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Comcast Media Center Launches HITS AxIS, a 'Pure-Play' Application Service Provider (ASP) Platform to Support Development and Delivery of ETV and Tru2way(TM) Services

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 12:00 CDT

Comcast Media Center (CMC) announced today the launch of HITS Advanced Interactive Services ("AxIS"), a centralized platform designed to support advanced interactive application developers and facilitate the launch of their interactive services on cable systems serving small to mid-size markets. In addition to collaborating with Vidiom and TVWorks, the HITS AxIS service is supporting product development activities for a number of leading companies involved in interactive applications development. They include Alticast, Biap, Emuse, Ensequence, Sofia Digital, vivoTRAK and Zodiac Interactive.

The HITS AxIS service will serve as a centralized resource to support the development, delivery and management of advanced interactive applications. Its product development services for advanced interactive application developers encompass business modeling, licensing, and application testing (standalone and interoperability). Deployment services available in connection with the HITS AxIS service will include configuration, hosting, affiliate sales, contract management and product launches on HITS' cable system affiliates. Its operations management services will consist of application and network monitoring, updates and upgrade management, billing services and customer support, security, 24/7/365 technical support, training and disaster recovery services, among others.

The HITS AxIS service will also provide cable system operators with an alternative to headend-based solutions for launching and supporting advanced interactive video applications. HITS Quantum™ affiliates will be able to offer interactive services to their customers using their existing headend management systems (HMS).

"In the CMC tradition, the HITS AxIS service will provide the content community with the tools they need for creating advanced services from a facility that can also deploy those services over a broad footprint and provide efficient and ongoing management support," said Gary Traver, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for Comcast Media Center. "In addition, we can provide cable system operators with an end-to-end solution that shifts much of the burden associated with offering these services to a content management center, and thereby support the industry's vision for a ubiquitous 'plug and play' experience for any and all cable customers, regardless of market size."

With a robust centralized infrastructure in place to support advanced interactive application developers, including access to the MSO markets they wish to penetrate, the CMC will help to stimulate the development and deployment of applications that can use both the current ETV EBIF (Enhanced Television-Binary Interchange Format) platform as well as the emerging tru2way™ platform.

The ability to offer interactive applications, such as gaming, advanced advertising, and other forms of personalized entertainment, provides cable system operators serving smaller markets with additional revenue opportunities and a more competitive profile without incurring the significant capital outlays required to upgrade their cable system architectures in order to support advanced interactive applications. As cable MSOs experienced with the first HITS services more than a decade ago, the centralized services model for launching a compelling and competitive lineup of advanced services can help to sustain the viability of cable systems serving smaller markets.

ABOUT COMCAST MEDIA CENTER

Denver-based Comcast Media Center (CMC), a business unit of Comcast Cable, provides centralized content management and distribution solutions for cable system operators and members of the content community, including television programming networks, independent producers and advertisers "All From The Center." CMC's multiplatform content distribution services include its HITS Quantum HD and SD all-digital platform of linear digital video and audio services, which serves over 400 cable MSO affiliates who operate more than 2,000 local cable system headends; a video on demand (VOD) platform that manages and distributes over 8,000 VOD assets each month; and an Advertising Distribution Network (ADN), a web portal for centrally managing advertising and promotional spots that has 1,100 users at cable MSO, division and system locations. The CMC also provides a full spectrum of content production, management and distribution services, including channel origination, transcoding, hosting, storage and IP multicasting, for traditional and new media platforms. More information is available at http://www.comcastmediacenter.com.

Tru2way is a trademark of Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. Other trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. Used with permission

Source: Business Wire

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