newspage.com
Digital TV Technologies
January 6, 1998
PARK RIDGE, N.J., and CHICAGO, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ via Individual Inc. -- NextLevel Systems Inc. (NYSE:
NLV) and Sony today announced that they plan to form a strategic alliance, subject to definitive agreements, to
jointly develop digital TV technologies.
The companies are discussing future generations of digital cable TV devices and high definition television (HDTV)
products, as well as incorporating new features like Sony's Home Network architecture into NextLevel's advanced
digital set-top boxes.
Both companies are exploring a broader business relationship and Sony, when definitive agreements are reached, will
purchase 7.5 million new shares of NextLevel common stock (approximately five percent of the current outstanding)
at a price of $25.00 per share.
Two weeks ago, NextLevel announced that most of the leading cable system operators intend to purchase at least 15
million set-top boxes, valued at more than $4.5 billion over the next three to five years. At that time, NextLevel
Systems announced that it is changing its name back to General Instrument Corporation. It is expected that the
company's ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange will be changed to GIC on or about February 2, 1998.
"General Instrument has long enjoyed a leading position in analog cable equipment, and we are the only equipment
supplier with a complete digital cable solution in the marketplace today," said GI Chairman and CEO Edward D.
Breen. "We believe that Sony's expertise in digital consumer electronics and its strong retail brand complement
General Instrument's strengths, and will certainly be significant assets for the development of the next-generation
digital set-top based on GI's platform."
"As a world leader in digital consumer electronics and the technological convergence of audio, video, computing and
communications, we are particularly enthusiastic about the impact that digital television will have on our
convergence strategy," said Yukio Kubota, deputy president of Sony Corporation's newly formed Digital Network
Solutions Company, which oversees digital network related businesses including hardware and software technologies
and services for digital distribution platforms.
"In the U.S., cable television will play an important role in bringing digital television to the consumer," added Gary
Myer, president of Digital Network Solutions of America, a unit of Sony Electronics in the U.S. "Sony and General
Instrument will play key roles in the future digital cable and satellite TV business, and in bringing to market
exciting, new digital products that are both cable and satellite consumer friendly."
General Instrument is a world leader in the cable/satellite TV business, providing both analog and digital systems
that offer video, audio and high- speed Internet/data services over cable television and satellite networks. It is the
only company mass-deploying digital cable set-tops in the North American market. To date, some 700,000 have
been shipped, and more than 500 headends have been deployed, passing more than 24 million households.
Sony is a global leader of audio, video, television and information technology products and electronic components.
With its music, film and video game businesses, Sony is also one of the world's top entertainment companies. The
company has 163,000 employees worldwide and its consolidated annual sales for fiscal 1996 exceeded $45 billion.
SOURCE NextLevel Systems Inc.; Sony
/CONTACT: Dick Badler of NextLevel Systems, 773-695-1030, or dbadler@nlvl.com; or Rick Clancy of Sony
Electronics, U.S., 201-930-6909, or rick_clancy@mail.sel.sony.com; or Masanobu Sakaguchi,
sakaguch@ccom.sony.co.jp, or Aldo Liguori, aliguori@ccom.sony.co.jp, both of Sony Corporation, Japan,
81-3-5448-2200/ (NLV SNE)
[Copyright 1998, PR Newswire]
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