Kiswe Mobile
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Mobile applications, sports media |
| Founded | Autumn 2013 |
| Founder |
Jeong Kim (Chair) Wim Sweldens (President and CEO) Jimmy Lynn (Vice-President) |
| Headquarters | Murray Hill, New Jersey; Bethesda, Maryland, United States |
| Products | Mystics Live, Sports Trekker |
| Website | kiswe.com |
Kiswe Mobile is a startup company that makes mobile applications for watching sports. Its applications feature multiple-camera streaming of sporting events as they happen to mobile devices, where the user then has interactive control over what they choose to see.[1]
Background
The company was started in autumn 2013.[2] Its three founders are Jeong Kim, an engineer and former president of Bell Labs; Wim Sweldens, a scientist and innovator in communications and signal processing who had been at Alcatel-Lucent; and Jimmy Lynn, a former sports executive with AOL.[3] During its stealth mode period, Kim said the new venture was at the juncture of next-generation Web technology and sports and said that their "secret sauce" was the technology to allow interactive video to be applied to sports.[3] Kim's initial goals were for $1 million in funding.[3]
Mystics Live
The first substantial use of Kiswe technology came in May 2014 in the Women's National Basketball Association, when the Washington Mystics began testing the Mystics Live application.[4][5] Mystics Live is a free mobile application that allows users view the team's home games live on their smartphone or tablet, choosing among the broadcast feed or five alternate camera angles, triggering replays from any of those angles, and showing real-time statistics.[2] It can be used both by fans at the game or by those not at the game but within a 75-mile (121 km) radius.[2]
While there are similar mobile applications for in-arena use, such as Cisco and WillowTree's StadiumVision for the National Basketball Association team the Brooklyn Nets,[6] the content is not accessible once one leaves the venue's Wi-Fi network. The Mystics thus became the first U.S. professional sports team to stream live games to the whole local viewing area via such a mobile application.[4][5] Ted Leonsis, owner of the Mystics and its Monumental Network digital platform, said Mystics Live would enhance the in-arena experience for the team's fans and in general better engage and reach the mobile generation.[2] (Kiswe co-founder Kim is a partner in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the group that Leonsis heads.[7]) The WNBA was an effective vehicle for the application because the league is more open to new business ventures and because there are no entrenched regional sports networks paying rights fees to carry Mystics games who would object to a local streaming service.[4] Manish Tripathi, a professor of marketing at Emory University, said "That's why a team like the Mystics can go out and do this, there's no contractual issues."[5]
Business model
Kiswe was not being paid by the Mystics for use of the application and Kiswe's eventual business model was still under development by its executives.[4][5] The company also has a Sports Trekker application that is a generic form of Mystics Live and can be used in other settings.[1] Kiswe Mobile is part of a wave of over-the-top content programming that provides alternate digital platforms that are not delivered via traditional cable or satellite services.[8] Independent ventures of this kind may soon face competition from similar mobile streaming offerings from the likes of ESPN and NBC Sports.[5]
The company's applications are designed to appeal to the younger demographic; as Kiswe co-founder Lynn has said, "One situation facing the major leagues is the youth market. They are losing the youth market because there are so many mobile devices, social networking and gaming."[8] Co-founder Sweldens has stressed that the company wants to create innovation in the space where television, mobile, and social media intersect.[4][7]
References
- 1 2 Britt, Ben (August 29, 2014). "The Princeton Macintosh Users' Group Presents – Members' Night Demonstrations". Princeton Packet.
- 1 2 3 4 "Washington Mystics and Kiswe Mobile Release Groundbreaking Interactive Multi-Cam Live Mobile App" (Press release). Monumental Network. June 16, 2014.
- 1 2 3 Heath, Thomas (January 5, 2014). "Capital Buzz: For Jeong Kim, a spot in France's Legion of Honor". The Washington Post.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ourand, John (June 16, 2014). "Mystics streaming live games to mobile app". Sports Business Journal.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Tanklefsky, David (June 30, 2014). "WNBA Breaks New Ground With Free In-Market Live Streaming". PromaxBDA.
- ↑ Linendoll, Katie (February 25, 2013). "Brooklyn Nets and Barclays debut new apps". ESPN.
- 1 2 Costa, Brandon (July 3, 2014). "Washington Mystics' Interactive Multicam Live Mobile App Puts Fans in the Director's Chair". Sports Video Group.
- 1 2 Fisher, Eric; Ourand, John (August 4–10, 2014). "Over the top brings promise and concern". Sports Business Journal.