Wink Appoints Key Executives to Focus on Strategic Partnerships with Major Broadcasters, Cable Networks and Microsoft - Jeremy Handelman, Stephen Carmassi - Company Operations

Cambridge Telcom Report, August 30, 1999

Wink Communications, Inc. announced the appointment of two key executives to manage strategic partnerships with major broadcasters, cable networks and Microsoft Corporation. Former CBS Vice President, Jeremy Handelman has been named Vice President, Programming Sales and Stephen Carmassi has been appointed to Vice President, Strategic Account Management. Maggie Wilderotter, President and CEO, Wink Communications, Inc., made the joint announcement Monday.

"We are very excited to welcome both Jeremy and Steve to the Wink management team. These two talented executives have a wealth of knowledge and experience that will further enhance the relationships with our strategic partners, who are vital to our business," said Maggie Wilderotter, President and CEO, Wink Communications, Inc.

Wink is the technology company that pioneered Wink Enhanced Broadcasting, America's first, mass-market, end-to-end interactive television system. Wink's system delivers interactive program enhancements for TV programs, advertising and reporting tools that support e-commerce on TV.

Mr. Handelman will be responsible for working closely with all four major broadcast networks and 21 cable programmers that have committed to enhance their programs and advertising with the Wink Enhanced Broadcasting System. He will report to Allan Thygesen, Executive Vice President, Sales and Business Development. Mr. Carmassi will oversee and coordinate the partnership efforts with Microsoft in engineering development, marketing, operations and Wink Response Network Services. Earlier this year, Microsoft Corporation agreed to develop, market and distribute Wink enhanced programming and advertising on Microsoft's television platforms, including WebTV. Mr. Carmassi will report to Tim Travaille, Senior Vice President, Operations and Deployments.

Jeremy Handelman brings more than twenty years of experience in television programming, production, marketing, research and new media to Wink, having served as the Vice President, Program Planning for CBS SPORTS in New York, NY. At CBS, Handelman was responsible for negotiating sports rights and licensing agreements, on-air sponsorships and was the primary liaison between CBS and its major professional sports properties including Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, PGA TOUR, USTA and NASCAR.

Prior to his role in programming, Handelman served as a Director of Sales and Sports Research for the CBS Broadcast Group where he oversaw the analysis of audience data for pricing, marketing network day parts, and ratings estimates for sports acquisitions. Most recently, Handelman served as a consultant to a wide variety of companies and organizations in the sports, technology and entertainment industries. He also co-founded Eureka Media, the developer of the "Handwriting & You" web site. Jeremy Handelman earned his Masters in Business Administration from New York University and holds a Bachelors degree from Brown University.

Stephen Carmassi comes to Wink with an extensive background in management, customer acquisition, retention, marketing, engineering and technical support. Serving as the Director of Regional Sales for Softbank Services Group, Carmassi managed direct sales for Fortune 1000 companies in the high technology, financial and e-tailing marketplace including Web TV, Dell Computer, E*TRADE, Hewett Packard, Apple Computer, Toshiba and Buy.Com. While at Softbank, Carmassi was also instrumental in the sales and business development of e-commerce and fulfillment solutions for emerging internet merchants.

As the former Co-Founder and President of Sierratherm Inc., Carmassi built and developed a $12 million corporation within four years, attracting new accounts with major electronics companies like General Instruments, Motorola, IBM, Delco Electronics and Intel. From 1984 to 1991, he served as the Production Engineering Manager for Watkins Johnson Company and oversaw the design, research, development, manufacturing and engineering organizations for the company's semiconductor, surface mount, hybrid microelectronics and package sealing production equipment. Carmassi earned his Masters in Business Administration and Bachelors Degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University.

Wink Communications, Inc., based in Alameda, California, provides a complete end-to-end system for low-cost electronic commerce on television. Wink Enhanced Broadcasting allows advertisers, merchants, broadcasters and cable networks the ability to create interactive enhancements to traditional television advertisements and programs. With a click of the remote control during an enhanced program or ad, viewers can use Wink to access program-related information, participate in votes and polls, and play along with games and trivia tests.

Wink capability is currently available to viewers in cable markets in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Wink Enhanced Broadcasting has been available in Japan since October 1996 and in the United States since June 1998. A complete list of industry leaders who have adopted the Wink technology and additional information regarding Wink Communications is available at http://www.wink.com .