BBC Technology Co-Sponsors Interoperability Centre at IBC 2003.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

IBC 2003

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2003

BBC Technology Demonstrates Colledia(TM) for Production to Showcase

Commitment to Industry Interoperability Standards, on Stand 3.101

BBC Technology, provider of products and services to global media-driven organisations, today announced its co-sponsorship of the "Interoperability Centre" at the International Broadcasters Convention (IBC) 2003 (the RAI, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 12-16, 2003). The Pro-MPEG Forum, the AAF Association and TV-Anytime are co-sponsoring the Interoperability Centre (Stand 3.101). Within the Centre, BBC Technology (Stand 9.131) will demonstrate Colledia(TM) for Production and the prototype AAF Plug-in for Windows Media Player 9 Series. BBC Technology's demonstration of Colledia(TM) for Production will show support of the Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) on an enterprise scale and reinforces the company's commitment to interoperability, industry standards and open source initiatives.

"Our customers understand the value of metadata that can be accessed and exchanged between the disparate components in a production environment," said Peter Lickiss, chief technical officer for BBC Technology. "With AAF support integrated into the Colledia product suite and the Windows Media Player 9 Series, we help broadcasters join up existing and legacy systems -- important for our customers in today's multi-vendor, multi-platform world."

"Using the Windows Media 9 Series platform, broadcasters are able to create and deploy more powerful and cost effective tools, solutions and services," said Amir Majidimehr, General Manager, Windows Digital Media Division, Microsoft Corp. "BBC Technology's AAF plug-in for Windows Media Player 9 Series will enable any PC desktop user to have access to AAF content."

One example of how Colledia(TM) for Production enables broadcasters to reduce production costs is by enabling metadata to be easily accessed via the standard desktop PC. Through Colledia(TM) for Production, metadata can be tracked to determine functionality such as content availability, history, usage guidelines and associated rights, speeding up collaboration efforts and workflow processes.

In addition to BBC Technology's Colledia(TM) demonstration, the Interoperability Centre will feature the following:

-- The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF)

-- The Material Exchange Format (MXF)

-- AAF Toolkit Extensions for MXF

-- Networking, workstations and servers for media production

-- Links to legacy systems including SDI, SDTI, etc.

-- Wide area networking (WAN) and video over IP (VoIP)

-- File-based workflows for media production

-- TV-Anytime, the new ETSI standard for delivering content to

home PDRs

About BBC Technology

Founded in March 2001, BBC Technology provides products and services for both the BBC and other global media-driven organisations. Drawing on eight decades of pioneering technical expertise and innovation for the BBC, BBC Technology helps organisations create, manage and distribute content more effectively across multiple platforms. BBC Technology's products and services include: the award-winning Colledia product portfolio, Colledia Control, media communications, internet solutions, and consulting services. Customers include: BBC News, BSkyB, DIRECTV, Inc., ESPN, Inc., Hutchison 3G, SABC and Scottish Enterprise.

BBC Technology is part of BBC Ventures Group, the BBC's new business to business commercial division comprising four operating businesses: BBC Technology, BBC Broadcast, BBC Resources and BBC Vecta. The group provides a full range of managed media services and facilities to the BBC and other media companies both in the UK and internationally. It has been tasked with maximising commercial return back to the BBC for the benefit of programme making and other BBC services.

BBC Technology at IBC 2003

BBC Technology will be presenting Colledia(TM) for Production at IBC, alongside its product and services portfolio, which includes:

-- Colledia(TM) Workflow, which enables broadcasters and

producers to integrate the entire production process,

seamlessly and efficiently, on a single digital platform.

Colledia Workflow places the benefits of a completely

digitised system into the hands of everyone involved in the

production cycle. Encompassing all functions of the media

lifecycle, from content creation through to multi-platform

distribution, Colledia Workflow has been developed for News,

Sports and Production.

-- Colledia(TM) Control -- provides control and monitoring for

broadcast equipment and infrastructure.

-- Media Communications -- global, broadcast quality,

point-to-point and point-to-multipoint satellite and fibre

solutions for content contribution and distribution. This

includes the London Media Gateway -- unlimited,

cost-effective, self-serve connectivity to the BBC and other

media organisations.

-- Internet Solutions -- combining BBC Technology's skills in

content distribution, digital rights management and Internet

hosting to enable content creators to promote and sell content

to acquisition managers worldwide.

-- Consulting -- solving the complex business issues faced by

companies with significant media assets when strategy impacts

operations and the demands of people, process and technology

need to be balanced within an appropriate budget.

Visit BBC Technology at Stand 9.131, Hall 9