America Online and Digital Courier Technologies' 'Videos Now' Division Sign $12 Million Deal for Most Comprehensive Video Shopping Service in Cyberspace.DULLES, Va. and SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 1998-- "Videos Now" to Offer Huge Selection of New Releases, Classic Movies, Educational Films and More AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. to Also Receive Warrants in Digital Courier, and Option to Receive Additional Equity in Exchange for Additional Carriage America Online See AOL. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AOL), the world's leading Internet online services company, and Videos Now, a division of Digital Courier Technologies Inc. (www.dcourier.com)(NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : DCTI DCTI Consonus Technologies (Cary, NC; stock symbol) DCTI Digital Courier Technologies Inc. DCTI Datacentre Technologies and Infrastructure (UK) ) (formerly DataMark Holding Inc.), a key supplier of online content and commerce products and services, Wednesday announced a new strategic marketing alliance that will revolutionize the way consumers buy videos. With Videos Now's extensive presence on AOL and Digital City, the most popular local city resource in cyberspace, AOL members and other Web consumers will be able to choose from over 100,000 video selections in dozens of organized movie categories, make their selections online, and have their new videos delivered directly to their home. Under the three-year agreement, AOL will receive guaranteed payments of $12 million plus warrants to purchase up to $2 million in Digital Courier stock. In addition, AOL has the option to receive a greater equity stake in Digital Courier in exchange for additional carriage. Scheduled to launch in August, Videos Now will offer new releases, top sellers that are often hard to find or sold out in video stores, and film categories covering everything from foreign films to educational videos, instructional videos and children's selections. Additionally, Videos Now will offer titles in all available formats, including VHS (Video Home System) A half-inch, analog videocassette recorder (VCR) format introduced by JVC in 1976 to compete with Sony's Betamax, introduced a year earlier. , Beta, Laserdisc An earlier optical disc used for full-motion video and interactive training. It was introduced in the late 1970s and became obsolete in the 1990s. Videodisc systems based on a stylus were introduced (see CED), but only the optical-based LaserDisc survived, although never very popular. , DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and Divx. "AOL is committed to helping make our members' everyday lives more convenient through time-saving and easy-to-use services like Videos Now," Bob Pittman, AOL's president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. , said. "Through this new alliance with Videos Now, AOL can offer AOL members and other Web consumers the most compelling online buying experience on AOL and Digital City. Film and video buffs will have access to the best selection of videos anywhere whenever they want them and have them delivered right to their door." "This is an exciting new partnership for Videos Now," said R.J. Pittman, chief executive officer of Digital Courier Technologies Inc. "We are committed to being the first and best choice for videos online, and our groundbreaking pact with AOL puts us in a unique position to achieve that goal. With AOL's unmatched distribution and consumer reach, paired with our world-class online commerce technology, Videos Now will revolutionize the video buying experience." Videos Now will be prominently positioned throughout the AOL service, including anchor tenant placements in AOL's popular Shopping, Entertainment and Families Channels, and promotional placement in the Sports, Lifestyles, Interests, Personal Finance, Health, Computing, Travel, Research & Learn, Influence and Games Channels. The agreement also includes easy access to Videos Now throughout Digital City sites on both AOL and the Web. America Online Inc., based in Dulles, is the world's leader in branded interactive services and content. America Online operates two worldwide Internet online services: AOL Interactive Services, with more than 12 million members; and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members. America Online also operates AOL Studios, the world's leading creator of original interactive content. Other branded Internet services operated by America Online include AOL.COM, the world's most accessed Web site from home; AOL NetFind, AOL's comprehensive guide to the Internet; AOL Instant Messenger See AIM. , an instant messaging Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into a particular instant messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than e-mail because messages are sent immediately, whereas e-mail messages can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or tool available on both AOL and the Internet; and ICQ ("I Seek You") A conferencing program for the Internet from Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel (www.icq.com). It provides interactive chat, e-mail and file transfer and can alert you when someone on your predefined list has also come online. , an instant communications and chat technology on the Internet. Digital Courier Technologies Inc., supplies businesses and major web portals with online content and commerce products based on a powerful matrix of server-side Java software components. The company's current content offerings include: WeatherLabs, the premiere online weather information service (www.weatherlabs.com), VideosNow (www.videosnow.com), BooksNow (www.booksnow.com), and WorldNow (www.worldnow.com). The company has also launched netClearing, an electronic commerce service for Internet payment processing, clearing, and settlement. Editors' Note: R.J. Pittman of Digital Courier Technologies Inc. is no relation to Bob Pittman, president and COO of America Online Inc. CONTACT: America Online Inc. Wendy Goldberg, 703/265-2359 or Politis Communications Kevan Barney, 801/523-3730 kbarney@politis.com |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion