Lagardere Active iTV and OpenTV To Provide Interactive TV Services to DIRECTV Latin America

Business Wire, Oct 22, 2001

Business Editors & Entertainment/Television Writers

PARIS & FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2001

DIRECTV Latin America to use interactive TV services based on consumer magazines to target subscribers and build new revenue streams

OpenTV (NASDAQ and Euronext Amsterdam: OPTV) and Lagardere Active iTV are collaborating to provide DIRECTV Latin America with eight turnkey interactive television information services on the themes of beauty and fashion, cookery, wine and horoscopes (four in Spanish and four in Portuguese).

It is expected that the services will be delivered to more than 800,000 DIRECTV Latin America subscribers between the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002 and will be delivered under the sponsorship of ELLE, one of Lagardere's most successful editorial products.

The announcement stems from the partnership between OpenTV, the world's leading interactive TV company, and Lagardere Active iTV, a fully owned subsidiary of the international media giant, to create, develop and market interactive television (iTV) services to network operators.

"By providing interactive access to content from some of the world's best known consumer and lifestyle magazines we are making DIRECTV even more attractive to both existing and target customers. We intend to build a rich set of iTV applications to make our services even more compelling while opening up new revenue opportunities through advertising," said Kevin N. McGrath, Chairman of DIRECTV Latin America.

Lagardere Active iTV will handle the design, editing and content update of each themed iTV service, with technical development and operation to be handled by Static 2358, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OpenTV.

"Interactive TV offers us a major opportunity to deliver our huge base of existing content in a new format, reaching new audiences. By partnering with OpenTV we believe we can manage and edit content in much the same way as we would approach our magazines, books and other digital media," said Pierre Boucaud, President & CEO of Lagardere Active iTV.

The services will use OpenTV head-end products including OpenTV Publisher, OpenTV's engine for building and delivering a broad range of iTV applications. OpenTV Publisher enables applications to be built around customised templates, which then provide the basis for automatically formatting and constantly updating internet based information for delivery to an interactive TV audience.

James Ackerman, CEO OpenTV, said, "Lagardere Active's position as a global publishing powerhouse means that we can offer network operators a complete iTV package, handling every aspect of service delivery from custom design to management and delivery. This is a great opportunity for us to help DIRECTV continue use interactive TV to achieve its business objectives."

About Lagardere Active iTV

This agreement bears witness to the fact that Lagardere Active iTV (LAiTV), the leading distributor of interactive services for digital television, is able to develop on the international front in keeping with its objectives.

This organisation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lagardere Active (PARIS:MMB), was launched in November 2000, with the creation of five interactive services broadcast on CanalSatellite: Auto-Moto, ELLE Astrologie, ELLE Cuisine, Parents and Premiere. Since October 2000, it has also been the main shareholder in, and the distributor of, Journal de Chez Vous, an interactive local and regional news service. In March 2001, it launched MCity, CanalSatellite's interactive music portal.

The creation in June 2001 of The Broadway Factory, a joint company, 51% owned by Lagardere Active and 49% by Accenture, has given Lagardere Active involvement in the consulting, development and operation of interactive Digital TV services.

About DIRECTV Latin America

DIRECTV Latin America currently has more than 1.4 million customers in Latin America and the Caribbean, reaching a total of 28 markets. DIRECTV Latin America, LLC is a multinational company owned by Hughes Electronics Corporation, Darlene Investments, LLC, an affiliate of the Cisneros Group of Companies, and Grupo Clarin. DIRECTV Latin America has offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Fort Lauderdale, USA; Mexico City, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil. For more information on DIRECTV Latin America please visit, www.directvla.com.

About OpenTV

OpenTV is the world's leading interactive television company. It provides a broad range of interactive TV solutions including operating middleware, content applications, content creation tools, professional support services and strategic consulting. OpenTV's software operates on all digital platforms, from thin to thick set top boxes including PVR systems and supports a number of standards including HTML, DOCSIS, MHP and Java.

OpenTV's middleware is deployed in more than 18.2 million digital set-top boxes worldwide and has been selected by 48 digital cable, satellite and terrestrial communications networks in 50 countries. 36 digital set-top box manufacturers have licensed OpenTV's software, and more than 1,300 content developers have joined its Partner Program. Customers include BSkyB in the United Kingdom (NYSE: BSY); TPS and Noos in France (Paris: LYOE.PA); NTL Cable in Switzerland and France (NYSE: NLI; NASDAQ Europe: NTLI); Via Digital in Spain (NYSE: TEF); DIRECTV(TM) Latin America LLC (NYSE: GMH); Shanghai Cable in China; EchoStar's DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) and USA Media in the U.S.