TWI Selects Nine Systems to Stream Miss World Pageant Giving Millions of Fans the First Online All-Access Pass and Opportunity to Vote

TWI Selects Nine Systems to Stream Miss World Pageant Giving Millions of Fans the First Online All-Access Pass and Opportunity to Vote

Webcast Marks First Online Beauty Pageant and First Time Viewers Instead of Panel of Judges Chooses Winner

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, millions of Miss World fans around the globe will have front-row seats, a back-stage pass and the opportunity to select Miss World 2005 when Nine Systems (www.ninesystems.com) webcasts the event from China December 4, 2004. Nine Systems, which has managed and hosted live and on-demand streaming of other high-profile events including the Wimbledon Championships, the NHL Stanley Cup and The Open Championship through its Stream OS platform, will stream six major television events in four weeks for the Miss World competition.

TWI, the independent television production and distribution arm of sports marketing agency IMG and co-producer of the show with Miss World TV, selected Nine Systems to webcast the pageant as well as the series of specials leading up to the final night of competition. Nine Systems will provide real-time online voting capabilities and special pay-per-view access to behind-the- scenes pageant preparations and specially selected video of qualifying pageants through the company's recently launched Stream OS Commerce application. Nine Systems will also work with TWI Interactive, the digital media arm of TWI, and Red Fig to enable voting globally over the phone, SMS text messaging, and TV remote control. Early voting has already begun on the website and pay-per-view video access began December 2, 2004 at www.missworld.tv, the website produced for the pageant by TWI Interactive.

Last year's Miss World telecast reached close to 2.3 billion viewers making it one of the most watched annual entertainment events in the world, second only to the Olympics opening ceremonies in terms of international participation. The website was also a popular destination with fans looking to get the "inside story" on the event.

Nine Systems president and CEO Troy Snyder said this is a great testament to using streaming to reach a global audience. "There are millions of people around the world, from Albania to Zimbabwe, who are going to go online to view and vote for Miss World. Our global streaming network will deliver the pageant's excitement and immediacy to the far corners of the world, guaranteeing the fans' experience is the next best thing to being there."

Donna North, TWI international vice president said, "Teaming up with Nine Systems is a natural for us because the company has performed so well for us on past events. Last year was our first year to produce the Miss World event and it was tremendously successful. Adding the interactive elements and increasing the international reach of Miss World is going to further enhance the experience for the millions of Miss World fans worldwide."

This year's competition features six major television events, all simulcast over the web, during the four-week event period. Events include a 90-minute special, "Miss World: You Decide," live from The Miss World Theatre in Sanya, China that gives fans from more than 160 countries the chance to participate in the largest global vote ever, followed a week later by "Miss World: The Final."

Miss World

Now in its 54th year, Miss World is one of the most watched annual entertainment events in the world. Only the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup Final (held every four years) pull in more viewers. Last year 162 nations saw the event with a viewing audience in excess of 2.3 billion people. The Miss World website (www.missworld.tv) received 30 million visitors per day in the last week of the 2003 event.

TWI

TWI is the television arm of the IMG, the world's premier sports marketing agency. It is the world's largest independent producer, packager and distributor of sports programming, distributing nearly 9,000 hours of live events and original programming each year, across 200 countries. TWI's non sports-programming includes "I'd Do Anything," for the BBC, whose format has been sold to 25 countries around the world, and the award-winning "Colour of War" documentary series. www.imgworld.com

TWI Interactive

TWI Interactive is the digital media and technology division of TWI. As a global leader in delivering new media services to the world of sport and entertainment, TWIi enhances this experience by providing solutions that enable the acquisition, management, production and distribution of media, from multiple sources to multiple output platforms including television, interactive TV, broadband Internet and 3G mobile platforms.

Nine Systems

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Nine Systems (www.ninesystems.com) helps today's best-known companies broadcast audio and video over the Internet easily, affordably and reliably. Nine Systems Network of Networks is an industry-first system that routes all types of rich media through our own Content Delivery Network (CDN) and across other top-tier CDNs to guarantee robust and reliable delivery worldwide. Stream OS is the company's suite of configurable rich media management and delivery tools that enable audio and video streaming, live event broadcasting, web conferencing and the anytime sale of rich media content. Nine Systems serves more than 200 of today's most successful businesses including Universal Music Group, the NBA, Lakewood Church, CBS Sportsline, EMI Music, and the NHL for Microsoft with round-the- clock care. Nine Systems is The Network of Networks.


Source: Nine Systems

CONTACT: Karin Olsen of AMAZONpr, +1-310-557-9642, karin@amazonpr.com,
for Nine Systems; or Madeleine Pallas, +44 (0) 7973 326 422,
MPallas@imgworld.com, for TWI

Web site: http://www.missworld.tv/

Web site: http://www.ninesystems.com/


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