New Structure, Investment and Leadership Mark Further Growth and Innovation

SEATTLE, April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a move to accelerate the growth of its market leading stock and archival footage business, Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) today announced that Craig Peters has been appointed as vice president of the company's newly created Footage and Multimedia division. As the head of footage and multimedia, Peters will be responsible for growing footage collections, attracting new customers, driving the development of a new web site and advancing technological improvements, along with developing new business models and improving the overall customer experience.

"Delivering the very best content, online experience and customer service to our customers remains our top priority," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "Our market-leading collections, together with those of our many footage partners, are being coupled with the editorial video offerings from WireImage to provide our existing and new customers with all their footage needs. Craig understands how businesses can help unleash creativity and innovation, and his experience in leading teams and implementing strategic partnerships makes him the perfect choice for leading the next phase of growth in our recently enlarged footage business."

Peters joins Getty Images following the recent acquisition of WireImage parent company MediaVast, where he served as senior vice president of new media and strategic development. His responsibilities included general management of the company's worldwide video and mobile businesses as well as identifying, evaluating and structuring key strategic relationships. He will be based in Los Angeles and will report to Nick Evans-Lombe, senior vice president of Imagery and Services.

In 2005, Peters was awarded an Emmy by the National Television Academy for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Enhancement of Original Television Content. Prior to joining MediaVast, Peters led business development for FOX Sports Interactive, led new media strategy and business development for the PGA Tour, and spent over four years at Eastman Kodak Company. Peters has implemented major domestic and international partnerships with leading companies in Internet, mobile, satellite radio and other developing media markets. He received his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and an undergraduate degree in finance from The Ohio State University.

"Through partnerships with leading content companies and development of wholly-owned content, Getty Images offers an incredible breadth of footage to meet customer needs regardless of project type or size. The acquisition of WireImage further expands this offering, creating an unbeatable combination of depth and ease of use," said Peters. "I look forward to continuing to build Getty Images' footage collections, introducing new technologies and products, and working with our customers to efficiently and cost-effectively produce truly world-class projects."

In creating the footage and multimedia division, Getty Images is devoting fresh resources to one of the most dynamic areas of its business. As customers continue the transition to an all-digital workflow, Getty Images has just completed a conversion to a 100% digital ingestion and distribution system, increasing the company's weekly footage intake capability by 400 percent. With dedicated sales, marketing and technology resources, the new division will roll out additional back-end enhancements and customer-facing initiatives in the coming months.

As the shift to digital makes footage and multimedia workflows even faster, Getty Images offers clients all the services they need to deliver on time, under budget and with the proper clearances necessary for their projects. This includes the Rights and Clearance Services team, which determines what properties and personalities have protectable rights and provides customers indemnification for all clearance work and licensing agreements. This team leverages relationships with celebrity publicists, film and television studios, music companies and others to secure footage usage rights for an array of clients including several Fortune 500 companies.

Getty Images is capitalizing on the worldwide opportunity presented by the exponential growth of multimedia content for online and mobile platforms. Leveraging its comprehensive editorial photography to new and existing partners, the company currently offers mobile device applications, content licensing to media partners and device manufacturers, and information service applications to carriers and recently added WireImage's editorial footage services to its range of services.

About Getty Images
Getty Images is the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content and the first place creative professionals turn to discover, purchase and manage imagery. The company's award-winning photographers and imagery help customers create inspiring work which appears every day in the world's most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Headquartered in Seattle, WA and serving customers in more than 100 countries, Getty Images believes in the power of imagery to drive positive change, educate, inform, and entertain. Visit Getty Images at http://www.gettyimages.com/.