Highwinds Streams Live Coverage of Michael Jackson Memorial Service

Highwinds Streams Live Coverage of Michael Jackson Memorial Service

Unique Technology from Highwinds and Octoshape Delivers Exceptional Experiences to Online Viewers in 203 Countries

WINTER PARK, Fla., July 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Highwinds Network Group, Inc., a multiplatform IP services and content distribution provider, today announced that its content delivery network (CDN) successfully streamed live online coverage of yesterday's tribute to Michael Jackson to viewers in 203 countries. The memorial service that brought more than 20,000 people to the Staples Center in Los Angeles also drove many fans from around the world online to watch live streams of the reflective, spiritual and star-studded event. Highwinds delivered live streams of the memorial service for its news broadcasting customer as well as the live streaming directed from the official Michael Jackson web site, www.michaeljackson.com, together with its partner Octoshape, whose Infinite Edge technology ensures HD-quality streaming through advanced throughput optimization. Through global news coverage and social networking sites, the service reached well beyond the walls of the Staples Center and ranks among the most-streamed live events in the history of the Internet, perhaps second only to the 2009 Presidential Inauguration.

On the Highwinds and Octoshape solution, over 1 million unique users watched 2.7 million live streams of the memorial service, and cumulative successful stream time exceeded 94.8 million minutes throughout the day. Exceptional user experiences, including high quality and no buffering, were delivered through the Octoshape platform over the Highwinds CDN, as evidenced by reliable streams that averaged 90 minutes in viewing time per user. A testament to the global reach of the Highwinds CDN, nearly 40 percent of the viewers were from outside the United States. This data was collected through precision reporting tools and real-time analytics from Octoshape and Highwinds.

Highwinds and Octoshape have previously partnered on other high-profile events, including the Inauguration of President Obama, which also resulted in massive scalability and long viewing times. "The successful streaming of yesterday's event was yet further proof that Highwinds and Octoshape together deliver streams of the largest events on the planet to massive audiences, and through streams that are simultaneously high in quality and quantity," said Scott Brown, CEO of Octoshape in the United States. "It is because of this successful track record with these types of events that customers who require scale and quality at a sustainable cost rely on Highwinds with the Octoshape Infinite Edge. We are very proud of the numbers we achieved yesterday for our mutual customer, and pleased to support their massive global viewership on a daily basis."

"It seems only fitting that Jackson's lifelong command of pop culture and the world stage would culminate with an event that reached viewers in seemingly every corner of the earth," said Steve Miller, president and CEO of Highwinds. "We were pleased to play a key role in delivering this history-making event to global audiences who enjoyed long, reliable streams of the tribute."

About Highwinds Network Group, Inc.

Highwinds is a leader in multi-platform IP services, file replication and content delivery software and services. Since 2002, Highwinds has provided for the advancement of a variety of technologies - including messaging bus architecture, network management, distributed file systems and content routing methods. The Highwinds CDN leverages the company's high-performance RollingThunder(R) network and user-friendly StrikeTracker(R) media manager and reporting dashboard to globally deliver content, videos, live events and other media. It sets the pace among content delivery networks by offering advantages in data center peering, real-time analytics, instant account provisioning, complete content control and massive scalability. Highwinds is headquartered in Winter Park, Fla., and maintains data centers throughout North America, South America and Europe. For more information, please visit www.highwinds.com.

RollingThunder and StrikeTracker are registered trademarks of Highwinds Network Group, Inc.

Source: Highwinds Network Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Deborah Hamilton, +1-303-682-9439, or +1-877-867-1215,
deborah@mediamondeinc.com, for Highwinds Network Group, Inc.; or Highwinds
Network Group, Inc., +1-407-215-2400, +1-866-872-0357

Web Site: http://www.highwinds.com/

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