CANAL+ Digital Technology Adopted in Asia; Carnival Star Group Launches a New DTH Platform.

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 1998--CANAL+, Europe's largest pay -television group and foremost provider of advanced interactive and conditional access systems, has entered the Asian market by becoming the prime contractor and principal integrator for the first digital satellite platform launched in Taiwan by Carnival Star Group, one of the reputable industrial groups in the region, the two companies announced Wednesday.

Carnival Star Group will launch a direct-to-home (DTH) digital satellite platform by the end of 1999 with about 50 local and international television channels, radio channels and pay-per-view, as well as several interactive broadcasting and multimedia applications.

Using Ku-Band capacity, the DTH platform will have excellent coverage throughout the region. Carnival's DTH service will utilize leading-edge technologies to enhance services, which will create new customer demand.

CANAL+ has been appointed as system integrator to coordinate and manage the implementation of Carnival's digital platform. CANAL+ will also provide complete operation start-up and will assist Carnival with staff training, system maintenance, operation-required software and management support.

Carnival has selected CANAL+'s MEDIAGUARD conditional access (CA) system. Carnival will also implement MEDIAHIGHWAY+, CANAL+'s advanced interactive system, to provide numerous interactive and transactional applications such as pay-per-view, teleshopping, telebanking and Internet browser capabilities.

Carnival will adopt a graphical Electronic Program Guide (EPG) application, developed under MEDIAHIGHWAY+, which allows the use of the Chinese-language character set and the insert of MPEG-2 still pictures.

The digital set-top boxes selected by Carnival Star Group will be equipped with an in-built PSTN modem for the return channel. More than 15 set-top box manufacturers, including manufacturers in Taiwan, are licensed to the MEDIAGUARD and MEDIAHIGHWAY technologies, with 10 others currently in negotiations.

One of the key strengths of the MEDIAGUARD conditional access and MEDIAHIGHWAY+ interactive systems is the flexibility with which they cater to different hardware and operating system (OS) platforms.

Henri Joubaud, group senior vice president, technology, CANAL+, explained: "I am delighted that CANAL+ will be deeply involved in the development of an ambitious digital platform in Taiwan. Carnival Star Group will very much follow the pattern which has proven extremely successful for our own digital platforms in Europe, with a strong and diversified program offering and a large number of interactive and multimedia applications that enhance the value of the platform and the viewing experience.

"Our teams will be fully committed to a successful launch, and we look forward to supporting the development of Carnival in Asia."

MEDIAGUARD is a conditional access system designed by Societe Europeenne de Controle d'Acces (SECA), a CANAL+/Bertelsmann joint venture. It offers expanded levels of security, as well as the high flexibility and scalability needed to match the particular requirements of the broadcaster in terms of global system architecture (multilocation implementation, capacity, number of subscribers, transaction flow) and fault tolerance.

MEDIAGUARD fully complies with the DVB Simulcrypt recommendations already successfully implemented between MEDIAGUARD and different conditional access systems in Europe. Recent new clients to the MEDIAGUARD technology include British Digital Broadcasting (BDB), the world's first digital terrestrial television service.

MEDIAHIGHWAY+ is the first package that will fully integrate the open technical specifications for a Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) proposed to the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) Project as proposals for nonmandatory standards to European and International Standards bodies.

Based on the DAVIC specifications for a virtual machine and on MHEG-5, a universal graphics interpreter, MEDIAHIGHWAY+ provides an open solution, enabling multiple service providers to operate through a compatible cost-effective set-top box in the home.

As the leading provider of digital interactive television today in Europe, with 65 percent of the marketplace -- the largest market share for any company outside North America -- CANAL+ has developed a number of new digital interactive and conditional access broadcasting products complying with DVB and DAVIC recommendations and running on a variety of operating systems (OS) as well as hardware platforms.

CANAL+ has developed field-proven solutions for satellite and cable digital broadcasting in the areas of conditional access (CA) and interactive systems, and has pioneered the world's first complete solutions for digital terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-T).

Fifteen manufacturers have already been licensed to the MEDIAGUARD and MEDIAHIGHWAY technologies, including Philips, Sony, Pioneer and Pace, and negotiations are currently taking place with 10 other major companies.

    CONTACT: CANAL+, Paris
              Soline Delos, [phone]
              Jean-Louis Erneux, [phone]
                  or
              K Media Relations, Los Angeles
              Tara Kolla, 213/644-3700