DIVA uses SFA STB
CHARTER, DIVA EXPAND AGREEMENT TO DELIVER VIDEO ON DEMAND TO A TOTAL OF 1.7 MILLION CUSTOMERS
DIVA’S DOMINANCE OF COMMERCIALLY DEPLOYED VOD MARKETS
IN THE U.S. SURPASSES 6O PERCENT
ST. LOUIS, Mo., and REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (July 18, 2001) - Charter Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:CHTR), the nation’s fourth-largest cable operator, and DIVA™, the video-on-demand solutions leader for the cable TV industry, today announced a new agreement that will expand the total number of Charter customers capable of receiving VOD via DIVA’s software and hardware solutions to 1.7 million.
Building on their existing agreement, Charter and DIVA will bring VOD to new markets across the country, continuing the strong momentum of DIVA’s VOD rollouts in the U.S. This rollout follows recent Charter deployments in St. Louis and three of the 10 largest U.S. television markets: Los Angeles, Fort Worth and Atlanta. Charter is deploying the service on both Scientific Atlanta and Motorola digital set-top boxes.
“Although it’s early in the deployment cycle, we’re already seeing significant benefits from Video on Demand,” said Steve Silva, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development & Technology for Charter Communications. “VOD is a compelling return for our investment, both from incremental revenue and customer retention. Charter believes DIVA’s integrated solutions, repeatable implementation process and high quality of support and service enable us to provide our customers with the best VOD service available today. From the comfort of their homes, our customers can experience the convenience of gaining access to a large library of DVD quality programming content with full VCR functionality, a service that our satellite competitors cannot duplicate or provide.”
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CHARTER/DIVA EXPAND AGREEMENT, PAGE 2
“We have remained committed to delivering the most comprehensive, easy-to-use VOD solutions to the cable industry. The additional Charter deployments have significantly expanded our agreement and have enabled DIVA to maintain its position as the leader in VOD,” said Henk Hanselaar, President and CEO of DIVA. “Charter is a key partner for DIVA because of its aggressive approach to providing consumers with the most advanced digital cable offering today. Charter’s ability to roll out VOD services and provide high-quality support to its customers make it a leader in the cable community. We are pleased to serve more Charter customers and look forward to continuing our goal of deploying VOD in more neighborhoods across America.”
With DIVA’s technology, Charter’s customers have complete control over their viewing experience and, with VCR-like capabilities, can watch new releases, classic films and basic and premium cable programming including Discovery Channel, PBS and ESPN, as well as children’s programming. Charter and DIVA are also exploring the opportunity to offer content via Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) packages. With SVOD, a customer would have unlimited access to view titles within the SVOD package, without incurring additional fees.
Today’s announcement of additional rollouts in key markets affirms the high level of commitment both DIVA and Charter share in delivering the best VOD solutions today.
About Charter
Charter Communications (Nasdaq:CHTR), a Wired World™ company, is among the nation’s largest broadband communications companies, currently serving some 7 million customers in 40 states. Charter provides a full range of advanced broadband services to the home, including cable television on an advanced digital video programming platform marketed under the Charter Digital Cable™ brand; and high-speed Internet access marketed under the Charter Pipeline™ brand. Commercial high-speed data, video and Internet solutions are provided under the Charter Business Networks™ brand. Advertising sales and production services are sold under the Charter Media™ brand. More information about Charter can be found at www.charter.com.
About DIVA
DIVA Systems Corporation (www.divatv.com) is the nation’s leading video-on-demand (VOD) provider to the cable television industry. DIVA has either deployed or has commitments to deploy in 26 markets by three of the top eight U.S. operators, AT&T Broadband, Charter Communications and Insight Communications, which together reach 44 percent of all U.S. digital cable subscribers. DIVA offers a choice of services in a complete VOD solution, including content aggregation and distribution, software and server technologies, billing and support services. Founded in June 1995, DIVA is a privately held company and is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. DIVA’s strategic investors include Charter Communications, NTL, OpenTV, Starz Encore, Liberate and Motorola. More information can be found at www.divatv.com. |
