Six months after teaming with Microsoft, Netcaster Intertainer has made another alliance with a big-name tech firm, pacting with Akamai Technologies to bolster the infrastructure of its site.
Deal with Akamai will allow Intertainer to roll out its broadband entertainment-on-demand service to 100 cities within the next year. That service is currently available only in Denver and Cincinnati.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We have great expertise in getting content, building interfaces and developing interactive technology,” Intertainer prexy-CEO Jonathan Taplin told Daily Variety. “But we didn’t want to build a network.”
Intertainer has 56,000 hours of content under license, including programming from DreamWorks, Columbia TriStar Television, Warner Bros., the Disney Channel, 20th Century Fox and Sony Music.
“Pairing the Intertainer entertainment library and growing subscriber base with Akamai’s innovative streaming media technology will result in the best possible viewing experience for broadband customers,” said Paul Campbell, veep of media and entertainment services at Akamai.
Taplin said Intertainer will team the deal with Akamai and the Microsoft investment — incidentally, Microsoft also invested in Akamai — to create a platform for secure digital transmission of its broadband content.
Shares of Akamai jumped more than 12% on news of the deal to close at $71.38 Monday.
