VANCOUVER, BC - May 23, 2008 - Dubai headquartered Netlinkblue l.l.c. the leading provider of end-to-end consulting, technology and outsourcing solutions for IT and business consulting services today announced a partnership with Communicate.com Inc., dba Live Current Media Inc. (OTCBB: CMNN), a media company built around content and commerce destinations, to integrate streaming video and mobile access into the official www.IPLT20.com site of the DLF Indian Premier League. Content and distribution rights independently secured by each company are now available at one single online destination, maximizing the opportunities for users to interact with the action.
The official DLF Indian Premier League site now offers fans live streaming video and mobile content, the richest live scoreboard available online, official IPL photographs, ball by ball commentary, player interviews, profiles, schedules, statistics and fan interaction capabilities such as fantasy cricket, polls and newsletters.
Netlinkblue's rights for the Indian Premier League for Mobile, Internet & Live Streaming will be merged with the original ten-year agreement between Live Current, the BCCI and the DLF Indian Premier League and will be expanded to include the online and mobile live video streaming rights secured by netlinkblue - important components to any cricket fan experience. The pay-for-play rights for live and on-demand streaming video are now are available at www.IPLT20.com (some geographic market limitations exist due to prior broadcast commitments.) The majority of the content on the site remains accessible to any user for free from anywhere in the world; this partnership enables fans to truly have one single point of access for everything they want to know about the IPL.
Online and mobile streaming video is becoming an increasingly popular medium as video-enabled mobile devices and faster
- Live online streaming video on IPLT20.com is currently blocked in the US, UK, South Africa and New Zealand.
Broadband Internet speeds enable a "second screen" experience for users to interact with live action any time, from any location that fits their needs. For instance, the population of mobile and broadband Internet users in India is expected to increase rapidly over the next five years, largely supported by India's Ministry of Communications plan to offer cost effective and accessible high speed and mobile connections. Likewise, as video content will be both live and archival, passionate cricket fans in all time zones on all continents now have access to rich, immersive action via streaming video capabilities.
The IPLT20.com destination has received significant traffic and user engagement within the initial few weeks of the IPL season. Like the television broadcast partners that have seen incredibly strong ratings, the official website has been a resounding success with fans. The site has already received over 30 million page views from a truly global audience. Visitors from India, the United Sates, Australia, the UK, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Canada to name a few of the leading traffic sources have chosen IPLT20.com as their online destination of choice to interact with the league.
- India aims to have 500 million mobile phone subscriptions, having 85 percent of the country covered by a mobile network, mobile penetration rate of 90 percent and 80 million mobile connections in rural areas by 2010.
Commenting on the combined IPL digital content rights, Mr. Akash OP Aurora, CEO & Chief Technical Architect, netlinkblue, said: "Cricketing action is a big draw for television viewers and with the emergence of new media technologies we can take the experience to the viewer's office, home and mobile devices. Its appeal cuts across all segments of viewers irrespective of age, gender or nationality."
"Live Current and netlinkblue share a common vision of delivering premium experiences to consumers, extending any one-way viewing experience into an interactive, fully immersive realm," says Geoffrey Hampson, Live Current Media Inc. CEO. "The first few weeks of the inaugural IPL season have already displayed the power of a passionate fan base with the IPLT20.com site already ranking within the top 500 most highly trafficked sites in the world. Now with video and mobile capabilities integrated, the ways in which fans can interact with the Indian Premier League present even more opportunity to get closer to the game."
Live Current & netlinkblue will continue to build together relationships with organizations in cricket nations globally to build and officially launch the www.cricket.com destination expected to launch by August 2008.
About netlinkblue
netlinkblue is a leading consulting, technology and outsourcing services company, which helps global clients plan, implement & maintain their technology & digital marketing investments.
Services span across New Media Solutions, Software development, e-brand management, outsourcing & I.T. enabled services and enterprise-wide technology solutions to build and enable infrastructure. Netlinkblue is headquartered in Dubai, UAE and has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Cape Town, Doha & Development Centers in India and Serbia. For more information, visit www.netlinkblue.com.
About Live Current Media Inc.
Communicate.com Inc. is doing business as "Live Current Media Inc." and will seek formal shareholder approval to change its legal name to Live Current Media Inc. later in 2008.
Live Current builds, owns and operates some of the most powerful and engaging content and commerce destinations on the Internet. Through subject-specific DestinationHubs™, Live Current properties connect people to each other and to the information, brands, and products they are passionate about. Live Current has headquarters in Vancouver, Canada with a location in Seattle, WA and is publicly traded on the NASD OTCBB (CMNN). For more information, visit www.livecurrent.com.
About the DLF Indian Premier League
The DLF Indian Premier League is set to kick off on April 18th 2008, with some high voltage action expected between ShahRukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders and Dr. Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore. The DLF Indian Premier League will feature eight Franchises and will run for 44 days. Each Franchise will play others on a home and away basis with 7 matches at home. The top 4 Franchises in the league will contest the semi finals and the victorious semi finalists will meet in the Grand Final all over one weekend, which will be played out in Mumbai.
The inaugural season of the DLF Indian Premier League will showcase a grand total of 59 matches providing broadcasters and in-stadia spectators with 177 hours of live "family entertainment", which will also be viewed by a significant international audience. All matches will be during late afternoon and evening to coincide with prime time for television and providing a convenient time for the stadium audience. The LIVE In-stadia entertainment, combined with the high-octane on-field action has further hooked viewers onto this new adrenalin packed LIVE family entertainment format attracting a much younger fan base, which also includes women and children.
Safe Harbor: Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Communicate.com Inc. d.b.a Live Current Media Inc. believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions; it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include financial performance, regulatory changes, changes in economic conditions and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Media Contacts:
netlinkblue l.l.c.
Gemma McKeown
Marketing Director
+971 50 2129921
Gemma.mckeown@netlinkblue.com
Live Current Media Inc.
Becky Porter
Director, Corporate Communications
(206) 713-7959
becky@livecurrent.com
DLF Indian Premier League
Percy Dubash
Adfactors Public Relations
+91-98-202 21792
percy.dubash@adfactorspr.com
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