RGB Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RGB Networks Advances State-of-the-Art in Television Advertising with Digital
Overlay Capabilities

Text, graphics and video can be overlaid into ads and programs, enabling cable operators to
target ads, defeat ad-skipping DVRs and combat Internet competitors

SAN MATEO, CA – May 21, 2007– RGB Networks, the leader in network video processing, is advancing the state-of-the-art in television advertising with the new digital overlay capabilities of its advanced Broadcast Network Processor (BNP).  With its unmatched ability to directly overlay text, graphics and video onto more than 500 television ads simultaneously, the BNP dramatically reduces the cost for cable operators to deliver localized ads for both national and local advertisers. 

Carrying local ads is a lucrative revenue stream for cable operators around the world and in the U.S. alone created income of $4.3 billion in 2006 according to Kagan Research.  Despite this, the cost to create targeted ads for specific cities or by demographic criteria is high, limiting the number of potential advertisers.  For example, for a nationwide restaurant chain to advertise in its 20 largest cities, its ad must undergo extensive post-production work to include addresses, phone numbers and other text or graphical information that localize the ad for each city – resulting in 20 separate ads.  By overlaying text, graphics and even video directly onto ads in real-time, the BNP eliminates this costly and time consuming process, enabling for example, a nationwide ad to be easily localized by the operators serving each city or region.  Because localized content is added in real-time, it can be easily updated to note sales events, new locations and other important or timely information.  This innovative process is particularly relevant for smaller, local businesses which cannot afford to produce a series of ads.  RGB’s digital overlay technology lets these businesses produce and update a single ad to keep it ‘evergreen.’

"Local advertising is a proven, multi-billion dollar business, and with the help of our game-changing Broadcast Network Processor, RGB is enabling cable operators in the U.S. and the world over to reap new rewards with targeted advertising," said Ramin Farassat, Vice President of Product Marketing for RGB Networks. "By tapping into the power of RGB’s Video Intelligence Architecture, the Broadcast Network Processor takes advantage of high density video processing and advanced overlay technology to further the revolution of personalized video services. RGB’s unmatched solution lowers the cost of producing local ads, allows operators to sell more local and more relevant advertising and gives operators a new source of ad revenue."

"In a time of DVRs and increased Internet advertising, cable and IPTV operators need to exploit better locally targeted advertising techniques while keeping costs low," says Gary Schultz, President of analyst firm MRG, Inc. "One such solution is offered by RGB, which allows IPTV and cable operators to personalize ad messages using professional graphical production quality, while targeting on a sub-zone or zip-code level (both linear and  interactive) at affordable costs. We expect to see more such innovation like this in the future."

In addition to enabling new ad revenues, the BNP’s digital overlay capabilities can help operators face two significant and growing challenges to their existing ad programs:  ad skipping Digital Video Recorders (DVR) and competition from the Internet. 

Cable operators can overcome the threat of DVR owners skipping ads by using the BNP to overlay ad content directly onto the programs themselves, therefore eliminating the ability to skip the ads.  This overlay of text or video ads onto programming is already proven, but the traditional method requires a cumbersome process that involves decoding the ad and programming to analog, performing the overlay and then re-encoding the program with overlaid ad back to digital.  The BNP functions completely within the digital domain, eliminating this decode/re-encode process and the need for additional costly decoders and encoders.

Cable operators also face growing competition from the Internet, as websites tout their ability to reach specific geographies and demographics, luring advertisers to increase their spending on Internet advertising while reducing their budgets for television ads.  The BNP’s ability to deliver targeted, relevant ads using digital overlays is a key way operators can combat Internet competition.

About RGB’s Broadcast Network Processor
Based on RGB’s Video Intelligence Architecture™ (VIA), the Broadcast Network Processor (BNP) is designed to enable cable operators to deliver highly targeted and personalized video services.  Housed in a one rack-unit platform, the BNP delivers the cable industry’s highest density solution for digital video grooming, statistical multiplexing, transrating, digital program insertion (DPI) and digital overlays.  With the ability to process more than 500 video streams in a single rack unit, the BNP significantly lowers the cost of delivering advanced digital video services, while creating new sources of revenue for operators. RGB’s Broadcast Network Processor offers the scalability to support current and future network growth, while also providing the flexibility to sustain new applications such as switched digital video, targeted ad insertion and digital simulcast.  The BNP also reduces the complexity and cost of deploying these services, allowing operators to focus on introducing more personalized, revenue-generating services.

About RGB Networks
RGB Networks delivers extremely high-density, flexible video processing solutions that enable video service providers to deliver highly targeted and personalized video content at considerably lower costs than conventional solutions.  Based on its unique Video Intelligence Architecture™ (VIA), RGB’s VIA product family simplifies management and delivers scalable, multi-function capability in a single, programmable platform, allowing video service providers to leverage existing infrastructure, while building an advanced foundation to meet the needs of the rapidly growing market for personalized video services. 

For more information about RGB Networks and its unique video processing solutions, please visit www.rgbnetworks.com.

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Media Contact:
David Bramley, Platform PR
david@platformpr.com
(T) +44 (0)208 964 9149