Ericsson's broadband and media services division has purchased metadata company FYI Television for an undisclosed sum.
Based in Grand Prairie, Texas, and operating with around 150 employees, FYI Television is a global TV metadata and entertainment image content provider. It accumulates and distributes TV entertainment content and linear scheduling data from more than 9,000 TV networks daily, aggregating the information into customized formats for various digital, media, content, analytics and print clients for use on their connected devices such as tablets, phones, desktops, Internet portals and gaming consoles.
FYI's database contains more than 2.8 million cast and crew related assets, 1.5 million images directly relating to specific program titles, celebrities and stations, including logos, seasonal key art, movie posters and iconic stills.
FYI will join Ericsson's Business Line Broadcast & Media Services unit when and if the deal closes, which is expected to occur sometime in the first quarter.
Earlier this month, Ericsson said it opened a U.S. broadcast and media services hub based in Atlanta. The company currently provides closed captioning services to broadcasters around the world from this hub. It plans to roll out video description services over the coming months, as it ramps up into a crowded media services market.
"As the TV industry evolves and viewing behavior changes, we believe that high-quality, rich metadata will be a key component for a personalized TV experience," said Magnus Mandersson, executive VP and head of business unit global services at Ericsson. "Combined with our capabilities in TV platforms and content discovery, we will be able to help our customers to improve the video experience and identify new revenue opportunities. FYI Television's expertise and customer base in the U.S. is a great complementary fit for Ericsson and will be an integral part of our growth strategy. It will strengthen our position as one of the leading providers of media services in the world."
For more:
- read this Ericsson press release
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