FOX NEWS CHANNEL SELECTS JVC's D-9 AS HOUSE FORMAT IN ITS ALL-DIGITAL STUDIO Fox-owned 24-hour cable news network begins installation of first shipment of JVC Equipment in new Midtown Manhattan studio NEW YORK, August 21, 1996 -- Fox Television, a News Corporation company, has chosen JVC's D-9 as the house videotape format for its new 24-hour cable service; FOX NEWS Channel. Under an agreement announced today between JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY and FOX NEWS, D-9 will be installed as the primary format for all in-house recording and editing undertaken in the FOX NEWS Channel's new all-digital studio. "After evaluating all of the digital format alternatives, we selected D-9 as our primary studio format because it provides uncompromising performance. The picture quality is outstanding, and, therefore, the cost/performance ratio is exceptional," said Andrew G. Setos, executive vice president, of the News Technology Group at News Corporation. The FOX NEWS Channel, a 24-hour all news network, will debut on October 7, 1996. Presently, construction of the FOX NEWS Channel's primary studio on 6th Avenue at 48th Street in Manhattan, is being completed. As a part of this installation, FOX has purchased and taken delivery of its first shipment of JVC D-9 recorders and editing controllers. "D-9 operates at 50 megabits per second (mbps), which is an optimal data transmission rate for our purposes," noted Richard M. Friedel, vice president of operations and engineering for FOX NEWS. "Additionally, since D-9 offers 4:2:2 digital signal processing we are able to do the kinds of layering effects and keying that our producers demand. This increases their flexibility, and enhances their creativity." Another consideration in making the selection of a digital studio format is concatenation. In basic terms, concatenation problems create visible artifacts that occur as a digital signal is compressed and re-compressed using different compression systems. Concatenation problems are exacerbated when greater compression ratios are utilized. With D-9, the compression ratio of 3.3:1, which is considered mild, helps to minimize these problems. "Everyone here at JVC is thrilled that FOX has chosen D-9 as their house format in one of the industry's first all-digital studios," said Scott Watson, national sales manager of JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY. "The FOX NEWS Channel's decision reinforces our belief that D-9 answers the industry's need for a high quality general purpose digital format, robust enough to stand up to the rigors of broadcast studio use." JVC believes that the introduction of its D-9 line will revolutionize the broadcast and industrial video industries. D-9 represents a dramatic breakthrough in both quality and price. Its 4:2:2 8-bit component digital signal processing and very mild 3.3:1 compression combine to produce an astounding picture quality -- better than any analog system, any 4:1:1 digital system, and rivaling that of even the most expensive digital systems. "We anticipate that D-9 will rapidly gain widespread acceptance within the broadcast industry because of its superior picture quality and technical specifications," noted Mike Yoshida, president of JVC Professional. "We believe the selection of D-9 by the FOX NEWS Channel will open the floodgates as broadcasters migrate to this practical digital solution." Concurrent to the Manhattan studio installation of D-9 machines, JVC will begin delivery to FOX's Washington, DC studios. Full installation in all FOX NEWS Channel studios is expected to be completed October 1996. JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, based in Wayne, New Jersey, distributes a complete line of broadcast and professional equipment. For more information about JVC's D-9 format, contact David Walton at 1-800-JVC-5825. # # #