EPIX Movies Delivered in HD via Akamai

CAMBRIDGE, MA. Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced that EPIX, the next generation premium entertainment service from Viacom, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and MGM, has chosen Akamai as the company’s launch provider to deliver and manage its full length High Definition (HD) movies.

EPIX is the leading next-generation, multi-platform entertainment service, delivering the latest movie blockbusters, new releases, library classics and original content across its premium, HD television channel, video-on-demand service and EpixHD.com Web site. Viewers with an EPIX subscription have access to everything - great entertainment anytime, anywhere, on every platform.

EPIX supported a successful public launch of its service last month by leveraging a full suite of Akamai solutions, including launching as one of the first customers on Akamai’s deployment of Adobe® Flash® Media Server 3.5 with support for dynamic streaming. Also integral to the launch were Akamai Professional Services, Akamai NetStorage, Akamai’s Open Video Player, Akamai EdgeScape for geotargeting and Akamai Media Analytics.

With the launch, EPIX is now delivering more than 150 full-length HD movie experiences online with the quality, speed and convenience demanded by today’s consumers of digital media. With Akamai’s dynamic streaming for Adobe Flash, movie playback on EPIX seamlessly adapts to end-user machines with different capabilities, such as lower processing powers or slower Internet connections, giving consumers a smooth, uninterrupted playback experience online without sacrificing viewing quality.

“EPIX is leading the next generation of entertainment and Akamai is a key technology partner for us in this mission,” said Thomas Carpenter, VP Operations. “As drivers of this evolution, we have an imperative to provide seamless, high-quality video delivery in conjunction with our core brand promises of exceptional content, programming and user experience. Akamai’s ability to seamlessly deliver our movies, concerts, comedy specials and events in HD allows us to fulfill on our promise of a quality, TV-like experience in the broadband medium.”

“Consumers are increasingly seeking out HD video and gravitating toward the destination sites that offer them the highest quality content and experience,” said Robert Hughes, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Services and Marketing at Akamai. “Feature length movies provide the perfect opportunity to be viewed at full 1280x720 resolution content in full screen. To handle that type of resolution, our customers are increasingly taking advantage of adaptive bitrate streaming, a key requirement to ensure consistency and a high-quality, TV-like experience for viewers. Akamai’s full suite of HD streaming products, including Adobe FMS 3.5, are designed to offer these benefits.”