Now that I’ve firmly planted a stake in the ground, declaring that we’ll regurgitate fewer press releases… let’s discuss a press release. Because Rakesh Agrawal, founder and CEO of SnapStream, is a good guy. And because I’ve been fascinated with automated business intelligence collection techniques since being collocated with a startup in that space during the first Internet bubble.
As PC-based DVR followers probably know, SnapStream has gone pretty quiet on the BeyondTV consumer front as they pursue an enterprise-class television monitoring solution. And it sounds like they’re finding some success. The Daily Show and Colbert Report will soon use SnapStream’s television recording appliances, not for business intelligence in this case, but to efficiently collate potential clips for inclusion on their shows:
The SnapStream TV search solution to be deployed at the Daily Show and Colbert Report will provide for a completely high-definition (HD) workflow, allowing the show’s producers to centrally record and archive more than 30 channels of traditional HDTV; then subsequently search those recordings, create clips that can interact with Avid and Final Cut Pro video editing systems.
Of course, SnapStream isn’t the only time-shifting service provider having fundamentally realigned their business strategies and target market to prosper. TiVo, once primarily about consumer content discovery and “TV your way,” now invests heavily in audience measurement and advertising while working licensing deals via the judicial system. Guess there’s a finite number of folks willing to bypass their cable or satellite provider for DVR functionality. And corporations have deeper pockets than consumers.