Business Wire

Business Wire (http://www.businesswire.com) is a privately held company that provides services to investor relations and public relations professionals by electronically distributing their full-text news announcements and other information to news media, financial markets, investors, and other audiences around the world. The service is one of many available today, but traditionally it has been either the leader or one of the top two such services in terms of revenue and number of customers and subscribers.

The public relations clients—called member companies—provide news releases, photos, regulatory filings, and multimedia and other content to Business Wire. For a fee, sometimes as low as $125, the company will disseminate the information to journalists and other audiences simultaneously and in real time. Clients can select the most appropriate geographic market, industry audience, and editorial desk.

Subscribers—journalists at newspapers, wire services, television and radio programs, magazines, and online news services—can access the information through their newsroom editorial systems.

The company now serves more than 18,000 clients in more than 100 different industries through several dozen bureaus in the United States and Europe, reaching more than 60 news organizations.

The company also provides a variety of services to help organizations manage their corporate communications and research needs. Publicly traded companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Germany can use Business Wire to meet requirements for public disclosure. Business Wire was the first newswire to offer EDGAR (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings to its public company clients. The service is also used by financial and research databases and online news organizations, which 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 at which a news service could distribute information was a major attraction of the service. By 1967, Business Wire's ability to send [Page 104]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 via the Associated Press DataFeature circuit. It was the first news wire to do so, increasing its speed to 1,200 words per minute. Today, technology enables Business Wire to distribute information instantaneously.

The company continued to expand its services in the 1980s, adding 10 new offices and more employees. It also created its AnalystWire service, which connected clients with financial analysts, and SportsWire and EntertainmentWire, services that brought sportsand entertainment-related news to key sports and entertainment media.

Developments in the 1990s included the addition of Associated Press (AP) PhotoExpress service for commercial photo satellite delivery and the first commercial Web site for a newswire. In 1996, Business Wire introduced the Smart News Release, the industry's first multimedia news release.

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