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.

Hey Dildo.....How is your evening going ????

Issue 6.48 Part 1 | January 3, 2006 www.itvt.com


UK-based interactive TV content and services company, YooMedia--which late last year issued a profit warning and revealed that it was "exploring a number of available options for strengthening its balance sheet," including the sale of its dating business (see [itvt] Issue 6.41 Part 1), and which subsequently raised 3 million through a share issue (see [itvt] Issue 6.44 Part 1)--has sold its interactive TV gaming channel, Avago, to betting and gaming company, Gala Group. The channel, which features live presenters, is currently available on the Sky satellite platform (channel 181) and will shortly launch on ntl's digital cable platform. The deal sees Gala acquiring the Avago brand and associated intellectual property, and the channel's database of over 250,000 registered customer accounts.


Gala--which has a database of over 7 million registered customers and whose brand enjoys a high profile in the UK--plans to rebrand the channel as "Gala TV," and relaunch it by the end of the third quarter. However, YooMedia will continue to have what it describes as a "prominent interest" in the channel and will continue to provide its interactive gaming portal behind the channel. The terms of the acquisition deal provide YooMedia with an asset sale consideration, an ongoing share of the channel's gaming revenues, and support and development contracts for more than three years. The company says that the deal will provide it with a net income contribution of between 5.1 million and 8.05 million, depending on the channel's performance.

[itvt] asked YooMedia group managing director, Neil MacDonald, why the company had decided to sell Avago: "The Avago deal will see the whole interactive TV gambling proposition be promoted to a much wider audience than we could ever reach under our own branded efforts," he wrote in an email. "The Avago channel has been very successful for us, but in the run-in to the new UK remote gaming legislation coming into force sometime in 2007, it was always our strategy to partner with a leading branded operator, as the market will mature rapidly. We're very pleased that we managed to find the perfect partner for the Avago interactive TV proposition--Europe's largest leisure gaming operator, Gala. It also signals," the email continued, "along with the work we do with William Hill, the UK's largest bookmaker, that interactive TV gaming is no longer the preserve of niche independent players, such as ourselves, or just Sky, and is now a mainstream part of a multi-billion-dollar industry."

what will it take to make this one go up! not even Dateline Cilla or Gala---still happy to hold as the revenues are now coming through hope this will keep the bankers happy!!

from : http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/060103/214/g0bsh.html

today, 2pm


"LONDON (ShareCast) - William Hill (LSE: WMH.L - news) found plenty of takers today after the bookmaker said profits before interest, taxation Advertisement

and exceptional item are expected to be higher than November's guidance.

The group said underlying profit will be slightly in excess of the previously indicated range of 230m to 240m

"The board remains confident about the prospects for the group in 2006 with the successful completion of the integration of Stanley Retail Betting and rollout of electronic point of sale and text systems expected to deliver business benefits," it said."

Something coming from yoo?
Its very blue!
Happy new year and good luck

Morning capetown...happy new year to you. There's been some movement in YOO over the last 48 hours..maybe some good news in the pipeline...but, we've been there before. See you on the IDD thread at some point.

Cheers

Happy new year to you mole
lets make some dosh this year!!

Thanks to Ngen Yap.



Why PIs are selling YOO now is beyond me (unless they require cash for personal reasons). Prior to December, the two key concerns I had with YOO was (1) Working capital/Availability of cash to profitability and (2) loss making gambling division resulting in the unpredictable timing of YOO's profitablity and further exacerbating point 1.

In December, imho, both of the above concerns have been addressed and done very well indeed.

(1) The company raised 3m (before costs) via a placing at market price. Please do not confuse this with a rights issue. They are different and as it was done at market price, was not dilutive. Further to that, the company has restructured its debts and have in fact an increased overdraft facility which the directors have indicated they have no intention of utilising at the time.

(2) In relation to the loss making gambling division, YOO has successfully renegotiated the William Hill contract, which includes WH covering YOO's production costs. This immediately cuts out the risk borne by YOO and ultimately, this deal will be making a contribution to gross profits of the group. As we know today, WH are already rolling out YOO's services. Secondly, the Avago brand has been sold to Gala. The terms of the agreement for YooMedia include an asset sale consideration, an ongoing share of gaming revenues, and support and development contracts across the initial period of in excess of three years. This AGAIN, means that costs have been farmed out, with YOO acting more as a service maintenance provider rather than the provider itself. Both the above developments are HIGHLY significant in my view, and are not currently reflected in the SP.

The resulting effect of the deals/transactions struck in December, in particular what management has done in relation to the loss-making gambling division makes its very likely that YOO will be profitable in Q1. I have no doubt about that (barring unknown changes in YES and dating division).

We know that the new brokers note will incorporate developments above and other deals struck in the period between the last EVO note and year end. So, I wouldn't be surprised if we will be presented with a forecast of 5 - 10m profit. At today's SP, YOO is a bargain!!

I know people have reasons to sell or buy and that's what makes the market. But, I would be very interested to hear the views of PI's selling and their reason for doing so, from a FUNDAMENTAL point of view.

Good luck.

Mac

Someone just sold 2.7 million,what do they know!

hope you are right as i am and will hold

good luck

Capetown its a broker to broker trade.

CHEERS mac,
another big trade @i mill+,somethhing is definateley going on

Good news for YOO shareholders, another contract up for grabs!

http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?VersionID=79259

Sportech has pulled the plug on its loss-making interactive gaming deal with ITV with immediate effect.

The contract, where Sportech (ROD) through Littlewoods Gaming supplied interactive betting and gaming services linked to ITV programmes, was signed in March 2002 on the back of the anticipated growth in interactive TV betting.

It has lost money ever since - 4 million in 2005 due to low revenues, Sportech says.

By getting out of the deal, Sportech will not only eliminate the operating loss, but also avoid the additional potential payments of 22.2 million due over the remaining three years of the contract.

Axing the deal means that Sportechs results will be hit with an additional exceptional charge of 14 million.

This reflects the write-off of payments already made to ITV, related assets and redundancies. The direct cash cost of the termination is expected to be less than 1 million, the company believes.

Otherwise Sportechs 2005 results, excluding the exceptional charges, should be in line with market expectations.

Trading was active in Sportech shares with 691,734 shares going through the ticker in the first hour in 23 trades. The price dropped 1.25p to 11.75p.

In future Sportech says it will focus on profitable business. It remains committed to interactive gaming and is planning a number of new product launches in the first quarter of the year.

Sportech chief executive Ian Penrose said the contract with ITV was commercially unviable and not likely to change. It was terminated by mutual consent following a series of negotiations.

Given the huge contractual payments due under the contract from February 2006 onwards, we are not prepared to expose the company to this ongoing liability, he said.

Sportech will continue to participate in the interactive betting market and we look forward to updating the market about new launches we have in the pipeline early in 2006.

lol

http://www.digitalhollywood.com//%231DHFall04/DHFallWednesdayTen.html

Jody Stark, SVP of Strategy and business development, for yooMedia North America Jody Stark leads business strategy and manages the companys Technology and Entertainment partnerships www.yoomedia.com plc is the fastest growing interactive digital TV and mobile entertainment company in the UK.Since 1997 we have provided interactive TV products for leading digital network operators and broadcasters. We are established providers of idTV solutions having developed our own interactive chat and games portal, Yoo, on cable as well as building games, chat and dating solutions for satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasters. Before taking on the role at yoomedia Jody ran the Media and Entertainment Practice for Blast Radius (www.blastradius.com), a business solutions provider that leverages technology to automate marketing, sales, and customer service for clients including Nike, Nintendo, Kenwood, Casio, Heineken, MTV, BMW, Universal Studios, and Atlantic Records Prior to joining Blast Radius, Mr. Stark was a partner and co-founder of Los Angeles-based Initech Consulting, where he built the companys North American operations and developed strategic media technology plans for content companies such as AOL, Turner Networks and DirecTV. He was also the founder of Viziworx, Inc., a provider of core interactive television authoring services to broadband service providers and content service providers. Viziworx was acquired in 2000 by ACTV (IATV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Company. Mr. Starks previous experience includes working with Mixed Signals Technology as Senior Vice President, Business Development and consulting for clients such as Microsoft,ESPN Sony, CBS, Fox, Liberate Technologies, CNN and DirecTV. An influential public speaker, Mr. Stark has developed and produced several cutting-edge broadband service applications that have garnered him industry-wide recognition including Emmy nomination in 2001.

Domino's Pizza sees FY earnings ahead of expectations UPDATE
AFX


LONDON (AFX) - Domino's Pizza UK & Ireland PLC expects to post full-year earnings ahead of expectations after Britain's biggest pizza delivery company witnessed strong sales over the busy Christmas period amid burgeoning demand for convenience foods.

In a statement ahead of annual results due Feb 27, the owner of 407 pizza outlets said same-store sales rose 7.1 pct in the year to Jan 1. Sales increased by 3.6 pct in the last six weeks of the period against what were described as 'tough' comparatives.

The company, which opened 50 outlets over the course of the year, had witnessed an 8.4 pct increase in same-store sales in the first half.

'Domino's Pizza has produced another year of strong system sales growth... I am confident (we) will deliver full-year results ahead of current market expectations,' said chief executive Stephen Hemsley.

Finance director Lee Ginsberg said in an interview he expects financial analysts to lift their forecasts for profit before tax, goodwill amortisation and exceptional items to around 11 mln stg from 10.7 mln previously.

And he said he expects a further improvement in the coming year.

Ginsberg, who said the company intends to open another 50 stores this year, is hopeful of a sizeable boost from this year's World Cup football tournament.

Rising use of the internet had continued to provide a further source of growth, with customers generally placing bigger orders than over the phone.

Sales via the internet and interactive television channels surged by nearly 58 pct over Christmas, and now account for 11.5 pct of overall sales.

Market research organisation Mintel estimates Britons in 2004 spent around 1.25 bln stg -- around 43 pct of it on pizzas -- having food delivered to their doorstep, an increase of nearly two-thirds in the space of six years.

It estimates the home delivery market will be worth in excess of 1.8 bln stg by 2009.

Domino's currently boasts a market share of around 33 pct, bigger than its next two largest rivals combined.

Domino's Pizza shares closed Monday at 371.5 pence, for a 67 pct one-year gain, valuing the company at 203 mln stg.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

rhb/nes/rhb/vs

Domino's Pizza sees FY earnings ahead of expectations UPDATE


Rising use of the internet had continued to provide a further source of growth, with customers generally placing bigger orders than over the phone.

Sales via the internet and interactive television channels surged by nearly 58 pct over Christmas, and now account for 11.5 pct of overall sales.

DTV receiver sales up 25% says Purnell

UK broadcasting minister James Purnell says around 800,000 digital television receivers were snapped up by consumers in the weeks before Christmas, a rise of 25% over the run-up to Christmas 2004.

Purnell told the Commons culture, media and sport select committeewhich is investigating the Government's 2008-2012 switchover timetablethat the sales demonstrated that the message was "starting to get out there".

Purnell's boss, culture secretary Tessa Jowell, announced the switchover timetable in September. At the time she said a support scheme would fund the cost of digital equipment for households with one person aged 75 or over, or households with one person with a significant disability.

Low-income households would also receive some form of assistance in a scheme to be determined by the BBC and the Government. A trial in Bolton involving 300 households is currently assessing the most effective way of offering that assistance.

Purnell told MPs that those qualifying for assistance would be able to use the subsidy on packages other than Freeview, and that they would be given help in installing equipment.

Lovelace Consulting | 11.01.2006

https://www.avago.tv/avago/jsp/mobile_menuHome.jsp

Getting desperate are we ???

Soon burn through the new cash , bust soon imo.

Thanks to GM.



Just to update:

1) It is true that Cellcast are paying Yoomedia ro broadcast their content on Channel 279. It is a move that makes great financial sense for Yoomedia due to reasons cited above by another poster. Brainteaser was not making any money for the company, that is why it had to go. In the current format, Yooplay is generating money.
2) I expect the Gala partnership to be a long lasting one with other contracts leading on from it. The minimum the company expect to earn is 5m and immediately transforms it from loss making to profitable.
3) The renegotiation of the William Hill deal took far too long for my liking but at least it is in place. Contrary to some posts earlier, Yoomedia (under the terms of the revised contract) will be in WH betting shops at the end of January. The terms under the revised contract are extremely favourable indeed. My understanding is that the renegotiation of this alone is enough to turn Games&Gambling division profitable. Gala and the monies coming in from Cellcast are a bonus.
4) The NTL trial has gone well and the results are being analysed as we sepak by both parties. NTL are extremely happy with the product especially the video on demand which has been a particular success. Lets hope that a decent contract is bagged by Yoomedia as a result. There were some reports that ITV had devloped a similar product. Industry experts will tell you that there is nothing of the sort. It is completely different and vastly inderior to Yoo's offering. BBTV works with all existing set-top boxes and is super fast. The content trialled by ITV does not compare with that trailled by BBTV/NTL. I await the results.
5) The broker note should be with us by the end of the month. It would not take a lot for it to be better than the last note. I fully expect a decent write up and a figure of FY profits 2006 to be much better than the meagre 0.5m in the EVO note. Games and gambling was bringing all the figures down - and that looks to have been transformed.
6) The company are actively working the DOH to look at further ways to enhance the interactive side of the NHS-patient interaction. NHS direct will be cash generative soon.
7) Dating. Many options being considered. As the cash position is no longer a concern for the company, they will take their time. My understanding is that they won't make a decision until March/April at the earliest. There certainly has been a lot of interest to buy it off them, but they are not sure whether to let it go completely. It is generating cash at the moment so is not a worry.
8) Don't think we will hear of US expansion news quite yet. Yoomedia are keen to be profitable here first and certainly things are progressively very well to have Q1 generating cash.

I agree that it looks, finally, to have turned the corner. Games and Gambling has always been a concern to me, and all matters seem to have been addressed.