Business Wire

Business Wire is a commercial news distribution service, one of many available today. During its more than 50 years of operation, it has traditionally been either the leader or one of the top two such services in revenue and number of customers and subscribers. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Business Wire got its start by electronically distributing news releases on behalf of public relations clients and has evolved to offer services that include online newsrooms, measurement tools, and more.

Public relations clients—called member companies— provide news releases, photos, regulatory filings, multimedia, and other content to Business Wire. For a fee, the company disseminates the information to journalists, investors, researchers, and other audiences simultaneously and in real time, to the geographic market, industry audiences, and editorial desks requested by the client.

The company serves clients in more than 200 different industries through more than 30 bureaus in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.

The company also provides a variety of services to help organizations manage their corporate communications and research needs. Publicly traded companies can use Business Wire to meet requirements for public disclosure. Business Wire was the first newswire to offer to its public company clients a system specific to filings of the Securities and Exchange Commission called Education Department General Administrative Regulations, or EDGAR. The service is also used by financial and research databases and online news organizations who store company news releases distributed by Business Wire and make them available in company news archives.

Founded in San Francisco in 1961 by veteran journalist and public relations executive Lorry I. Lokey, the company started out with seven clients and distributed news releases to 16 news organizations in Northern California. Through the next decade, it expanded its geographic reach by forming affiliations with other wires, such as the Associated Press.

The speed that a news service could distribute information was a major attraction of the service. By 1967, Business Wire's ability to send 100 words per minute—which equates to sending a standard news release in about 5–10 minutes—was the fastest of any service. A decade later, the service reached a new level when Business Wire inaugurated satellite-to-computer delivery of news releases, the first to do so, increasing its speed to 1,200 words per minute. Today, instantaneous distribution is the new norm. As of 2012, Business Wire is the only commercial newswire to own its own patented, Internet-based simultaneous delivery system.

The company continued to expand its services and offices in the 1980s. It also created its Analyst-Wire service, which connected clients with financial analysts, and SportsWire and EntertainmentWire, services that brought sports- and entertainment-related news to key sports and entertainment media.

Later developments, in the 1990s, included the addition of Associated Press (AP) PhotoExpress service for commercial photo satellite delivery, the first commercial website for a newswire and the industry's first multimedia news release.

In 2003, the company became the first commercial newswire to distribute its content over AP's Internet-based delivery platform. Over the next decade, the company added services, such as the Public Policy Wire and Latino Wire, capabilities that enhance search engine optimization (SEO), mobile distribution, and online newsrooms that can be maintained on Business Wire's website.

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