`Personal Radio' Coming to U.K.; Command Audio Teams with Industry Leaders to Bring Revolutionary Service to Digital Radio.Business Editors LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2001 In a revolutionary development for digital radio, US technology firm, Command Audio, has teamed up with leading UK broadcaster Capital Radio plc and UBC UBC Uniform Building Code UBC University of British Columbia UBC Union of the Baltic Cities UBC United Brotherhood of Carpenters UBC Universal Battery Charger UBC Union of Baltic Cities UBC Universal Bibliographic Control UBC Used Beverage Cans Media Group plc in a new joint venture -- Command Audio-UK. The new company will bring on-demand interactive audio -- personal radio -- through the UK's Digital Audio Broadcasting Digital radio. It is the digital successor to analog AM and FM radio. See HD Radio and DAB. (DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) The digital radio standard in most countries except for the U.S., which uses iBiquity's HD Radio, and Japan, which uses Terrestrial Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB-T). ) network. DAB will be used to transmit on-demand audio programmes, advertising and information, providing listeners with unmatched choice, control and personalisation. The deployment of DAB in the UK is the most advanced in the world with some 40 digital stations available in the London area alone. California-based Command Audio has developed end-to-end solutions that enable broadcasters to take full advantage of the new capabilities made possible with digital broadcast technology, while Capital and UBC are current market leaders in content for the UK. This new joint venture, Command Audio-UK (CA-UK), will make the most of the combined experience of its three partners by both producing on-demand interactive programmes and licensing other programmers and service providers to do so as well. For example, when the Command Audio technology has been fully-deployed, listeners will be able to choose from a vastly increased range of programmes from a variety of different media then listen to them whenever and wherever they want. Listeners to Command Audio-enabled services will be able to select the programmes they want to receive using an Electronic Programme Guide and have full control over how and when to listen, instantaneously scanning from story to story pausing, skipping, or saving programs for later listening. "Command Audio-UK will enable digital broadcasters to deliver a truly new media experience that will clearly differentiate their services from conventional FM radio," said Don Bogue, co-founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Command Audio. "On-demand interactive audio is about providing listeners a `personal radio' experience that appeals to their individual lifestyles and satisfies their particular interests. It is the ultimate application of digital broadcast technology. By teaming with industry leaders Capital and UBC, we have created the basis for rapid proliferation proliferation /pro·lif·er·a·tion/ (pro-lif?er-a´shun) the reproduction or multiplication of similar forms, especially of cells.prolif´erativeprolif´erous pro·lif·er·a·tion n. of this revolutionary new media." The joint venture anticipates a great deal of interest from broadcasters, who will be able to make better use of their bandwidth, appeal to a wider range of listeners in a more targeted fashion and create new advertising and revenue opportunities. "As leading players in the provision of digital radio services and internet radio Listening to audio broadcasts via the Internet. There are more than 4,000 broadcasts available on the Internet that can be streamed and played by a software media player in the computer or in a stand-alone Internet radio with the software built in. , Capital is keen to apply innovative applications such as on-demand audio," said Sally Oldham, Strategy and Development Director for Capital Radio. "By partnering Command Audio and UBC we will benefit more fully as the take up of digital radio rolls out." "This powerful platform gives broadcasters new and innovative programme opportunities and consumers more choice. The technology available to this joint venture takes digital radio to another level as it brings the on-demand element, now increasingly expected by consumers, into the radio medium. The result will be the development of new kinds of programmes which will lead to exciting new services for consumers. We have always promised investors we will be at the front line of such development," adds Simon Cole Simon Cole is Chief Executive of UBC Media Group. He co-founded the Unique Broadcasting Company in 1989, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in July 2000 as part of UBC Media Group. , founder and CEO of UBC Media. Notes to Editors: The Joint Venture Command Audio, Capital Radio and UBC Media have formed a joint venture to proliferate pro·lif·er·ate v. To grow or multiply by rapidly producing new tissue, parts, cells, or offspring. personalised Adj. 1. personalised - made for or directed or adjusted to a particular individual; "personalized luggage"; "personalized advice" individualised, individualized, personalized on-demand radio services across the UK. This joint venture is key to that deployment, putting in place licensing and content solutions. ABOUT COMMAND AUDIO Command Audio developed, launched and test marketed in the U.S. the world's first broadcast on demand interactive audio service. Now, it is the first company to enable digital broadcasters to deliver personalised on-demand interactive radio services. Command Audio brings to the new joint venture real world experience in delivering on-demand audio services and an extensive portfolio of intellectual property in on-demand media technology. Command Audio's US operation will continue to provide on-demand interactive program production tools for broadcasters and the software and hardware solutions to receiver manufacturers that will enable listeners to receive personalised, on-demand radio. (Command Audio has recently partnered with Motorola to integrate on-demand interactive audio technology into Motorola's next generation telematics Originally coined to mean the convergence of telecommunications and information processing, the term later evolved to refer to automation in automobiles. GPS navigation, integrated hands-free cellphones, wireless communications and automatic driving assistance systems all come under the system, the iRadio, to bring on-demand functionality to the car.) Command Audio is a privately-held company backed by strategic investors Texas Instruments See TI. (company) Texas Instruments - (TI) A US electronics company. A TI engineer, Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958. Three TI employees left the company in 1982 to start Compaq. and Motorola and leading financial investors, including Canaan Partners, Granite Ventures Granite Ventures is a private venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco California. It has backed such companies as Tumbleweed Communications, Plumtree Software, Sendmail, and Westbridge Technology. , J.P. Morgan Capital Partners and Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. It is based in Redwood City, California Redwood City is a suburb located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Redwood City is the county seat of San Mateo County. As of the 2005 census, the city had a total population of 76,000. , near the heart of Silicon Valley. www.commandaudio.com ABOUT CAPITAL RADIO plc Capital Radio plc is Britain's leading radio group with market leading analogue radio stations broadcasting to 58% of the UK's population and local digital stations operating in major metropolitan areas throughout the UK. Capital Radio plc launched the UK's first national digital adult contemporary station, Life, and continues to be at the forefront in the development of new web-only radio brands. www.capitalradio.com ABOUT UBC UBC Media Group is the largest independent provider of audio programming and content aggregation services for broadcasters throughout the UK. It has helped in the development of digital radio in a partnership with manufacturers including Psion and provides exclusive content for the new breed of multimedia digital radio receivers like Psion's 'Wavefinder'. UBC is part of the MXR MXR Mixer MXR Munxar (postal locality, Malta) MXR Mail Exchange Record Consortium which has won three digital radio licenses, most recently in the West Midlands West Midlands, former metropolitan county, central England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county embraced the Birmingham conurbation and comprised seven metropolitan districts: Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Birmingham, Solihull, and owns part of Oneword the national spoken word digital station. UBC shares are quoted on the Alternative Investment Market and the company has a capitalisation value of over (pound)47 million. www.unique.com |
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