RE: RE: CBS Sports Digital31 Aug 2021 13:11
Allenby Research Note published today: Blackbird plc* (BIRD.L, 33.75p/£113.8m) Contract win: CBS Sports Digital secured (23.08.21) • CBS Sports Digital, a division of ViacomCBS, has selected Blackbird's eponymous software for professional, collaborative and scalable cloud video editing and publishing of sports content. Accessing Blackbird via a browser, editors will have the ability to access live and file-based content for editing and enriching. This will reduce the need to travel to a facility and also eliminate the need to transmit material between multiple local storage environments. • No commercial details were provided. • Interim results are scheduled for 13 September. Allenby Capital comment: Another major media company secured in the US market and success at CBS Sports Digital should provide the opportunity to sell into other ViacomCBS divisions. Blackbird has demonstrated considerable commercial momentum in the sports sector that plays to the strengths of its cloud based video editing software: eliminating the need for editors to travel to the event, rapid turnaround of content and distribution to multiple channels, and minimising local storage and bandwidth requirements. We also note the announcement that Adobe is acquiring Frame.io, a video review and collaboration platform, for $1.3bn in cash. Although Frame.io has a slightly different emphasis in its offering, it provides further evidence that Blackbird is in the right place as the structural shift to the cloud continues