News

Public Media Works teams, again, with Signifi to tackle Toronto

November 14, 2010

Sausalito, Calif.-based Public Media Works and its wholly-owned subsidiary, EntertainmentXpress Inc., announced they had entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Spot Venture Distribution Inc. and Signifi Solutions Inc., both based in Toronto. The company said the agreement provides for the parties to jointly manage and expand the Spot DVD movie and game kiosk business in the greater Toronto area and other Canadian locations.

Signifi, the exclusive digital kiosk manufacturing partner for Public Media Works (PMW), designs software and manufactures digital self-service retail kiosks. Spot Venture Distribution Inc. (Spot) is a company that places and operates Signifi DVD movie and game kiosks.

Under the terms of the Collaboration Agreement, Spot will purchase and install the DVD kiosks and PMW will finance the operating costs, acquire and manage content, and bring advertising revenue and marketing direction as additional value to the partnership. In exchange, PMW will receive 50 percent of net revenues from DVD rentals, sales and digital advertising.

"This is a solid, strategic opportunity to build on our existing partnership with Signifi … Toronto is the largest city in Canada with more than 5.6 million people. Our goal is to expand our presence there," said Bill Zabit, president of Public Media Works.

Spot has an installed base of 15 kiosks in Sobey's grocery stores, Rabba Fine Food stores and high-traffic convenience stores in Toronto. And under the terms of the agreement, Spot will use its best efforts to have an installed base of 30 kiosks by Dec. 31, 2010, and 200 kiosks by Dec. 31, 2011.

Last week PMW announced that Signifi is its exclusive kiosk manufacturing partner. Signifi, an IBM Retail partner, says it has the only fully-digital robotic platform available in the DVD-rental marketplace. Its proprietary back-end is integrated with the Esprida platform to offer enterprise-wide solutions for real-time reporting and advanced analytics.

"Our strategy for EntertainmentXpress is first and foremost organic growth, complemented by targeted acquisitions and collaborative ventures such as this one with Signifi and Spot. This type of arrangement allows us to explore business opportunities with strategic partners who are willing to finance kiosks in exchange for a share in the DVD-rental and digital advertising revenue for those kiosks," Zabit said.