RTHM.L Regulatory News (RTHM)

23 Jan 2008 07:01

Blinkx Plc23 January 2008 blinkx Expands International News Index by Partnering with FRANCE 24 24-Hour French, English and Arabic News Programming Now Available at www.blinkx.com SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. - January 23, 2008 - blinkx, the world's largest videosearch engine, today announced a partnership with FRANCE 24, the first Frenchinternational news channel to broadcast on a 24/7 basis, to give blinkx viewersdirect access to FRANCE 24's multilingual collection of politically andculturally diverse programming. Leveraging its unique AdHoc platform, blinkxwill also place contextually relevant advertising against the footage, and willshare resulting advertising revenue with FRANCE 24. Currently, blinkx offersnative news and other video search in four different languages (English, French,German and Spanish) at www.blinkx.com. FRANCE 24 is characterized by respect for diversity and attention to politicaland cultural differences and identities. It offers an in-depth analysis ofcurrent events, aiming to uncover what lies beneath the surface and reveal whatthe public is not used to seeing, knowing or understanding. It also givesspecial attention to culture and lifestyle. Deploying a decisive and boldmultilingual strategy, programs are broadcast on three channels, one in French,one in English and one in Arabic. Free and unencrypted, the network broadcastsvia the various platforms of the digital universe: satellite, cable, ADSL andInternet. "This agreement with blinkx fits into our strategy of syndicating FRANCE 24video programs throughout the world. The number and the nature of the websitesaffiliated with this company allows us to reinforce the notoriety of FRANCE 24and the visibility of our programs and reports, especially in the US market",said Stanislas Leridon, FRANCE 24 New Media and Internet Director. "When you only have access to your local television station, it can often bechallenging to find different perspectives on current events - especially on theinternational news front," said Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CEO ofblinkx. "With FRANCE 24 and blinkx's other global news providers, we're makingit even easier for our users to have access to diverse coverage of world events,in many different languages." As the pioneer in video search technology, blinkx serves more than 50 millionunique visitors every month. blinkx has built a reputation as the smartest wayto search new forms of online content such as video. With more than 220 partnersand 18 million hours of indexed video and audio content, including favorite TVmoments, news clips, short documentaries, music videos, video blogs and more,blinkx uses advanced speech recognition technology to deliver results that aremore accurate and reliable than standard metadata-based keyword searches. About blinkx blinkx plc (LSE AIM: BLNX) is the world's most comprehensive video searchengine. Today, blinkx has indexed more than 18 million hours of audio, video,viral and TV content, and made it fully searchable and available on demand.blinkx's founders set out to solve a significant challenge - as TV anduser-generated content on the Web explode, keyword-based search technologiesonly scratch the surface. blinkx's patented search technologies listen to - andeven see - the Web, helping users enjoy a breadth and accuracy of search resultsnot available elsewhere. In addition, blinkx powers the video search for many ofthe world's most frequented sites. blinkx is based in San Francisco and London.More information is available at www.blinkx.com. About FRANCE 24 FRANCE 24 is the first French international news channel that offers a Frenchperspective and sensibility on world events. FRANCE 24 broadcasts on a 24/7basis on three channels, in French, English and Arabic, in Europe, the MiddleEast, Africa and on the East Coast of the United States. FRANCE 24 can beaccessed by all media platforms: cable, satellite and DSL. The websitewww.france24.com is available in 3 languages (English, French, and Arabic). blinkx Press Contacts: Tim TurpinSparkpr+1 (415) 321 1894tturpin@sparkpr.com Clare GaynerBite Communications+44 (0)20 8834 3454Clare.Gayner@bitepr.com FRANCE 24 Press Contacts:Nathalie Lenfant - Tel. : +33 (0)1 73 01 24 11 - nlenfant@FRANCE24.comDamien Amadou -Tel. : +33 (0)1 73 01 24 31 - damadou@FRANCE24.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange