COMCAST SPORTSNET SELECTS JVC'S D-9 AS HOUSE FORMAT Joint Venture with Philadelphia Phillies Puts Spotlight on Philly Region Sports Wayne, NJ (September 30, 1997) - COMCAST-SPECTACOR, in association with the Philadelphia Phillies, will launch its new regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet on October 1 with JVC's D-9 as its primary recording and editing format. The new 24-hour cable sports network, partially owned by the Philadelphia Phillies, will revolutionize the coverage of sports throughout the Philadelphia Region. JVC's D-9 video tape format will be used to record and edit games in the region and for commercial production. Comcast SportsNet will feature Phillies, 76ers and Flyers games plus morning, afternoon and evening news shows, fan-interactive sports talk programs, comprehensive coverage of NFL football, and local college basketball and football programming. The channel will be available to 2.7 million potential subscribers in the tri-state area on standard cable. "As the sole cable television supplier of regional sports in the Philadelphia area, we wanted a really top notch digital videotape format to work with," said Sam Schroeder, senior vice president of programming and operations for Comcast SportsNet. "We chose D-9 because it will allow us to provide the superior picture quality we had envisioned. In addition, it offers conventional control panel functionality and a short learning curve. These operating aspects are crucial in a fast-breaking sports news environment where it has to be right the first time." The network purchased ten BR-D80 D-9 edit recorders, two BR-D85 D-9 edit recorders with pre-read, two BR-D40 D-9 dockable field recorders and four RM-G820 edit controllers. Two of the BR-D80s will be used in the master control room, housed in the new CoreStates Center in Philadelphia, where they will be used in conjunction with a Tektronix Profile video server for commercial spots and for recording sports in the region. The network has four edit bays where the remaining six BR-D80s will be used for daily editing of sports shows and for recording live games in the region. The BR-D85s will be used in two control rooms for daily high-end editing. "The 4:2:2 digital signal processing and mild compression of D-9 was a big factor in our choice of the format," said Dick Miller, chief engineer. "We looked at other similar formats, but from a quality and price standpoint, D-9 is the only one that makes sense for us." The pre-read function on the BR-D85s will help Comcast SportsNet accomplish more high end editing in the master control room with fewer machines, according to Miller. "We understand that D-9 is a reliable product, and we know from talking with other D-9 users, that it's a work horse," Miller said. "We really wanted something low maintenance, and I think we've got that with D-9." D-9 represents a dramatic breakthrough in price and performance. JVC's /-inch format offers 4:2:2 8-bit component digital resolution and very mild 3.3:1 compression which makes the format technically superior to any analog system and any 4:1:1 digital system. The picture quality of D-9 rivals even the most expensive digital systems. JVC PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, located in Wayne, New Jersey, distributes a complete line of broadcast and professional equipment. For more information about D-9, contact David Walton at 1-800-JVC-5825 or visit JVC's web site at www.jvc.com/pro. ###