The Recording Academy® to Reprise ‘My GRAMMY®
Moment’ with Help from VeriSign
For Second Year in a Row, VeriSign’s Text Messaging Infrastructure
Will Allow Music Fans to Select Contest Winner During 50th Annual GRAMMY
Awards
Mountain View, CA – January 29, 2008 – On February 10, 2008,
tens of thousands of music fans will once again decide which one of
three unsigned artists will earn the chance of a lifetime: an opportunity
to perform live at the 50th Annual GRAMMY® Awards. Votes cast via mobile
phones and the Internet will determine the winner with fans sending
text messages to a state-of-the-art system powered by VeriSign, Inc.
(NASDAQ: VRSN), the leading provider of Internet infrastructure for
the networked world.
For the second year in a row, VeriSign will enable
the crucial text message voting component of the “My GRAMMY Moment”
competition. VeriSign’s infrastructure and short message service (SMS)
solutions will allow show producers to gather, tally and record votes
in real time during the awards show broadcast. VeriSign technology also
will aggregate online votes with SMS text votes to facilitate accurate
results.
For The Recording Academy®, which hosts the annual
awards, “My GRAMMY Moment” offers a way to use the latest and most popular
communication technologies to let audiences impact what happens onstage
at the GRAMMY Awards. But its 2007 debut also represented a high-risk
endeavour for The Academy – one that was attempted live for the first
time in front of more than 20 million viewers. To coordinate a flawless
execution of the on-air event, The Academy selected VeriSign, which
operates a digital infrastructure that enables and protects billions
of interactions every day across the world’s voice, video, and data
networks.
For the upcoming 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards broadcast,
VeriSign and The Recording Academy will be building on previous success.
The 2007 telecast ratings were up 22 percent from 2006.
“We’re proud to be the technological engine behind
‘My GRAMMY Moment,’ an exciting enhancement to the GRAMMY Awards that
has successfully made viewers an integral part of the awards show itself,”
said Charles Meyers, senior vice president, Messaging and Mobile Media
at VeriSign. “By relying on VeriSign Interactive Application Services
to achieve a truly viewer-driven environment, the 50th Annual GRAMMY
Awards broadcast will undoubtedly rank as one of the Academy’s most
exciting celebrations.”
“The experience of working with VeriSign—especially
on a first-of-its-kind project where the stakes were so high—was terrific
from beginning to end,” said Evan Greene, chief marketing officer for
The Recording Academy. “We learned that there’s definitely a public
appetite and interest in participating interactively with us. The successful
viewer interaction that we achieved with VeriSign’s help has shown us
that it is well worth repeating because it will be even more influential
this year.”
VeriSign delivers efficient project execution and
offers unique end-to-end customized VeriSign Interactive Applications
Services—from messaging platform aggregation to iTV voting, content
portal platforms to interactive extensions of content catalogs—integrated
across mobile and broadband networks.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), operates internet infrastructure services
that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the
world’s voice, video and data networks. Additional news and information
about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
Trademarks
VeriSign and other trademarks, service marks, and logos are registered
or unregistered marks of VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the
United States and in foreign countries. Copyright © 2008 VeriSign, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Contacts
VeriSign Media Relations: Allison (Flerl) Fritz, aflerl@verisign.com,
650-426-4649
VeriSign Investor Relations: Nancy Fazioli, ir@verisign.com,
650-426-5146
VeriSign Industry Analyst Relations: Kathryn Hammler, khammler@verisign.com,
703-948-4367
Statements in this announcement other than historical
data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ
materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements.
The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty
of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly
operating results due to such factors as the risk that VeriSign's announced
strategic relationships, including the relationship described herein,
may not result in additional products, services, customers, profits
or revenues; and increased competition and pricing pressures.
More information about potential factors that could affect the company's
business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any
of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.