RealNetworks signs up partners for RealOne

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By Laura Rohde

(IDG) -- RealNetworks Inc. announced Tuesday that it has entered into content agreements with 20 media and content providers.

The companies involved will provide programming and services for the RealOne Media Player, to be launched worldwide in November, the company said at the Streaming Media Europe 2001 conference held in London.

RealNetworks announced separate agreements with ABCNews.com, a division of ABC Inc.; British Telecommunications PLC's BT Ignite Content Hosting division; the British Broadcasting Corp.'s BBC Technology division and Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), said George Fraser, RealNetworks' director for Northern Europe. Terms for the various agreements were not disclosed.

Last month, RealNetworks announced its was combining its RealPlayer and RealJukebox into a new product dubbed RealOne, which will also encompass the GoldPass subscription service.

Customers will be able to subscribe to the RealPlayer GoldPass service for $9.95 a month, the company said. It did not give prices for customers outside the U.S.

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ABCNews.com is set to provide exclusive online content over the GoldPass service, including breaking news and online versions of such news programs as Nightline with Ted Koppel and World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Fraser said.

Under the terms of its agreement with BT, BT Ignite Content Hosting will support RealOne through its iVelocity content distribution network, with the intention of serving an European audience, Fraser said.

"The iVelocity network has the technology to automatically direct end-users to the nearest available location, which will cut down on delays and buffering problems," Fraser said.

The iVelocity content distribution network is currently available to wholesale customers, said BT Ignite Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Tom Walton.

BT Ignite is the broadband services and technologies division for BT and has just recently added streaming media technologies to its portfolio of IP (Internet Protocol) services for business and wholesale customers, Watson said. As part of its partnership with RealNetworks, BT Ignite will integrate the RealNetworks' standards-based system architecture, RealSystems iQ, into its offering, Watson said.

According to RealNetworks, the addition of its architecture will strengthen BT's wholesale product by improving the streaming media portion of its product. "Our architecture is set up so that you can stream any media through any transport, from any protocol to any device with full security built in," Fraser said.

"BT is in fact the first to deploy our platform and have been using it for about a month," Fraser said.

BT's agreement is similar to RealNetworks' partnership with Deutsche Telekom where the RealSystems iQ architecture will be integrated into DT's Telekom Broadcast Network, Fraser said.

"I can't really speak with any knowledge about the details of the agreement between DT and RealNetworks, but DT does have better coverage in Germany than we do, and we are stronger throughout the rest of Europe. So from RealNetworks' perspective, I can see why it would make sense for them to have distribution agreements with both of us," said BT's Watson.

BT also announced an agreement at the conference with RealNetworks' arch competitor, Microsoft Corp., for the launch of a U.K. online music subscription service. The service, based on a custom-designed player using Microsoft's Windows Media technology, will be delivered through BT's BTopenworld division, said Erik Huggers, European business manager for Microsoft's digital media division.

No details in terms of subscription fees or product launch were made available.

"The answer as to why there are these two separate agreements is both simple and complex at the same time," said BT's Watson.

"The agreements are uncoupled and though BT Ignite has a wholesale agreement with a Pan-European focus with RealNetworks, BT hasn't forsworn other technologies where they make sense. The deal with Microsoft is more consumer oriented," Watson said.

RealNetworks' Fraser characterized BT's agreements with RealNetworks and Microsoft as two quite separate announcements.

"It's not so surprising that BT has agreements with both (RealNetworks and Microsoft). BT tries to be pretty platform agnostic," Fraser said.

According to Fraser, the main difference between the two streaming media players is in the experience for the end-user. "We see RealOne as more of a media browser that creates a more in-depth experience. You don't have to have a browser and a media player on at the same time, so in one widow there is the streaming video and content from the Internet as well a content and details that can be customizable," Fraser said.

"And in terms of online music subscription services, we are a big part of the MusicNet service which will be launched next month, so we've got that end covered," Fraser said.

The online music subscription service, MusicNet, is backed by RealNetworks and Bertelsmann AG, AOL Time Warner Inc. and EMI Group PLC. Its main competition is expected to come from Pressplay, which was formed by Vivendi Universal SA and Sony Music Entertainment Inc., and is backed by Microsoft.