NEW RADIO STAR NEWS
Business
Editors
PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8,
2000-- BroadcastAmerica.com, Inc., the leading provider of streaming media via
the Internet, and SurferNETWORK.com, Inc., a leader in Internet marketing and
streaming radio, announced they have entered into a Letter of Intent to combine
their companies. Upon successful completion of the transaction, the new entity,
which will be called BroadcastAmerica and headquartered in Portland, Maine, will
be the preeminent provider of streaming traditional radio via the
Internet.
"This planned combination and new company
will clearly be jumping to the front of the streaming radio marketplace," said
Lou Mercatanti, CEO of Nassau Broadcasting, Princeton, New Jersey. Nassau was
the first radio group to join the SurferNETWORK Alliance. "We are extremely
pleased with our existing relationship with SurferNETWORK and look forward
to
becoming associated with the global leader in the
marketplace."
To begin this somewhat complex
transaction, based upon the suggestion of the company's advisors,
BroadcastAmerica.com has voluntarily filed a petition for reorganization under
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The filing was made in the
United States Bankruptcy Court, Portland Maine. Although the outcome cannot
be guaranteed, the two companies will work closely together to successfully
reorganize BroadcastAmerica.com, after which the two companies' operations
will
be combined.
If the anticipated combined entity
existed today, it would have contracts with approximately 1000 traditional
radio stations, including about 10% of the radio stations in the U.S., with radio
programming originating from the all over the U.S. and four European countries.
The new BroadcastAmerica will have operations in Maine, New Jersey, the United
Kingdom, Germany and Hong Kong.
Once the transaction
is completed, Gordon J. Bridge, currently Chairman and CEO of SurferNETWORK,
will become Chairman and CEO of the new BroadcastAmerica. Mr. Bridge has held
senior executive positions at both IBM and AT&T, and has spent the last
10 years working exclusively in the on-line and Internet-enabled markets. Prior
to
joining SurferNETWORK, he was Chairman, then CEO of ConnectInc.com, a Mountain
View, California-based e-commerce software and services company, that merged
with Calico Commerce in January 1999.
"This
combination is great for everyone," said Larry Rosin, CEO of Edison Media
Research, a leading radio and streaming media research firm headquartered in
Somerville, New Jersey. "These two companies are very synergistic. Their
combined capabilities offer broadcasters around the world a tremendous
opportunity to leverage the Internet for profit, and advertisers the potential
of a huge consumer franchise of on-line listeners," said Mr. Rosin, who is
a
member of the SurferNETWORK Advisory board.
The plans
call for current directors from the two existing companies to be named as
directors of the new BroadcastAmerica, including John Brier, president of
BroadcastAmerica.com, Inc., and Alex Lauchlan, Chairman and CEO of
BroadcastAmerica.com, Inc. Harry Emerson, the primary inventor of the
SurferNETWORK patent-pending technology, Robert Landmesser and William
Grywalski, the three founders of SurferNETWORK, will become directors, along
with one additional director to be named from BroadcastAmerica.com,
Inc.
"We are creating the global leader in
distributing streaming media content," said Mr. Bridge. "The new
BroadcastAmerica will bring together the technology and radio station groups
from SurferNETWORK, with hundreds of radio stations from BroadcastAmerica.com,
who had over 1.5 million unique listeners in October. I am both pleased and
proud to look forward to, once the transaction is completed, leading the new
BroadcastAmerica to higher levels of successful achievements in streaming
media."
BroadcastAmerica.com, Inc., with 90
employees, has approximately 750 radio stations under contract. They have
partnered with Dick Clark's United Stations Radio Network, which has 2300
affiliated stations and reaches 87 million people weekly. Three other content
partners include: SupeRadio, with 490 affiliates reaching 30 million people
weekly; Talk Radio Network, with 250 affiliates reaching 10 million people
weekly; and One-On-One Sports Radio, with 412 affiliates reaching 13 million
people weekly. The most popular radio formats are offered as channels, including
Broadcast Music, BroadcastSports, BroadcastTalk, BroadcastUrban, BroadcastTVNews
and BroadcastBible. In Europe, the service is known as BroadcastEurope. Wayne
Newton, a well-known entertainer and recording artist, and Mark Messier,
destined for the National Hockey League Hall of Fame, are both spokespeople
for
BroadcastAmerica.com. The company has traditional ad inventory it bartered
for and estimates to be worth $500 million dollars over a five-year
period.
"Alex and I are proud of what we and our team
have accomplished," said John Brier, president of BroadcastAmerica.com, Inc.
"Getting successfully through the reorganization, combining with SurferNETWORK
and having someone with Gordon's expertise and experience is just what is needed
to take the new BroadcastAmerica to new heights. I look forward to working
with Gordon and our colleagues from
SurferNETWORK."
SurferNETWORK.com Inc., headquartered
in Mt. Olive, NJ, with 20 employees, has announced streaming agreements with
Nassau Broadcasting, Marathon Media and New Northwest Broadcasting. In the
next few weeks, the company anticipates announcements involving several additional
radio groups joining the SurferNETWORK Alliance. Together, these new and current
groups own approximately 250 radio stations. The SurferNETWORK patent-pending
technology provides an unparalleled listening experience, including FM-quality
sound, while virtually eliminating the very annoying problem of dropouts caused
by Internet congestion. In addition, the company's innovative patent-pending
technology replaces the original through-the-air audible ad with a new audible
ad accompanied by a synchronized clickable banner-type ad. The new multimedia
ads are targeted toward each individual, based upon the listeners' profiles
and
preferences. This multimedia ad revenue will generate significant and rapid
revenue growth for the new BroadcastAmerica and its broadcasting
partners.
"Streaming media is already big, and it is
just getting started," said Richard Notarianni, Director of Media Planning for
DDB, the country's largest ad agency. "The SurferNETWORK audio-visual experience
is second to none, and their multimedia advertising will lead the way to more
effective and personalized interactive
marketing."
About SurferNETWORK.com,
Inc.
Geode Electronics, LLC, a technology-based
incubator headquartered in Mount Olive, New Jersey, was founded in the fourth
quarter of 1998. In December 1999, GEODE announced the formation of
SurferNETWORK and the hiring of Gordon Bridge as its CEO. For more information,
visit http://www.surfernetwork.com/.
About
BroadcastAmerica.com
Founded in late 1998 by John
Brier and Alex Lauchlan as a new medium for the distribution of terrestrial
radio, BroadcastAmerica.com, Inc., now streams more than 700,000 hours of audio
and video content per month. The company surpassed all others in year 2000
to
become the marketplace leader in streaming traditional radio via the Internet.
For more information, visit http://www.broadcastamerica.com/.
Safe
Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this news
release include information that may constitute forward-looking statements.
We caution that these forward-looking statements are subject to risk and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed herein.