Belo Standardizing on New Grass Valley PVS 3000 Platform, Grass Valley Master Control from Thomson; First Major Commitment for New PVS 3000 SD/HD Server.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NAB2003

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2003

Thomson (Paris:18453)(NYSE:TMS) today announced that Belo Corp., based in Dallas, Texas, has signed a letter of intent to standardize its 19 stations nationwide on the PVS 3000 Profile(R) XP Media Platform SD/HD server -- as well as the Grass Valley and Master Control Switchers. The multi-million Euro deal with enable the station group to transition its stations to all-digital production and distribution.

Belo will use the PVS 3000 servers and MC-2100 switchers to control the playback of standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) commercials and programs at each of its stations. Belo will record video and audio material received from ad agencies -- as well as elements produced in house -- onto the PVS 3000 servers, which they will be automatically converted to the appropriate SD or HD format for playout.

A leader in the move to digital broadcasting, Belo has divided its stations into four clusters in the Northwest, Southwest, Texas and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.

"The key reason for our interest in the Grass Valley Profile PVS 3000 server and master control switcher is that they will enable us to easily serve our advertising clients that want to run high-definition commercials on our stations," said Craig Harper, director of engineering at Belo. "In addition, by standardizing on a single server platform, our stations can share commercial and program content reliably."

"This is the first of many orders we anticipate for the PVS 3000 because of its unrivaled ability to support SD and HD materials in the same server and on the same timeline," said Marc Valentin, president of Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions. "We are delighted that Belo, one of our long-time customers, has made this commitment to both our server and master-control solutions."

"Because Belo operates with certain common standards among its stations, having commonality among servers and master control switchers strengthens our ability to pursue numerous broadcast business models," Harper said. "Should Belo decide to link its stations together on a common network, the implementation will be seamless, he said, since the identical Grass Valley production equipment will be installed among all of its stations."

In fact, prior to today's announcement, Belo had already outfitted its stations with the Grass Valley M-2100 HD master control switchers and four standard-definition Kalypso(TM) Video Production Center systems. It also recently purchased a fifth Kalypso Video Production Center system for its KHOU-TV station in Houston, Texas.

Belo is also evaluating the Grass Valley LDK 6000 mk II camera for its studios.

About The Products

PVS 3000 Profile XP Media Platform

Leapfrogging current server offerings, the Grass Valley PVS 3000 Profile(R) XP Media Platform can play out SD and HD material from the same server--and on the same timeline. Designed to fit into any topology, it supports standalone, distributed, and SAN configurations. It offers HD vertical ancillary data support for captioning and interactive TV applications, as well as new enhancements that expand its channel count, storage capacity, and bandwidth. And it is available as an upgrade package for existing Profile XP Media Platform users.

M-2100 HD Master Control System

The Grass Valley M-2100 HD digital master control system supports all leading HD signals. Its extensive automation system support and integration with the M-2100 SD system makes it easy to simulcast SD and HD program streams. It also supports up to 16 on-air channels from one control panel -- and supports the connection of additional panels easily.

Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, consumer electronics markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the financial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Belo

Belo Corp. is one of the nation's largest media companies with a diversified group of market-leading television, newspaper, cable and interactive media assets. A Fortune 1000 company with approximately 7,800 employees and $1.4 billion in annual revenues, Belo operates news and information franchises in some of America's most dynamic markets and regions, including Texas, the Northwest, the Southwest, Rhode Island, and the Mid- Atlantic region. Belo owns 19 television stations (six in the top 16 markets) reaching 13.9 percent of U.S. television households; owns or operates six cable news channels; and manages one television station through a local marketing agreement. Belo publishes four daily newspapers: The Dallas Morning News, The Providence Journal, The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) and the Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, TX). Belo Interactive's new media businesses include 34 Web sites, several interactive alliances, and a broad range of Internet-based products. Additional information, including earnings releases, is available online at www.belo.com . For more information, contact Scott Baradell, vice president/Corporate Communications, at 214/977-2067.

About Thomson

With sales of 10.2 billion Euros (U.S. $ 9.6 billion) in 2002, Thomson (Euronext Paris:18453)(NYSE:TMS) provides a wide range of video (and enabling) technologies, systems, finished products and services to consumers and professionals in the entertainment and media industries. To advance and enable the digital media transition, Thomson has four principal divisions: Content and Networks, Consumer Products, Components, and Licensing. The company distributes its products under the Technicolor, Grass Valley, THOMSON and RCA brand names. For more information: http://www.thomson.net/

As part of Thomson Digital Media Solutions division, the Broadcast and Media Solutions activity delivers products and solutions for broadcast and TV/Film professionals under its Grass Valley brand. These open, integrated digital products that work together along the entire digital video chain to support a variety of workflows, from content capture and acquisition through production, post production, and transmission. With a proven track record in broadcast, including 17 Emmy(R) and multiple industry awards, it offers an award-winning, robust product portfolio that touches more high-quality content than any other; product and systems expertise that has yielded hundreds of patents and a number of industry standards; and worldwide software engineering expertise and customer support teams that are second to none.

For information about Grass Valley products from Thomson please visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com.