Forbidden Technologies establishes partnership with TownNews.com following NAB Show

Posted: 23/04/2018

April 23, 2018, London – Forbidden Technologies plc, the developer and seller of the Blackbird cloud video platform, has established a partnership with TownNews.com following a successful NAB Show in Las Vegas last week.

Earlier this month TownNews.com acquired acclaimed online video management system, Field59, which uses Blackbird Forte as its editing solution of choice. The acquisition expands TownNews.com’s broadcast capabilities and offers its media partners advanced video management tools. Over 1,700 newspaper, broadcast and magazine publications in the US rely on TownNews.com for their web, print, mobile and social media products.

Earlier this month, Forbidden Technologies, announced that it had repositioned its business under the Blackbird brand – the company’s revolutionary cloud video platform that enables live broadcasters to edit content directly in the cloud and publish it immediately to almost any platform. During NAB 2018 the company launched three new products, Blackbird Ascent, Blackbird Forte and Blackbird Edge.

Forbidden CEO, Ian McDonough says: “We would like to congratulate TownNews.com on their acquisition of Field59 improving the breadth of services that they can offer to their combined customer base. We believe the united entity can be a major force in the US and International news market. We are delighted that they have chosen the power of the Blackbird platform to be their editing solution of choice. Exciting times ahead for our partnership”.

TownNews.com VP of Broadcast and Video, Derek Gebler (formerly CEO of Field59) says: “Field59 has been a long-time partner with Forbidden Technologies for more than 10 years. I look forward to continuing that relationship with TownNews.com and a shared vision for digital publishers in the future.”

 TownNews.com CEO, Brad Ward says: “We are pleased to reaffirm and continue the partnership that Field59 had with Blackbird. The Blackbird integration provides our customers with an incredibly powerful web-based video editing suite.”

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.

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, and results in much more effective monetisation.

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.