Message #74 From:
NewsBot Date: October 26, 2006 05:30:00 AM
WIZD News Wizzard Software to Acquire Libsyn - Largest Podcasting Network in the World
PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD) announced today that it has agreed to
acquire Libsyn, the world’s largest podcasting
network. Following the acquisition, Libsyn will maintain its
independence and continue to grow its successful brand and loyal
podcasting community, empowering podcasting everywhere.
The Libsyn network broadcasts over 42 million podcast downloads per
month to at least 13 million people worldwide. In 2006 alone, Libsyn has
had over 360 million audio and video podcast downloads. "Just this
month, our network has broadcast over 7 million hours of content and
that does not even include traffic from our newly launched LibsynPro
business service,” says Dave Chekan, CEO and
co-founder of Libsyn. “We’ve
had several investment offers in the past and we chose Wizzard due to
its expertise in speech technology, its passion for podcasting and its
desire to make money for our independent content creators.”
“Libsyn is on a mission to empower the content
creator in this new age of independent media by creating unique
opportunities to share advertising revenues with its podcasters,”
says Chris Spencer, CEO of Wizzard Software. “By
joining forces, we can provide Libsyn with the operating capital it
needs to continue its impressive growth, increase capacity and maintain
its dominant status in the industry while at the same time expand our
revenues by helping podcasters monetize their shows through unique
advertising and sponsorship engagements."
The acquisition combines the world’s largest
and fastest growing podcast network with Wizzard's expertise in speech
technology integration, creating a powerful new service for podcasters
worldwide. The combined companies will focus on providing independent
content creators with comprehensive search engine indexing,
transcription and blogging integration and new tools so that they may
better attract advertisers and sponsors allowing them to reach
highly-targeted audiences with more relevant advertising and promotional
opportunities.
Libsyn will continue to be headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and all
Libsyn management and employees will remain with the company. Both
company’s board of directors have approved
this transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, and
is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter. Terms of the deal will be
disclosed in SEC filings in the near future.
About Libsyn:
Founded in 2004, Liberated Syndication (Libsyn) provides podcast hosting
services, comprehensive media distribution statistics and powerful tools
enabling individuals worldwide to create, manage and promote their
podcasts. Liberated Syndication powers close to 5000 independent content
creators, distributes over a million media files per day and provides
business class services with LibsynPro. Libsyn continues to fight for
the rights of the independent content creator supplying the core
foundation for this new media revolution. For more information, visit www.libsyn.com.
About Wizzard Software:
Founded in 1996, Wizzard Software has become a leader in the speech
technology application development market. Wizzard architects solutions
to business problems using its expertise in consulting, speech
development tools and building speech based applications for the Desktop
and Internet. Wizzard has achieved global recognition because of its
expertise with voice communication whether it is via computer or
telephone. Wizzard's successes have lead to expanding speech technology
opportunities in both the government and commercial sectors including
several healthcare industry products and services. For more information,
visit www.wizzardsoftware.com.
Legal Notice
Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: "Forward-looking
Statements" as defined in the Private Securities litigation Reform Act
of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to
future events or our future financial performance. These statements are
only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or
events. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that
could cause actual results to differ from those contained in
forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks
associated with changes in general economic and business conditions,
actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop
new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved
in such development activities, the level of demand and market
acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies and acts
of terror against the United States.
