On Demand TV; ESPN's Zucker Named President and CEO of DIVA; Managing Director of ESPN International To Head Leader in Video-On-Demand

Business Wire, Jan 26, 1999

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 26, 1999--DIVA(tm) Systems Corporation announced today the hiring of David F. Zucker to the newly created position of President and CEO of DIVA. Prior to his appointment, Zucker was Managing Director of ESPN International and Executive Vice President of ESPN. For the past 11 years, Zucker has served as an executive of The Walt Disney Company/ABC, Inc., the last eight of which were with ESPN. Zucker will join DIVA on February 22, 1999.

Paul M. Cook, who has served as Chairman and CEO of DIVA since founding the company in June 1995, will hand over CEO responsibility to Zucker and continue in his role as Chairman of the Board of DIVA.

Alan Bushell, who together with Cook founded DIVA and has served as its President and COO, resigned these offices but continues as a Board member and will report to the new CEO devoting his attention to new strategic initiatives, relationships with the financial community, and management development.

"David Zucker brings an outstanding business background to the company, and his worldwide experience in building businesses around compelling programming is sure to enhance DIVA's current accomplishments," said Cook. "DIVA is already a company combining many functional disciplines and I am proud of the team of professionals that we've been able to assemble. The addition of Mr. Zucker to lead this team is a significant milestone in DIVA's evolution as the market leader in providing economically viable, true video-on-demand. Both Alan Bushell and I look forward to working closely with Mr. Zucker in continuing to build DIVA."

"I am very excited to be joining DIVA, a company uniquely positioned for growth in this dynamic industry," said Zucker. "I look forward to working with the exceptional team of individuals that will move this company forward."

During Zucker's tenure as Managing Director, ESPN International grew from five networks in 1994 to 21 in 1999, transmitting in 20 languages to more than 157 million viewers in 180 countries. He negotiated the merger which created ESPN STAR Sports in Asia, and served as its Chairman from 1996-1999. While overseeing ESPN's domestic programming, Zucker championed and developed the X Games and directed the launch of ESPN 2.

His experience at The Walt Disney Company/ABC, Inc. also includes having served as Vice President of Programming at ESPN; Director of Programming at Eurosport in London; a stint in programming at ABC Entertainment; and executive publisher of Travel Agent Magazine, a top 20 U.S. trade publication. Previously, he spent two years with Goldman, Sachs & Co. He holds a degree in economics from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

DIVA, a full-service organization, provides cable operators with seamless integration of a complete video-on-demand solution including headend hardware and software, billing interface, digital broadcast interoperability, bandwidth efficiency, marketing, cable system training, a wide-range of compelling programming, 24-hour/7 day support, and a user-friendly on-screen navigator. DIVA commercially launched its digital video-on-demand entertainment network over cable television systems in the Fall of 1997 and is now deployed in five U.S. cable systems. DIVA's on demand TV gives customers instant access to hundreds of the latest Hollywood movies, classic "library" titles, and an outstanding package of children's and family programming at any time. Additionally, the service offers fast-forward, pause, and rewind functionality.

DIVA has entered into licensing arrangements with major movie studios and other programmers covering more than 3,000 titles. Among the studios and cable networks that license movies and other content to DIVA are Warner Bros., Disney, Sony, Tri-Star, Universal Pictures, Dreamworks, Twentieth Century Fox, ESPN, Bravo, Playboy TV and HBO. For its initial deployments, DIVA receives new movie releases in the same window as DBS and pay-per-view services.

DIVA Systems Corporation (www.divatv.com) is a privately held company founded in June 1995 and is headquartered in the heart of California's "Silicon Valley" on the campus of SRI International (formerly the Stanford Research Institute), in Menlo Park.

Certain statements of DIVA contained in this release, including those relating to DIVA's leadership position going forward and access to video content over the long term, are forward looking statements and therefore are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ and such differences may be material. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, including that they are dependent on access to additional sources of capital, entry into long term agreements with cable operators, expansion of existing cable operator agreements based on the results of DIVA's initial deployments, the existence of upgraded cable plant, the continued development of DIVA's technical platform and services, continued access to programming content, the rate and extent of consumer acceptance, and the impact of competitive products and services.