Long-time cable financial analyst Tom Wolzien’s Video Call Center, a technology that enables programmers to manage live video call-in shows with viewers via their smartphones, laptops and tablets, has struck a partnership with Major League Baseball, integrating its cloud technology and computer systems within MLB Network’s headquarters in Secaucus, N.J.

“As one of the world’s great sports brands, MLB has an exceptionally active fan-base and engaged viewers, who want to interact one-on-one with their heroes,” VCC CEO Larry Thaler said in a statement. “The Video Call Center is very proud that its video calling platform has been chosen by MLB as the foundation for building next-generation engagement experiences for its fans.”

The technology will address several production requirements for MLB, according to VCC, including: 

• Expanding the number of fans that can participate with the flexibility to enable callers from anywhere in the world to connect from smartphones, laptops and tablets using a variety of native IP video calling apps including Apple FaceTime and Google’s Web-RTC format (via Gruveo), which require no downloads for callers, as well as Skype; 
• Dramatically improving call quality using patented technology from the VCC that delivers proven call reliability in excess of 99%;
• Meeting MLB’s highest quality production requirements with the VCC’s caller acquisition technology, including proprietary audio processing that cleanly interfaces with MLB’s existing control rooms; and
• Providing support for multiple simultaneous callers.

In addition to technical support, VCC also is providing training services to MLB personnel.

Video Call Center, the technology company created by television veteran and former Sanford Bernstein cable analyst Tom Wolzien, has struck a partnership with New York-based production company MY Entertainment to co-develop new programs. 

Under the agreement MY Entertainment and the VCC will co-develop new show formats and series concepts utilizing the VCC’s patented video caller and social television technologies. The two companies will also further develop some existing programs within the VCC catalogue, which My Entertainment will pitch for sale to networks. The VCC has produced hundreds of workshop programs incorporating live video callers as examples of how its technology may be used, across a wide-range of genres including sports, celebrity gossip, news, politics, music and more.

MY Entertainment was formed by former advertising executive Michael Yudin and has produced series across a wide variety of genres for partners like Discovery, A&E, National Geographic, Lifetime, Spike, MTV, Comedy Central, Travel Channel, Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, Nickelodeon, Food Network, Animal Planet, Logo, IFC, TruTV and CMT.

“Every content provider has been trying to crack the code in developing social media based, formatted programs,” said MY Entertainment executive producer and chief operating officer Joe Townley in a statement. “We believe the VCC has developed the technology and the specialized production expertise to break through with that programming.”  

The VCC will provide production expertise and serve as co-producer on any programs that go into development. MY Entertainment will act as executive producer and manage distribution rights on all shows that result from the partnership.

“We’re excited to expand the development of our workshop programs with a strong partner like My Entertainment which has the reach to present it to the right networks and distributors, domestically and internationally,” Video Call Center CEO Larry Thaler said in a statement. “My Entertainment understands the value and opportunity inherent in video caller TV to engage audiences, bridge the divide between online/social and TV, and to deliver entirely new forms of content.’

Video Call Center, the technology company founded by television veteran and former Sanford Bernstein analyst Tom Wolzien, reached another milestone Thursday, landing a deal with television station group TEGNA to use VCC's Caller Cloud Video Service in its newly launched news and entertainment program, Daily Blast Live.

TEGNA, the former broadcasting arm of Gannett Co., has about 46 TV stations in 38 markets. Daily Blast Live debuted Sept. 18 on 36 TEGNA stations as well as Facebook and You Tube, using VCC technology to do a live remote interview with a survivor of the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas.

VCC's Caller Cloud Video Service provides a caller acquisition and production system specifically designed to enable live, interactive broadcast remotes with celebrities, subject matter experts and everyday audience callers, according to the company. With the Caller Cloud TEGNA can:

• Manage the process of screening and preparing callers for air in real-time. This includes the VCC’s team of call screeners and the use of Caller Queue, the VCC’s unique “green room in the cloud.”
• Integrate video callers into the Daily Blast Live production control room located at TEGNA station KUSA in Denver where Daily Blast Live is produced.
• Optimize the visual quality and reliability of video calls originating from smartphones and other devices using native video over IP applications and public Internet connections.

“Daily Blast LIVE is an innovative, fast-paced show that relies on the latest technology to engage with celebrities, experts and viewers no matter where they are,” said TEGNA senior vice president, programming Bob Sullivan in a statement. “TEGNA was an early adopter of the VCC and we are excited to work with them on DBL. Their innovative technology offers our production team numerous options to create an ever-changing and dynamic live program every day.”

TEGNA has had a long relationship with Video Call Center and was one of its first major investors back in 2015.

VCC CEO Larry Thaler said in an interview that the technology allows programmers to rapidly set up remote interviews by using the technology available to the subject, either their cell phones, laptops or tablets. And it brings a new twist to live segments, which he said are increasingly being demanded by advertisers and programmers.

“Live is dramatically more valuable with advertisers than pre-recorded content,” Thaler said.

VCC technology is showing up in other networks as well. The company has a long-standing relationship with Discovery Communications, which is using the VCC for a live segment near the end of Alaska: The Last Frontieron the Discovery Channelthat allows fans to call in and ask cast members questions. The technology also is being used by Discovery network TLC in an epilogue as part of its 90-day Fiancéshow, giving updates on couples after their segments finish taping. VCC provides a way around the logistical and costs constraints inherent in bringing the couples together from halfway around the world, Thaler said. It’s first epilogue show airs on Oct. 30.

The Tea, a daily online video call-in gossip show from Video Call Center and celebrity news website Wetpaint, has passed the 500,000 viewer milestone in its first month, according to its producers.

According to Video Call Center, the company created by former Sanford Bernstein media analyst Tom Wolzien to showcase his patented technology, more than 100,000 viewers tune into The Tea each week, and citing Wetpaint dwell time statistics, they stay tuned in for significantly longer than typical site visitors. The Tea, available every weekday at 3pm ET on Wetpaint at thetea.tv as well as Facebook Live, uses the Video Call Center’s video caller platform to create a program that enables celebrities, audiences, and hosts to engage in unscripted, unexpected conversation.  

The VCC makes it possible to simultaneously connect multiple video callers from around the world—including viewers, celebrities and other guests—via their computers or smartphones  and bring them all together in live, broadcast-caliber programs.  The show averages more than a dozen on-air remote video callers/contributors per TV half-hour.

VCC puts the host in direct control of the flow of the show and eliminates the requirement for an expensive TV control room, making it possible for video callers to join live programs using any device and a more than a dozen IP video calling services, including Facebook Messenger, Skype, FaceTime and Gruveo (WebRTC). 

“Shows like The Tea are using the Video Call Center to fundamentally change what is meant by audience engagement,” said VCC CEO Larry Thaler in a statement. “This is social TV in the truest sense, where the audience has the chance to be on camera and contributing to the conversation. We’re seeing content creators from across the spectrum of entertainment and news re-evaluate how they connect with their audiences thanks to the success of programs like The Tea.” 

Video Call Center, the live call-in video technology developed by veteran cable analyst Tom Wolzien, has been accepted as a Facebook Live media solution and broadcast partner.

The first Video Call Center produced show for Facebook Live – OMGOSS!P – began airing on the platform in July 2016.   

The VCC enables producers to receive remote video call-ins from smartphones, laptops and other devices, connecting reporters, celebrities and Facebook members in broadcast-quality programs. The VCC provides comprehensive editorial control and in-depth call moderation to ensure that only the most compelling and appropriate callers make it to air. This interaction between the host and callers is accomplished without the need for an expensive control room.

“The combination of Facebook Live and the Video Call Center creates a remarkable opportunity for media companies to quickly and easily create compelling, live, programs for delivery to Facebook’s millions of members,” said Video Call Center CEO Larry Thaler in a statement. “The partnership will help to ensure seamless integration within Facebook Live so producers can focus entirely on creative content, rather than technology, and Facebook Live viewers have one click access to engage with show hosts. This is a major step forward for truly Social TV.”

The integration with Facebook Live works with any video call application, meaning callers can join live from anywhere using any device. VCC has successfully tested more than a dozen IP video calling services, including Facebook Messenger, Skype TM, FaceTime® and Gruveo (WebRTC). New apps and new distribution platforms such as support for Facebook Live are being added all the time.

With the VCC, callers become part of broadcast quality television programs for Facebook Live that combine video calls, video clips, graphics and web content, all under the direct control of a host who can be located anywhere in the world. The exclusive Caller Queue™—the world’s first “Green Room in the Cloud”—allows show producers to welcome video callers into their live caller-based television programs or video events. Scalable to support the audience of live TV programs, producers have complete creative control to bring the right people to air at the precise moment when they would contribute to create the most compelling program.

Former Wall Street analyst Tom Wolzien’s Video Call Center, a technology firm that enables television shows and networks to conduct live video call-ins much like talk radio programs, has named industry veteran Larry Thaler as its new CEO.

Thaler, a former technology vice president at NBC Universal, will be responsible for day-to-day activities at VCC. He will report to VCC founder and executive chairman Wolzien.

“For nearly three years, Larry has been crucial to the development of The Video Call Center, and its creation of a new type of efficient television content and the enabling technology,” Wolzien said in a statement. “Larry has a unique understanding of what we are trying to build – the professional broadcast technology and a new programming genre based on IP video that enables our customers to engage millennial audiences in every show using remotes-by-smartphone.  He has been crucial in perfecting our host-driven approach to live content creation that allows customers efficiently to open up new live content hours without the need for a production control room.  I look forward to continuing this dynamic relationship as Larry takes over line management of our company.”

Thaler most recently headed up his own consulting firm Positive Flux, which included customers like HBO Latin America Group, NBC Sports, Univision, Hearst Digital Media, Canoe Ventures, WAPA-TV and Clear Channel Media.

Thaler had served as an executive at NBC Universal, where he and his tech team were responsible for several business acquisitions, the build-out of Today’s street-level glass-enclosed studio, NBC’s Cable Network Operations Center, MSNBC’s production facilities, and the overhaul of NBC’s 30 Rock headquarters into a state-of-the-art HD production and distribution center.  He also led the establishment of new infrastructure for NBC’s digital media delivery platforms including technical leadership of the 2008 Olympics @Home effort. 

Thaler’s work has been honored with three Emmy awards for technical innovation -- for the 2006 and 2008 Olympic Games as well as a National Technical Emmy for NBC’s implementation of AFD technology.

Wolzien founded Video Call Center after receiving patent for the technology in 2014.  In the past several months the company launched its own over-the-top video service – TalkCenterAmerica.tv –  and introduced expanded capabilities for callers to use different IP video applications.