Category: Getty Images
Getty Images, Inc. (NYSE: GYI) is the world’s largest stock photo agency, based in Seattle, Washington. Getty maintains an archive of 70 million still images and illustrations and more than 30,000 hours of stock film footage. The company was founded in 1995 by Mark Getty (current Chairman of the Board) and Jonathan Klein (current CEO) In September 1997, Getty Communications, as it was called at the time, merged with PhotoDisc, Inc. to form Getty Images. Today, the company operates several of the world’s most popular stock licensing websites including www.gettyimages.com, www.istockphoto.com, www.wireimage.com, www.punchstock.com, and www.scoopt.com. Nearly 100 percent of the company’s visual content is delivered digitally.
Key executives:
Mark Getty - Co-Founder and Chairman
Jonathan Klein - Co-Founder and CEO
Tom Oberdorf - SVP and CFO
Bruce Livingstone - SVP and CEO iStockphoto
News
More than 500,000 clips from Getty Images now available through Footage.net
Footage.net, a stock footage search engine, has announced that it has now partnered with Getty Images, the world’s leading creator and distributor of visual and digital media content, to include its entire footage database of more than 500,000 clips in the Footage.net search platform. “The partnership with Getty Images adds greatly to the breadth, depth and value of our footage search engine, and we look forward to providing Getty Images with another channel to serve the global production community,” said Footage.net President Domenick Propati. “We are especially pleased that Footage.net users will now have access to Getty Images’ amazing collection of high-quality contemporary footage.”
News
StockXpert is ceasing regular operations
In a recent message sent to users of the micropayment stock photography site StockXpert, the company announced that it is ceasing operations and that it will no longer sell new credits or accept new members. The StockXpert site was launched by the Hungarian based HAAP Media which also operated the popular sxc.hu, a free stock photography download site. The business was later acquired by JupiterImages in Nov 2006 which was acquired itself by Getty Images in Oct 2008. Getty Images also owns iStockphoto, the world’s most popular micro-payment stock photography site.
News
Getty launches Thinkstock subscription product
Getty Images announced it will now offer another subscription product, Thinkstock, giving new life to a brand the company acquired from Jupiter Images in 2008. The Thinkstock subscription product will include millions of high-quality royalty free photographs, illustrations and vectors from its Getty Images, iStockphoto and Jupiter Images collections. Thinkstock will include both professional and user-generated content. Getty plans to add thousands of new images to the product weekly to keep it fresh and vibrant.
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Getty Images is gearing up for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver
In its role as the Photographic Agency to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the twelfth consecutive games, Getty Images will cover all aspects of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games (February 12-28). Getty Images has been the IOC’s Photographic Agency since Calgary’s Winter Games in 1988.
Getty launches new web and mobile licensing types
Getty Images, widely considered to be the world’s largest stock licensing company, has announced that it has released two new Web & Mobile image products featuring very small file sizes (170 pixels and 280 pixels) designed specifically for online and mobile use. Getty Images’ Web & Mobile images are priced according to pixel size and license model, ranging from $5 for RF and $15 for RM, to the current $49 (413 pixels/500kb) web-resolution product.
News
Getty appoints iStockphoto to manage free stock photography site SXC.hu
Earlier this year when Getty images completed its acquisition of JupiterImages the company also acquired a popular free stock photography site located at sxc.hu. The popular site reported in 2006 to have over 25 million page views monthly and over 500,000 registered at the time it was purchased by JupiterMedia from the Hungarian company Haap Media. The previous strategy was to use this free image site to upsell users to its own micro stock platform located at Stockxpert.com and now Getty Images is seeing the potential to continue operating the free site as a means to funnel traffic to its own micro-payment site iStockphoto.
News
Getty Images adds Flickr photo clouds feature to site
Getty Images, who first announced a deal with Flickr to monetize user-generated content from the photo-sharing site in July 2008, has just announced a new phase in the company’s campaign behind The Flickr Collection by adding a Flickr photo clouds feature to its site. This new feature lets users visually group images that catch their eye and share them as part of a social networking/creative inspiration experience.
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iStock launches high-end collection Vetta and projects gross revenue of $200MM for 2009
The leading micro-stock web-site, Getty’s iStockphoto, has announced the launch of a new premium collection of imagery that will command higher prices than their regular collection. Prices for images from the new collection, called Vetta(TM), will range up to 70 credits, the equivalent of $96.25. iStock has also announced it projects gross
revenue to reach US$200MM this year.
News
Getty Images and AFP renew partnership agreement
Getty Images, widely considered to be the world’s largest stock licensing company, has announced that it has renewed a deal with the global press agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) allowing both companies to leverage the others archive. The renewed contract takes effect on 1st June 2009 and extends the partnership between the two companies for an additional three years from the initial agreement put into effect in 2003.
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Bruce Livingstone resigns from iStockphoto and Getty Images
Bruce Livingstone CEO and founder of iStockphoto has announced that he is stepping down from his post as CEO of iStockphoto and SVP Consumer at Getty Images. The company was launched just over nine years ago and quickly became the leading microstock image licensing service culminating in its sale to Getty Images for $50 million in Feb 2006. After the sale of the business Livingstone who was in his mid-30s continued as the CEO and was also appointed SVP of Consumer Products at Getty Images. “From the beginning, this crazy little experiment has shown the world what happens when people assemble to organize their creativity and business acumen. Together, we changed the way a whole industry works” Livingstone stated in a farewell message posted in the iStockphoto community.
News
Getty launches Flickr Collection
Getty Images, who announced a deal with Flickr to monetize user-generated content from the photo-sharing site in July 2008, has just announced the launch of the Flickr Collection, available exclusively on gettyimages.com, in both royalty-free (RF) and rights-managed (RM) licensing models.. “This collection reflects the unique perspective Flickr offers as the ‘eyes of the world’ and is testament to our community of photographers, who have shared their authentic visions with the world through Flickr,” said Kakul Srivastava, general manager, Flickr. “Providing our members with a way to bring their imagery to Getty Images’ worldwide customer base through this partnership has been an important step for us and we look forward to seeing the collection evolve over time, just as Flickr itself continues to do.”
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Peoria TV station reports on Getty layoff of former Jupiter Images employees
Last week Jupitermedia Corporation (NASDAQ: JUPM) announced that it had finalized its sale to Getty Images for $96 million and this week Getty had taken steps to begin laying-off hundreds of employees including 100 workers from the Former Dynamic graphis office in Peoria Illinois as reported by local TV station WMBD/WYZZ. The story further states “All 400 worldwide employees from England to Australia will be laid off between April and September. One hundred of those employees are based in Peoria.”
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Jupitermedia finalizes sale of Jupiterimages to Getty Images and changes name to WebMediaBrands
Last October, Jupitermedia Corporation (NASDAQ: JUPM) announced that it had reached a deal to sell its JupiterImages division for $96 million to Getty Images. The company has today announced that it has completed the sale. In connection with the Sale, Jupitermedia terminated its Credit Agreement with KeyBank National Association ("KeyBank") and applied approximately $82 million of the proceeds from the Sale to repay all outstanding indebtedness. Jupitermedia’s existing interest rate swap arrangement with KeyBank will remain outstanding.
News
Getty Images closes citizen journalism photo agency Scoopt
Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) has announced that it is closing Scoopt, a citizen journalism photo agency based in Glasgow, acquired in March 2007. Molly McWhinnie, a Getty Images spokeswoman, explains the decision “We definitely believe there is a demand for this type of material as an editorial product but there are so many other avenues out there right now for citizen photo journalists.” The company has stated plans to keep the website Scoopt.com active until March 6 but the business will stop accepting new content from February 6.
News
Redferns Music Picture Library acquired by Getty Images
Getty Images, the worlds largest stock licensing company has announced the acquisition of the London-Based Redferns Music Picture Library. Founded by British photographer David Redfern in the early 1960’s, the Redferns music picture library offers music imagery ranging from 18th century classical composers to the headliners of today. The collection of more than 30,000 images will be incorporated into the Getty Images site under the respected Redferns brand name as soon as February 2009.
Jupiter records a $22.6MM Loss for 3Q08
On the heels of the announcement of an agreement for Getty Images to purchase Jupiter Media’s image division, Jupiter announced its 3rd quarter 2008 results. The company saw total sales drop by 11% from $$34.8MM in the 3rd quarter of ‘07 to $31MM, this year. On an unusually brief conference call with analysts about the third quarter results, CEO Alan Meckler stated that the poor performance was due to wide-spread problems in the general economy. “...but we’re doing something about it,” he added, referring to the Getty deal. Beyond that, Meckler said he would have no comment about the proposed sale of Jupiter Images.
Editorials
Getty buys Jupiter for a song
Naturally, the buzz at the PACA International Conference in NYC this past week-end centered on the bomb that dropped on the industry last Thursday when Getty announced it had reached a deal to purchase Jupiter for $96MM. The most common question: What does it all mean? I see a number of angles from which to approach the subject.
News
JupiterMedia selling JupiterImages content licensing business to Getty for $96 million
Jupitermedia Corporation (JUPM) has announced that it has entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement to sell its Online Images business to Getty Images, Inc.(GYI) for the purchase price of $96 million in cash. Last year the companies had confirmed that they were exploring a sale with an asking price as high as $350 - $450 million, a far cry from the $96 million received in this transaction. The deal will allow Jupiter to pay off all of its bank debt, but the company expects to take a non-cash loss of about $95 million when the deal closes. “We believe that this transaction will be beneficial to Jupitermedia and its stockholders, both in the near term and the long run, as it will allow Jupitermedia to pay off all of its bank debt. Upon closing of the transaction, we will continue focus on the further development and growth of our Online Media division,” stated Alan Meckler Jupitermedia’s Chief Executive Officer.
News
iStockphoto signs deal with Avery Dennison
iStockphoto and the Avery Dennison Office Products Company have announced a partnership where Avery Dennison customers will gain access to a selection of free stock images and receive a 20 percent discount off their first purchase of 50+ stock photography credits from iStockphoto. “This deal brings together a leading force in the traditional desktop printing medium with the cutting edge in digital imagery at a time when the appetite for great photos and illustrations is at a peak, but most people still don’t know where to get them,” said Caradoc Ehrenhalt, group manager of Content Development for Avery Dennison. “With Avery’s easy-to-use printing solutions, it’s simple to add iStockphoto images to Avery products and then print right from the desktop.”
News
Time Inc. teams up with Getty Images to launch LIFE.com
Time Inc. and Getty Images have announced that they have joined forces to launch LIFE.com in early 2009, a consumer website where users can interact with historic photos published in LIFE and iconic imagery from the Getty Images archives. LIFE.com will be jointly owned and operated by Time Inc. and Getty Images with Andy Blau (president of LIFE and SVP of Time Inc. Interactive) serving as the CEO, and Catherine Gluckstein (vice president of iStockphoto and Consumer Markets at Getty Images), as the CFO of the business. “Image search is the fastest-growing type of online search, and LIFE.com will satisfy the public’s desire for quality and relevant imagery through a visually pleasing and easy-to-browse website,” says Blau.
