The NewsMarket Sees Record Demand For Digital Delivery Of Video As Breaking Events Dominate News Cycle

The NewsMarket, the on-demand video platform for broadcasters, reported a sharp rise in demand for digital video delivery as the global news cycle continues to be dominated by breaking events such as the South Asian earthquake and Hurricane Katrina.

"The earthquake in South Asia and Hurricane Katrina, like the tsunami disaster last December, have created an unprecedented challenge for news organizations to meet the immediate need of obtaining relevant content," said Shoba Purushothaman, CEO and Co-founder of The NewsMarket. "These events have been powerful catalysts for newsrooms to embrace on-demand technologies. For leading newsmakers such as UNICEF, the American Red Cross and The World Bank, these events have moved them to employ on-demand methods to deliver their latest news and information, and fulfill the increasingly growing demand for up-to-date, high quality and relevant content from the field."

"Local broadcasters and global news networks alike are compelled in these breaking news situations to satisfy viewer demand for varied and up-to-the-minute news and information. Their combined challenge is to provide new, incremental and unique stories with video content that their own camera crews are unable to capture because of limited resources."

Since the South Asian earthquake hit this weekend, more than 50 media outlets around the world have requested video news and information from UNICEF, The World Bank and the U.S. Department of State.

Last month, The NewsMarket received more than 3,000 clip requests from more than 270 media outlets for Katrina-related content. Additionally, some 484 new journalists registered for The NewsMarket to gather Katrina-specific content.

"By giving journalists the ability to digitally download broadcast-standard video 24/7, the American Red Cross was able to ensure timeliness, accessibility and ultimately increased opportunities for public outreach. In addition, we've used The NewsMarket as a channel to keep our local chapters informed by distributing updated and accurate news, information and content daily to more than 850 Red Cross chapters across the United States," said Charles Dean Connor, SVP, Communication & Marketing of the American Red Cross.

Hurricane Katrina highlights include:

41 unique stories containing 194 video clips were published to www.thenewsmarket.com/hurricanekatrina.

More than 3,200 media assets were downloaded by nearly 300 different media outlets in 20 countries including the world's largest television markets of the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, China and India.

Over 200 journalists from outlets such as CBS News, CNN, Fox News, CNBC, ABC News, Business Week TV, PBS and Univision ordered American Red Cross video.

Most popular clips included B-roll of the damage, survivors at shelters and video of victims speaking about the hurricane.

September proved a record month for The NewsMarket in new journalist registrations and overall demand. In addition to the Hurricane Katrina crisis, the 2005 International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt also fueled demand for video content last month. IAA is a high-profile news event with more than 1,000 companies, from parts manufacturers to well-known carmakers such as Volvo, BMW, Nissan, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and Mazda attending. These automakers used The NewsMarket as a global distribution network to upload video, photos and news releases from the floor of the show for access by thousands of journalists and media outlets covering the events. New model unveilings, concept cars and the year's new technology were among the hot topics.