PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Wizzard Media (NYSE Alternext: WZE), the industry’s largest podcasting network announced today that the Wizzard Media Network recorded an unprecedented 1.2 billion podcast download requests in 2008. This is an important growth milestone for Wizzard Media, its podcasting publishers and the entire podcasting industry. Wizzard Media, comprised of premier podcast-hosting services Libsyn, Switchpod and Blast Podcast, received an average of 3.04 million requests for podcast episodes per day in 2008.

The total monthly unique audience size grew by over 100% across the Wizzard Network, from 7 million in 2007 to 15 million in 2008. Wizzard records a unique audience number for its publishers on a monthly basis, in accordance with recognized Internet standards, but estimates that the Wizzard Network reached 35 million total audience members throughout the course of 2008. The opportunity for advertisers to reach a focused, captivated audience, whether on the computer, iPod, iPhone, Zune or elsewhere, continues to grow at a rapid pace.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, the Wizzard Media network experienced its most active quarter in history recording 307,648,694 download requests for podcasts, a rate of over 3.34 million requests per day. Its previous best was 270,000,000 in the fourth quarter of 2007.

In 2008, Wizzard Media added 10,207 new podcast shows for a total of over 17,000 active shows across the network. In 2007, only 2,831 were added. The total number of active episodes on the Wizzard network grew from 400,000 in 2007 to 609,000 in 2008, an increase of 209,000 episodes available for immediate distribution.

“TV has evolved from three broadcast networks to 30 cable stations to 300 digital cable channels and now we have the enormous variety of Internet media,” says Chris Spencer, CEO of Wizzard. “Wizzard Media is at the forefront of the Internet media revolution and these rapidly growing network publisher and distribution numbers demonstrate this. People are getting their news, entertainment and education online and through mobile devices more than ever before and that isn’t going to change. An increase of approximately 200 million download requests in one year is mindboggling considering that each show is about 20 minutes long. That is a million hours of entertainment delivered each day. And to reach 35 million people in 2008 is a great accomplishment as well. At Wizzard, we’re focused on building the best company we can, gaining market share and moving toward profitability.”

Nielsen certified download requests, which account for a portion of the overall Wizzard Media network, grew from 244 million in 2007 (partial year data) to 733 million in 2008, representing 10 million certified unique audience members. Wizzard has transcribed over 248 million words to date, from a portion of the 600,000 podcasts on the network, and executed 43 advertising campaigns with 21 different advertising clients.

In addition to the Wizzard Media network download requests, Wizzard also distributes content to 8 feature Internet channels and 26 Internet video portals around the world. The total number of ‘views’ from these extended channels and portals are not included in the Wizzard Media network numbers. The iTunes, iPod, iPhone and Apple TV entertainment platform continues to make up a substantial portion of audience consumption.

Spencer continues, “While at times we fall prey to people’s unreasonable expectations of how fast a new media industry can mature and monetize, we firmly believe we are on the right path. Our publisher network continues to grow at a rapid pace. The content these publishers create continues to improve and grow substantially. The audience for the podcasts we distribute for our publishers continues to grow at a record pace, doubling last year. Most projections have Apple doubling sales for its iPhone in 2009. Wal-mart has begun selling iPhones, which should significantly grow sales of the devices people use to consume the content we distribute. The new wi-fi iPod Touch had a great holiday sales cycle and new product features allow people to download podcasts directly to their iPhone and iPod Touch, no longer requiring them to be frequently synched with a computer. We continue to grow our market leading position and expect a great 2009 in that regard.”

Click here to visit our blog post with additional statistics and charts (http://www.wizzard.tv/fourthquarter08.)

About Wizzard Media (a division of Wizzard Software)

Wizzard Media is the industry’s leading podcast hosting network, with an unprecedented one billion-plus download requests in 2007. Podcasts are a means for independent and professional content creators to publish audio and video shows for the world to enjoy over the Internet or on mp3 players, such as the Apple iPod® and the Microsoft Zune®. Podcasting is a relatively new phenomenon, but Wizzard Media collectively broadcasts millions of podcast downloads per day through media aggregators like Apple’s iTunes, Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace and other podcast aggregators. For more information, please visit www.wizzard.tv. Wizzard Media is a division of Wizzard Software, a leader in speech technology development.

Legal Notice

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: “Forward-looking Statements” as defined in the Private Securities litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. We disclaim any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions, actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies and acts of terror against the United States.

Contact:

Investor Relations Contact:
Arthur Douglas & Associates
Art Batson, 407-478-1120