COMARK and NBC sign strategic agreement to provide HDTV services to NBC owned & operated stations.

SOUTHWICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 1997--COMARK Communications Inc. (COMARK) and The National Broadcasting Company Inc. (NBC) jointly announced a strategic agreement for Digital Television (DTV) transmitters and future services.

NBC has reconfirmed its commitment to providing DTV services and High Definition Television (HDTV) programming through its agreement to purchase COMARK equipment and services for its current and future Owned and Operated stations (O&O).

The announcement was made by Navroze Mehta, executive vice president and general manager of COMARK, Mike Sherlock, executive vice president, Technology, NBC, and John Rohrbeck, president, NBC Television Stations.

Said Sherlock: "This alliance will enable NBC to significantly improve the quality of television viewing and breadth of digital service capabilities for American audiences. We are not just buying products and services.

"NBC and COMARK will continue to share in the benefits of being broadcasting's technology leaders and continue to build on a partnership that provides solutions which maintain our highest standards of quality."

COMARK and NBC have had a long relationship with the broadcast community in the field of DTV. COMARK provided transmitter and project management services in 1992 to the Advanced Television Research Consortium's (ATRC) AD-HDTV Digital HDTV simulcast demonstrations.

These full power UHF demonstrations were done at the NBC4 facilities at WRC-TV (NBC4) in Washington, D.C. using a COMARK IOT transmitter. The ATRC membership included NBC, Thomson, the David Sarnoff Research Center (DSRC/Sarnoff) and others.

It was the AD-HDTV system which demonstrated the world's first DTV system with MPEG compression and packetized data transport, key to the multi-program flexible use of today's ATSC 8-VSB standard.

COMARK's relationship with the broadcast industry over the years has led to the authoring of technical papers and presentations, involvement through various open and closed industry forums, and continues today through COMARK's active involvement with the "Model HDTV Station Project" which is hosted at the NBC4 facilities at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.

This involvement includes COMARK's providing of a "DTV Ready" UHF IOT transmitter, and an active role in the projects Technical Committee.

Said Mehta: "Our commitment to NBC brings together the joint knowledge and expertise required to make DTV a winning business opportunity for all. This strategic agreement further indicates COMARK's support of DTV as the future of broadcasting. We will continue to work together to provide NBC with the products and services they require as a broadcast leader."

COMARK, in conjunction with DSRC/Sarnoff, will be providing NBC with DTV specific tutorial and planning sessions, as required, focusing on the transitional needs of DTV and RF technologies. The outcome of this "DTV Needs Analysis" will help NBC to move towards the deployment of DTV on a concise planned basis.

COMARK has a history of participating in DTV/HDTV firsts:

-- First all digital HDTV broadcast in Washington, D.C. (1992)

-- First HDTV simulcast at WRC, Washington, D.C. (1992)

-- Transmitter selected for the Grand Alliance Field Tests (1992-1995)

-- NIST HDTV Broadcast Technology Joint Venture (1995-1998)

-- First Commercial HDTV station in the world to transmit and

receive live HDTV signals using the future U.S. standard

at WHD (Model HDTV Station Project), Washington, D.C. (1996)

COMARK, EMMY award winner and the world leader in high power UHF television transmitters and recognized pioneer in the emerging world of digital terrestrial television broadcasting, is a member of the THOMCAST organization. THOMCAST is the largest terrestrial broadcasting product and service organization in the world with equipment installed in more than 22,000 locations in 140 countries.

Backed by Thomson-CSF technologies, expertise and excellent reputation, COMARK is a major presence in the current and future broadcast markets.

NBC has 11 owned and operated stations throughout the country: WNBC, New York; KNBC, Los Angeles; WRC, Washington, D.C.; WVTM, Birmingham, Ala.; KNSD, San Diego; WTVJ, Miami; WMAQ, Chicago; WNCN, Raleigh, N.C.; WCMH, Columbus, Ohio; WCAU, Philadelphia; WJAR, Providence, R.I.

NBC is a global media company with broadly diverse holdings. NBC owns and operates the NBC Television Network as well as 11 television stations. In the U.S., NBC owns CNBC, operates MSNBC in partnership with Microsoft, and has equity stakes in 17 other cable channels.

Internationally, NBC owns NBC and CNBC channels in Europe and Asia, and Canal de Noticias in Latin America. In Europe, NBC can be seen in more than 74 million households via cable and satellite services, while its sister channel, CNBC reaches 58 million households. NBC Asia, which includes NBC and CNBC, can be seen in over 31 million households.

CONTACT: COMARK

Mark Aitken, director of marketing, 413/569-5939

e-mail: [e-mail]

or

Deborah Thomas, director of corporate communications,

NBC, 212/664-3220

e-mail: [e-mail]

or

visit COMARK's website, http://www.comarkcom.com