Global fitness technology leader Peloton selects Blackbird to edit its virtual classes

Posted: 28/01/2019

28 January 2019, New York and London – Forbidden Technologies plc (AIM: FBT), developer and seller of market-leading cloud video platform Blackbird, is pleased to announce that global fitness technology leader, Peloton, has chosen Blackbird to edit its on-demand virtual classes. Peloton is a significant addition to Blackbird’s growing roster of US customers, which includes leading sports broadcaster MSG Networks. The US is the world’s largest video content market and represents a growing proportion of the company’s revenues.

Peloton is reinventing fitness by bringing the energy and benefits of studio-style workouts to the convenience and comfort of home. As part of its expanding product portfolio, Peloton sells a connected stationary bike that offers the most convenient and immersive indoor cycling experience, streaming daily live classes taught by world-class instructors directly into your home. Equipped with a 22-inch HD sweat-proof screen, each Peloton bike allows riders to experience 14 daily live and 10,000 plus on-demand classes which are available in lengths of 5 to 90 minutes. Peloton’s global community has grown to one million strong.

Peloton will use Blackbird to edit all the daily rides given by its cycling instructors from its broadcast studio facilities in New York and London. Peloton’s live cycling classes have had up to 20,000 riders participating at one time. Once finished, the videos are quickly made available to the extensive on-demand video library housed on the Peloton app and website for Peloton’s vast global cycling community to access.

Blackbird will significantly reduce the time it takes for Peloton to make the high-quality, on-demand videos available. Blackbird Edge will sync the live streams into Blackbird Cloud where Peloton’s media production team can seamlessly edit and enrich the videos.

The selection of Blackbird comes as Peloton has expanded geographically, as well as across content and retail presence. In 2018, Peloton launched in the UK and Canada, its first markets outside the US. On the content front, the brand has moved well beyond cycling into new fitness categories, offering classes across running, walking, bootcamp, strength, stretching, yoga and meditation. The company has also grown its retail footprint, with more than 70 showrooms around the world. In addition, Peloton has announced plans to open state-of-the-art studio spaces in New York and London in the next year.

Ian McDonough, CEO of Forbidden, said: “Peloton has taken the world of fitness by storm with its innovative combination of tech and media and we are delighted that they have chosen Blackbird for the key task of editing their videos.

“It is a fantastic endorsement of our technology. Blackbird was selected not only for its agility and speed in the Cloud but also for the personalized way it can handle audio tracks which is an integral part of the Peloton experience. Blackbird will bring Peloton significant efficiencies as it manages video from its state-of-the-art studios and we hope to expand our relationship as they grow. The conversion of live video into on-demand content for extended use is a critical requirement for a multitude of sectors and Blackbird has proven it is perfectly suited to meet this growing need.

“Blackbird is gaining real traction in the US. Last year, we announced TownNews had selected Blackbird to provide production infrastructure to Meredith Corporation’s 17 regional news networks and we have growing adoption in the sports industry, including eSports. Blackbird was chosen for the live pro-celebrity ‘Fortnite’ event in Los Angeles and is being extensively used in the live clipping of major US and European sports by Deltatre and others.”

This agreement demonstrates the strength of the Blackbird technology and how leading companies recognise the value it adds to the video creation process. While the fees payable are not substantial to the company on a one-year basis, they are commensurate with the services being provided.