History of RealNetworks
1983: Rob Glaser rises through Microsoft's ranks to oversee Microsoft Word and launch the company's multimedia business.
February 1994: Glaser founds Progressive Networks to provide a distribution channel for political content. It quickly evolves into a distribution company for audio broadcasts online.
April 1995: Progressive Networks brings voice to the Internet with RealPlayer, the first software to play audio online.
August 1995: Broadcasts first live baseball game via the Internet: Seattle Mariners versus the New York Yankees.
February 1997: Introduces RealVideo as part of its RealPlayer 4.0. The software allows Internet users to play video online.
July 1997: Announces agreement with Microsoft to share some technology and work together to determine industry standards; Microsoft invests $30 million in RealNetworks.
September 1997: Changes name to RealNetworks and files with the Securities and Exchange Commission to become a publicly traded company.
November 1997: RealNetworks holds an initial public offering. Its shares trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol RNWK.
July 1998: Glaser testifies before the U.S. Senate regarding Microsoft's competitive practices
November 1998: Microsoft announces it will sell its minority stake in RealNetworks, saying the two companies' competing visions for streaming media mean the investment "no longer makes sense."
August 2000: Launches RealPlayer GoldPass, the first subscription service to charge users for access to specialized audio and video content.
January 2001: Partners with National Basketball Association to offer live Internet broadcasts of NBA.com TV and basketball-game audio feed through GoldPass, marking its first substantial content offering.
April 2001: Forms a partnership with three of the world's largest record labels to create MusicNet, a subscription service that allows consumers to purchase copyright-protected music online.
July 2001: Reduces its staff by 15 percent. December 2001: Releases the beta version of RealOne Player, the successor to GoldPass, which incorporates features of its RealPlayer and RealJukebox products.
January 2002: RealOne subscription service surpasses 500,000 paying customers.
July 2002: Introduces the new platform Helix, which delivers audio and video files in any format, including Microsoft's Windows Media. RealNetworks said it accomplished the feat through observation and extensive testing, based on its own knowledge of digital-media software. It also opened some of its source code to partners and developers for a fee.
August 2002: Reduces staff by 11 percent, leaving approximately 700 employees.
April 2003: Announces plan to buy San Francisco-based Listen.com for $17.3 million in cash and 4.1 million shares of common stock. The company underpins its new service RealOne Rhapsody, a music subscription service.
June 2003: The company, with a lagging stock price, announces plans to raise $100 million through a convertible bond offering and to use the money for acquisitions.
October 2003: Company reports 1.5 million paying subscribers, including RealOne SuperPass and other a la carte services that give users access to premium online video, such as Major League Baseball games and ABC News.