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Medialink Worldwide

Revision as of 06:14, 30 March 2005 by Bob Burton (talk | contribs) (add incorp date and Nasdaq listing)

Medialink Worldwide (commonly referred to as Medialink) refers to itself as "a global leader in corporate media communications services," connecting corporate clients with news industry producers. [1] Medialink boasts proprietary databases used in audience research, while a partnership with the Associated Press puts the news releases of Medialink clients on the desks of most United States' television news editors. Medialink claims credit for having pioneered the video news release.

Contents

Self-description

"By leveraging relationships with news organizations, Medialink rapidly alerts and disseminates clients' news to every major newsroom in the United States. Similarly, international distribution relationships enable Medialink to reach virtually any audience, in any country, through any news medium. Each year, Medialink generates tens of thousands of broadcast news airings worldwide reaching billions of viewers, listeners and readers on media as diverse as CNN, The New York Times, ABC, Sky News, The Washington Post, BBC, Bloomberg Radio, AOL, Yahoo! and China Central Television, the national television station of the People's Republic of China," Medialink states in its 2003 annual report. [2]

"Medialink enables its clients to reach more than 11,000 newsrooms at television and radio networks, local stations, cable channels, direct broadcast satellite systems, as well as more than 11,000 online multimedia newsrooms," it states.[3]

Medialink makes no pretence that it is neutral when it comes to helping its clients. "Whether a situation calls for expert counsel during a high-profile litigation crisis or an ongoing campaign to introduce a new consumer product or defeat proposed legislation, Medialink is an integral member of the client’s strategy team," Medialink states in its 2003 Annual Report. [4]

Back to the Future

"As the media world assesses new ground rules, producer Medialink Worldwide says 'branded journalism' is the best way to advertise in a splintered market," reported the television industry news source Broadcasting & Cable. According to the article, this includes video news releases stations are paid to run, a practice referred to as "secured placement" or "marketing public relations." Moreover, "secured VNR buys are much more cost-effective than conventional ad buys." An average "secured" VNR costs $15,000 - $25,000 to produce and $10,000 - $50,000 for airtime, as opposed to the cost of an average 30-second TV commercial in 2003 of $372,000 to produce and $5 million - $20 million for airtime. [5]

"Secured" VNRs also offer "built-in controls that unpaid PR tactics lack, including the ability to target specific demographics and to conduct a post-buy analysis of audience delivery." Jeff Wurtz, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Medialink's competitor News Broadcast Network, said, "You can go on DirecTV and Dish Network and reach 400,000, 500,000, or 600,000 people in one buy. Or you can go on something like the Today show in the top 10 markets, which will reach 2.5 million to 3 million people. You may want to hit a certain demo or income level that watches Judge Judy or Judge Brown that is watching at mid morning." [6]

The Broadcasting & Cable article continued, "Medialink’s latest experiment is another spot that [CEO Larry] Moskowitz calls 'a bona fide newscast'; it’s scheduled to debut soon on national cable networks. Unlike pseudo-newscasts produced in the past by Medialink and its competitors, a new three-minute 'newscast' features legitimate news." During the three-minute newscast-advertisement, "the company’s logo will appear over the shoulder of the show’s news anchor, and its brand will be clearly identified during the segment." Moskowitz said, "It’s back to the future. It’s just like the old John Cameron Swayze newscasts for Camel cigarettes," referring to NBC's "Camel News Caravan" that aired from 1949 to 1956. [7] [8]

History

Medialink was founded in 1986 with the initial focus on the distribution of video news releases (VNR's). In 1996 it began producing VNR's "and has since developed a full range of video, audio, Internet, still photogrpahy and print services which it now provides on a global basis".

In 1999, in a joint venture with Business Wire, Medialink created Newstream.com, a to provide "multimedia assets to more than 11,000 online news and information Web sites that increasingly need streaming video, audio, presentations, and graphics to be competitive". [9]

In January 2000 Medialink launched Newstream.com as with the aim of it being, according to its 2000 Annual Report, the "leading Internet portal dedicated to distributing downloadable mutlimedia news content to online newsrooms".[10]

In 2002, Corporate Communications Broadcast Network, Business Wire, and Medialink partnered to assure corporate clients better control of their public image, in part through easy access to top-quality video news releases. [11]

Personnel

Management

In its annual 10-K return to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Medialink states that as of December 31, 2003 it had 268 employees. "None of the Company's employees is represented by a labor union. Management believes that its employee relations are good," the annual report states.

Medialink finances

Medialink was incorporated in Delaware in 1986 and is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (undler the symbol MLDK).

See also Medialink Worldwide Financial Performance 1993-2003

Clients

Medialinks boasts that it has over 3000 clients, including:

"Clients also include virtually every major PR firm in the United States and the United Kingdom," the company states in its 2003 annual report to the U.S. Securities and Stock Exchange Commission. PR company clients include Burson-Marsteller, Hill & Knowlton, Ketchum, Edelman and Weber Shandwick Worldwide. [12]

Other SourceWatch resources

Contact Info

External links

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