ADB to launch its first DVR into the French market, through cooperative marketing agreement with music broadcaster NRJ

SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 – Advanced Digital Broadcast, a leading supplier of technology to the global digital television industry, announced today that it has signed a cooperative marketing agreement with the French free-to-air music channel NRJ-12 to jointly develop and market a Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) based Digital Video Recorder (DVR). NRJ-12 is owned by the media group NRJ (www.nrjgroup.fr).

This significant agreement will enable the NRJ-5100TX DVR to be sold using the NRJ-12 and ‘i-CAN™ by ADB’ brand names and marks ADB’s first entry into the rapidly expanding digital terrestrial market in France. In addition to digital television, the product will provide consumers with access to a wealth of services including digital video recording, web based services, Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and ‘on-demand’ downloads of entertainment content, such as games and music.

Mainly based on MHP software supplied by Osmosys (www.osmosys.tv), the Ethernet-enabled NRJ-5100TX will connect to the Internet and access the NRJ-12 service portal. The unit ships with integrated MP3 technology allowing consumers to collate and store their personal music files on the hard-disk drive. NRJ plans to operate a music download service in the future allowing consumers to download MP3 files directly to the DVR for playback.

‘As a leading television broadcaster, we are constantly looking for new ways to reach our customers and the NRJ-5100TX will allow us to open up new distribution channels and associated revenue streams’, commented Christophe Cornillet from NRJ Group. ‘Consumers are now connecting to the Internet through a number of different devices to access value added services, we believe that DVR technology offers a great opportunity to consumers who do not have a PC to access on-line services simply and effectively’.

Sales of MP3 players has grown exponentially in the last 5 years and consumers of all ages and abilities are embracing the transition of distribution from physical media, such as DVDs and CDs, to soft media such as MP3 which can be purchased over the Internet.

‘We are very excited to see our DVR technology used not only for television services, but also as a means of media storage and distribution’, said Philippe Lambinet, CEO of Advanced Digital Broadcast. ‘ADB has been first to market with a number of convergence technologies, supporting our customers through a hybrid device strategy, combining the benefits of IP and broadcast distribution. This arrangement takes this strategy a step further by adding other services into the mix such as digital music distribution’.

The NRJ-5100TX is a state-of-the-art DVR with an advanced single chip microprocessor and MHP software. The unit is fitted with a USB high-speed communications port allowing consumers to connect MP3 players and memory-sticks for storage of their personal music files and digital photos. The unit can be connected to the Internet via an Ethernet interface and or a V.92 modem to access NRJ-12’s service portal. The units will be available from Q4 this year and sold through major retailers.

About NRJ-12

NRJ-12 is a French FTA channel broadcasted (in widescreen format with a 5.1 Dolby Digital sound) over DVB-T, DVB-S, DVB-C and via the main ADSL networks. Now, 60% of the French population can receive NRJ-12 on the terrestrial network. The channel is now starting its HD transmission (MPEG-4 AVC) test over the cities of Paris, Lyon and Marseille.