Data Broadcasting Expands Professional Services Products With the Launch of eSignal Pro.

Business Editors

HAYWARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2001

eSignal, Data Broadcasting Corporation's (Nasdaq:DBCC)(DBC) provider of streaming, real-time financial market data, news, analytics and decision support tools to professionals and active traders, today announced the introduction of eSignal Pro, targeted at the demanding needs of today's professional user of financial market data solutions.

eSignal Pro is designed to provide one of the fastest, most reliable, cost-effective and flexible real-time financial market data solutions available for today's small- to mid-size institutional money managers, brokers, hedge funds, corporations, banks and other users of real-time data.

eSignal Pro provides real-time equity, futures, options and fixed income pricing at competitive prices.

"eSignal Pro is the result of several years of infrastructure development and implementation efforts designed to provide speed, reliability and ease of use," said Chuck Thompson, president of eSignal. "eSignal Pro's new IP multicast data feed features distributed server farms with multiple sites and dually redundant ticker plants with direct connectivity to the exchanges. This infrastructure allows for the delivery of every tick, every quote -- instantaneously, as it is delivered by the NYSE, AMEX, Nasdaq, Canadian, North American and European Futures and U.S. Options exchanges."

eSignal Pro is delivered via an ASP (application service provider) model, which greatly simplifies the process of installing and maintaining a market data network.

Whether for a single user site or for 50 or more users at a single location, eSignal Pro is designed to save real time, real money and real aggravation by taking the responsibility of managing complicated telecommunications networks and vendor-related servers away from the end user.

"With its unique architecture and technology, eSignal Pro proves that in today's market, it is no longer necessary to pay high prices for robust and reliable real-time market data solutions. eSignal Pro provides speed and reliability, plus broad product content with the most requested features bundled in, so you don't pay extra for every feature you add," said Thompson.

eSignal Pro provides the features that today's demanding professionals require, including:

-- Real-time, tick-by-tick, streaming data with no delays at market open and
close

-- 10-plus years of historical charting with 25 analytical studies

-- Regional data

-- Nasdaq Level II and Bulletin Board Level II

-- Full-text Dow Jones broad tape streaming news headlines and stories with
easy search capabilities

-- Alerts and portfolio tracking

-- High speed options retrieval with analytics

-- Completely customizable screen layouts - design your own

-- Treasury pricing

-- Plus additional research content

Mike Fahy, vice president and director of management information systems for Round Hill Securities, recommends eSignal Pro to his independent rep organization. "eSignal Pro is an extremely cost-effective solution for our organization. Its Internet-delivered ASP model provides a take-it-with-you solution that offers our representatives greater flexibility as to where and how they work. eSignal Pro is also a great remedy for the remote user because it is extremely easy to get new users up and running. In addition, eSignal Pro's great tech support and product reliability significantly simplifies our jobs."

In addition, BondVu, eSignal Pro's optional Fixed Income Service, provides access to descriptive information on 2.5 million U.S. taxable and non-taxable fixed income securities, live market data updates on money markets, treasury, agency and mortgage-backed securities, as well as single-security analytics and portfolio valuation. BondVu also includes the following:

-- Municipals

-- Corporates

-- Adjustable rate mortgages

-- Agency CMOs

-- Pool specific mortgages

-- Asset backed securities

-- Whole loan CMOs

-- Agencies

-- Treasury bills, notes and bonds

-- Mortgage backed TBA

-- Treasury yield curve

-- Market commentary

-- Total return, horizon and SWAP analysis

-- Portfolio valuation

eSignal Pro's robust API interface is flexible and easy to write to, enabling complete integration with trading platforms and other real-time data needs including real-time and intra-day portfolio pricing updates and in-house or third-party trading analytics packages.

Siegfried P. Duray-Bito, chief financial officer of Schneider Securities, said: "eSignal Pro's ASP model of delivering data is easy to use and very reliable. It frees up our local infrastructure and eliminates the headaches of managing additional servers and circuits. eSignal Pro can be accessed from any PC with a simple client-side software download and an 'always-on' DSL or T1 Internet connection. In addition, eSignal Pro offers up-to-the-second quotes with access to all markets and is just as easily navigable as any of the local server-based quote systems. With eSignal Pro, we get all the bells and whistles without all the local management hassles."

About eSignal:

The eSignal business unit of Data Broadcasting Corporation (Nasdaq:DBCC)(DBC) is a leading global provider of financial and business information to professionals and active individual investors.

Building on a 20-year legacy of delivering time-sensitive financial information, eSignal provides streaming, real-time market data, news and analytics. The company's suite of products include eSignal, eSignal Market Scanner, eSignal Mobile, My eSignal, Advanced GET and eSignal Pro.

Dedicated to providing accurate, reliable service and high-speed connections, the eSignal product line is backed by one of the most technically advanced ticker plant infrastructures capable of handling the stock markets' most challenging demands.

Engineered and operated internally, eSignal's infrastructure is built with an advanced IP multicast backbone, boasting multiple, geographically dispersed server farms, fed with live data from direct, redundant connections with European, Canadian and every major U.S. exchange.

About Data Broadcasting Corporation

Data Broadcasting Corporation is a leading global provider of financial and business information to institutional and individual investors. The company supplies time-sensitive pricing, dividend, corporate action and descriptive information for more than 3.5 million securities traded around the world, including hard-to-value, unlisted fixed income instruments.

At the core of the business are its extensive database expertise and technology resources.

DBC delivers real-time, end-of-day and historically archived data to customers through a variety of products featuring Internet, dedicated line, satellite and dial-up delivery protocols. Through a broad range of partnerships and alliances, the company provides links to most of the world's best-known financial service and software companies for trading, analysis, portfolio management and valuation.

DBC, with approximately 1,600 employees, is headquartered in Bedford, Mass., and has more than 20 offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, including the world's key financial centers of New York, London and Tokyo. The company is 60 percent owned by Pearson plc (London:PSON)(NYSE:PSO), an international media company.

To find out more about eSignal Pro or BondVu, call the sales department at 888/200-1007, e-mail at [e-mail] or visit the Web site at http://www.esignal.com/esignalpro.