Digital Cinema

Mainstream Data built and operates the world’s largest satellite-based movie delivery network to theaters. Employing expertise and technology that Mainstream has perfected over the last twenty-five years by building content distribution platforms for the world’s most prominent financial and news companies, the company now delivers more movies by digital satellite to more screens than anyone else in the world.

Virtually unknown five years ago, digital cinema—the delivery of movies as digital files rather than as reels of film—is sweeping the industry. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2008 (the latest year for which information is available), there were 5,474 digital screens in the United States, roughly 14 percent of all screens, and an increase of more than sixteen times from only three years prior. 2009 continued the growth of digital cinema, and there now remains no doubt that this disruptive technology is one of the most exciting trends reshaping and rejuvenating the industry.

Mainstream has played a critical role in moving digital cinema forward. Initially providing a first-generation, one-way satellite network for the delivery of on-screen advertising and other pre-show content, Mainstream, together with its industry partner, developed, perfected, and rolled out the now-dominant satellite network that delivers movies to thousands of screens every week. This second generation satellite network employs the latest, most reliable, and most functional two-way satellite technology available, and, in addition to being extraordinarily cost effective, eliminates the need for distribution companies to impose on their exhibitors by using theater terrestrial connectivity for system maintenance and telemetry. Simply put, Mainstream’s solution works—and works exceptionally well.

The customized network solution that Mainstream built for digital cinema is typical of the many one-of-a-kind distribution platforms the company has created for its customers. In every case, Mainstream first understands the precise requirements of the customer, collaborates in the creation of the design, focusing on the customer’s needs, and finally builds, operates, and monitors the system to make sure that theory, design, and implementation come together perfectly.

Is it any wonder, then, that the average tenure of Mainstream’s customers is measured not in months or years, but in decades?