Ustream.TV announces a number of company and industry-related achievements reflecting the growth of live online video broadcasting as a new way for people around the world to connect. Recent Ustream.TV milestones include the appointment of Chuck Wallace as CEO, rapid expansion of the Ustream.TV user-base, and partnerships with industry leaders, including meebo, a web-based instant messaging service and Bebo, the global social network.

“Our rapid growth validates that people around the world are seeking an easier, more engaging way to connect in real-time,” said John Ham, chairman and co-founder of Ustream.TV. “Unique viewer adoption is growing by more than 50 percent each month, we’ve added a first class CEO to our team, and, we’re rapidly bringing on high caliber partners, pointing to even greater things to come.”

Chuck Wallace, Chief Executive Officer, Ustream.TV

Chuck Wallace was one of the original founders and a senior executive for eight years at Esurance. Mr. Wallace helped build Esurance into the fastest growing auto insurance company in the US. In addition to leading Ustream.TV, Mr. Wallace also serves as a Director of Swords-to-Plowshares, a community based non-profit organization focused on bringing critical services to Veterans in need. He started his career as an Air Force instructor pilot. Mr. Wallace’s education includes a BS in Engineering Mechanics from the US Air Force Academy, an MBA from the Wharton School, and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

"The more I work with the outstanding Ustream.TV team and see the power of the broadcasting platform, the more I love this company – Ustream is clearly a big idea with tremendous potential,” said Wallace. “The strength of our partnerships and significant growth are proving that Ustream is ushering in a new era of communications and connectivity for the mass market. We are proud to pioneer live, interactive video broadcasting and we’re dedicated to delivering the most advanced and effective tools that allow people to connect with one another.”

Ustream.TV Growth Metrics

Since launching its public Beta in March of this year, Ustream.TV has experienced significant growth. In only seven months, Ustream.TV has:

• Added 80,000 active broadcasters, streamed more than 5,000 hours per day and one million viewer hours per month
• Enabled entertainers such as Tori Amos, The White Stripes, Marie Digby, Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Brown, The Plain White Tees, and Jason Scheffy to connect and interact with fans across the globe
• Empowered tens of thousands of mainstream broadcasters to ustream events like high school sports, weddings, concerts, grade school events, local conferences, educational shows – even births!
• Offered exclusive live video broadcasts for major events such as motion picture and TV series premieres, “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Nip Tuck” and “Fred Claus;” the 2007 YearlyKos Democratic convention in Chicago; and the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco
• Enabled Presidential hopefuls, including Senators Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Dodd to connect live with constituents across the country in an entirely new way

Industry Partnerships

Ustream.TV is partnering with business leaders across many industries to bring the Ustream.TV live, video broadcast platform to an even greater number of users. The company today announced it is partnering with Bebo, the global social network, to integrate its one-to-many live video streaming application into Bebo Open Media (see separate press release). Other partnerships include meebo that integrates Ustream.TV into the web-based IM provider’s new platform, bringing a new form of interaction to Meebo users. Using the Ustream.TV platform, Hollywood has already broadcast live on from the red carpet premieres of ABC’s “Dirty Sexy Money,” FX’s “Nip/Tuck” and the new Warner Bros. film, “Fred Claus.”

Emphasizing the broadcast viewer scale that Ustream supports, Seth Sternberg, CEO, meebo said, “We’re amazed by Ustream’s ability to scale live video on the Web. Meebo entrusts our large user base to the Ustream.TV broadcast platform.”

The Ustream.TV management team includes founders Brad Hunstable and John Ham (former military officers) and Dr. Gyula Feher who focuses on technology. Ustream’s Chief Technology Officer Tim Villanueva brings great technology leadership to Ustream from his career with Intuit, HotJobs.com, Yahoo! and eBay/PayPal.