Ericsson said it will buy FYI Television, a Texas-based company that stores and distributes TV entertainment content and scheduling data from TV networks. Ericsson already distributes programming to more than 500 TV channels worldwide through its broadcast and media services unit, and the company says it is Europe’s largest provider of content discovery services. Content discovery services include images, metadata and viewer recommendations.
FYI claims its databases contain more than 2.8 million cast and crew related assets and 1.5 million images. The company says its content discovery platforms deliver more than 11.5 million words to electronic program guides, websites and connected devices every week. FYI is a private company and the purchase price was not disclosed. It is based in Grand Prairie, Texas, not far from Ericsson’s U.S. headquarters.
Media delivery is just one part of Ericsson’s vast media business, which also includes cloud DVR, on-demand content management and LTE Broadcast. Ericsson says its goal is to help the television industry prepare for a future in which video will be on “every device, website and street corner.”
“As the TV industry evolves and viewing behavior changes, we believe that high-quality, rich metadata will be a key component for a personalized TV experience,” said Magnus Mandersson, EVP and head of business unit global services at Ericsson. “Combined with our capabilities in TV platforms and content discovery, we will be able to help our customers to improve the video experience and identify new revenue opportunities. FYI Television’s expertise and customer base in the U.S. is a great complementary fit for Ericsson and will be an integral part of our growth strategy. It will strengthen our position as one of the leading providers of media services in the world.”
FYI Television is the latest in a series of media-related acquisitions for Ericsson. Last year the company bought Envivio for software-based video encoding; in 2014 it bought Red Bee Media for broadcast and media services; and in 2013 it bought Microsoft Mediaroom for IPTV middleware.
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