“Big Brother 2″ WebCast Surpasses 25,000 Paid Subscribers

Reprinted from a RealNetworks press release:

SEATTLE, August 2, 2001 - RealNetworks, Inc., the
global leader in Internet media delivery, today announced that more
than 25,000 fans of “Big Brother 2″ have purchased a subscription to
the “Big Brother 2″ WebCast made available through an exclusive
arrangement between CBS and RealNetworks. The WebCast, which Real
Broadcast Network (RBN), the content delivery network (CDN) division
of RealNetworks, began streaming just over three weeks ago through its
high-quality network, allows fans an insider’s look at the houseguests
and their activities. The WebCast can be accessed either through a
standalone Big Brother subscription offered through CBS.com or through
a subscription to RealPlayer GoldPass. In addition, the official Big
Brother 2 website has logged more than 62 million page views and one
million chat log-ins through July 31.

During the first two weeks of “Big Brother 2,” RBN also surpassed an
historic milestone of delivering its one billionth stream to a
consumer since its inception, making it one of an elite set of CDNs
capable of achieving massive content distribution between consumers
and its customers. RBN is delivering the 24/7 live webcast of four
separate camera feeds.

Fans may view the entire broadcast run of “Big Brother 2″ on the
official CBS Big Brother site at www.CBS.com for a one-time fee of
$19.95, or they may choose to subscribe to RealNetworks’ RealPlayer
GoldPass for $9.95 per month which features the “Big Brother 2″
season, as well as other exclusive programming, content, games and
software downloads. The deal CBS is offering is believed to be the
first streaming entertainment content subscription package offered by
a U.S. television network.