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European Cultural TV Channel ARTE Selects ViewCast Niagara Pro Encoders for Popular Web Streaming Service

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 April 2009, 05:00 CDT

Widely-Watched, Award-Winning ARTE+7 Website to Carry Localized Programming

PLANO, Texas, April 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ViewCast Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: VCST), a developer of industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation, management and delivery of professional-quality video over IP and mobile networks, today announced that French-German cultural channel ARTE (Association Relative a la Television Europeenne) is using the Niagara(R) Pro streaming media encoder to deliver programming via its popular ARTE+7 Web site. Through a highly automated workflow built around the Niagara Pro encoder, the award-winning ARTE+7 service makes geo-localized programming available for seven days immediately following airing on ARTE's traditional broadcast platforms.

"As the Internet becomes an increasingly popular platform for nonlinear access to an ever-growing store of video content, the quality requirements for delivering this content grow more stringent," said Mathias Weiler, leader of the New Technology/Multimedia sector at ARTE. "We are committed to providing the same quality of service on the Internet that viewers expect from our broadcast services, and after a market study and evaluating different available encoder platforms, we chose to work with ViewCast and its German systems integrator Meet-Competence GmbH."

The ARTE+7 site currently experiences 3 million page views and 850,000 visits with 1.2 million video streams powered by ViewCast technology each month. ARTE generates approximately 2,500 program files per month with durations varying from 15 minutes up to four hours. Each encoded program receives, on average, 6,000 views. The ARTE+7 portal and the product integration responsible for this success have been recognized with a number of awards, including a Content Management Practice Award at CeBIT 2008 and the Silver Medal for Design in the CMS-Awards December 2008 popular vote.

"ARTE is a pioneer in tapeless workflows, and the company has again simplified its broadcast processes using our technology," said ViewCast President and CEO Dave Stoner. "As more broadcast operations migrate in this direction, the market for ViewCast encoding and digital asset management solutions will continue to grow."

The Niagara Pro is a professional dual-channel streaming media appliance designed for high-quality, high-resolution video capturing and streaming. Using five Niagara Pro systems, each of which is capable of encoding multiple formats simultaneously, ARTE takes the signal from the end of its broadcast chain and encodes it in real time, creating 300-kbps and 800-kbps Windows Media(R) files, a full D1 resolution file, and an Adobe(R) Flash(R) version, as well as a 30-second Flash trailer used on ARTE+7 to promote the program.

Close integration of the encoders with ARTE's SGT broadcast automation system allows for a seamless workflow in which commands from automation are sent to control software which distributes the encoding load among Niagara Pro systems to ensure efficiency and provide encoder redundancy. Because ARTE typically offers content in both German and French, the two independent encoder channels per Niagara Pro system are valuable in streamlining the workflow.

More information about ViewCast video streaming solutions is available at www.viewcast.com.

About ARTE

ARTE (Association Relative a la Television Europeenne) is a European public-service cultural television channel. ARTE was founded April 30, 1991, and is composed of three entities: the headquarters in Strasbourg and two members responsible for program production and delivery, ARTE France in Paris and ARTE Deutschland TV GmbH in Baden-Baden. The purpose of ARTE is to conceive and produce television programs that, in a broad sense, are cultural and international in character and conducive to promoting understanding and rapprochement among Europe's nations and to broadcast these programs or to authorize their broadcasting. More information is available at plus7.arte.tv and at www.arte.tv.

About ViewCast

ViewCast develops industry-leading hardware and software for the transformation and delivery of professional-quality video over IP and mobile networks. ViewCast's award-winning solutions simplify the complex workflows required for the Web-based streaming of news, sports, music, and other video content to computers and mobile devices, empowering broadcasters, businesses, and governments to reach and expand their audiences easily and effectively. With more than 300,000 video capture cards deployed globally, ViewCast sets the standard in the streaming media industry. ViewCast Niagara streaming appliances, Osprey video capture cards, and Niagara SCX encoding and management software provide the highly reliable technology required to deliver the multiplatform experiences driving today's digital media market.

ViewCast (www.viewcast.com) is headquartered in Plano, Texas, USA, with sales and distribution channels located globally.

ViewCast, Osprey, Niagara, Niagara SCX, GoStream, SimulStream, and EZStream are trademarks or registered trademarks of ViewCast Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

ViewCast Contact: Jeff Kopang Vice President of Marketing Tel: +1 (972) 488-7200 E-mail: jeffk@viewcast.com PR Agency Contact: Jessie Glockner Rainier Communications Tel: +1 (508) 475-0025 x140 E-mail: jglockner@rainierco.com Investor Contact: Matt Clawson Allen & Caron Tel: +1 (949) 474-4300 E-mail: matt@allencaron.com

SOURCE ViewCast Corporation

Source: PR Newswire

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