mactavish
- 10 Sep 2004 22:20
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.
iPublic
- 10 Dec 2004 22:37
- 380 of 3776
Return Path
The return path division of DITG provides the only third party commercial
alternative to Sky for activating the return path from a set top box. By
providing this service it is able to handle financial transactions, voting and
other responses made by a consumer on behalf of certain broadcasters, including
the BBC.
We know ITV and SKY are at loggerheads at the moment.
http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?class=search&subclass=ITV&id=461
ITV may choose Yoomedia, for it's return path requirements for both business and working relationship reasons.
Debbie Mason's job is already made easier, as she has an alternative return path in mind, if ITV decide to dump SKY. Knowing where Debbie Mason has gone, surely the DITG directors (soon to be Yoomedia directors) are working closely with Debbie Mason and ITV. The amount of potential business up for grabs is huge!
ITV4 will be the brand, that's all. Behind the scenes, someone must provide the return path technology and content. Will they choose Yoomedia? I consider there is a very good chance of significant business for our mobile and gaming divsions, at the very least.
Perhaps most importantly, will ITV chose Yoomedia to provide the return path, dumping SKY in the process? If so, it will open the floodgates for other independant broadcsters, program content producers to follow, breaking SKY's stranglehold.
IF a deal can be made with ITV, then the whole merger takes on a different complexion entirely. Is it in the pipeline? Only the directors know!
ITV and the new Yoomedia, working together, COULD become a very powerful force indeed! After ITV4, why not ITV5, ITV6, ITV7...............all interactive, presenter led channels.......if Yoomedia are involved, then it's buy, buy, buy!!!
iPublic
- 10 Dec 2004 22:37
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.
iPublic
- 10 Dec 2004 22:37
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Mr Docherty said recently:
"The merged entity, he added, will be able to "provide solutions from digital television all the way through mobile and all points in-between. We'll be able to cross-market, cross-promote and cross-database. And I think that's going to be seen in the market as really innovative: that one company can come in and solve all your problems in one gulp, so to speak."
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm........Yes, we do need DITG, now we are the complete package.
We can provide everything an independant program producer needs. From a return path solution, processing of financial transactions, right through to quality interactive content, like gaming, chat and mobile interactivity. Looking at it in this way, the shares actually appear to be 'dirt cheap'
In the future, SKY may increasingly provide ONLY the broadcast space on the network. We can do the rest!
iPublic
- 10 Dec 2004 22:38
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EWROBSON
33P or 150m market cap, suddenly seems cheap all of a sudden!
iturama
- 11 Dec 2004 10:25
- 384 of 3776
iPublic
If they are so dirt cheap, why did Docherty do such a large deal at 15p? His actions belie his words.
He should be asked to give a plausible explanation of the need to place at 15p in the light of that statement. He should be also asked if they are so cheap to those shareholders who are sitting on substantial losses as a result. He and his cronies immunized themselves from that pain.
This guy really needs to come clean and address all the issues. The hype does not convince me. When and if the company has settled down and producing solid results, then I will feel more positive. No need to rush in the meantime, better stuff out there at the moment.
iPublic
- 11 Dec 2004 13:10
- 385 of 3776
EVO were not prepared to underwrite the placement above 15p. Yes, Yoomedia could have gone elsewhere, but they seem to want the merger settled by Christmas, allowing them to forge ahead in 2005. The sector has just come of age and will be evolving rapidly in 2005. Could we really afford to wait a few months for a better placement deal to be found?
It is more forgivable, if Yoomedia are teaming up with ITV for ITV4. Debbie Mason was the founder of AVAGO and she must be a stakeholder of DITG/TGG, if so then the Chief Commissioner of the new interactive quiz and gaming channel ITV4, to be launched next year, is a substantial Yoomedia shareholder. One does not need a high IQ to work out where ITV will going for content and quite possibly RETURN PATH.
This may explain why speed was of the essence, hence the need to rush through the placement before Christmas.
Finally, we did have the opportunity to buy below 18p anyway!
johngtudor
- 11 Dec 2004 17:56
- 386 of 3776
iPublic: This deal has been rumbling around for some time, enough time for Yoomedia to explore all the avenues available before closing the deal through EVO, so your point about speed, finance and timescales is not convincing. But what takes the biscuit is the Options award, tied up with the vote for the merger! Quite disgraceful and something I thought might happen. The Directors seem to think they are running this operation for their own self interest. That's fine when you are a Private Company but the thinking at Board level needs to change when you are a Public Company.
I also doubt, as have other BB posters, that Yoomedia will produce the earnings that this merger needs to create to justify the sharholder dilution that is taking place, for many years to come. I hope to be proved wrong, but on balance it's unlikely.
Finally, I do not think anyone is arguing about the merits of the deal, it's just the approach that has been taken to do it.
EWRobson
- 13 Dec 2004 13:30
- 387 of 3776
iPublic
Just got up to date with the spate of posts, having emerged from income tax returns (snore!). The ITV deal seems likely given that it will have been on the go for a while, Docherty would have known that, so it would give extra motivation for closing the deal quickly. Dec 20th meeting could have been timed to enable the following EVO announcement to be that much stronger. I suspect we really do need to see the projections made before we can assess the future cap. and thus sp. If the announcement is strong and sexy, then the hype could be huge and the sp could get ahead of itself. I suspect this will happen: the implications would be, firstly, to increase one's stake (share is somewhat down today) and, secondly, be on the ball to take some profits (in my case, close the cfd).
Eric
iPublic
- 15 Dec 2004 14:11
- 388 of 3776
NHS Direct Interactive Digital TV service launches
The UKs long-awaited NHS Direct interactive television health information service is finally being launched.
The National Health Service in the UK currently provides a telephone advice and an online health information service, which is being expanded to cover digital television platforms.
The new interactive television service is being launched by Dr John Reid, the Secretary of State for health, and Harry Cayton the director responsible for patients and the public at the Department of Health.
Initially, NHS Digital TV will provide basic health information in different languages, directing viewers to the NHS Direct telephone service.
The service will be expanded over time and is eventually expected to include transactional services such as booking appointments.
The service was originally commissioned at the beginning of 2004, after a series of pilot projects to assess the potential of digital television for delivering health information.
Following a competitive tender, the initial three-year contract for the project, thought to be worth 15m, was awarded to MMTV together with PA Consulting and usability specialists Nomensa.
The service was expected to launch in the summer of 2004 and be available on all digital television platforms by the end of the year, according to the aggressive schedule originally set.
MMTV was subsequently acquired from its parent company Multimedia Television plc by the iPublic division of YooMedia plc at the end of September 2004, positioning YooMedia as a key supplier for public service interactive television.
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
iPublic
- 17 Dec 2004 16:26
- 389 of 3776
Full credit to craZyjon on another website.
Yoomedia unveils online version of Fancy a Flutter game
December 20, 2004 Emma Rigby,
LONDON - Interactive entertainment company Yoomedia has launched an online version of its gaming brand, Fancy a Flutter.
The new website marks Yoomedia's first step into online gaming in line with its plan to stretch its interactive TV properties to the web and mobile. Yoomedia CEO David Docherty said: "The launch of FancyaFlutter.co.uk means that Yoomedia has a strong presence on all the main interactive platforms, including television, mobile and now online. He added: "Due to the high quality of the games we have developed, and the simple way in which you can play for as little as 10p, we expect FancyaFlutter.co.uk to attract large numbers of players in the online world." Yoomedia has developed new games for the online offering, featuring animation, and a winner's area. FancyaFlutter.co.uk will be supported with a promotional campaign and will include email, mobile, and affiliate elements, as well as partnership promotions. Since its launch in February 2003, Fancy a Flutter has been available on Sky Active's Betting Zone. If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum here.
iPublic
- 17 Dec 2004 16:27
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http://www.fancyaflutter.co.uk
iPublic
- 17 Dec 2004 16:27
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http://www.yoomedia.com/press_releases/pr16dec.html
"The launch of the new website marks Yoomedias first step into online gaming"
"Yoomedias gaming brands operate in the soft, fixed odds gaming market, a sector which has seen massive growth in the last 12 months, particularly among women."
Editorial Notes
About Yoomedia
YooMedia is a leading provider of commercial iTV, internet and mobile products and content to the UK digital TV and interactive media market. The Company is British owned and operates interactive channels on all four UK digital platforms; Sky, ntl, Telewest and Freeview. The operations of the Group can be split into four key divisions:
Yoomedia Gambling & Games - with brands including Avago FancyaFlutter, and Channel 425/William Hill and turn-key gaming solutions for commercial partners through its TV Gaming Group (TGG)
Yoomedia Dating & Chat - with brands including Dateline, Avenues, and YooChat
Yoomedia Mobile - with brands including TriggerTv and Whoosh
iPublic bringing local/central government and healthcare services to digital television
Yoomedia plc is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market.
www.yoomedia.com
Contacts:
Matt Ball or Daljit Bhurji
Hotwire
T: 020 7608 4649 or 020 7608 4626
M: 07880 642257
E: matt.ball@hotwirepr.com, daljit.bhurji@hotwirepr.com
mactavish
- 20 Dec 2004 15:16
- 392 of 3776
Yoomedia PLC
20 December 2004
YooMedia plc
('YooMedia or 'the Company')
RESULT OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
The Board of YooMedia is pleased to confirm that the resolution proposed for
consideration at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company, which was
held today in London, was approved.
The Acquisitions and the Placing remain conditional on, among other things,
Admission, which is expected to occur at 8.00am tomorrow, 21 December 2004.
Enquiries:
John Murray
Powerscourt 0207 236 5615
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
Poverty
- 20 Dec 2004 16:02
- 393 of 3776
For richer or poorer....
iPublic
- 20 Dec 2004 17:24
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In sickness and in health.......
iPublic
- 20 Dec 2004 17:24
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Till death do us part...........
iPublic
- 20 Dec 2004 17:24
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I do............
Poverty
- 20 Dec 2004 19:40
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I hope....
mactavish
- 21 Dec 2004 11:26
- 398 of 3776
Yoomedia PLC
21 December 2004
YooMedia plc ('YooMedia' or 'The Company')
ACQUISITIONS AND PLACING COMPLETION
Further to yesterday's announcement YooMedia is pleased to announce that the
acquisitions of DITG and TGC were completed at 8.00am today, 21 December 2004,
following the admission of the consideration and placing shares to trading on
AIM.
21 December 2004
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
mactavish
- 28 Dec 2004 22:56
- 399 of 3776
Client:
Source:
Date:
Page:
Circulation:
Yoomedia
Broadcast (Main)
17 December 2004
14
13970
The man who sees the future Under David Docherty, new media's leading visionary,
Yoomedia's turnover is rocketing and the company's
starting to look like a serious interactive rival to BSkyB
BY SUSAN THOMPSON
DAVID jDocherty, Yoomedia's chief executive,
is something of a media clairvoyant.
Even BBC director general Mark
Thompson, and last week the busiest
man in the industry, took the time to tell
Broadcast why he still regularly rings his
old colleague for a forecast.
"What he is thinking about now, the rest
of us will all be thinking about in three or
four years' time," Thompson says.
Alan Yentob, the BBC's creative director,
adds: "David has always been on top
of new technologies. It is uncharted territory
and you need foresight to see and
think ahead. He is very good at imagining
the future."
It's an interesting insight into Docherty,
the former BBC and Telewest executive,
who this month orchestrated Yoomedia's
28m acquisition of the Digital
Interactive Television Group (DITG) and
The Gaming Channel (TGC), the company
behind betting service Avago and
William Hill's betting channels.
The group is now the biggest interactive
TV company after Sky and the
only one to operate its services on all
platforms - satellite, Freeview, NTL and
Telewest. It will focus on gaming, dating
and chat and the red-button technology
services that were provided by DITG. As
an enlarged entity, Yoomedia has
increased its annual turnover from
around 300,000 to more than 60m.
Not a patch on Sky's 300m plus
turnover but, according to Mathew
Horsman, director of research at consultancy
Mediatique: "Watch this space."
In the next year alone, Docherty hopes
to launch at least one channel - "a dating
channel, because that would complete
our set" - and expand into the US. "It's
a few years behind us in interactive TV
so if you are seen as being one of the
leading players here then you have a
market waiting for you over there."
For Docherty, all of this can't happen
quickly enough. This is a man who, after
all, has been imploring people to jump on
the interactive bandwagon for the best
part of 10 years.
"I was in the BBC when nobody cared
about digital and the possibilities of interactive
TV. I cared about it from 1994.
John [Birt] was great about the internet in
1996 but not digital TV," he says. It was
not until 1998, when Docherty was scheduling
BBC1 and BBC2 as deputy managing
director of television and director
of new media that he said to his then boss,
Will Wyatt, that they should get digital
going. "So we created a team made up of
producers such as Roly Keating and said
we want to create a raft of TV channels.
"We launched UKTV and all the BBC
digital channels. I came up with the idea
for the children's channels CBeebies and
CBBC - it was a fantastic time. We also
did BBC Choice. My original vision for
it was to be interactive. I had convinced
John Birt to sign it off and then the
techies turned round and said that they
couldn't do it yet!"
Thompson puts Docherty's work at the
BBC into context: "So many of the things
that TV is now centring on - the new digital
channels, the idea of interactivity and
using interactive television to build
beyond the main channels - a lot of this
thinking was first developed by David. He
was ahead of his time in many respects."
This reputation is also undoubtedly
why Docherty led one of the hypothetical
pitches this month for Ofcom's proposed
public service publisher (PSP).
Docherty's proposed brand "Six" was the
perfect opportunity for him to let the creative
juices flow. It was also a release: "I
was doing the PSP when I was doing the
[Yoomedia/DITG] deal. It took me out of
the grind of working through the detail
and I liked the idea of doing my own
quixotic bid."
Docherty, who's writing his fourth
thriller and is learning to play the piano
(how does he fit it all in?) says he's "terrified,
even petrified" of regret. "I'm 48
and I hate the idea that I'm going to get to
65 and think: 'If only I'd written that
novel or if only I'd learnt how to play the
piano'." Yet he is happier now than he
has ever been. As interactive TV begins
to come of age, it looks as though this
innovative Scot is coming of age as well.
"If one was doing a profile on David
15 years ago one would have heard accusations
of arrogance, an absolute ability
to believe in one's own rhetoric," says
David Kogan, chief executive of Reel
Enterprises and one of Docherty's PSP
teammates. "Certainly in the past four or
five years there has been a radical change
there - he has learnt to listen a lot more."
The turning point, says Docherty, was
breaking free from the BBC in 2000.
Persuaded by his friend and new chief
executive of Telewest Adam Singer,
Docherty made the move into the commercial
world as managing director of
broadband at the company.
He describes it as being like the "Wild
West" compared with the BBC - and for
the best part of two years he championed
a series of content projects including
"Living Health", an NHS-backed interactive
content pilot. His move into the
commercial world was rewarded when
Yoomedia executive chairman Dr
Michael Sinclair offered him the role of
chief executive. Adam Singer, now a member of the
Ofcom content board, says: "David was
first an academic and then he was a BBC
person. Telewest allowed him to stop
being a public servant and reinvent himself
as a commercial person. He did get a
reputation in the BBC of being quite
angular but at Telewest he worked very
hard at being a team player."
"And," adds Thompson, "when you
add that commercial experience he has
now picked up, it looks like he is going to
be an unstoppable force, really."
Area(cm): 364