WorldNow

WorldNow is a New York-based software company founded by Gary Gannaway. According to the company, WorldNow offers the only integrated media platform enabling broadcasters, operators and media companies to easily create, acquire, manage, analyze, monetize and distribute media assets (text, images and videos) across all digital platforms and on-air systems in a unified, end-to-end workflow. Through its turnkey multi-tenant software-as-a-service solution, WorldNow unifies web content management, IP video management and delivery, mobile, over-the-top, analytics, social and advertising in one integrated solution. Worldnow's customers include CBS, COX, Dispatch, Fox Television, Meredith Corporation, Media General and Raycom Media.

Products

WorldNow's multi-tenant end-to-end platforms can be licensed separately or as a fully integrated solution. According to the company, Worldnow's platform as a service model provides complete control to develop, design and deploy custom workflows and consumer experiences with a complete set of rich APIs and SDKs. Worldnow's products include: web content management, online video platform, over-the-top (OTT), cross platform media logistics, mobile web and application and advertising monetization platform.

On July 29, 2015, WorldNow announced its sale to Frankly, a San Francisco-based provider of white label social media services and mobile messaging apps. The deal was valued at $45 million, which included Raycom Media taking a 20% stake in Frankly. As a result of the sale, Gary Gannaway left the company. WorldNow will continue to operate out of New York City under chief strategic officer Lou Schwartz, who has worked with both Gannaway and Frankly CEO Steve Chung. Chung explained that the purchase was meant to let WorldNow leverage Frankly's technology to allow real-time "engagement" between broadcasters and viewers.

Notable clients

WorldNow's first client was Raycom Media, which also owned a 37% minority stake in the company. In 2012, Fox Television Stations migrated its websites to WorldNow's platform from one it had co-developed with LIN Media (which previously used WorldNow, and still owned a minority stake in the company), becoming WorldNow's second largest client (as of 2015, they have since switched to Lakana). In 2011, Meredith Corporation (which had previously used WorldNow before dropping it for services from Internet Broadcasting) began a four-year contract with WorldNow to operate its station websites. In January 2013, Media General reached a deal to move its eighteen stations to WorldNow, beginning with WFLA-TV. Media General planned to finish the migration within the first quarter of 2013 (since its takeover by the principal staff of LIN Media, Media General has since adopted LIN's WordPress.com-based websites). Waterman Broadcasting Corporation has been using WorldNow websites since 2011.