DTV Plus and Microspace Communications Broadcast IP over Satellite and HDTV at mCast 2000

Business Wire, Feb 7, 2000

Business Editor/High Tech Writers

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2000

DTV Plus, provider of datacasting via digital television and satellite-based technologies; and Microspace Communications Corporation, provider of satellite-based video and high-speed data networks for businesses, will be demonstrating a breakthrough in datacasting technology at the Multicast Splash project during the mCast 2000 event at the San Francisco Airport Marriott, February 7-9, 2000.

In a historical first, an IP Multicast stream containing both video and web sites will be sent over a combination of satellite and digital television signals. DTV Plus is one of the first vendors to showcase its ability to multicast IP content, using satellite and DTV signals via Microspace and the Center for Datacasting Innovation (CDI), which was formed by Intel and KICU-TV in Silicon Valley, CA.

&uot;We are excited about being the first company to combine satellite and digital television datacasting to deliver web files and streaming video via IP multicast,&uot; said Sam Matheny, Vice President and General Manager of DTV Plus. &uot;This combination provides content producers with broadband reach not possible until now.&uot;

IP Multicast is an open, IETF standard that enables efficient bandwidth usage for applications that distribute data to multiple recipients. Unlike traditional bandwidth-hungry &uot;unicast,&uot; which creates a separate, point-to-point data stream between the sender and each receiver, multicast sends a single stream of data that can be accessed by any recipient desiring the information.

According to Joe Amor, Vice President and General Manager of Microspace, &uot;IP Multicasting over satellites is ideal for broadcasting to large geographic distribution. IP Multicasting over High Definition Television is an exciting broadcasting medium for more local distribution. We are delighted to be showing how these two distribution mediums complement each other.&uot;

SkyStream, also a participant in the CDI, will contribute two technologies including its media routers and its Jetstream Data Broadcast System. A SkyStream media router, networking hardware that encapsulates Internet content for delivery over a broadcast stream, will be used in this demonstration to broadcast Web pages to a personal computer. SkyStream's Jetstream Data Broadcast System, an easy-to-use software application to schedule and aggregate Internet content will be used to manage the delivery of these Web sites.

&uot;Broadcasters have an opportunity to offer new innovative services to home viewers over DTV channels and satellite-based networks,&uot; said Jim Olson, president and CEO of SkyStream Networks. &uot;We're very supportive of any effort to demonstrate that these services are a reality today and can be implemented by a broadcaster immediately.&uot;

About DTV Plus and Microspace

DTV Plus is devoted to developing and deploying a nation-wide datacasting network using satellite and digital television technologies to deliver on its vision.

Microspace provides a reliable and economical point-to-multipoint satellite broadcasting solution for delivery of digital video and high-speed data. The Microspace network is the largest of its type in the world and totals over 300,000 remote sites, internationally. DTV Plus and Microspace were founded by Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc., a diversified communications company which owns and/or operates WRAL-TV, WRAL-Digital, WRAZ-TV, WRAL-FM, the North Carolina News Network, Capitol AgriBusiness, Capitol Networks in Raleigh, NC; WJZY-TV and WFVT-TV in Charlotte, NC; WILM-TV in Wilmington, NC; the Durham (NC) Bulls Baseball Club and the Myrtle Beach (SC) Pelicans Baseball Club. Capitol Broadcasting Company also founded Local TV on Satellite in Raleigh, NC.

About SkyStream

Founded in 1996, SkyStream Networks provides networking equipment that enables Web content to be delivered over broadcast networks. SkyStream products - called media routers - integrate broadcast television and Web content and deliver it to millions of people at the same time over a single broadcast network. SkyStream does this by maximizing the existing bandwidth potential of customers' broadcast spectrum - of which an estimated 2-10 percent is untapped. The company's customers are broadcasters, service providers and satellite and cable companies, including leading companies such as CableCom, EchoStar Communications Corporation, Loral CyberStar and Telefonica. SkyStream partners include BroadLogic, General Instrument, Harris Corporation, International Datacasting, Irdeto Access, Nagra, Philips and Scientific-Atlanta. SkyStream sells its products through its direct sales force and through distribution partners worldwide. SkyStream corporate headquarters are in Mountain View, California with regional offices in Georgia, Atlanta; Ontario, Canada; and London, England.