Wizzard Media (Amex: WZE) $0. The World's Largest podcasting network announced Tuesday after market close that it recorded an unprecedented 1.4 billion podcast download requests in 2009. Wizzard Media, through its premier podcast-hosting service Libsyn, received an average of 3.77 million requests for podcast episodes per day in 2009. On average, 23 minutes per episode equates to almost 1.5 million hours of programming distributed worldwide every day.
In mid-2009, Wizzard Media introduced a new monetization product for its 12,000+ podcast publishing customers with the launch of an iPhone® Podcast App. The newly launched podcast companion App for popular podcasts on the Wizzard Media Network offers audiences access to their favorite podcast directly on their iPhone or iPod® Touch, bonus episodes and other content and new social communication features such as Twitter and Facebook, creating an unprecedented level of audience entertainment.
Analysts project the App market to be a $1.0 billion market today, headed for $4.0 billion by 2012. With the new Apple Tablet expected soon and the recent launch of the iPhone in China, Wizzard’s management believes the number of people using iPhones and iPod Touch type devices to consume podcasts and interact with Apps will continue to grow well beyond the current 50 million user-base. To date, Wizzard Media has launched 153 iPhone Apps with top podcast Apps on the Wizzard Network having now converted approximately 22% of their audience from free, to paid, in the first 150 days since launch.
In anticipation of the expected announcement this month from Apple, Wizzard today outlined its plans to fully support the new tablet device. The Company is committed to ensuring compatibility for all Wizzard Apps in order to work with and take full advantage of the device’s strengths. Wizzard believes that this device has the game changing ability to take the position of primary media and communication device formerly occupied by netbooks and laptops.
“We expect the new Tablet Device to extend the current iTunes® App Store ecosystem,” says Dave Mansueto, co-founder, Wizzard Media. “The iTunes App Store represents the most mature platform for monetization of our publisher’s content and no other App store currently offers the In-App purchase model that we intend to take full advantage of in the coming weeks.”
Additionally, Wizzard released a road map to expand its App offering beyond iTunes to the Google Android and Palm WebOS platforms starting in the first quarter of 2010. “With the early success of the Droid and the impact of the newly launched Nexus One, we feel the Android platform has already proven itself to be a robust mobile media and entertainment platform and Palm's WebOS offering continues to refine with updates to its software and expansion to multiple carriers,” continues Mansueto.
“We know there is strong demand for the podcasts we distribute seeing downloads grow from 400 million to 1.4 billion in the last few years and monthly audiences grow from 4 million to 18 million,” says Laurie Sims, President of Wizzard Media. “Now, podcasting becomes a platform that converts audiences to revenue, accelerated by the micropayment billing process that Apple has created with the App store. Unlike most Apps in the App store, podcasters have a distinct advantage to successfully market their App in iTunes due to the fact that they have already built a substantial audience for their podcast show over the last several years. Now it is just a matter of continuing to convert them over and expand the model to the Tablet, Andriod and Palm.”
“A few days into 2010 and we’re announcing a new record for downloads, 18 million unique monthly audience count and the expansion of our Apps to the new Apple Tablet, Google Android and Palm WebOS,” says Chris Spencer, Wizzard CEO. “With our top Apps already reaching 22% audience conversion rate, the recent expansion of our advertising platform inventory to include Apps, a strong holiday sales season for our acquired Apps and having just completed our best quarter ever for advertising impressions (4th quarter 2009), we believe this can be a big year for Wizzard.”
What They Do: Wizzard Software (WZE) is the industry's leading podcasting network, the Company announced 3rd Quarter 2009 network numbers of 12,281 podcast shows, 900,000 episodes, downloaded 332 million times by over 18 million unique monthly audience members. Wizzard provides publishing and distribution services to podcasters as well as monetization services.
Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS) $7.89. Announced Monday after market close that the company expects net revenue for the third fiscal quarter, which ended on Dec. 26, 2009, to be up 49 percent year over year, and up 17 percent sequentially to approximately $65 million, an increase from the previous guidance of $58 million to $62 million. The increase over forecasted revenue was driven by stronger than anticipated demand for a broad range of audio products, as well as modest improvement in demand for energy products.
The company expects gross margin to be approximately 54 percent. Combined R&D and SG&A expenses are expected to be approximately $24.3 million and include an estimated $1.8 million in share-based compensation and amortization of acquisition-related intangible expenses, as well as $400,000 in favorable facilities related credits.
What They Do: Cirrus Logic develops high-precision, analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for a broad range of innovative customers.
Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CYCC) $2.97. Announced on Monday that it has entered into definitive agreements to raise $7.2 million in gross proceeds, before deducting placement agent fees and other estimated offering expenses, and up to an additional $2.3 million, in a registered direct offering with select institutional investors.
The proceeds of the financing together with our current cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities should provide the financial resources to continue clinical development of sapacitabine and seliciclib, the company's lead drugs. We will be submitting a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) request for a pivotal study of sapacitabine in patients with hematological malignancies during the first quarter of 2010," said Spiro Rombotis, President and CEO of Cyclacel.
What They Do: Cyclacel is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel, mechanism-targeted drugs to treat human cancers and other serious disorders.
Zareba Systems (Nasdaq: ZBRA) $8.75. Today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to merge with a subsidiary of Woodstream Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation. Woodstream is majority owned by private equity firms Brockway Moran & Partners, Inc. and Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC.
Under the terms of the agreement, a newly-formed subsidiary of Woodstream will merge with and into Zareba, Zareba will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woodstream, and Zareba shareholders will receive $9.00 in cash for each outstanding share of Zareba common stock. This price represents a premium of approximately 100% over the closing price of Zareba stock on January 11, 2010. Zareba’s board of directors and a special committee of Zareba’s disinterested directors have unanimously approved the agreement and the merger.
What They Do: Zareba Systems, Inc., a Minnesota corporation since 1960, is the world’s leading manufacturer of electronic perimeter fence and security systems for animal and access control.
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