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Non-Tech : The Critical Investing Workshop -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (11302)	4/6/2000 8:25:00 AM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 35685

GMST--SpaceCom Upgrades Founding Technology BUSINESS WIRE - April 05, 2000 16:32 TULSA, Okla., Apr 5, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The technology that created SpaceCom Systems, Inc. (in 1986) - a Tulsa-based satellite service provider for the communications industry - and quickly made it a leader in the satellite industry, has been upgraded with a new all-digital technology that has five times the original signal transmission capacity. The C-Band "FM Squared" modulation technology is making way for "FM Quad," a DVB/MPEG 2 data transmission service. It brings with it higher quality and efficiency as well as lower costs and increased flexibility. "This is a major milestone for our company," said SpaceCom Vice-President of Operations Bill Hartanovich. "It feels a little strange to be nostalgic about something that is only 14 years old. Yet, when you consider that technological changes seem to be coming at the speed of light today, something that has served a high-tech industry well for this long deserves some celebration." SpaceCom, originally spun off of United Video under the name Subcarrier Systems, has been a leader and innovator in the satellite services industry since its inception. Yet, according to Hartanovich, the original FM Squared development was the result of a fluke. "The push around 1983 to encrypt or `scramble' the video signals people were receiving for free on their big backyard satellite dishes inadvertently created a valuable, expandable market." The History of SpaceCom United Video was involved in testing encryption technologies at their Chicago International Teleport when they discovered that encryption for Superstation WGN, a video signal they were transmitting over satellite at that time, was utilizing a majority of the space on the current satellite. United Video had 30 or more clients -- including Moody Broadcasting Network, WMFT Radio and Dow Jones -- added to the WGN signal, and an idea was born through Teleport Manager Al Stem, who suggested United Video give them their own satellite channel. With the new satellite space, United Video could now support all of the tenants migrated from WGN's signal, plus dozens of others. Development of the new channel was a technical challenge. United Video, in conjunction with Wegener Communications, Inc., came up with an innovative solution: a frequency modulated technology (similar to that used by FM radio stations) that would accommodate a large number of clients with minimal signal space. It was so efficient that it also allowed the huge 16-foot satellite dishes of the time to shrink to six feet in diameter. The new technology was dubbed "FM Squared" and it soon became an industry standard. "The efficiencies gained by progressive technologies continue to make satellite transmission more affordable and more versatile," said Hartanovich. SpaceCom is currently poised to move into other new areas of satellite technology with the addition of an IP-based satellite 2-way service. The service is expected to offer fast Internet access and accommodate specialized areas of use like distance learning, corporate virtual private networks, remote business training, disaster area communications and more. After the February 29, 2000, upgrade from both C-band FM Squared services, many of SpaceCom's FM squared customers were seamlessly switched to the new FM Quad service on GE Americom's GE-3 satellite. On Oct. 4, 1999, TV Guide, Inc. (NASDAQ: TVGIA) and Gemstar International Group Limited (NASDAQ: GMST) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which TV Guide, Inc. will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Gemstar. TV Guide is a global diversified media and communications company that operates three primary business units: TV Guide Entertainment Group, TV Guide Magazine Group, and United Video Group. TV Guide markets and distributes products in the United States to over 100 million cable and satellite homes every week. TV Guide also markets its products internationally in 45 countries. TV Guide magazine and TV Guide Channel are the largest print and electronic guidance products in the world. TV Guide has unparalleled consumer reach with the following products and cable/satellite services: -- TV Guide magazine - 11 million circulation - 34 million weekly readers -- TV Guide Channel - 53.4 million subscribers - 28 million weekly viewers -- TV Guide Interactive - 34 million homes passed - 3.2 million subscribers -- TV Guide Online - 71.1 million page views/month - >2.8 million unique users per month -- The Cable Guide - 4 million subscribers - 10 million weekly readers -- Sneak Prevue - 34 million subscribers -- WGN - 47 million subscribers -- KTLA - 3 million subscribers -- WPIX - 3 million subscribers -- Denver 6 Services - 4 million subscribers TV Guide operates several other business units including: Superstar/Netlink Group, LLC - SpaceCom Systems - Television Games Network - SSDS - TV Guide Media Sales - TV Guide Affiliate Sales - TV Guide Enterprise Solutions - TV Guide International - TV Guide Distribution, Inc. - Infomedia, SA. For up-to-date information about TV Guide companies, please access our Internet home page at www.tvguideinc.com. TV Guide trades on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol TVGIA. Distributed via COMTEX.