Philips Showcases ClickRadio On Digital Set-Top At Western Show 2000

Business Wire, Nov 29, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

The Western Show 2000

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2000

ClickRadio's Internet-enhanced, digital radio service provides

CD-quality music via an advanced Philips digital set-top box

Leading digital set-top box innovator Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG) and Internet radio service provider ClickRadio, Inc., demonstrate a set-top-enabled, personalizable music station in Philips booth No. 1139 at Western Show. In the demonstration, ClickRadio's Internet-enhanced, digital radio service will provide CD-quality music to various in-home speakers via an advanced Philips set-top box.

ClickRadio enables listeners to customize the music they hear by clicking Thumbs Up (I'd like to hear this song more often), Thumbs Down (I'd like to hear this song less) or Skip (I'm not in the mood). Listeners pick their music by genre -- Blues, Rock, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Reggae, Trance, Alternative, Country, Latin and many others -- and then personalize the stations through their interactions. Through an exclusive agreement with Lucent Technologies, ClickRadio uses the patented ePAC (Enhanced Perceptual Audio Coding) compression format to deliver secure digital music programming while protecting artists' copyrights.

ClickRadio, a personalizable Internet-enhanced digital radio service, plays customizable audio content, stored on the hard drive of the Philips set-top box directly to USB speakers, creating a high-quality digital music system. The content is refreshed at night in "off-peak" cheap bandwidth hours with new songs determined by the listener's actual music preferences. The Clickradio service provides each listener CD-quality music in more than 40 popular categories via the Philips digital set-top box.

By using a set-top box with a connection to the Internet, ClickRadio's patented ePAC, compression and playback system will be streamed and transmitted through the Philips set-top box to create digital music programming while protecting artists' rights. In exchange for this tailored "radio station," the digital radio service from ClickRadio only broadcasts ten minutes of advertising per hour.

In addition to its demonstration with ClickRadio, Philips will demonstrate several other advanced set-top-enabled technologies at Western Show 2000 -- as the company continues to transform the digital set-top box into a home gateway for broadband, internet services.

"These innovative solutions exemplify Philips' commitment to transforming the digital set-top box into the complete, home-multimedia-entertainment center," says Hank Williams, ClickRadio CEO. "In the very near future, consumers will utilize their entertainment systems as their only source for everything from home banking and shopping, to the most common form of recreation -- listening to music. Philips, one of the industry's leaders, has chosen ClickRadio as their first personal audio solution."

Jos Swillens, President of Philips Digital Networks Set-Top Box Group, adds, "Philips is focused on broadening the appeal of the Internet, and also broadening access to the Internet, by fun, innovative and easy-to-use applications like Click Radio. Internet-delivered radio services have become a highly popular feature of the Internet -- the quality and choice offered by the Click Radio solution will clearly make Internet radio even more appealing."

About ClickRadio

ClickRadio's free, personalizable, advertiser-supported, Internet-enabled digital radio service delivers CD-quality music in more than 40 popular categories, or stations. ClickRadio delivers its unique music programming to listeners for use offline, since all content is stored efficiently on a listener's hard drive and plays locally.

Based in New York and founded in December 1998, ClickRadio has received funding from respected venture capital firms including Sierra Ventures, Bay Star Capital, the KECALP fund of Merrill Lynch, Telesoft Partners and i-Hatch Ventures.

Hank Williams, Chairman and CEO of ClickRadio, developed the company's patent-pending, proprietary technology. Veteran music industry attorney David Benjamin is ClickRadio's co-founder and Vice Chairman/Senior VP, Entertainment. For more information about ClickRadio, visit www.clickradio.com or e-mail comments@clickradio.com.

About Philips

Philips Digital Networks -- a business group of the Philips Consumer Electronics division -- is a world-leading provider of advanced digital system solutions for Service and Network providers in broadcasting and video distribution. Philips Digital Networks offers product and service solutions for customers in both the professional side of the distribution chain, as well as for consumers to use in the home. In the consumer domain, Philips Digital Networks is a leading provider of set-top boxes for digital television and Internet delivery, as well as personal video recording.

A pioneer in the development of Internet-enabling technologies, Philips Digital Networks is playing a key role in the introduction of MPEG-4-based media streaming solutions. The broad professional product portfolio includes a comprehensive range of television cameras, studio and compression equipment, conditional access systems and transmission systems for broadband cable networks to deliver a full array of interactive services. A flexible customer support program and active involvement in the bodies setting tomorrow's entertainment and information delivery standards makes Philips a natural partner for the digital broadcast era. For more information about Philips Set-Top Boxes, visit www.broadcast.philips.com or email stb.info@philips.com.