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September 22, 2009
Bowling, food, and karaoke in one place? On South Lamar, yes
It’s hard to find a hip bowling alley, full-service bar and restaurant, live music, dance floor and karaoke venue all in one place.
But that is what Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League, his wife Karrie League and a creative team of visionaries plan to bring to South Lamar starting Thursday.
HighBall will take over a 14,000-square foot space that once housed the Salvation Army just a few storefronts away from Alamo’s South Lamar location.
Initially, “we rented the space for a couple of parties, and once we did that, we realized we liked it and wanted to have more parties,” League said.
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April 7, 2008
Austin based DMX, Muzak get federal approval for merger
Austin-based DMX Inc. and Muzak received federal antitrust approval today for a proposed merger that would allow for a sale of the combined company.
DMX and Muzak provide digital music services to retailers, restaurants, hotels and cable television companies.
The companies said last year they wanted to merge and then find a buyer. They have not identified any potential buyers or a timeline for a sale. But they said today that the clearance by the Justice Department will allow them to “move quickly through the sale and integration process.”
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April 1, 2008
Lind is out as Multimedia Games CEO
Clifton Lind quit as president and CEO of Austin-based gambling-equipment company Multimedia Games Inc., ending a five-year run in which the market value of the company nosedived.
Clifton E. Lind, 61, stepped down “to spend more time with his family,” a company statement said. Lind had served as president and CEO since February 2003 and as a director since May 2000. He is also leaving the board.
The company named Gary Loebig as interim president and CEO. He was executive vice president of sales.
Multimedia shares traded at about $10 when Lind took over as CEO. Shares rose into the $20s in 2004, but they rarely reached that level again. Today the company’s stock gained 1 cent to close at $5.35.
Multimedia has been buffeted by regulatory and legal battles in the gambling market, as well as increased competition. The company’s main market is Indian casinos.
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March 4, 2008
Demand Media buys Austin-based Pluck
Austin-based Pluck Corp., which runs an Internet blog service, has been acquired by Demand Media Inc., a fast-growing startup led by the former chairman of MySpace.com.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Demand Media is led by Richard Rosenblatt, former head of MySpace, and has raised $320 million in venture capital in less than two years. It has used much of it to acquire Web sites, including Austin-based ExpertVillage.com last summer.
In January, Demand Media teamed with the Lance Armstrong Foundation to launch a social-networking Web site focused on health and fitness.
Pluck, which has 70 employees, will become an Austin-based subsidiary of Demand Media.
Pluck was founded in 2003 by Austin software entrepreneurs Dave Panos and Andrew Busey. It operates a syndication network called BlogBurst, which provides content from thousands of bloggers that newspapers and media sites can publish on their Web sites.
Pluck was backed by $17 million in venture capital, $7 million of which was invested by Reuters Group.
Other investors were Austin Ventures and Mayfield Fund.
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October 11, 2006
SXSW launches TV joint venture
A news release from Blaze TV
LOS ANGELES — For two decades its platform for breaking new acts like Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and James Blunt has been a well-kept industry secret. That will all change at the 21st annual SXSW in the wake of a groundbreaking deal between America’s biggest music festival and music/entertainment television producer Blaze TV to create a joint venture company, South By TV (SXTV), which will deliver the best performances from the March 2007 festival to a global audience. During last year’s event, more than 1,400 bands played at 60 venues in downtown Austin, Texas.
Rather than shooting bands in less-than-ideal club settings where they normally play, SXTV will custom-build a venue where performances can be captured in multi-camera HD with 5.1 surround sound. U.S. television audiences will be able to see the best of them on CD USA, the weekly show that Blaze TV produces for DirecTV. London and Miami-based Zeal TV will handle international TV sales in all territories outside the U.S. Zeal already distributes the CD USA, CD UK and CD Live imprints to 97 countries on six continents. Pre-sales of SXTV content will commence this month at MIPCOM.
In addition to terrestrial, cable and satellite TV sales, the company plans to distribute SXSW band content via Internet, mobile phone and digital cinema. A “Best of SXSW 2007” DVD is also planned through Blaze TV’s parent company Shout! Factory.
“Blaze and SXSW are a great match, with a shared vision for creating content of the highest calibre. Conor McAnally knows how to make great TV,” stated Roland Swenson, managing director of SXSW.
“We are delighted to be part of SXSW, one of the world’s truly great festivals,” offered Blaze managing director Conor McAnally. “With the innovative production approach we will be taking, we are excited to be able to share the extraordinary performances which SXSW inspires with a worldwide audience.”
The SXSW Music and Media Conference showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over 50 states in downtown Austin. SXSW is the largest single music festival in the U.S., attended by record company and music media executives from all over the world, thus giving attending acts an unparalleled, showcase platform. By day, conference registrants do business in the SXSW Trade Show in the Austin Convention Center and partake of a full agenda of informative, provocative panel discussions
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