Contact Information: Lisa Bennett Kaltura (212) 981-3965 lisa.bennett@kaltura.com
Public Media Provider WNET.ORG Selects Kaltura's Open Source Video Platform to Power Collaborative Video Conversations on Worldfocus.org
"Worldfocus," Public Television's Nightly International News Program and Website, Invites Users to Participate in a Face-to-Face Conversation on Issues From Around the World Using Kaltura's Interactive Video Technology
| Source: Kaltura
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 17, 2008) - WNET.ORG, parent company of Creative News
Group, which produces the nightly national newscast "Worldfocus," and
Kaltura Inc. (www.kaltura.com) announced today that the companies have
partnered in order to allow users to participate in an online conversation
about international news items and issues from around the world, using
Kaltura's collaborative open source video platform.
"'Worldfocus' is geared towards bringing international news to our local
audience both via the nightly television program and the Worldfocus.org
website," said Neal Shapiro, President and CEO of WNET.ORG, which is also
the licensee of THIRTEEN and WLIW21, the nation's most-watched and
third-most watched public television stations. "In addition to leaning back
and watching the broadcast, we wanted to give people a chance to lean
forward and get involved, join the discussion and share their opinions
face-to-face through our 'Talk to US' feature. 'Talk to US' allows people
from around the globe to share their video commentary about the stories and
features they see on 'Worldfocus' and Worldfocus.org. Kaltura's
open-source strategy fits in perfectly with our mission and goals as public
media providers."
By partnering with international news organizations, "Worldfocus" reports
on events from around the world and covers the stories that don't always
make the headlines on commercial and cable newscasts. The nightly news
program and website inform American viewers about the relevance of
international events and encourages them to get involved and join the
discussion. Kaltura's video platform powers the Worldfocus.org "Talk to US"
section, where users can upload videos from their computer or record
directly from their webcam, to express their opinions on specific topics.
"In today's global village, world news affects us all. It is refreshing to
see a news program that not only surfaces international issues, but also
gives everyone an opportunity and the means to get involved," said Ron
Yekutiel, Kaltura Chairman and CEO. "Kaltura's open source video platform
now powers more than 10,000 sites worldwide -- from a small personal
blogger looking to present slideshows of pictures from his recent family
trip, to leading media companies broadcasting episodes of their new series.
Regardless of the use case, Kaltura's flexible technology and wide range of
packages and price levels allows ANY site to add video quickly and
cost-effectively."
About WNET.ORG
New York public media company WNET.ORG is a pioneering provider of
television and web content. The parent of Thirteen, WLIW21 and Creative
News Group, WNET.ORG brings such acclaimed broadcast series and websites as
Worldfocus, Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose,
Wide Angle, Secrets of the Dead, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Visions,
Consuelo Mack WealthTrack,Wild Chronicles, Miffy and Friends, and
Cyberchase to national and international audiences. Through its wide range
of channels and platforms, WNET.ORG serves the entire New York City metro
area with unique local productions, broadcasts and innovative educational
and cultural projects. In all that it does, WNET.ORG pursues a single,
overarching goal -- to create media experiences of lasting significance for
New York, America and the world. For more information, visit www.wnet.org.
About Kaltura
Kaltura has developed the first open source video platform for video
management, creation, interaction and collaboration. Kaltura's platform
enables any site to seamlessly and cost-effectively integrate advanced
interactive rich-media functionalities, such as searching, uploading,
importing, video editing, annotating, remixing, and sharing of video,
audio, and photo files. The platform also includes unique collaboration
functionalities that allow groups of users to create together, and enables
publishers to access and syndicate reusable content across the Kaltura
Network of content and to enjoy aggregated hosted video services such as
video advertising, professional editing, and DVD printing. Kaltura's free
open source code is available for web developers in the form of an
extensive Software Development Kit, as well as self-serve packages for
publishers in the form of automatic extensions and plugins for leading
content management, blogging and collaboration platforms such as Drupal,
WordPress, and MediaWiki.
Founded in 2006, Kaltura's management and advisory team includes top notch
advertising, marketing, and media executives as well as open source experts
and seasoned technology entrepreneurs, including co-founders of ICQ, Cyota,
and Destinator Technologies. Since its public launch in September 2007,
New York-based Kaltura has won numerous awards and endorsements, including
the TechCrunch40 People's Choice award (2007), the Mashable video-sharing
'Open Web' award (2007), a TWS 'top 10' company (2008), an AlwaysOn 'Global
250' company (2008), a LeWeb 'top 30 start-up' (2008), and one of Esquire
Magazine's 'most promising' Web 3.0 companies (2008). For more
information, visit http://www.kaltura.com.