TownNews.com and Blackbird expand together across the US

Posted: 25/06/2018

June 25, 2018, London – Forbidden Technologies plc has announced that TownNews.com has significantly expanded its partnership with Blackbird in the US market.

Blackbird Forte will be used extensively by one of TownNews.com’s major partners to deliver news content across multiple platforms to towns and cities in 11 states across the US. At the heart of the integration is Blackbird, believed by the Board to be the only codec specifically designed for manipulating video in the cloud.

Blackbird gives TownNews.com’s partner the freedom to rapidly access, navigate and manipulate content no matter their location. They can then deliver stories with unprecedented control using Blackbird Forte’s browser-based enrichment, editorial and publishing tools.

Forbidden has agreed a significant six-digit two-year deal with TownNews.com for the licensing of Blackbird for use in this media broadcast infrastructure. TownNews.com provides over 1,700 newspaper, broadcast and magazine publications in the US with web, print, mobile and social media services and solutions. TownNews.com’s integration of Blackbird provides its customers with a powerful editing suite for rapid and remote manipulation of video content in the cloud.

Forbidden CEO, Ian McDonough says: “This expansion of Forbidden and TownNews.com’s partnership is a very exciting development for both companies. This rollout is the first true execution of Forbidden’s OEM strategy for Blackbird. Blackbird will be a key part of the infrastructure across US news channels in 11 states. This is a key step in taking Blackbird deployment to a whole new scale. Our recent fundraising allows us to execute and support partnerships of this size to a world class standard.”

TownNews.com CEO, Brad Ward says: “Blackbird Forte gives our customers powerful cloud-based video editing capabilities that they can’t get anywhere else. We look forward to continuing to expand our relationship with Forbidden Technologies for a long time to come."

About TownNews.com
TownNews.com was founded as the International Newspaper Network (I.N.N.) in 1989 to help community newspapers with developing technology.

Today, their integrated digital publishing and content management solutions power some of the most distinguished media organizations in the industry. More than 1,700 newspaper, broadcast, magazine and web-native publications rely on them for their web, print, mobile and social media products.

Their complete solutions suite includes add-ons for data management, content exchange, over-the-top (OTT) video, business directory and more, helping to boost revenue, improve efficiency and grow audiences. Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) of Davenport, Iowa, became majority partner in 1996. They are headquartered in Moline, IL.

TownNews.com acquired Field59, creator of acclaimed video management and streaming solutions for media organizations, in April of 2018. Field59 have been a customer of Forbidden since 2008.

About Forbidden Technologies plc
Forbidden Technologies plc (AIM: FBT, www.forbidden.co.uk) floated in February 2000. Forbidden develops, markets and licenses a powerful cloud video platform using our patented Blackbird technology. The technology underpins multiple applications which are used by rights holders, broadcasters, sports and news video specialists, post-production houses, other mass market digital video channels and corporations.

The Blackbird technology allows full visibility on multi-location digital content, improves time to market for live content such as video clips and highlights for social media distribution which results in improved monetisation of video content. To find out more about Blackbird Forte and Blackbird Ascent contact commercial@blackbird.video or visit www.blackbird.video

Blackbird® is a registered trademark of Forbidden Technologies plc.

Media contact:
mediarelations@forbidden.co.uk