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To: view who wrote (47790)	12/2/1999 8:46:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Tandberg/NDS....................................... tvbroadcast.com NDS Fits In With Tandberg Television By Michael Grotticelli New York -- Since the deal became final on October 15, executives at NDS Americas, in Newport Beach, CA, have been working hard to get the message out that their company now goes by the name of Tandberg Television. It was announced by Television Broadcastlast month that Oslo, Norway-based Tandberg Television had bought the assets of the NDS digital broadcast product line from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for $272 million (including $150 million in cash.) At the recent SMPTE conference in New York City last month (where Tandberg Television had twoexhibit booths), Marketing Manager Lisa Hobbs said that the acquisition and re-branding is going well, with many of NDS's products fitting in nicely with Tandberg's, for those customers designing digital microwave and encoding systems for their transmission/reception facilities. To her pleasant surprise, Hobbs said the new venture has reinvigorated the (former NDS) sales staff to have success with some broadcasters they had trouble negotiating with previously. "NDS was looking to expand into the cable business," she remarked. "What was holding us back was the competitive issues surrounding existing business relationships." For Tandberg Television, which had until recently been involved in a marketing deal with DiviCom for that company's encoder products, NDS' high-quality encoding technology fits in with its digital compression, multiplexing, transmission and reception products used in numerous cable headends. They now feel well-positioned to target professional broadcast applications, like the transfer of live and pre-recorded material between ENG crews and their station. Tandberg COO Graham Murray, calls the merger a "perfect marriage. [The acquisition] is about open systems, open standards and providing the customer with the ability to choose the products they need." Murray said the acquisition was completed to enable Tandberg to compete for major broadcast projects and offer a complete, "end-to-end" solution. He also said that the NDS digital broadcast business was attractive to him due to the fact that the NDS division has tripled its revenue in the last three years. "NDS is a leader in its field and with our products I think we can offer broadcasters the best solution," he said, "and it will all come from Tandberg Television, as a single vendor." The move has proven successful with a number of broadcasters so far. For example, Sinclair Broadcast Group recently announced that it would buy Tandberg Television's Series E5820 multi-format ATSC encoders for four of its stations. Tandberg will also provide Sinclair with engineering support to help get the stations--WBFF, Baltimore; KDNL, St. Louis; WPGH, Pittsburgh; KOVR, Sacramento--on air as well. Yet, for Hobbs, there's the perception problem of making sure people know that the NDS product line will continue to be the same, at least for the next few years. Future co-development projects are sure to result in a new generation of Tandberg Television transmission products. "I'm optimistic about the future for us, as Tandberg Television," she said. "Everyone [at the company] agrees that this can only be a good thing for us, as we endeavor to expand our business. The broadcast industry has embraced our products, and we'll continue to support our existing customers, but we'd also like to enter into the cable headend business and other transmission sectors as well." The Tandberg acquisition does not include NDS's growing conditional access software business, which will continue to be developed and marketed under the NDS name. News Corp. has now become the single largest shareholder (approximately 18 percent) in Tandberg Television. The deal brings over 700 former NDS employees , including 35 in the U.S., into the Tandberg Television fold. Current plans call for existing marketing and development offices in Newport Beach to remain intact. Tandberg's existing U.S. distribution infrastructure will also remain in place. "Things change," offered Graham. "Nothing stands still in this business." For more information, Tandberg Television can be reached by calling Hobbs's former NDS number: (949) 725-2548.