Avid Buys Remaining 50 Percent of Ownership in iNews.

Business/Technology Editors

TEWKSBURY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2001

Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced that it acquired the remaining 50 percent ownership stake in iNews, LLC. Avid and the Grass Valley Group each had held a 50% stake in iNews. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

iNews is the world's leading provider of broadcast news software solutions for television, radio, and the web. The Madison, Wisconsin-based company - formed in 1998 from the combination of Avid's AvidNews(R) and Tektronix' NewStar news production systems - now becomes part of the Avid Media Solutions division (AMS). The AMS division already serves the broadcasting marketplace, with such products as the NewsCutter(R) nonlinear editor, AirSPACE(TM) video server and Avid Unity(TM) for News media network. iNews will retain its headquarters in Madison.

"Customers have told us they want a single vendor who stands behind their complete broadcast solution," said David Krall, Avid president and CEO. "By adding iNews into the Avid family of products, we move toward our goal of creating more complete broadcast production solutions for our customers - in this case, the producers of news programming."

iNews products include the iNews Newsroom Computer System (NRCS) for news journalist story creation and production; Media Browse 2000, which simplifies news production by giving journalists enhanced functionality and features such as the ability to initiate video recording on high- and low-resolution servers, management of feed schedules, and quick creation of video shot lists; Broadcast Control System (BCS), which enables broadcasters to control multiple broadcast devices including video servers; NewStar newsroom production system; and EditStar, the high-resolution non-linear editing system that gives journalists the ability to write and edit a news story simultaneously.

"Over the past year we have delivered Media Browse 2000, and new versions of all of our products," said Matt Danilowicz, former president and CEO of iNews. "We are now in a position to enhance our connectivity with NewsCutter and Avid Unity for News, while also improving the sales integration and installation process for all of our customers irrespective of their legacy systems."

The Grass Valley Group will continue to sell both the EditStar and Media Browse products under a worldwide, non-exclusive distribution agreement with Avid. The two companies have also agreed to cooperate to maintain interoperability between the iNews EditStar and Media Browse products and the following Grass Valley Group Profile servers: PDR 200, PDR 400, PVS 1000 and a future version of the Profile XP Media Platform, which will be targeted at production.

About iNews

iNews (formerly known as Avstar Systems, LLC), is the primary portal for the majority of the world's TV and radio journalists. Dedicated to supporting the international community of purveyors of rich media news content - TV, radio and Internet journalists - through technological innovation, iNews has focused on the continued independence of news media by developing tools that are content-independent. iNews products are installed in the world's leading broadcast and Internet facilities serving more than 80,000 journalists and webcasters. For more information, see the iNews Web site at http://www.iNewsroom.com or call [phone].

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. delivers the solutions that Make, Manage and Move Media(TM). As the recognized digital standard for professionals who Make the world's media -- from video, audio and film to animation, special effects and streaming media -- Avid's products are used to make more television and news shows, commercials, music videos and CDs, corporate/industrial productions and major motion pictures combined than any other nonlinear editing manufacturer in the world. Now, building on its Oscar(R) and Emmy(R) award-winning heritage in creating content, Avid is extending its reach by redefining how digital media is shared, stored and distributed. To Manage today's increasingly rich collection of dynamic media, Avid provides powerful servers, networks and media tools to help customers search files, share media and collaborate on new productions, both locally and globally. Avid's solutions also empower users to easily Move media, whether on air, over cable or satellite or through the Internet. Like no other media company today, Avid's end-to-end solutions span the continuum of media creation, management and distribution. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Tewksbury, MA. More information about the company is available at www.avid.com.

(c)2001 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product specifications are subject to change without notice. Avid, AvidNews and NewsCutter are registered trademarks and Avid Unity, AirSPACE, and Make, Manage and Move Media are trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. Oscar is a registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.