Hi Everyone,

After nearly a year, 1CAST has successfully emerged from beta, bringing with it a completely re-designed user interface, new content and distribution partnerships, a bit of relief from our extremely talented development team, and heightened sense of purpose towards driving the most engaging video news experience across the three screen environment to our viewers.

Since our launch yesterday we’ve seen all of our metrics – from visits to unique viewers to streams per visit increase; but most important of all is the time spent viewing content, which continues to grow.  Already 1CAST has one of the most engaged audiences across the web and mobile spaces.  This trend continues and demonstrates the value of our micro-casting environment as a means for viewers to control what, how, when and where they get their video news.

Rest assured we are by no means finished.  Our team is already working on the next platform update, integrating our next set of content partners and a host of other initiatives that are sure to bring more value to our viewers and business partners alike.

So stay tuned!

On behalf of the 1CAST team, I want to extend a big THANK YOU to our content partners, distribution partners, advertisers, investors and most importantly our viewers.  Each of you has contributed to 1CAST’s ongoing success for which we are very grateful.

Now time to get back to work.

Anthony

In my last blog post, I recognized the many contributions our users, the blogging community and our content and strategic partners have made through their feedback on the 1Cast platform.  We’re extremely fortunate to have so many people passionate about what we do and genuinely interested in seeing 1Cast succeed.

I’m pleased to announce that the team at 1Cast has released the first set of updates to the 1Cast service in response to this feedback.  I’ve detailed these updates below, and all are available on our desktop and iPhone/iPod touch experiences:

Content First:     A number of new users to our service commented that they would rather be presented with headlines first as opposed to an empty or under-populated Favorites section.  We couldn’t agree more.  Therefore, we’ve moved our Headlines, Sports, Suggested and Networks tabs to the front of the order, and placed the Favorites section next to the Make Your Own Cast search tab.

Meta-Data:     We’ve added detailed meta-data around each video clip comprising a micro-cast.  This meta-data includes a working title and descriptive sentence of the individual clip.  Our goal here is to address the needs of those users who want a more lean forward experience and be able to see what a video clip entails before they watch it.

Clip Embedding:     We’ve modified our single clip embed process, removing the necessity of deleting unwanted clips in order to embed just one video from your micro-cast.  This single checkbox function is more intuitive and does not require the disruption of your micro-cast, allowing users to quickly and easily embed clips into their favorite social networking site or blog.

Video Ads:     As we fine-tune our advertising strategy, we are researching various ad placements.  At this time, we are testing both 0:15 pre-rolls and 0:15 mid-rolls within the micro-cast to determine which format our users prefer. 

Login Viewing:     In order to put content in the hands of consumers quickly and with minimal friction, we have modified our login procedure.  As of today, you will be able to watch micro-casts from our Headlines, Sports, Suggested and Networks tab without having to formally login.  For those curious about 1Cast or want a fast news fix, this is a quick and easy way to experience the power of micro-casting without having to formally register for our service.  However, you will need to login if you want to create your own micro-cast or watch anything within your Favorites folder.  This change is our most significant as it underscores our belief that nothing should stand between a viewer and content.

We continue to work on additional enhancements to the platform, including adding more content from leading news, sports and entertainment providers.  As we get closer to these releases, I’ll be sure to let everyone know.  In the meantime, please continue to provide us with your feedback.

Anthony Bontrager