SAVVIS Communications, a global managed services provider, today announced that the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, producers...

SAVVIS Communications, a global managed services provider, today announced that the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, producers of the International Emmy Awards and the iEMMYs Festival, has completed the first-ever worldwide virtual screening of the programs nominated for the 5th Annual iEMMYs Festival held today in New York City. The International Emmys are awarded to the best television programs produced outside the United States.

For the first time, approximately 400 iEMMYs attendees, consisting of high-level executives, television producers, and directors, located in 60 countries, utilized an online screening process to view and then judge the nominated programs. These programs were digitized and made available in multiple formats via SAVVIS’ high performance global IP network. It enabled this international judging to take place over SAVVIS’ secure, high-bandwidth, web connections simultaneously around the world. It replaced a process that involved shipping hundreds of tapes in a myriad of formats to hundreds of locations around the world thereby saving time and money.

“We are pleased to produce the first video-Internet screening process that integrates broadband transmissions and network solutions to deliver a worldwide and simultaneous judging system for the International Emmy competition,” said Georges Leclere, Executive Director of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “Previously, the process of making these shows available to the voting members of the iEMMYs Festival was costly and time-consuming. SAVVIS’ managed media services solved this challenge by facilitating the digitization and distribution of these shows and by streamlining and accelerating media workflow associated with this project.”

“SAVVIS’ managed media services enable and simplify control and management of media content across the enterprise and geographies – from creation all the way through the workflow to distribution -- and ranges from film and video, to images and audio, in virtually any format,” said Darcy Lorincz, Vice President & General Manager of Global Rich Media Services at SAVVIS. “Our participation in the prestigious iEMMYs expands our presence in the media industry and showcases an important element in our new managed media services offering.”


About The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is the largest organization of global broadcasters, with representatives from over 50 countries on its Board. Sixty percent of the 100-member Board of Directors come from countries based outside of the U.S, and represent the world's largest production, distribution and broadcast companies. Under the Chairmanship of Bruce Paisner (also President of Hearst Entertainment), the iEMMYs Festival has evolved into a main event of the Academy.

For more information on the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, please visit www.iemmys.tv

About SAVVIS
SAVVIS Communications (NASDAQ: SVVS) is a leading managed services provider that delivers IP VPNs (virtual private networks), hosting, and application services to businesses. SAVVIS solutions are designed for industries with demanding information technology requirements including legal, media, retail, professional services, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services. Known as The Network that Powers Wall StreetSM, SAVVIS was ranked #3 in IP VPN market share by IDC in its 2003 report, trailing only AT&T and MCI/WorldCom, and its network reliability was declared “perfect” in Network World magazine’s groundbreaking study of backbone performance.

For more information on SAVVIS, please visit www.savvis.net