ntl and ICTV-YooMedia Joint Venture to Begin Live Trials of Next Generation Interactive Programming on Digital Cable

ntl and ICTV-YooMedia Joint Venture to Begin Live Trials of Next Generation Interactive Programming on Digital Cable

LOS GATOS, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- ntl and BroadbandTV Group, the joint venture between YooMedia and ICTV, are pleased to announce that, following successful joint lab testing, live trials of broadband quality interactive digital television programming and technology will be conducted in the fourth quarter of this year. The trials will take place in selected ntl digital cable households.

The trials will also fully demonstrate the capabilities of ICTV's HeadendWare (R) technology, enabling the delivery of vivid, interactive web based programming content on ntl's existing standard cable set-top boxes.

BroadbandTV Group has developed and aggregated a wide-ranging interactive programming package for the live trials, within the genres of News, Entertainment, Games and Lifestyle. In doing so, the BroadbandTV Content Partner Programme has been significantly extended and now represents a range of globally recognized names in broadcasting. ntl customers will be able to enjoy content from a number of partners including ITN, MTV Networks, Emap, Turner Broadcasting, Sesame Workshop and UKTV

The trials will fully demonstrate the capabilities of the Group's proprietary technology, enabling the delivery of vivid, interactive web based programming content on subscribers' existing standard cable set-top boxes.

YooMedia's Group Managing Director, Neil MacDonald, said "A huge amount of work has been undertaken with ntl in the last year in order to integrate the Broadband TV technology with their infrastructure and various set top boxes. We are delighted to be entering into consumer-facing trials with such a strong line-up of programming content."

Jeff Miller, chief executive of ICTV, added: "This next phase of trials represents a key milestone in establishing the value of the BroadbandTV Group proposition as a fusion of high-quality interactive programming and cutting- edge technology."

About BroadbandTV Group

BroadbandTV Group Limited is a UK joint venture company, equally held by YooMedia plc (http://www.yoomedia.com/) and ICTV Inc. (http://www.ictv.com/). BroadbandTV Group creates an exclusive partnership between the two companies for the purposes of providing a complete next-generation interactive TV solution for the UK market. The joint venture brings together YooMedia's expertise and track record in delivering interactive media with ICTV's proprietary HeadendWare interactive TV platform. BroadbandTV delivers the best broadband content, re-defining interactivity on TV.

HeadendWare is a registered trademark and ICTV is a trademark of ICTV, Inc.

Source: ICTV Inc.

CONTACT: Paul Schneider of PSPR, Inc., +1-215-702-9784, or pspr@att.net, for ICTV Inc.

Web site: http://www.ictv.com/ http://www.yoomedia.com/

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