Vividas Share Discussion Threads

[littleredrooster] 22/3/2007 20:07

"Vividas (VDS.L), the video streaming technology company, has signed a contract
with Fox Sports, a California-based TV network which is part of News
Corporation, to live stream, in the USA, 10 live soccer games from the 2007 Copa
Libertadores (the South American equivalent of the Champions League)."

[lofty] 22/3/2007 19:46

llr.

From your posting:

Several media companies have experimented with ways to stream video of their
shows over the Internet and sell advertising to support it, but no clear
business model has yet emerged.

The last eight words, of course, are of prime interest to us all.
Any indication that Vividas has demonstrated to News Corp etc? If so,
any idea of how it was received?

Regards. L.

[lofty] 22/3/2007 10:20

Ideas on downturn please?

[the_pimp] 21/3/2007 21:04

Analyst- I agree. I think the buying is coming from the US again. Not sure people over here have really picked up on it.Ultimately if it works it will be taken over. Hopefully at £10 and not £2.

[the_pimp] 21/3/2007 20:54

13/03/2007

Momentum is building at internet video technology provider Vividas, where first-half losses were reduced slightly to £1.4m.

Vividas, which is increasing the recognition of its brand and product, reported 38% revenue growth to £588,000 for the six months to December, paring pre-tax losses by 13% to £1.4m, and the company is signing up some of the biggest names in global media, which will kindle the recognition even faster. A partnership deal with Sky's internet arm, Easynet, to provide corporate video is a good way for Sky to use the technology and might lead to adoption throughout its European business. Subsequently, a US branch of the Murdoch empire, Fox Sports, signed a contract to use Vividas' pay-per-view product to screen ten South American football matches over the web. 'We're not sure of the revenues yet,' admits CEO Paul Neville, 'but it gets us in with Fox and really raises the bar.'

Other US clients on the books include Sony Pictures and sports broadcaster ESPN. Elsewhere, Neville says adult entertainment 'has the potential to become our biggest market' and plans to 'look at that market direct'. Investor interest in the shares across the Pond was further stoked in January when well-respected, LA-based investment vehicle Ignition Capital bought a 6% stake.

Vividas has more than doubled since Growth Company Investor recommended it as a 2006 Christmas Stock Pick. With net cash of £3.4m, a growing market footprint and the recently-added market and strategic knowledge of former Proctor & Gamble and Sony man David Pearson on the board, the story is exciting. Yet, we are still in the opening chapters and the shares are on a weighty p/e.

Oliver Haill
Market cap: £25m
PE Forecast: 52
Share price: 80p

[the analyst] 21/3/2007 20:52

Easynet, a Sky company becomes latest high profile partner for Vividas
Agreement is part of Vividas's expansion strategy via a growing international reseller network
Date added: 28/02/2007

[the analyst] 21/3/2007 20:48

The next one seems to be in NY in May:


"Visit Vividas at Streaming Media East
Visit us on stand 201 on May 15th and 16th at The Hilton New York"

[the analyst] 21/3/2007 20:47

Very high volumes again, wonder if it is due to 'Video on the Net' booth that vividas have in San Jose this week?

"Vividas at VON 2007
Visit Vividas at booth 1309-F from March 19th - 22nd at the San Jose convention center"

[lofty] 20/3/2007 20:52

Hello Mike.

Yes, I linked the two events also. They had to be taken 'in house' by the
MM (s) before they were traded. Looking at the callendar, there is only
2 trading days before the 26th.

Who knows, they might even be spoken for already. Cheers.

[spike_1] 20/3/2007 17:57

RNS Number:3315T
Vividas Group plc
20 March 2007


VIVIDAS GROUP PLC - DIRECTOR SHARE TRANSACTION


Yesterday, Vividas, the video streaming technology company, was informed of the following transaction in its ordinary shares of 1p each, which were effected on that day.

David Winter, an executive Director, exercised options over 100,000 shares at 23p per share and has disposed of them for 85p per share. As a result, the issued share capital has increased by 100,000 shares, to 32,264,457 shares from 32,164,457 shares, and proceeds of #23,000 have been received by the Company.

The Company has applied for Admission to trading on AIM, it is anticipated that trading in the shares will commence on 26 March 2007.

Following this transaction, the interest of David Winter is as follows:

Shares 1,132,387 (3.51%) Options 250,000








I see that there was a T trade reported as 10:40:56 that went through around the close today (20th), it was for 100k @ 85p.

Presumably it associated with the above RNS? Can someone explain what happened since they are not supposed to be traded before the 26th.

Presumably there is a simple answer – but unfortunately I'm even simpler.

Best wishes - Mike

[lofty] 20/3/2007 12:39

One of the few days where the buys are in front of the sells.

Must be right. The price has dropped. ~:¬((

[the_pimp] 19/3/2007 20:54

Some statistics:


* US online video ad expenditures are expected to total $775 million in
2007, up 89% from 2006, Source: eMarketer
* Consumer spending on movie and TV downloads will top $4.1 billion by
2011, Source: Adams Media Research
* 107 million Americans watched Web video at least once a month in 2006,
Source: eMarketer

[spike_1] 19/3/2007 17:05

Re - 'I'm really interested to know who is buying the share at the moment'

Looks to me like there is a lot of interest from the U.S.

Most shares that rise early a.m. consolidate p.m. but of late we seem to go up again when the U.S. wakes up.

Given the turmoil over the last few weeks I personally think it quite unlikely that the amount of buying we are getting is speculative, after all technically we must surely be over bought.

However my belief is that there are people out there that know what's going on, and they are the ones buying.

Best wishes - Mike (I hold)

[the analyst] 19/3/2007 15:35

Probably indicates a large buyer in the background. Hoping it's someone else accumulating a significant stake!

[lofty] 19/3/2007 15:22

the analyst.

I seem to see a lot of selling into strength with Viv. As today.
Nice to see that it is holding gains though.

[the analyst] 19/3/2007 15:03

I'm really interested to know who is buying the share at the moment. The volume has been good for quite some time now.

Based on fundamentals it doesn't look like a bargain, so one can only assume there are a lot of investors out there that have real confidence in the potential of the technology turning into very signiifcant revenue and profit.

[the analyst] 19/3/2007 13:27

Interesting from that article that the Premiership games are the biggest money-earning broadcast in the UK.

In the US, the biggest sports would be American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Ice Hocky and Soccer (esp Latin American). The US sports market is probably 10 times bigger than the UK market. A lot of people in the US get very frustatred because they can't get the sports they want to watch on TV. For example, if you lived in Boston and supported the Red Sox, then moved to NY you would no longer be able to watch their games, because throughout the US the TV stations only broadcast local teams. Non-local sports broadcasting in the US appears to be an untapped market.

The deal with Fox, if it goes well, could help open up that untapped market in the US. It could be really huge. Probably to early too count ones chickens on the deal, but definitely very interesting to watch how it develops.

[moormoney] 19/3/2007 12:47

very nice rise today-good start to the week.

[james 2] 19/3/2007 10:16

Did IC have a write up on VDS or just listed as a BUY ?

TIA

[littleredrooster] 18/3/2007 20:05

"BT .... is banking on improvements in compression to bring on HDTV over broadband in shorter order than possible through massive network improvements."



BT Vision is go

By Chris Williams
Published Monday 4th December 2006 13:58 GMT

BT said it expects to sign up hundreds of thousands of subscribers for its Vision TV over broadband service within the year, with two to three million subscribing in the medium term.

At today's launch in London, BT consumer MD Gavin Paterson finally unveiled pricing for the service and promised 5,000 hours of instant on-demand programming by the end of next year.

BT isn't looking to make a big splash with Vision until well into the New Year. The firm will be concentrating on solid technical performance and honouring pre-orders, which it says run into thousands.

Tellingly, 2007 is when BT's deals with the FA Premiership and the Setanta Sports channel come into force and BT Vision will go live with its own sports service. Vision will have rights to show 75 per cent of Premiership matches either live or "near-live".

The value of sports content was amply proven by BSkyB of course. There's no word yet on how much BT will be charging for its version of pay TV's killer app.

BT claims to be among the first in the world to build a viable IPTV content platform.

"We think most people are well behind us," said BT retail CEO Ian Livingstone. It was even able to wheel out ever erudite Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to eulogise the importance of an event "that fundamentally changes how consumers are entertained". BT chose Microsoft to provide the software powering Vision.

An all-in monthly package of on-demand TV, music, kids shows and TV replay (the last week's worth of programming, currently only available for Channel 4) costs £14.

Installation for early adopters will clock in at £90, including a £60 engineer call-out. A self-install option will be launched next year. The set-top box, capable of pausing, rewinding and recording up to 80 hours of TV will be provided gratis and connects over wi-fi to the Total Broadband Home Hub. The Philips-built kit provides access to over-air freeview channels as well as the IPTV streams.

Content is also available on a pay-per-view basis, with the movies at £2.99 for 24 hours rental. TV shows will play for £0.99. BT is hoping it will attract pay TV commitment phobes by "passing you the control".

With an installed broadband user base of around 3 million, BT is presumably betting on the majority of them taking up Vision given its penetration targets. The minimum requirement for Vision now is a 2 Meg line, available to 90 per cent of the population according to BT. The Vision play is more complex than a simple attack on Sky and NTL's pay TV stranglehold; it's about winning and retaining broadband punters too.

BT is being cautious therefore about who it lets piggyback on its technology and content deals. It announced a partnership with Vodafone which will see the mobile operator provide BT-branded Vision services to its own customers. The two firms have a well established relationship, with Vodafone letting BT act as an MVNO on its network, and BT set to provide the wholesale broadband when Vodafone rolls out its converged packages next year.

Looking ahead, BT reckons its set-top box is future-proof with its HDMI port, but is banking on improvements in compression to bring on HDTV over broadband in shorter order than possible through massive network improvements.

Being first with a technology is always risky of course and Vision is a big product for BT. The former national telecoms monopoly said it is backing Vision with £100m over the next year. It is worth remembering however that BT's last annual results cleared £2bn in profit on revenues of more than £19bn. ®

Bootnote
The obvious turkey of the content deals is the one BT signed with Universal Music. Vision customers will be able to watch Universal Music videos for £0.29 a pop, or £6 per month for unlimited access. Unfortunately, by definition Vision customers have broadband, and access to YouTube. The sort of web-savvy yoof who might be interested in viewing such promotional material on-demand is unlikely to be interested in paying for the privilege.




BT ad blitz for video-on-demand service

Simon Fluendy, Mail on Sunday
18 March 2007

BT is poised to launch an advertising blitz for its Vision video-on-demand service. Adverts are expected to feature Kris Marshall, the My Family sitcom actor, who stars in BT's general campaign.

BT Vision is installed in 3,000 homes, the company said last month. It has a target of 200,000 customers by the end of the year. Insiders said a 'spring offensive' would promote the service. Full details are under wraps to prevent rivals, including Virgin Media, which recently launched its own expensive campaign featuring actress Uma Thurman, and BSkyB being alerted.

One executive said: 'If they knew where and when we were going to launch, it is quite possible that rivals might block-book advertising slots to stop us from getting a look-in.'

BT is also in frantic negotiations over new content deals. One target is a 'catch-up TV' arrangement with the BBC, allowing BT Vision customers to download recent BBC output.

Meanwhile, Virgin and Sky have yet to resolve their dispute over the showing of certain Sky channels on Virgin's cable network, despite customer anger at Virgin and the advertising revenue loss at Sky. But industry insiders said a deal might be looming. A source said: 'Sky plans a weekend at Easter with all the big shows that Virgin subscribers missed when channels were pulled two weeks ago. I think there is every chance a deal will be struck before then.'

Dumping Sky One has been unpopular with Virgin viewers.

It takes about 20 minutes to get through to a Virgin helpline, but customers have been offered big price cuts for not walking away from their contracts.

[littleredrooster] 16/3/2007 22:27

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