Company Profile

YooMedia plc is one of the fastest growing interactive entertainment companies in the UK.
Since 1997 we have been developing and launching leading B2C consumer brands in the gaming and community sectors. We also work in a B2B capacity with leading brand owners, agencies, content developers and broadcasters to design and develop their interactive content strategies.

Led by Executive Chairman Dr. Michael Sinclair and Group Managing Director Neil MacDonald, YooMedia has assembled a highly experienced management team that possesses a unique blend of skills and experience in the areas of Digital TV, Internet and mobile phone services and technology.

With main office locations in London, Exeter and Maidstone, YooMedia manages core assets including:

Over 30 office locations throughout the UK alone

State-of-the-art studio, production and post-production facilities at our Wapping location.

UK broadcast return path & bandwidth owner

Fully fledged UK Bookmaker License

Database with over 350K UK singles

SMS Engine access with international reach

Fully staffed 50 seat Customer Contact Centre in Maidstone, Kent

YooMedia Dating & Chat - Our dating subsidiary company manages the oldest and largest UK-owned dating brands including Dateline, Club Sirius and Avenues. YooMedia Dating has over 20 office locations throughout the UK and also manages YooChat, our world-leading interactive chat service found on UK digital cable on the Telewest platform (platform extensions planned for 2005).

YooMedia Gambling & Games - Combining the brands of Avago and Channel 425 (in partnership with William Hill) YooMedia is on the leading-edge of interactive fixed odds, casino and poker gambling services for digital TV, the web and 3G mobile phones. Our gaming business also manages YooPlay, the only interactive just for fun games channel found on all four Digital TV platforms in the United Kingdom.

YooMedia Enhanced Solutions (YES) - YES works with brand owners, agencies, content owners and broadcasters to clarify the options, define the strategies and deliver the interactive content that enhances consumer and audience experiences. YES customers include the BBC, Nestle, Celador, William Hill, Channel 4, ZipTV, The Cartoon Network and HR Owen.

Im up 9% after two days. No complaints here. Going to hold.

MEETING WITH DR SINCLAIR

Dr Michael Sinclair was an extremely nice gentleman who was 100% open with the three of us. He answered most of the questions we asked without, at any point, giving out price sensitive information. He stated clearly that he has been involved with many companies in the past some of which have clearly been market leaders but never before has he been involved in a company that has the potential to be the market leader WORLDWIDE. Never before has he been as enthusiastic about a company as he is about Yoomedia.

1. Are rumours about a MBO true? The share price has been depressed for a while and certain investors are suspicious.

There is absolutely no truth in this whatsoever.

2. There seems to be a lack of communication with investors. We are hearing news from third parties eg dateline, pokechannel etc. The website communication is poor. Perhaps emailing this news to investors would keep them updated.

It is our policy only to issue an RNS when the news really is very significant for us. We are not like other companies that issue RNS every week simply for the sake of issuing them. Thats why when YOO issue an RNS, you can believe it is VERY significant. I accept that the website could be updated more regularly and these pieces of news could appear there. I will look into this as well as emailing investors. Poker channel was a great tie up and significant but probably not VERY significant. Our divisions are extremely busy and we sign hundreds of deals a year we cannot possibly release an RNS for all of them.

3. Are you disappointed with the current state of the share price?

Of course all shareholders will be disappointed with the current shareprice. I have always maintained that the aim of the company must be to generate profits the share price will the always follow. To generate profits is our aim.

4. The Trading statement about games and gambling was a surprise and a disappointment. How does the partnership with William Hill work, we do not really know much about the partnership, and the how Yoomedia derive their revenues from this partnership.

We really had to make the statement. I am of course disappointed with the reaction of the market to the Trading Statement and the resulting share price. The reason for the warning, and many astute investors have worked it out, is the contribution from William Hill. The William Hill contract was a very very significant contract. This would have made a significant contribution to Games and gambling. Unfortunately for YOO, William Hill buying Stanley leisure changed matters as Stanley Leisure were and are committed to Alphameric to the end of the year. This means that we cannot supply our services until the end of the year. However, it also means that the contract is potentially a bigger one than we originally thought as the William Hill group is now bigger. They have a 5 year commitment to us and these revenues should start coming in at the beginning of 2006.

(IMO this is very significant. They are EBIDTA positive despite no contribution from William Hill. Alphameric made a mint out of Stanley Leisure so you can imagine how much YOO will make next year once they are out of the way)

5. Why did David Docherty leave? Was it because of the underperformance of Gambling and Games?

DITG has been a massive boost to the company and the synergy with YOO has advanced YOO to a much higher level than otherwise possible. Certainly, the cost savings to the businesses has been larger than we anticipated as the two businesses complement each other well. David Docherty was a man of vision and must take a great deal of credit for where the company is today. However, the aim of the company is to generate cash. To generate cash, the most important and most fundamental aspect to a sound business is to concentrate on the core businesses. David Docherty, who is a close personal friend of Sinclair, had lots of ideas about various aspects of the business. However, when all the company divisions were analysed, it seemed that Neil McDonald who was in charge of the core divisions, was outperforming the rest and the decision was taken to make him the MD. Neil McDonald is a very driven individual and prides himself on delivering the goods.

6. How confident is he of executing the stated objectives for the rest of the year, as detailed in the trading statement, by year end. What impact might this have on 2006 EPS? Are we still going be cashflow positive by Q3?

The main aims of the group was to be EBIDTA positive by March and we have achieved that. The second aim was to continue to be EBIDTA positive and we have achieved that. That is a big turnaround from losing 800k a month in November 2004. Obviously the aim is to be cash flow positive by Q3. Interim results should be released early September.

7. What are Yoomedia's international plans?

The reason for the rapid development of digital and interactive television in the UK has simply been as a result of SKY and Rupert Murdoch. We see the USA as our biggest overseas potential market. I have contacts there and now that Rupert Murdoch has set his sights over there, we see that as a big opportunity for us. We are looking at the USA especially in view of the fact that certain aspects of gambling will be deregulated next year. I would be very surprised if YOOmedia were not a major player in exploiting the interactive market there.

8. How is the 'Broadband TV' trial with NTL/ICTV going?

The NTL Executive we initially gave the presentation to started dancing on our boardroom table when he saw our presentation. The trial started but unfortunately he has since left the company. We then had to go through the whole process again. There are trials ongoing most notably in Glasgow and feel that this is a significant opportunity for YOO in the future.

9. Will the NHS contract be rolled out on Cable and Freeview? It would appear Ipublic has disappeared from the website, no news was given about this happening, are we to assume that Ipublic has been closed ???, and if so, why were shareholders not told ??

We are working on it. iPublic is an important part of YOOs future strategy. It certainly has not disappeared. The interactive NHS Direct section accessed by the red button on SKY has been a huge success. We are responsible for the whole interactive component on SKY and is accessed by thousands of SKY viewers. We are in the stages of commercializing it and this should happen over the course of next year. We believe interactive television has a significant part to play as far as the health sector is concerned and was one of the reasons I got involved with Yoomedia.

10. How is the relationship of YOO with ITV?

We have an excellent relationship with 11 TV channels and ITV is one of them.

11.Is YOO still in Celadors plans and specifically WWTBAM? We know that Celador will be rolling out WWTBAM worldwide, will YOO be involved? Is MIG taking business away from YOO?

We have a strong relationship with Celador and I would be very surprised if Yoomedia did not figure in Celadors plans for international rollout of WWTBAM? MIG provides different technology to us. We have the patent for time-stamping technology.

12. What is happening at fancy-aflutter online, the site has been down for a while now, is it going to relaunch?

There is a limit to how many sites we are allowed to maintain. Nobody has lost any money by FAF not being online. It is being incorporated into the other fixed-odd gaming sites and will attempt to streamline this aspect of the business. The website will be updated soon. FAF was much more important to YOO for its tie up with SONY.

There were a few other questions that Paul and Graham asked but I am knackered so they can fill in the gaps. This information was worth 100 RNSs to me. I reiterate, this was a much more positive meeting than I had hoped from a very calm, open and honest chap. I am very confident in YOOs future.

up again today and many of the buys yesterday were large ones--I wish I could afford to buy in those quantities!! I expect profit taking later though.

From Media Week

8.30am: Terrestrial broadcaster Five is making a tentative first step into the world of digital television by forming a joint venture with interactive media group YooMedia.
The pair launched YooPlayTV last week and the first Five programming an interactive four-hour extended version of its kids quiz show Brainteaser - will broadcast from Monday 15 August.

The Endemol-produced show will include high-quality quizzes and games, but will be free from advertising breaks.

The remaining 20 hours of programming on the channel, which has taken slot 279 on the Sky platform, will include other YooMedia-produced quiz and puzzle opt-in shows, such as Quiz for Cash.

It is believed the channel was well into its final development phase before discussions took place recently between YooMedia and Five to make the channel a joint venture between two pair.

Jonathan Lewis, head of commercial development at Five, said: Brainteaser has proved to be a real interactive success story and so the logical next step was always to extend this winning format on to other platforms.

We also believe Endemols experience in this area will deliver the high quality production that Fives viewers demand of this type of programming.

The launch gives Five its first presence in the multi-channel television arena and comes just weeks after German-owner RTL took full control of the company, sparking rumours that its long-awaited move to digital would finally become a reality.

Neil MacDonald, group managing director of YooMedia, said: We are delighted by the prospect of both developing the YooPlay brand through the launch of this channel and the regular broadcast of our own participation TV show.

The opportunity to host an extended version of the UK's most successful format of this type and to work with partners such as Five and Endemol is an added bonus for YooPlay TV.

The collaboration between Five and YooMedia is expected to last 13 weeks, when a review of the project will be carried out with a extension of the deal earmarked into 2006.

By Kevin May

just added a few more--the buy price still up but they have dropped the sell price!

From Broadcast magazine:-

Five ventures into multichannel world
Helen Groom
12 August 2005 11:04

Five has announced its first venture into mulitchannel TV with a joint venture with interactive media group YooMedia.

From Monday, YooPlay TV will pilot an extended version of Five's daily quiz show Brainteasers.

The pilot will run for thirteen weeks initially, with an option to extend the deal into 2006.

The extended version, which will be cross promoted on Five's terrestrial channel, will be broadcast on YooPlay TV following the normal daily show on Five. Brainteasers is produced by Endemol.

Yooplay TV, channel 279 on the sky digital platform, which launched last week, is an interactive quiz channel which includes YooMedia's Puzzle Time and Cash Quiz formats.

Five's owner RTL has been mooted as a possible buyer of Telewest's multichannel operation Flextech, which is set to be put up for sale for an expected price tag of between 800m and 1.1bn.

A Credit Suisse First Boston briefing to investors in July revealed that RTL would consider selling a stake in Five in order to fund its mulitchannel development.


Source:broadcastnow.co.uk

Regards

mactavish -
How did you set up this meeting - who are the other two who were present ?
I don't personally doubt that it took place - but perhaps you can add some info just for those that may question it ?
Many thanks from the Balearics.

ibizamatt

I can assure you the meeting took place two weeks ago. It signalled a big change of sentiment among retail investors. I did not go, but a friend of mine did. All genuine. I've spoken to Mr Sinclair on the phone and among other things, mentioned the meeting.

i was not at the meeting but it did take place. It was Paul Smith and two others. Any more info can be obtained form the ADVFN BB. i have personally spoken to Jonathan Apps on the phone and he was very upbeat about YOO. This has been confirmed by Mr. Sinclair at the meeting he had with the 3 shareholders.

Must be true if its on the ADVFN free board !!!

sp heading in the right direction so I'm happy holding for the next year if necessary
what shares are you in Dil? are they doing well I know you like NLR but always welcome a few recommends to look at. dull old weekend down in Devon so looking around the market.

Poker Channel goes interactive from August 15
Poker fans will soon be able to play their favourite games on TV following a deal between interactive media group YooMedia and The Poker Channel. From August 15, YooMedia will provide a red-button link from The Poker Channel to a Poker Channel-branded, interactive fixed-odds gaming portal that will offer games such as Poker, Roulette, Virtual Trackside and Spin to Win. Viewers will be able to play games for fun or for real. [Aug 4]

buyers will come back in today big style.

Yoomedia are well placed to rise further this year, bearing in mind that Yooemedia are working away to get their interims out early September - must have something good to report - we already know that turnover is well up, in March it was 8,000,000 per month and with many new contracts secured since then, 10,000,000 per month is now nearer the mark, we also know that company is trading cash positive - all good indicators IMHO to send the price up in September, especially as the trading statement is sure to be upbeat too, where we will learn more about the reason why the profits warning had to be issued, and more about that 5 year contract with FTSE 100 partner, William Hill.

Certainly soaking up the sells must be a big buyer out there.

Cable operator Telewest expects to be operating a fully digital television network by the end of 2006. The company, which is due to merge with larger operator ntl later this year, said the transition to a fully digital network would free up "significant amounts of bandwidth", allowing "extra capacity for video-on-demand (VOD), high definition TV, broadband speed increases and other services".

Telewest said it ended the three months to the end of June with 1.3m television subscribers, an increase of 11,000 during the period, the best second-quarter performance for four years. Of that 1.3m, 1.19m were digital subscribers, up 40,000 in the period.

"Our VOD roll-out is continuing and is now available to approximately 120,000 subscribers in the South West," said Telewest. The Teleport-branded service includes a replay feature, allowing subscribers to view programmes from the BBC and others within a seven-day window.

Telewest said it planned to continue its region-by-region VOD roll-out during the second half of this year and complete the national roll-out by early 2006. It also expected to launch personal video recorder services towards the end of 2005.

At the end of June Telewest had 852,838 broadband customers, up 66,000 in the quarter.

Rising customer numbers boosted Telewest revenues to 381m, up from 326m in the year-ago period. The company made a 19m profit, up from a year-ago loss of 126m.

When pressed on whether Telewest's content arm Flextech would be sold, Telewest's acting chief executive Barry Elson, said: "At this point in time we like both businesses (distribution and content). As the multiplicity of platforms (increases), content has to become more valuable and not less valuable."

Earlier this week, Telewest issued a sales memorandum for its digital channels arm Flextech ahead of the widely anticipated merger with ntl. Analysts said Flextech could expect to attract bids of around 900m. It remains to be seen whether the move is merely an attempt to put a realistic market value on Flextech as ntl and Telewest consider merger terms, or whether Flextech really is up for sale.

Lovelacemedia | 12.08.2005
Search news:

From this mornings itvt newletter, good to see the story is still doing the rounds:

Five, YooMedia Team to Launch New ITV-Enabled Channel on Sky

UK commercial terrestrial broadcaster, Five, has teamed with interactive TV content and services company, YooMedia, to launch a new channel on the Sky satellite platform. Dubbed "YooPlay TV," the channel, which began broadcasting last week, features a variety of ITV programming, including YooMedia's Puzzle Time and Cash Quiz formats. As of yesterday, the channel has also been airing an extended version of Five's daily quiz show, Brainteaser, in what the companies describe as a "pilot run": the YooPlay TV version of the show has no contestants in the studio; instead, the show's host poses questions directly to viewers at home. (Note: the Endemol-produced show, which airs on Five between 1:00PM and 2:00PM on weekdays, will air daily on YooPlay TV between 2:00PM and 6:00PM.) The joint venture agreement between YooMedia and Five will see the latter cross- promoting the YooPlay TV version of Brainteaser from its channel: the broadcaster will run promotional inserts for the extended version during and after its own broadcasts of Brainteaser. YooMedia says that its partnership agreement with Five is "for an initial pilot phase" of 13 weeks, and that it includes an option to extend the partnership into 2006: it says that YooPlay TV is not expected to make a material contribution to its operating profits during the current financial year. "We are delighted by the prospect of both developing the YooPlay brand through the launch of this channel and the regular broadcast of our own participation TV show," YooMedia group managing director, Neil MacDonald, said in a prepared statement. "The opportunity to host an extended version of the UK's most successful format of this type and to work with partners such as Five and Endemol is an added bonus for YooPlay TV."

You got any viewing figures for these Channels ?

Do you or anyone you know ever watch them ?

moneyplus ... SOR look interesting but I'm not really looking at much at the moment.

reminder for those interested who have not already looked, Brainteaser 1p.m. Channel 5. A poster on iii claims this is Endemol's second most lucrative show after Big Brother. Anyway I'm going to watch, see what we're involved with.

So mac ... you got any viewing figures for these Channels ?

Do you or anyone you know ever watch them ?