Bell Atlantic signs strategic and affiliation agreements with StarSight Telecast.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--StarSight Telecast Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS:SGHT), developers of the first commercially available interactive program guide for television, announced Wednesday strategic and affiliation agreements with Bell Atlantic Video Services Company (BVS).

BVS intends to distribute StarSight products as part of its video programming beginning next year.

The StarSight(TM) program guide makes it easier for viewers to select, tune into and record programs that are delivered via broadcast and cable television.

The patented, on-screen guide gives consumers seven days of updated program schedule information; direct tuning by title, theme and channel number and easy, one-button video cassette recording of selected programs. Consumers can receive StarSight service via StarSight-equipped video equipment, such as TV sets, cable converters and satellite decoders.

BVS spent months of extensive evaluation of the StarSight product, technologies and intellectual properties prior to signing the strategic and affiliation agreements. Under the strategic agreement, StarSight will modify its product to operate in the video dial tone environment.

"BVS intends to offer consumers a full product set comprised of the best that cable and the best that video stores have to offer, all from the convenience of your home," said Frank Pereira, president-Video Services for BVS. "StarSight's products offer a good fit with our strategy to offer enhanced cable-type services over video dial tone."

BVS plans to begin marketing its cable-like product in six markets during 1995-96, pending regulatory approval. These markets are: Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Hampton Roads, Va. BVS will add a video-on-demand capability in these markets in 1996, once it completes a year's worth of market testing of its Stargazer(a) programming-on-demand service in Northern Virginia.

BVS will enter the six markets by using video dial tone provided by the Bell Atlantic companies. Bell Atlantic has announced plans to make video dial tone available to more than 8.5 million mid-Atlantic homes by the end of the year 2000.

BVS can extend the terms of its StarSight agreement to current and future affiliates, including its equity partners in the newly formed media company that was announced on October 31.

"As our newest partner, Bell Atlantic brings a powerful commitment to market StarSight services," said Michael Faber, StarSight Telecast chairman and co-founder. "We believe this agreement, as well as others with RCA/Thompson, Philips/Magnavox, Sony and Matsushita/Panasonic, confirms the strength of our StarSight products."

As part of the agreement to market StarSight's product in a manner consistent with the marketing obligations of StarSight's other strategic corporate affiliates, BVS received four-year warrants to purchase one million shares of StarSight common stock.

Half of these warrants can be exercised at prices increasing from $15 to $35 over the four-year warrant term. The other half can be exercised at 85% of market price at the time of exercise. Exercise of the warrants is conditioned upon the receipt by Bell Atlantic of relief from the manufacturing restrictions imposed by the AT&T Consent Decree and upon StarSight not engaging in activities prohibited by the Decree.

Bell Atlantic Video Services Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Atlantic Corporation. Bell Atlantic, based in Philadelphia, also is the parent of companies that provide a full array of local exchange telecommunications services in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Bell Atlantic also is the parent of one of the nation's largest cellular carriers and owns and manages cellular properties in Mexico, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In addition, Bell Atlantic owns an interest in Telecom Corp. of New Zealand and is the parent of the companies that provide business services for customer-based information technology and financial services throughout the United States and internationally.

StarSight Telecast Inc. is a publicly held company backed by strategic partners, Viacom International Inc., Spelling Entertainment (a unit of Blockbuster Entertainment), Tribune Company, Times Mirror Cable Television Inc., KBLCOM Incorporated (a division of Houston Industries) and Providence Journal Company.

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(a) Stargazer is a trademark of Bell Atlantic Corporation.

CONTACT: StarSight Telecast Inc., Fremont

              Lisa Lamy, 510/657-9900
                       or
              Bell Atlantic Video Services Company, Philadelphia
              Larry Plumb, 703/708-4360
                       or
              Rogers & Cowan Inc., Los Angeles
              Tim Scerba, 310/201-8898