Decisionmark's Air-to-Web Broadcast Replication Technology Awarded Patent; Localizing the Internet for Broadcasters and Bringing Broadcasts Back to the Web.

Business Editors & Technology/Entertainment Writers

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2001

Today, Decisionmark Corporation, a leading software technology company for the broadcast industry, announced that it has been awarded U.S. patent number 6,252,547 for its Air-to-Web Broadcast Replication (AWBR) technology. The Decisionmark AWBR technology is the key to solving issues related to Internet streaming of local broadcast content. This landmark technology enables local broadcasters to maintain the same signal area "footprint" on the Internet with streamed broadcasts as they reach with conventional over-the-air signals, alleviating copyright infringement concerns.

As it currently exists, broadcasting over the Internet challenges territorial restrictions. The problem is that the Internet is global and the U.S. system of broadcasting is local. Many streaming sites have failed due to this problem, including iCraveTV and various radio sites across the country. By placing Decisionmark's Air-to-Web Broadcast Replication technology between the broadcaster and the consumer, it ensures that consumers receive the appropriate local programming.

Jack Perry, president and CEO of Decisionmark, sees the patented technology as a giant leap of progress for Internet-delivered content. "This patent is what the industry has been waiting for. With our (Air-to-Web Broadcast Replication) technology, broadcasters are liberated from the constraints of current Internet broadcasting models, providing consumers with 24/7 local streamed broadcasts in demand today," said Mr. Perry.

Decisionmark's landmark technology patent is the second patent the company has been awarded that aids the broadcast arena. Patent number 6,147,642 was issued last November and is the basis for the Direct Broadcast Satellite delivery of distant network programming.

For three years, Decisionmark's Geneva technology has been used by satellite TV companies to screen potential satellite subscribers of distant network broadcasts, under the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA). The local network-affiliated broadcasters also use the technology to monitor activity according to the SHVIA.

"Extending this type of screening to streaming media broadcasts is a natural progression for Decisionmark," stated Mr. Perry. "We have a proven business model, broadcast data that is second to none, and now the patented technology. With all of this in place, Decisionmark is revolutionizing the way people will watch TV and listen to the radio," he added.

Decisionmark's AWBR technology imposes geographic parameters on the otherwise global Internet. Employing its patented technologies and up-to-date broadcast data, Decisionmark verifies whether or not a particular address is within the over-the-air signal area of a broadcaster. Based on confirmation, the viewer or listener is then given access to a broadcaster's stream over the Internet.

The goal of AWBR is to provide the technology and data that will allow content to be delivered over the Internet with the same copyright protections currently enjoyed by broadcast, cable and satellite delivery. This solution will allow the 15,000 + radio and 2,000 + television stations around the country to take their content online and maintain compliance with copyright laws.

About Decisionmark Corporation

Decisionmark Corporation is a technology and data company for the broadcast industry. Since developing its patented Geneva technology and proprietary broadcast data warehouse, Decisionmark has become the foremost expert in broadcast spatial analysis. It develops Internet-based software and data solutions and applications including TitanTV.com. Over 99% of network broadcast affiliates subscribe to the software company's data analysis product, Proximity(R) TV.com. The company has established strong business relationships with television networks, local broadcasters, DTV manufacturers, antenna manufacturers and a number of computer industry companies. Decisionmark leverages these relationships to provide broadcasters with data and software tools to help them protect market share and to navigate the transition to digital TV broadcasting.