Hughes Electronics, Nippon Television Explore Joint Multimedia and Telecommunications Venture - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Nov 22, 1999

Hughes Electronics Corp. and Nippon Television Corp. Thursday announced an agreement to form a planning company to evaluate business opportunities in the fields of multimedia and telecommunications.

The formation of the planning company is a prelude to a potential joint venture focusing on strategic technologies and industries of interest to both companies.

The joint planning company will commence operations immediately. It will have headquarters in Tokyo, will be capitalized on a 50-50 basis, and will include specialists from each company to conduct the preliminary studies.

The initiative takes place against a backdrop of government deregulation and a global shift toward use of digital technologies, and is intended to explore possibilities for the two companies to work together by capitalizing on their respective strengths.

Specifically, the companies will look at potential opportunities that combine Hughes' expertise in satellite-based services and technologies and NTV's strength in broadcast programming and content.

NTV is Japan's leading and oldest commercial broadcaster with a network of 29 affiliate stations in Japan, along with numerous global affiliations, producing and broadcasting many of Japan's most popular programs. NTV holds exclusive rights from its major shareholder Yomiuri Shimbum to broadcast home games of the popular Yomiuri Giants baseball team.

Hughes Electronics is the world's premier provider of digital information entertainment, and satellite and wireless systems and services. It is the world's leading satellite manufacturer and it has a major share (81 percent) in PanAmSat, the world's largest operator of commercial satellites.

Hughes is also the world's largest digital satellite broadcaster, operating DIRECTV in the United States, Latin America and Japan, with a combined total of 8.8 million subscribers.