SightSound.com Offers Tyson vs. Norris fight for Download Rental

Business Wire, Oct 22, 1999

MT. LEBANON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 1999--

SightSound.com (www.sightsound.com), in association with Showtime Networks, has announced it will rent the Mike Tyson vs. Orlin Norris fight for download to consumers beginning Sunday, Oct. 24.

"This is an example of the knock-out potential of the Net," explained Scott Sander, president and CEO of SightSound.com. "Boxing fans that couldn't catch the fight live can rent it the next day. Fans that just have to see it again can rent it whenever they want."

Originally airing on Showtime on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 11 p.m., the fight will be available to Internet viewers in the United States through digital download from www.sightsound.com from Oct. 24 to Dec. 31 for $16.99 for a one-day rental and $19.99 for a five-day rental.

In addition to being an online video store, SightSound.com provides Internet consumers with specialty programs and events. The Tyson vs. Norris fight is the first example of how SightSound.com can offer Internet consumers a show or event after it airs live.

"The possibilities are endless," Sander noted. "It's all about giving the audience unprecedented accessibility to entertainment."

SightSound.com distributes movies and music on the Internet through digital download. In 1995, the company was the first to offer music for download sale over the Internet; in 1999, the company was the first to offer feature-length motion pictures for download sale over the Internet.

SightSound.com announced in August 1999 that it would release the first direct-to-Internet movie "The Quantum Project" from Metafilmics ("What Dreams May Come") in spring 2000.

Engineer Arthur Hair and entrepreneur Scott Sander founded SightSound.com in 1995. The company found its roots in the mid-1980s, when Hair saw his first compact disc and recognized there was a better way for digital movie and music delivery.

Hair went on to develop a method and system to electronically transfer to consumers -- into the home, business or anywhere else -- digitally recorded video and audio as desired. In 1993, he obtained his first of three U.S. patents, joining with Sander in 1995 to establish SightSound.com.