New Live-Streaming Technology Comes Amid Rapid Expansion as DCDC Surpasses 24,000 Screens Across 2,000-Plus Theatre Sites Under Contract, Accounting For Nearly Two-Thirds of All U.S. Digital Screens in Its First 18 Months
Las Vegas, NV, April 20, 2015 – Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC), the transformative North American theatrical content distribution organization founded by Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Regal Entertainment Group, Cinemark Theatres and AMC Theatres, today announced a high-quality live-streaming technology solution which will be unveiled at this week’s CinemaCon convention.
The new system is designed to allow the DCDC KenCast catch server to stream live content into an unlimited number of auditoriums from two simultaneous real-time 1080p-HD event feeds. Further, the catch server also allows two additional pre-recorded events (encores) to stream in parallel with live content, allowing exhibitors the flexibility to book up to four events simultaneously to an unlimited number of auditoriums. Discussions are underway with manufacturers to provide DCDC’s exhibitor customers with preferred pricing for the decoders required by some exhibitors to convert the KenCast’s IP stream into digital video for their screen servers and digital projectors.
Executives from DCDC and its primary service provider, Deluxe-EchoStar, will offer exclusive demonstrations of the technology – along with several different decoders – throughout the week of the convention, with appointments available from 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, and 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, April 22-23, in DCDC’s hospitality suite in the Forum Tower at Caesars Palace.
“Never in the history of the film industry have content provider/distributors and exhibitors come together like they have with DCDC, which serves as a uniting force marrying a pioneering economic model and advanced technology to benefit all within the cinematic community,” said DCDC CEO Randy Blotky. “This sets the stage for a pervasive global technology standard and enhanced consumer experience, with the potential for a huge North American footprint and a significant replication of the model worldwide. Our new live-streaming technology represents the latest innovation since our launch 18 months ago as the first true cross-industry initiative.”
Mr. Blotky also announced that DCDC has, since its roll out in October 2013, grown quickly from 17,000 screens across more than 1,200 North American theatre sites to over 24,000 screens across more than 2,000 sites under contract (accounting for almost two-thirds of all U.S. digital theatre screens). Additionally, DCDC has already made more than 220,000 deliveries of content across its network from its multiple distributor customers. DCDC’s customer ranks continue to grow; now with a total of 20 content providers and 58 exhibitors.