RealNetworks Appoints John Giamatteo Executive VP of Worldwide Business Products & International Operations

RealNetworks Appoints John Giamatteo Executive VP of Worldwide Business Products & International Operations

Dan Sheeran Tapped as Senior Vice President of Premium Consumer Services; Bill Joll, Marco Menato, and Bud Rosenthal Also Join Executive Team

SEATTLE, June 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RealNetworks(R), Inc (NASDAQ:RNWK), the leading creator of digital media services and software today announced the addition of several new executives and a new assignment for one of the company's current senior executive officers. The new appointments will enhance the company's position as a global, integrated media company.

John Giamatteo has been named Executive Vice President of Worldwide Business Products & Services and International Operations. Mr. Giamatteo comes to Real from Nortel, where he was President and CEO of Nortel Networks Asia Pacific. In that capacity Mr. Giamatteo had full P&L responsibility for Nortel's Asia Pacific business across all functions including sales, marketing, channel management, installation, customer care, media and government relations, human resources, and finance. In that role, Mr. Giamatteo dramatically grew Nortel's business in the region and provided leadership to a staff of more than 1400 employees across Asia. Prior to this position, he held numerous other executive roles with Nortel including President of Japan and Korea and a variety of other management posts since beginning his career with Nortel in 1988. Mr. Giamatteo earned both his BS in Accounting and his MBA from St John's University in New York.

"John's tremendous depth and experience in running a major network systems business and in building a highly successful international team make him the ideal candidate to lead these aspects of our business at Real," said Rob Glaser, Chairman and CEO of RealNetworks. "John is an extraordinarily talented leader with deep relationships with global communications carriers and wireless operators. I'm thrilled to have him join our senior team."

"I'm extremely pleased to be joining the company at the center of the global transformation, creation, and distribution of digital media," said John Giamatteo. "Real's technological innovation and growth trajectory, coupled with its leadership in digital music subscriptions and casual games, make it uniquely positioned to win in the global marketplace. I'm fully committed to accelerating the company's success with carriers and customers around the world."

Reporting to Mr. Giamatteo will be Carla Stratfold, Senior Vice President of North American Sales; Aref Matin, Vice President of Carrier and System Software; Doug Kaplan, Vice President of Asia; Lee Joseph, Vice President of Europe, Middle East, and Africa Systems. Also reporting to Mr. Giamatteo are two recent additions to Real's executive team, Bill Joll, Vice President of Marketing, Carrier Software Solutions; and Marco Menato, Vice President of Consumer Services for Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Dan Sheeran to Lead Premium Consumer Services

Dan Sheeran, Real's current Senior Vice President of International Operations, will now become Senior Vice President of Premium Consumer Services. In this new capacity, Mr. Sheeran will oversee the company's rapidly growing music and video consumer services businesses, most notably including the Rhapsody and SuperPass subscription services.

Mr. Sheeran, who joined RealNetworks in 2001, brings a wealth of operational, business, sales and marketing experience to his new position. Prior to serving as Senior Vice President of International at Real, he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for the company. He previously worked for nCUBE where he was Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. Prior to working at nCUBE, Sheeran was Senior Vice President of Product Management at SkyConnect. Mr. Sheeran holds a B.S. from the School of Foreign Service cum laude at Georgetown University, and a M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

"Dan is an exceptional leader with a proven track record of results and versatility," added Glaser. "Dan has excelled in every assignment he's had at Real. I am highly confident that Dan will help us extend our leadership in the consumer digital media marketplace."

Additional New Executives Strengthen Real's Leadership Team

In addition to Mr. Giamatteo, Real today announced the recent hiring of 3 executives:

-- Bill Joll has joined Real as Vice President of Marketing, Carrier Software Solutions, having most recently served as President and CEO of Threshold Networks.

-- Marco Menato, formerly Vice President and General Manager of Classmates International, will join Real as Vice President of Consumer Services for Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

-- Bud Rosenthal, formerly Vice President of Yahoo! Small Business Services, has been appointed Vice President of Music Marketing and Operations.

Before serving as President and CEO of Threshold Networks, Bill Joll was President and CEO of Maple Optical Systems. Mr. Joll spent most of his professional career at Nortel Networks where he last served as President of Marketing Solutions for Europe. Prior to that, he was Vice President/General Manager Next Generation Carrier Solutions for Europe and brings a global perspective on business and marketing having served in various senior executive management positions globally during his eighteen years at Nortel. Mr. Joll holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

Marco Menato defined and led the international expansion efforts of Classmates.com and built the company's successful businesses in Germany and Sweden as their Vice President and General Manager, International. Prior to joining Classmates, he served as Director of Business Development and Product Marketing at eCharge, and Vice President of International Sales at Connectsoft Inc. Mr. Menato is fluent in English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

As a former Vice President at Yahoo!, Bud Rosenthal had P&L responsibility for the Small Business division growing the company's web hosting service to #1 in market share. Prior to that role, Mr. Rosenthal served as General Manager for the Yahoo Store. He was also co-founder and Vice President of Bigstep.com, Director of Business Development at the Internet Shopping Network, and held additional positions at Tele-TV Media and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He earned a BA in International Relations from Bates College and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He will report to Robert Acker, Vice President of Music Services.

"Bill, Marco, and Bud are each extremely accomplished and talented executives," said Glaser. "We're delighted to have them on board, and we're confident that all three will hit the ground running."

To learn more about other members of Real's management team, please visit http://www.realnetworks.com/company/investor/execbios.html .

About RealNetworks

RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including Rhapsody(R), RealPlayer 10, and casual PC-based games. With more than one million subscribers, the company is the market leader in premium music subscription services. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at http://www.real.com/ . Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' corporate information is located at http://www.realnetworks.com/company .

This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding RealNetworks' position as a global, integrated media company, RealNetworks' future growth and success or other factors that may affect future earnings or financial results. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect RealNetworks' future growth and success include consumer adoption and use of RealNetworks' subscription services, RealNetworks' ability to integrate its businesses and the effects of competition. Additional information concerning factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements can be found in RealNetworks' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the most recent reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Copies of filings made with the SEC are available through the SEC's electronic data gather analysis and retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. RealNetworks assumes no obligation to update the forward- looking statements included in this document.

NOTE: RealNetworks, RealAudio, RealVideo, Helix, Rhapsody, RealArcade, GameHouse and RealPlayer are trademarks or registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. All other companies or products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: RealNetworks, Inc.

CONTACT: media, Jeremy Pemble, +1-206-892-6614, or jpemble@real.com, or investors, Roy Goodman, +1-206-892-6841, or rgoodman@real.com, both of RealNetworks, Inc.

Web site: http://www.realnetworks.com/

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