Kyte Powers Mobile Video for “VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2009”

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kyte, the online and mobile video platform for live and on-demand content, today announced that VH1 Mobile is using its BlackBerry, and iPhone/iPod Touch application frameworks to power mobile video for its “VH1 Hip Hop Honors” event. VH1 Mobile has already developed and rolled out Kyte-powered applications for both mobile platforms, which are critical channels for promoting the premiere and encore broadcasts of “VH1 Hip Hop Honors.” The event premieres on VH1 on Tuesday, October 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

“VH1’s success has been built on a combination of creative programming and innovative marketing, and its use of Kyte to support mobile video for its annual Hip Hop Honors is a great example of this,” said Gannon Hall, COO, Kyte. “Mobile delivery is becoming an increasingly essential component of digital video initiatives across all verticals, and globally recognizable brands like VH1 are leading the charge. As an early innovator in mobile video delivery with a history of successful customer deployments, Kyte is uniquely capable of meeting this growing market demand.”

“The mobile video and social channels have become paramount to executing highly-effective marketing and promotional campaigns for our all of our programming. They are valuable means of helping extend the shelf life of original content like Hip Hop Honors,” said Noah Vadnai, senior director of VH1 Mobile. “We chose Kyte as our mobile video platform of choice because of its ability to support multiple mobile platforms, its built-in, native social functionality and its successful track record with major media and entertainment companies.”

Kyte supports integrated online and mobile video initiatives for hundreds of music, publishing, radio, sports, television and consumer brands. The “VH1 Hip Hop Honors” application for the BlackBerry marks the first campaign rolled out by a Kyte customer on the BlackBerry platform. Kyte’s BlackBerry application framework is an extension of the core Kyte Platform, and like its iPhone app framework, features unsurpassed native functionality, including:

• Real-time chat, comments and ratings
• Activity notifications for new content and chat messages
• Twitter feeds, enabling audiences to view Tweets in real-time
• Event listings, allowing fans to view tour dates, venues, etc.
• RSS module for easy delivery and consumption of blogs and news feeds
• Download capabilities for songs, videos, tickets, merchandise, etc.
• Embedded mobile web pages for contests, promotions, fan club sign up, inquiry forms, etc.

Fans can download the Hip Hop Honors mobile applications directly from the VH1 Hip Hop Honors site, BlackBerry App World or the iPhone App Store.

About Kyte

Kyte is the online and mobile video platform for live and on-demand content. The Kyte Platform combines the real-time, interactive and community-building capabilities of the social web, with the analytics, control, and monetization features of professional video platforms, enabling companies to engage online and mobile audiences, build community and monetize.

The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with a European office in Zurich, Switzerland. Investors include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Telefónica, Nokia Growth Partners, Steamboat Ventures, TeliaSonera, DoCoMo Capital, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Swisscom and others.