Australia Goes for OpenTV; FOXTEL and Austar Lead With Interactive Television Services Downunder.

Business Editors, Entertainment Writers

SYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2000

OpenTV (Nasdaq and Amsterdam Stock Exchange: OPTV), the leading worldwide provider of software that enables digital interactive television, announced today at Broadcast Australia 2000 that FOXTEL had confirmed its choice of OpenTV(R) software to develop interactive television capabilities.

OpenTV's alliances with FOXTEL, the largest Australian Pay TV provider, and Austar, the largest Pay TV provider in regional Australia, have made OpenTV the dominant supplier of software for the digital interactive television market in Australia.

FOXTEL has more than 570,000 subscribers via cable and satellite. More than 100,000 of FOXTEL`s subscribers are currently connected to a digital satellite service that is capable of delivering OpenTV applications. FOXTEL expects to install 100,000 OpenTV-enabled set-top boxes a year.

FOXTEL's CEO, Tom Mockridge, said: &uot;OpenTV is leading the interactive television revolution around the world and our alliance reinforces FOXTEL's stature as a leader in digital television and demonstrates our commitment to providing world-class services for our customers. FOXTEL is assessing what OpenTV applications consumers are most interested in. We will inform our subscribers as soon as we have decided what services we will be rolling out and when.&uot;

OpenTV has announced its alliance with Austar Australia's second largest pay television provider with more than 370,000 connected homes in a service area of 2.1 million homes. AUSTAR plans to launch its initial ITV service with an interactive program guide and interactive weather channel in March 2000 to 150,000 digital satellite subscribers. AUSTAR plans to deploy 10,000 homes per month thereafter to ultimately service all AUSTAR subscribers with OpenTV interactive software solutions.

&uot;Australians are early adopters of new technology consumer products, like VCRs, DVD players and cellular phones, which makes them the most aggressive interactive TV market in the Asia Pacific region. We are very excited to have so successfully penetrated this key market,&uot; said Jan Steenkamp, president and chief executive officer, OpenTV. &uot;Working with operators such as FOXTEL and Austar further consolidates our worldwide presence, leadership and vision. Ultimately, these alliances will enable FOXTEL, Austar and OpenTV to introduce Australians to a new kind of television experience we are confident they're going to enjoy.&uot;

About OpenTV

OpenTV is the leading worldwide provider of software that enables digital interactive television. OpenTV provides a complete end-to-end solution for the development and delivery of interactive services via digital satellite, cable, and terrestrial broadcast. OpenTV set-top box software has been shipped with, or installed in, more than 4.5 million digital set-top boxes worldwide. To date, OpenTV software solutions have been selected by 25 television network operators worldwide, including British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) in the United Kingdom and TPS in France. EchoStar's DISH Network(TM) is scheduled to launch interactive services utilizing OpenTV software in the U.S. in early 2000.

The OpenTV set-top box software is licensed to more than 20 digital set-top box manufacturers, and OpenTV's authoring tools are licensed to more than 100 independent developers and content and service providers. OpenTV is a member of the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) project, CableLabs OpenCable initiative, ATSC DASE, and JavaTV. OpenTV is a licensee of Personal Java(TM) from Sun Microsystems.

OpenTV is now supported by investments from eight leading Internet and broadcast companies including America Online (NYSE: AOL), General Instrument (NYSE: GIC), Liberty Digital (Nasdaq: LDIG), News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), Shaw Communications (NYSE: SJR) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), in addition to Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) and MIH Limited (Nasdaq: MIHL).

Worldwide headquarters for OpenTV is located in Mountain View, Calif., with European operations in Paris, France, and London, England; and offices in Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Beijing, China; and Sydney, Australia. Information on OpenTV is available at www.OpenTV.com.

About FOXTEL

FOXTEL is Australia's leading multi-channel pay television operator bringing Australian viewers the best in movies, news, sport and general entertainment via cable and satellite. FOXTEL is jointly owned by Telstra Corporation Limited (50% equity), Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company; The News Corporation Limited (25% equity), the global entertainment and media group; and Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (25% equity) which owns, operates and manages media, entertainment and communications businesses.

About Austar United Communications

Through its three operating subsidiaries, Austar United (Australian Stock Exchange &uot;AUN&uot;) is one of the largest and fastest growing broadband communications companies serving the Australian and New Zealand markets. AUSTAR Entertainment is the second largest pay TV operator in Australia, and the largest providing digital DTH services, with over 370,000 subscribers. XYZ Entertainment is a significant program provider in the Australian market and owns and/or distributes Nickelodeon, Discovery, Channel (V), Arena and The Lifestyle Channel to over 900,000 subscribers. And Saturn Communications operates the first and largest broadband telecommunications company in New Zealand, offering a full mix of cable television, telephony and Internet services. Austar is one of the first companies in Australasia to offer broadband internet access and will be the first to launch interactive television. Austar United is 75% owned by UnitedGlobalCom.

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to OpenTV that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause OpenTV's actual results to differ materially from those contemplated herein, including but not limited to the timely identification, timely development and pricing of OpenTV products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely deployment of OpenTV enabled digital set-top boxes by FOXTEL and AUSTAR, acceptance by FOXTEL and AUSTAR customers of OpenTV products, and other risk factors detailed in the Registration Statement on Form F-1 and other documents from time to time filed by OpenTV Corp. with the Securities and Exchange Commission. OpenTV undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

OpenTV and the OpenTV logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of OpenTV, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.