Library Video Company (LVC), a distributor of educational VHS and DVD programs to U.S. schools, has announced an agreement with SAFARI Technologies, a provider of video networking solutions for education, to purchase SAFARI's Video Networking Division. The move gives LVC another method for distributing its digital content to educators--from a central mass server to local school servers, and from there to desktop computers--while also positioning the company to compete with the acknowledged leader in streaming digital video content to schools, Discovery Education.

The new business will be called SAFARI Video Networks. A final deal is expected to be reached by the end of February.

SAFARI's flagship product, weDireq, will be open to all video providers in the industry, LVC said. weDireq includes hardware and software that allows educators to access multimedia programs digitally, on demand, across a wide-area network (WAN).

The production branch of LVC, Schlessinger Media, will provide its own content of more than 1,000 educational videos through the SAFARI network. LVC says this content is growing by approximately 100 new titles every year. In addition, LVC says it has relationships with more than 700 producers of educational materials--names like Disney, PBS, and A&E Television Networks. The company reportedly stocks more than 18,000 titles covering all subjects for all grade levels.

LVC provides hard-copy video to more than 70,000 schools, according to the company. Though SAFARI has distribution deals with only 3,500 schools currently, Andrew Schlessinger, president and chief executive officer of LVC and Schlessinger Media, said the new business entity will expand dramatically the number of schools that now use the SAFARI video networking system.

LVC hopes its acquisition of SAFARI's Video Networking Division will lead to deals with its partner content providers to distribute their materials through the weDireq distribution service, too.

"We are joining forces with SAFARI to provide a service to schools that will allow them to choose the [digital video] content they want," Schlessinger said. He said his organization will be able to provide digital education content from dozens of video suppliers immediately and hundreds more in the future.

"Our suppliers are very excited" about the deal, Schlessinger said. "We wouldn't have entered into this relationship [with SAFARI] if we didn't know in advance that [these suppliers] were on board."

Schlessinger would not identify specific video suppliers who planned to take advantage of the new distribution system. But Mike Kroening, a spokesman for Clearvue & SVE video, a provider of music, art, and children's literature videos that distributes its content through LVC, said his company is "pleased to be able to offer our content through SAFARI, because it is an excellent local delivery option that allows customers to choose the best content for them."