BET Networks Unveils New African American Consumer Market Research and New Programming at 2010 Upfront Presentation

NEW YORK, April 14 During its annual Upfront presentation to the advertising community, BET Networks will reveal its new consumer research, new programming strategy including scripted programs and original movies, and the reinvigorated direction for the company at New York City's Nokia Theatre. Touting the Network's unique understanding of black consumers through its "African Americans Revealed" study, BET will reinforce its position as the world's #1 provider of black content with unprecedented reach to all types of African American consumers across all demographics and genres.

Coming off of 2009, BET's best year ever, the Network is now among the top 20 cable networks in delivery of the 18-49 audience, and is steadily outperforming its cable industry peers. In 2009, BET earned double-digit gains in all of its key demos and, according to Nielsen Media Research. The first quarter of 2010 was the number one quarter performance among adults in network history with an average of 524,000 total viewers.

"We have always been in constant conversation with our audience, but now we are coming into 2010 with a creative mix of original content and key acquisitions that keep our numbers growing," said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. "It is because this creative mix of content gives our audience exactly what they're seeking -- that we're the number one growth network for African Americans."

At the 2010 Upfront presentation, the Network will offer compelling research and consumer insights through the most comprehensive look at the black consumer market ever, "African Americans Revealed." The study provides a wide range of insights, but the one that topped the list was the importance of family. In fact, 88% of those studied cited family as their top priority.

"Throughout this process, we identified critical insights about our audience that would power our 2010 programming strategy for BET and Centric and provide a comprehensive understanding of our audience, which is the heart of the BET value proposition," said Scott Mills, President and Chief Operating Officer, BET Networks. "With such a tremendous response from our audience and the overall black community in the report, it was immediately obvious to us that BET Networks' Upfront 2010 would be 'a family affair.'"

RealNetworks' Updated Helix Media Delivery Platform Streams Any Media Type to Any Player and Device

SEATTLE, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RealNetworks®, Inc.

(RNWK), the digital entertainment services company, today released a new version of its Helix™ Media Delivery Platform with advancements that enable organizations to stream live and on-demand content in any format to any device.

Real's Helix Platform provides the tools to create, deliver, monitor, monetize, organize and play digital media. The latest update includes support for Flash, MP4/H.264, Silverlight, Windows Media and QuickTime on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Symbian devices, creating a truly universal platform.

"Real's Helix Platform sets the industry standard, providing consumers with the highest quality digital media experience," said Kari Kailamaki, vice president for Helix, RealNetworks. "Our latest update makes Helix Platform the most reliable, universal and cost-effective solution for any media and any playback environment across all devices, including PCs, mobile phones and internet-connected TVs."

The Helix Platform's advancements include:

Simultaneous content delivery from a single media source for iPhone, iPad, Flash Player, Silverlight, H.264 and RealVideo—simplifying video distribution for content owners.

A comprehensive set of tools that helps content owners monetize and control access to content, including enhanced client control, external authorization and streaming session logging, and management.

The ability to upload, tag, search and discover digital media quickly, particularly relevant in the education market.

Encoding into standard MP4/H.264 for maximum audience reach without requiring separate encoders to reach devices like the iPhone and iPad
Support for rapidly building and deploying a compelling, customized mobile video viewing experience on mobile handsets supporting over 900 devices including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia with the new Helix Rich Media Client.

Georgia College & State University Connects Students and Organizations Digitally

April 14, 2010 -- Simplifying the flow of information is vital to communication and student involvement. That’s why

students and staff at Georgia College & State University (GCSU) worked together earlier this year to launch Bobcat Vision, the school’s first digital signage network on campus.

GCSU worked with Capital Signs to install Bobcat Vision, which consists of 16 32-inch and three 42-inch high-definition displays powered by Scala (http://www.scala.com) software. The screens are mounted in various campus areas, including the student activities center, classroom buildings, faculty office buildings and student union dining hall.

“With the Scala solution, GCSU’s opportunity to communicate to the student body has greatly expanded, and it will allow the Student Government Association to simplify and better package a continuous flow of information to students,” said Andy Panos, Vice President of Capital Signs.

To run the network, GCSU obtained 12 licenses for Scala Players, Designer, Content Manager and Template Composer EX module. Capital Signs designed all of the graphics and templates stored in Scala Content Manager. Scala Designer is available in the student activities center, and it is used by the designated system administrator to build new templates and graphics for all users of the digital signage network.

Scala Content Manager allows student groups and campus members to add their own messaging to the templates, and it is available to all authorized students with Internet access. This gives them the ability to add messages from off-campus housing, as well as computer labs and dormitories.

“Once we really played with the software and functionality, we realized that it is extremely flexible and can be pushed as far as we want,” said Billy Grace, a senator in the Student Government Association. “We’re consistently finding new features and opportunities, and we know that as Bobcat Vision grows, we will continue learning how to improve the way we use it.”

Currently, Capital Signs is integrating campus RSS feeds — the same ones that appear on the GCSU Web site — into Bobcat Vision. They have also installed a Scala Player that will drive Bobcat Vision to GCSU’s campus cable network to reach the TVs of anyone on campus.

Georgia College & State University, the state’s designated Public Liberal Arts University, combines the educational experience expected at esteemed private liberal arts colleges with the affordability of public higher education. Its four colleges – arts and sciences, business, education and health sciences – provide 6,600 undergraduate and graduate students with an exceptional learning environment that extends beyond the classroom, with hands-on involvement with faculty research, community service, residential learning communities, study abroad and myriad internships.