WavePhore (WAVO)- VBI fed WaveTop for WebTV Message Board

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Technology Stocks : WavePhore (WAVO)- VBI fed WaveTop for WebTV

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To: AJ Berger who wrote (1073)	4/1/1998 2:42:00 AM
From: Paul K	Read Replies (1) of 2843

Good questions AJ, My comments: 1. Data speed estimate: 14kb per VBI line x 2 leased lines (initially)= 28k/sec x 86,400 sec/day /10bit = 241.9 MB/day (and maybe subtract %20 for overhead, then = 193.5 MB/day) I don't recall it being billed as ISDN speeds, maybe you were thinking the satellite feed to the stations? WavePhore said it has rights to lease more VBI lines in the future as required. Keep in mind that it's delivered to computers nationwide AT THE SAME TIME without internet bottle necks. 2. Yes PBS stations do cover 99% of TV reception in North America. We don't know why they are starting with 50 stations ...but notice these are the largest demographic markets -- just what an advertiser wants. (Maybe there are more but they are just focusing on the most desirable markets advertisers will want to hear about.) I think the release of WaveTop to the Windows 95 crowd in April will be more of a market test to tweak the service before the real role-out in Win98. Cable TV feeds: I don't think cable companies are going to block PBS's desire to send VBI. I previously posted a portion of an article from the PBS group that has plans for educational usage of WavePhore's VBI-- I can't see cable companies not cooperating with PBS. I exchanged email with the news operations manager of a commercial TV station in Seattle that is designated as a Win98 R&D station a couple of months ago. He said that VBI testing was held up in Dec last year until they could get the VBI transmission issue cleared up with a cable company. He informed me in early Feb that had been taken care of. (recent test included an animated coffee cup on the screen... only in Seattle <g>...) Keep in mind that MSFT is pushing 'Enhanced TV' big time as part of it's Broadcast Architecture for the PC/TV (you saw my previous post Message 3795522 about MS designing a new script language for inserting codes/data in the VBI..and the test programming they will be conducting.). With Microsoft paving the way for VBI I think we will be in good company as the various parts and pathways fall into place. 3. Content I thought you said they said (they said) they were adding to the content.. They have several months before Win98 is released to ramp-up Content. They have a sales force, which I heard on the investor conf call a while back, was being expanded with experienced industry persons. 4. Ads In launching any new medium they need to provide free ad space as an inducement to sign-on and prove the system to advertisers (like they do in new unproven magazines to get the 'names' to sign). Advertisers will want to see their stuff on the air to be impressed. I suspect they may be giving some WaveTop space as a teaser in order to get content providers to sign deals for the OTHER data feeds the company sends to Corp desktops in the network division. 5. PointCast Biz I tried Pointcast for about 15min, but it choked by internet feed so much I dumped it -- it slowed my stock quote feeds over the net. WaveTop operates secondary to net usage so at least I would not be induced to turn off the WaveTop feed due to BW limits. I don't know much about Pointcast's business, but WavePhore has 3 business divisions, including a significant data distribution service to Corp America outside of the WaveTop service. I suspect that some of WaveTop's datasources are re-appropriation of existing datafeeds/contracts so acquisition cost is low. But it looks like WaveTop has to be pulled-off to make the company profitable. 6. Bill G. does his you-scratch-my-back-I'll-stab-yours deals, for sure... The deal Wavephore has with Microsoft can't get much more exclusive. Why should one be disappointed? As I mentioned before they are testing a Windows Update feature in Win98 (currently over the net) which could certainly be accommodated via WaveTop's download service... MS is putting a Zero Administration Initiative in place to make supporting/updating software as convenient as possible. WAVO is creating one of the most unique data distribution networks/services that exist... keep an eye on it for a couple quarters, lets see where they take it.

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