Chyron Posts Strong Q2, Touts Web-Based Graphics

Gannett Broadcasting will be online with Axis Graphics technology in October.

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/6/2008 12:31:00 PM

Chyron, which has been pushing a new model for broadcast-graphics creation since acquiring Web-based graphics specialist Axis Graphics in January for $3 million, posted record second-quarter revenues and said a large deployment of the Axis technology with Gannett Broadcasting is on schedule and should be live this fall.

The Melville, N.Y.-based company recorded Q2 revenues of $10 million, up 30% over the prior year, and $18.3 million for the six months ending June 30, up 28% over the year-ago total. Net income for the quarter was $1.1 million, up 76% over 2Q 2007, and $1.4 million for the six months, up 102% over the prior year.

Chyron president and CEO Michael Wellesley-Wesley said on the earnings call that the conversion to HD production was continuing to drive much of Chyron’s growth in the broadcast market, citing a large deal with NBC to provide HD graphics systems for its Olympic Games coverage. Wellesley-Wesley added that he expects further growth through the second half of 2008, particularly in the local-news market.

“There are 105 broadcasters in 56 DMAs actually doing news in HD, and we expect that number to increase dramatically,” Wellesley-Wesley said.

He was also encouraged by the prospects for Chyron’s Axis system, a subscription service that allows users to create template-based graphics at their desktop through a Web-based interface, then renders the graphic on its own servers and delivers the finished product as a file transfer via the Internet. Last month, Chyron officially closed a deal with Gannett to supply Axis to all 23 of its stations.

Chyron is changing its approach to selling Axis, Wellesley-Wesley said, focusing on large group deals like the Gannett contract instead of trying to sell it to individual stations.

The philosophy behind Axis, he added, “is going down very well with senior executives at major media companies looking to streamline their work flows.”

The revenue from the Gannett deal won’t come until late in the third quarter, Chyron chief operating officer Kevin Prince said, adding that Gannett is looking to start deployment of Axis in mid-September, with full deployment at all 23 stations by the end of October.

Loading all of the graphics into the servers for the Axis system takes several weeks for a large group like Gannett, Prince said, while training with individual Axis users generally takes one to two days per person.