Prime Media Group Chooses Mediaware International for its HD Digital Commercial Content Delivery System

Sydney, Australia, 17 July 2008. Today Mediaware International has announced that it has been chosen by Prime Television to provide the HD digital commercial content delivery system for its Australian television operations. The system will be deployed across Prime’s East Coast Network to provide higher picture quality and greater operational efficiency.

The HD system - developed, supplied and commissioned by Mediaware International’s local Australian engineering team - includes Mediaware International’s latest InStream Insertion Server, a real time, frame accurate, long GOP native MPEG compressed domain splicer and file-based MPEG insertion server.  InStream provides seamless transitions between programmed events, without needing complex network timing systems or interstitial boundary intervention.

Accurate MPEG stream splicing is fast becoming an essential element of file-based ad insertion or replacement for digital television, and is, therefore a basic but critical component of targeted advertising. InStream greatly simplifies the process of commercial insertion for broadcasters. It increases operational efficiency by reducing network complexity and bandwidth requirements, allowing broadcasters to more cost effectively address existing and new markets and generate new revenue streams.

As part of the upgrade, Mediaware InStream Conversion Servers will also be provided to manage the transition from Prime Television’s existing baseband commercial library system.

Prime chose Mediaware’s InStream solution as it was the only product with significantly advanced functionality that met the criteria of the Prime engineering team who also played a significant role in the development of the functional specification of the product.

“As a leading regional commercial television broadcaster in Australia, we’ve found Mediaware International to be far more than just a supplier,” says Gerry Smith, Chief Technical Officer for the Prime Media Group. “Their innovative and technically superior approach to compressed domain interstitial insertion led us to choose the Mediaware solution over a number of international and better-known contenders. We have known for some time the technical approach we wanted to take, but until now no one had been able to deliver the goods. We are confident that, in Mediaware, we have a partner that truly understands our needs, both commercially and technically, and has the expertise in native digital video processing to support our complex network requirements.”

“We work very hard to build and maintain the strong connection we have made with the broadcasting community, and Prime is a classic example of that commitment,” says Ian Fellows, Director of Business Development at Mediaware International. “This deal exhibits the depth of expertise and knowledge we have gained working with native digital video processing systems over the years and is exemplified in the level of trust we have inspired with Prime Media Group in its latest venture. We intend to keep working to strengthen that relationship into the future. We believe the Prime deployment will be a world first for this technology.”

About Mediaware International

Mediaware International, recently acquired by General Dynamics AIS group, designs and develops professional systems that enable new business models in the media and entertainment market. Mediaware International is an acknowledged expert in the delivery of high quality digital video and on-demand content in the compressed domain. The company provides open standards-based technology solutions and support services globally. Mediaware International’s customers include the major broadcasters, network operators, major broadcast manufacturers, defense companies and content owners around the world. For more information visit: http://www.mediaware.com.au

About Prime Media Group

Prime Media Group Limited is an Australian public listed company (ASX:PRT). It operates in the media industry within Australia and New Zealand.

Prime was formed in Australia as a result of Australian Government legislation (beginning in 1989) designed to give all Australians equal access to "free-to-air" television. Since 1989, Prime has added Golden West Network (Western Australia) and Mildura to its television broadcast regions.  The Prime signal is also broadcast in Griffith NSW, under license to another operator. The licensed viewing area covers the regional locations of Northern and Southern New South Wales, Victoria, the Gold Coast area of eastern Queensland and all of regional Western Australia. In the eastern states of Australia the broadcast signal is branded as PRIME. In Western Australia the broadcast signal is known as Golden West Network (GWN). Prime also operates 10 Radio Stations in Queensland and has interests in new media and the Television programming production industry via its shareholdings in Destra, PDM and the Becker Group. For more information visit: http://www.primemedia.com.au

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