Pilat Technologies International heads for a broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas later this month looking for a big order that will elevate it into a major player in the rapidly-growing market for digital TV management systems.
Shares in the London-quoted Israeli company jumped 242% to 36 pence ($0.52) yesterday after it announced orders worth around $1.6m to supply its Integrated Broadcast Management System (IBMS) to two leading New Zealand companies; TVNZ and SkyNZ. Investors were excited by the prospect of Pilat repeating its success in New Zealand in the larger markets of the US or Europe. With all the major TV companies now switching to digital technology, Pilat’s revenues could be set for a transformation.
Pilat’s background in human resource packages sits oddly with its latest offering, but it says its technical skills won it the contract to develop a management system for media mogul Rupert MurdochÆs BskyB station in the UK. Now Pilat has an exclusive contract to market the IBMS and while Pilat chief executive Avi Engel will not reveal the royalty figure, he says it only amounts to a small, proportion of revenue.
With many TV companies developing their own technology, Engel feels the unique selling point of IBMS is that it is a fully integrated system, designed for digital technology that enables broadcasters to take advantage of the economies of scale occasions from moving from a handful of channels to 200. Built around an Oracle database, the Pilat system comes with the backing of the Murdoch organization so his worldwide affiliates are likely to give it a close inspection.
As the huge market for digital TV begins to open up, The National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas will give companies such as Pilat the opportunity to show how they are likely to perform during the rapid period of growth that lies ahead.
