Privately Funded Service Transforms Wisconsin Public Affairs Coverage; Chooses Isilon IQ for Content Storage

Privately Funded Service Transforms Wisconsin Public Affairs Coverage; Chooses Isilon IQ for Content Storage

NAB 2005, LAS VEGAS, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Isilon Systems(R), the premier provider of intelligent clustered storage, and WisconsinEye, a privately funded provider of cable and online coverage of public affairs, today announced the selection of Isilon IQ clustered storage to power the new WisconsinEye Network. WisconsinEye, which selected Masstech Group media lifecycle management systems as another key ingredient in its fully automated work-flow content management system, will provide unparalleled cable television and Internet coverage of Wisconsin's government at work. The combination of remotely operated cameras, clustered storage and media and asset management systems will allow WisconsinEye to efficiently record and broadcast events and to make all content available over the Internet.

"Our mission is to provide Wisconsinites with unfettered access to the complete, beginning-to-end actions of state government and a wide range of public policy discussions throughout our state," said Jeff Roberts, president, founder and CEO of WisconsinEye. "Our selection of state-of-the-art clustered storage from Isilon Systems and cutting-edge media lifecycle management systems from Masstech will enable us to provide that unprecedented coverage."

WisconsinEye, founded by of veteran journalist Jeff Roberts, will provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of state activities and will leverage the industry's most advanced, efficient and automated production facilities. With its fully automated work-flow content management system and direct fiber links to the Wisconsin State Capital, WisconsinEye will be able to provide live high-definition coverage of 12 simultaneous events. "But WisconsinEye's extensive public affairs coverage doesn't stop at the state Capitol," said Randy Lagman, WisconsinEye's CIO. "Our HD field production vehicles will acquire extensive portrayals of arts and culture, education, business and health care throughout our state."

"We are thrilled to help WisconsinEye fundamentally transform public-affairs programming," said Brett Goodwin, vice president of marketing and business development for Isilon Systems. "By adopting the latest digital workflow technologies, including Isilon IQ intelligent clustered storage and Masstech media lifecycle management systems, WisconsinEye is taking public affairs broadcasting to an entirely new level."

"WisconsinEye is poised to be a true innovator in the public-affairs broadcast industry," said Joe French, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Masstech Group. "Use of Masstech media lifecycle management systems, enhanced with Isilon's clustered storage technologies, will allow WisconsinEye to efficiently and economically record the highest quality high-definition video and to automatically make that content available for broadcast and online access."

WisconsinEye's service is launching with the support of eight terabytes of the recently released Isilon IQ 1920i, which includes high performance, low-latency InfiniBand for intracluster connectivity. Other new products from Isilon include the Isilon IQ 3000 (available now) and the Isilon IQ 4800, which will be available in June. Entry prices for these highly scalable and reliable systems range from one cent to 1.5 cents per megabyte with no additional cost for high-performance InfiniBand.

About WisconsinEye Network

WisconsinEye provides coverage of all aspects of government public policy discussions occurring across the state of Wisconsin and is a new choice to reinvigorate citizenship. It distinguishes itself by not accepting any state government funding and, thereby, is able to offer credible and unbiased coverage of governmental proceedings. Core coverage will include every venue in state government including legislative floor sessions, committee meetings and hearings, actions of the executive branch, oral arguments before the State Supreme Court, and gubernatorial speeches and news conferences. WisconsinEye's expanded coverage will include events statewide in the areas of arts and culture, education, business and health care. For more information please visit: http://wiseye.org/ .

About Isilon Systems

Isilon is the premier provider of intelligent clustered storage systems. Isilon's award-winning family of Isilon IQ products are high-performance clustered storage systems that combine an intelligent distributed file system with modular industry standard hardware to deliver unmatched simplicity and scalability. Isilon IQ was designed for digital content and large data-intensive markets, such as media and entertainment, digital imaging, the Federal Government, life sciences, and oil and gas. The Seattle-based company is financed by Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Atlas Venture and Madrona Venture Group. For more information, visit: http://www.isilon.com/ .

NOTE: The names of companies mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Isilon Systems

CONTACT: Rachelle Lockhart, +1-212-419-3326, or rlockhart@ssk.com, or Laurie Woicik, +1-425-201-2037, or lwoicik@ssk.com, both of SS+K, for Isilon Systems; or Laura Parker of WisconsinEye Network, +1-608-441-1577, or laura.parker@wiseye.org

Web site: http://wiseye.org/

Web site: http://www.isilon.com/

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