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AIMS and MNA agree merger

The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced that it is merging with the Media Networking Alliance (MNA) to form a single trade association for promoting IP in the media and entertainment industry.

Full members of both organisations voted to approve the merger on 13 December. The new joint organisation will retain the AIMS name and will be governed by the existing AIMS bylaws.

In the past two years, AIMS and MNA have enjoyed a strong relationship, formally executing a liaison agreement and co-operating to promote AES67 technology, which is common to both organisations’ roadmaps.

The merger between the two organisations will create support for common standards that benefit multiple market segments. For example, products designed for the broadcast segment are in many ways similar to those for professional audio, but often the standards for those markets segments are developed without much co-ordination. This merger allows AIMS and MNA members to work on adopting common methodologies for transport, registration and discovery, connection management, and other areas of interoperability even as they focus on the different requirements of their respective market segments.

“The merging of the Media Networking Alliance and AIMS is great news for our industry,” said Rich Zwiebel, chairman of the Media Networking Alliance. “The MNA was formed by people and companies who wanted to support interoperability between various IP-based audio networks via the use of AES67. Likewise, AIMS members support standards-based IP audio and video interoperability. Now, with the merging of the two organisations, we have a larger voice and a single place for technical and marketing discussions amongst a larger group of industry leaders. As AIMS, we will be able to provide a much more compelling message to the industry, assuring true industry-wide audio/video IP interoperability across the broadcast, installed systems, and live sound markets. We are excited to be a part of this major step forward in standards-based IP interoperability.”

“As AIMS approaches its two-year anniversary, we have an exciting opportunity to increase our influence and strengthen our ability to foster the adoption of a common set of protocols for interoperability over IP,” said Michael Cronk, AIMS board chair. “After careful deliberation, both the AIMS and MNA boards reached the conclusion that merging our organisations was the natural thing to do, and our members agreed. By combining membership, the bigger, stronger AIMS can reach a greater section of the media and entertainment market. We’re excited about the potential of this merger to fulfil our mission more quickly.”

www.aimsalliance.org