Skift Take
On Tuesday, Digitell announced that it was acquired by BroadcastMed. The deal was signed in December and backed by investment firm 424 Capital. BroadcastMed has not disclosed any specific financial details about the deal, which brings one of event technology’s legacy players under the umbrella of a well-established medical content firm.
The move is part of a strong trend towards mergers and acquisitions that are reshaping the structure of the event tech industry, but it may also herald another development to watch out for. There may be more companies that have not historically been involved in event planning turning to event tech to acquire digital tools and strategies to bolster their marketing platform and content production capabilities.
Given that BroadcastMed has not historically been focused on events, why would one firm acquire another with what seems like such a significant overlap in capacities? BroadcastMed CEO and co-founder Ross Joel gives us some insight:
“The Digitell platform provides a really, really wonderful dashboard to do insight on the client side and what’s happening with their program. Our platform has a depth of analysis and intelligence on the user and their behavioral patterns based on the content consumed. So we feel like we can really put together a 360-degree profile for our customers in ways we could not do separately.”
Ross Joel, CEO and co-founder, BroadcastMed
BroadcastMed intends to focus its growth strategies in the healthcare field but will continue to serve the entirety of Digitell’s pre-existing client base. “We do not intend to do anything to minimize or jeopardize the investment that Digitell historically had made in its non-healthcare clients,” said Joel. He assured us that Digitell clients can expect to see the same quality of service ongoing. Moreover, he suggested that BroadcastMed would welcome contract renewals from these clients.
Digitell will not be dissolved as much as assimilated over time into BroadcastMed. Digitell’s leadership is already taking on new roles through the transition and beyond.
As a legacy player in event management technology and event production support with 14 years under its belt, Digitell boasts a significant client base. Its current flagship product, OPUS DX, is a virtual and hybrid event platform focusing on educational content within the event industry. Digitell offers clients using OPUS DX a white label, co-managed approach, as well as white-glove access to a full-service media production team to create high-quality content and secure accreditation for courses.
Digtell’s long-standing position in the industry, combined with its emphasis on educational conferences, may account for BroadcastMed’s decisions to acquire the event tech company. In addition, while BroadcastMed currently provides some live streaming services, the content firm wants to expand its offerings to healthcare professionals.
BroadcastMed is also a long-established educational content provider. It’s been around since 1994, and was the first to broadcast a surgery live to an audience of HCPs in 2000. Its client base includes 7 of the top 10 medical device companies in the US and many major research healthcare institutions.
One of BroadcastMed’s core assets is its library of educational content, accessed by its verified membership of 1.25 million HCPs. The company also boasts an Emmy-winning team of video experts and worldwide onsite and virtual assistance in video production.
Another core asset of BroadcastMed is its tracking technology that directs healthcare products towards HCPs, much like Instagram recommends content to its users. Additionally, with their combined client bases, BroadcastMed will now expect to reach 1.7 million US allied healthcare professionals.
BroadcastMed may be looking to harness its user-profile data infrastructure to develop innovative networking features. However, regardless of the developments in this area, fusing evergreen on-demand content, user profile data, and real-time hybrid events into a cohesive engagement strategy offers excellent potential for engaging product-specific audiences.
