Sony's 1998 Worldwide Sales of 55,000 DTV Units Set Single-Year Record for Professional Video Equipment.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 1999--Sony broke all records for its industry-leading professional digital television (DTV) formats, selling worldwide in 1998 more than 55,000 units of its DVCAM(R), Betacam SX(R), Digital Betacam(R) and HDCAM(R) cameras, camcorders and VTRs.

This year's sales - more than any other DTV solution provider bring total cumulative sales of the four DTV formats to more than 140,000 units. This record-breaking performance is instrumental to Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Company achieving record sales in the fiscal year that will close Mar. 31, 1999. To date, more than 75,000 units of DVCAM, 20,000 units of Betacam SX, 42,000 units of Digital Betacam and 1,000 units of HDCAM equipment have been sold worldwide.

"Fifty-five thousand professional DTV units in a single year is truly phenomenal, particularly since many of the new products have just recently begun to ship," said Michael Vitelli, executive vice president of Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Company. "Such swift and broad penetration is a solid endorsement of Sony's strategy to provide the television industry with unprecedented choice, flexibility and integration in charting the best DTV roadmap to achieve their business objectives."

Betacam SX Compatibility with Analog Betacam Critical to Broadcasters

According to Vitelli, the recent introduction of the DNW-A75 Betacam SX editing recorder, not available when a few stations began their digital ENG format selection process several years ago, has been a key to success in 1998.

Broadcasters, particularly networks and their owned-and-operated stations, are now completing their evaluations and are accelerating their choice of DTV acquisition and storage formats. Industry research shows that analog Betacam continues to be used as the primary format in news and production, and that the Betacam SX format's compatibility plays a major role in network decision-making.

"Most network-owned stations have waited to select a digital format until they fully understand their needs for moving ahead with DTV implementation. A primary consideration is a cost-effective way to preserve Betacam compatibility both with existing equipment and archived tape," Vitelli explained.

"For example, CNN became the first national network to purchase a digital television format for ENG by standardizing on Betacam SX and using Sony's DVCAM equipment for back-up and auxiliary units worldwide. The ability to leverage their existing Betacam SP investment, take advantage of the unique Betacam SX benefits, and integrate into the emerging MPEG-2 4:2:2 infrastructure were critical to CNN's pace-setting decision."

Equally important, other leading worldwide networks, as well as CNN, have standardized on Betacam SX and are building upon the new DNW-A225 portable editor as the `pool feed' editor. The DNW-A225 is ideal for international pool feeds because of its analog and 525/625 playback capability.

Not only are networks standardizing on Betacam SX for ENG, but Betacam SX is central to developing a comprehensive MPEG-2 4:2:2 DTV environment.

"Sony Electronics and its Systems Integration Center are playing a vital role in the creation of our facilities," said Mike Arnold, TXN's executive vice president and COO, a new member of the Betacam SX family. "TXN's completely digital newsroom was designed to significantly streamline the news production process by changing the manner in which news stories are acquired, edited and presented to air. These fundamental changes will dramatically reduce the amount of equipment required to support TXN's infrastructure and thereby speed up the news process."

All in all, Betacam SX is making news for about 240 stations in markets throughout the U.S. (Please see the attached list highlighting some key stations that have adopted Sony's Betacam SX equipment.)

DVCAM Integration with DTV Formats Extends Price/Performance Advantages

The increase in DVCAM sales this year brings Sony's total worldwide DVCAM installed base to more than 75,000 units--the fastest ramp-up of any professional digital recording format in history. DVCAM sales this year were led by the successful launch of the DSR-300 DSP camcorder and the DSR-70 portable editing system that can be integrated into several different formats, including Betacam SX.

In addition to networks like CNN adding DVCAM to their DTV strategy, production companies and professional videographers are relying upon DVCAM technology. These include AFCA, Northwestern University and United Airlines. Also, DVCAM is integral to many mid-market stations, such as WHAG (Hagerstown) and KBAK (Bakersfield).

"We used to keep our masters on three quarter-inch tape, which gave us a good picture. But because of the nature of the analog system, and all the reproduction and editing we perform, it was impossible to maintain anything close to the first-generation image quality," noted Gary Swanson of Northwestern University. "Using digital technology found in Sony's DVCAM VTRs and camcorders throughout the system, we are able to transfer and store videos digitally as well as play, edit and duplicate video without any image degradation." HDCAM Sets the Pace for Next-Generation HDTV Production

Sony's flagship HDTV format, HDCAM, is achieving growing acceptance within the post production community, as well as with leading-broadcasters throughout the television industry. Major stations such as KCTS, WRAL, WNET, KIRO, KING, and KXTV are Sony HDCAM early adopters.

"We are the first sports broadcaster to provide digital HDTV to the home," said Charles Dolan, CEO of Cablevision and the MSG Network. "The scope of our sports properties and our viewership has created sufficient opportunity and demand for HDTV programming, and we are excited to play a leading role with Sony. Sony's equipment and system integration have been invaluable in helping us begin broadcasting in high definition."

Sony's HDCAM solution is the format of choice for many post production facilities because of their customer's demand for high definition mastering and post production. LaserPacific (Los Angeles) and American Production Services (Seattle) were amongst the early providers of HDCAM high definition post production. They are joined by The Post Group and 4MC/Encore (Los Angeles); The Creative Group (New York); Peachtree Post (Atlanta); Atelier Digital (Alabama); and Roland House and Henninger (Washington, DC).

"Our efforts in HDTV development go back almost 15 years," said Emory Cohen, president of LaserPacific. "After careful assessment of our marketplace, recent commitment to the FCC on the part of the networks, and recognizing that our customers - television program producers - needed their products to be saleable three, five or seven years down the line, we decided now was the time to provide them with an HD finishing solution."

Editor's Note: More information about Sony products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sony.com/professional, or readers may call 1-800-686-SONY. Additional press information is available at http://www.sony.com/news.

The Broadcast and Professional Company of Sony Electronics is a leading U.S. provider of video and audio equipment for the broadcast, production, business, industrial, government, medical, and education markets. Sony offers a wide array of products and systems for image capture, production, and display. Sony also provides specialized equipment and systems for data recording, duplication, electronic photography/publishing, video conferencing, high definition video, interactive and security applications. In the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 1998, Sony Electronics had record sales of $10.5 billion. -0-

Key Betacam SX Stations
A. H. Belo Corporation
WFAA (Dallas)
KASA (New Mexico)
KENS (San Antonio)
KGW (Portland)
KHOU (Houston)
KING (Seattle)
KMOV (St. Louis, MO)
KMSB (Tucson)
KOTV (Tulsa)
KTVB (Boise)
KXTV (Sacramento)
WCNC (Charlotte)
WHAS (Louisville)
WVEC (Norfolk)
NW Cable News (Seattle)
TXCN (Dallas)
KHNL (Hawaii)
WWL (New Orleans)
Tribune Broadcasting
KTLA (Los Angeles)
WPIX (New York)
WGN (Chicago)
WHDH (Boston)
KDAF (Dallas)
KSBW (San Diego)
KTXL (Sacramento)
KHTV (Houston)
KWGN (Denver)
WGNX (Indianapolis)
WPHL (Philadelphia)
WXIN (Indianapolis)
WXMI (Grand Rapids)
WTIC (Hartford)
WNOL (partially owned Tribune/New Orleans)
Tribune Washington D.C. News Bureau

Fox News Channel
Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports International
Fox-Owned Stations
KSTU (Salt Lake City)
WBRC (Birmingham)
WDAF (Kansas City)
WFLD (Chicago)
WHBQ (Memphis)
WJBK (Detroit)
WJW (Cleveland)
WTVT (Tampa) for a total of 15 Fox O &O stations
Coxs WSB (Atlanta)
LINs WISH (Indianapolis)
Lee Enterprises KOIN (Portland)
Young Broadcasting
KCAL (Los Angeles)
KELO (Sioux Falls)
KLFY (Lafayette)
KWQC (Davenport)
WATE (Knoxville)
WBAY (Green Bay)
WKBT (LaCrosse)
WKRN (Nashville)
WLNS (Lansing)
WRIC (Richmond)
WTEN (Albany)
WTVO (Rockford)
Hearst-Argyle
WBAL (Baltimore)
WESH (Winter Park)