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To: Skip Jack who wrote (2630)	4/23/1999 9:38:00 PM
From: ed doell	Respond to of 13157

DEF_14A is out announcing the annual meeting & the content.

To: Skip Jack who wrote (2630)	4/23/1999 10:43:00 PM
From: Skip Jack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13157

Broadband Week for April 26, 1999 Digital, Interactivity Stir up Tech Talk At NAB Confab multichannel.com

To: Skip Jack who wrote (2630)	4/23/1999 10:58:00 PM
From: Skip Jack	Respond to of 13157

Date Posted: 4/23/1999 Internet will be the only network WebTV's Perlman, Oracle's Ellison say Internet-based interactive TV will dominate Internet-based interactive TV is alive and kicking, according to WebTV Networks President Steve Perlman and Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison. As the only interactive TV provider in the United States, WebTV has 800,000 subscribers, Perlman said. Last year, the venture boasted 500,000 subscribers; the year before, just 200,000. WebTV is Microsoft Corp.'s venture to link the Internet and other interactive content with TV sets. Oracle, meanwhile, a leading provider of databases to businesses, is providing the hardware for British Interactive Broadcasting, a British Telecom consortium that includes News Corp.'s BSkyB and Matsushita. BIB represents the world's largest deployment of interactive TV, with the number of users of the free (for now) service expected to hit 1 million in October, Ellison said. Ellison and Perlman demonstrated their cutting-edge products last Monday (April 19) and Tuesday, respectively, during the NAB convention in Las Vegas. While America Online is the No. 1 online service in terms of aggregate online hours per month, WebTV outstrips AOL when it comes to usage. WebTV averages about 1.5 viewers at a time, about double AOL's rate, Perlman said. Meanwhile, 71% of WebTV users donown a PC. Viewers' average age is 43, about what it is for broadcast TV and about a decade older than the average Internet user. WebTV will start looking even more like broadcast TV as its January deal with EchoStar allows for the insertion of local ads. But EchoStar's set-top box also will allow customers to skip ads as they replay broadcasts. The ads are stored for viewing later. Actual TV on demand is about six years away, Perlman said. British Interactive Broadcasting, or BIB, does not yet offer TV on demand either. Its next step is video on demand. Three months' worth of broadcast shows will be stored on an Oracle server, allowing users to create personal TV channels, Ellison said. That would be in addition to BIB's other services, which include shopping, banking, games, and e-mail. "You cannot fast-forward over the commercials," Ellison said. "I wonder why." However, he later said that he could imagine charging users who don't want ads to appear during the shows they select. "Of course you charge ... for that convenience," he said. Oracle technology allows advertisers to better target commercials, "bringing e-commerce to the mass market," BIB Chief Executive James Ackerman said. Users can diverge from a car ad to find the location of the nearest dealer, for example, or read a movie review and then buy tickets and soundtracks. Eventually, they will be able to proceed directly to an advertiser's Web site (WebTV already has that capacity with some advertising partners). "The Internet will be the only network that there is," Ellison predicted.

To: Skip Jack who wrote (2630)	4/24/1999 12:36:00 PM
From: art slott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13157

"Interactive television and popcorn anyone"? On The Plus Side TCI Music's strong relationship with Liberty Media should serve as a valuable asset for the Internet venture firm. Liberty Media maintains stakes in more than 100 cable channels such as BET, Discovery Channel, E!, CNN, TNT, CourtTV and USA Networks (USAI). Liberty also maintains sizeable stakes in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS), QVC and Time Warner. Such pre-existing relationships should serve as a powerful factor in attracting significant Internet deal flow for TCI Music. In addition, Liberty Media's ties to traditional media should prove valuable when introducing various TCI Music companies to Liberty Media investments and vice versa. TCI Music's direct connection with TCI, which currently maintains majority voting control of high-speed Internet provider At Home (ATHM) should enhance the venture firm's bargaining position with private and public Internet companies. Liberty Media is also a large investor in leading set top box maker General Instrument (GIC). Together, Liberty Media's At Home and General Instrument stakes provide a compelling "broadband entry strategy" for private Internet companies looking to jump on the high bandwidth bandwagon. Although, I'm sure in Malone's perfect world that means these private Internet companies must first give up a sizeable equity stake for the magical doors to be opened. In addition, TCI Music has already announced they plan to develop 12 interactive cable channels. An agreement reached between Liberty Media and AT&T as part of the AT&T/TCI merger gives Liberty Media valuable interactive video rights to AT&T cable systems. And guess who Liberty Media is turning the rights over to? Yep - Liberty Digital, as part of the proposed TCI Music-Liberty Media deal. So far, interactive television has been tried often and has failed often. Will this soon change? Will the proposed Liberty Digital find a way to ride interactive television's coattails? Possibly. I'm not a true believer yet in interactive television or in Malone's recent moves with Liberty Media and TCI Music, but one thing I do know is to never underestimate John Malone. After all, he was able to peddle off TCI to AT&T for $55 billion. What can he do for an encore with TCI Music? I'm still not sure, but it's definitely going to be fun to watch. Interactive television and popcorn anyone? Disclosure: Please note that CMGI is an investor in Raging Bull. Quote of the Week -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "AT&T is now Ma Cable. It wants to get as a large a cable footprint (as it can). I'm a little surprised by this, but it signals that they want to have a much larger footprint in the United States of cable companies." -- Comments made this week by Scott Cleland, a telecom analyst at Legg Mason, to CNBC regarding AT&