Egami Media Continues Rapid Expansion of Digital Distribution
CHATSWORTH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 8, 2005–Egami Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Image Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISK) focused on the aggregation and wholesale exploitation of digital rights, today announced the signing of a nonexclusive agreement to distribute its exclusive content through DivX, Inc.’s retail website.
DivX will be distributing hundreds of titles from the Egami catalog online in the secure, high-quality DivX format, playable on tens of millions of DivX Certified DVD players and other devices available from major manufacturers at global retailers. With over 180 million downloads worldwide, DivX is a digital media format that enables video to be compressed to over 10 times smaller than MPEG-2 at high visual quality for secure digital distribution over IP networks. The DivX media format offers a full DVD-like experience with interactive menus, chapters, subtitles, multiple audio tracks and rich metadata.
“We look forward to offering our programming for sale to the millions of existing and future DivX users. By adding advanced video features and bringing secure playback to millions of affordable consumer electronics devices, DivX has narrowed the value proposition between DVD and the world of digital delivery,” said Martin W. Greenwald, president and CEO of Image Entertainment and chairman of the board of Egami Media. “Egami will continue to seek out quality partners like DivX in our ongoing effort to become the world’s premier independent distributor of digital content. Together, Egami and DivX will work to grow the emerging digital distribution channel by providing customers with a compelling way to consume entertainment content.”
Since its formation, Egami Media has amassed a diverse digital library of programming containing more than 1,300 individual video programs. “Live concert programs like ‘Kiss: Rock the Nation: Live!,’ ‘Chick Corea: Rendezvous in New York,’ ‘Roy Orbison: Black & White Night,’ IMAX programs from MacGillivray Freeman, stand-up comedy and independent, foreign and silent film classics are just a few examples of the breadth of programming Egami has to offer,” said Burgess Wilson, vice president of business development of Image Entertainment. “Egami will continue its aggressive approach toward growing the digital distribution marketplace by continuing to acquire programming for distribution by partners like DivX.”
“Image Entertainment is one of the leading North American distributors of home entertainment content, and their team at Egami is taking a leadership role in digital media, finding innovative ways to bring their library to users that takes full advantage of new technology in simple, user-friendly ways,” said Jordan Greenhall, CEO and co-founder of DivX, Inc. “The diverse and compelling catalog of content from Image Entertainment is an ideal candidate for the DivX digital distribution model that offers users a flexible, high-quality viewing experience extending beyond the constraints of physical media.”
About Egami Media: Egami Media, Inc. is a subsidiary of Image Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISK), a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming in North America. Egami focuses on the aggregation and wholesale exploitation of digital rights to a wide array of video content. Egami has acquired all of Image’s current and future digital rights and will independently acquire digital rights to third party content on a going forward basis.
About Image Entertainment: Image Entertainment, Inc. is a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and over 200 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and approximately 300 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary Egami Media, Inc., exclusive video on demand, streaming video and download rights. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California, and has a domestic distribution facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to www.image-entertainment.com.
About DivX, Inc.
DivX, Inc. is a digital entertainment company positioned at the center of multimedia convergence. The company’s core offering is the DivX video codec, among the world’s most popular video compression technologies with over 250 million downloads worldwide. The patent-pending DivX video technology offers high-quality at 7-10 times greater compression than MPEG-2 files, enabling full length films to easily fit on a CD or be delivered over broadband connections. DivX video technology powers a range of applications that span the convergence value chain, from a secure IP-based video-on-demand solution to next-generation consumer electronics products and video software applications. DivX, Inc. is headquartered in San Diego, California.