TV Azteca Expands HDTV Service With Harmonic Video Processing Solutions

Harmonic Enables Efficient Use of Satellite Bandwidth While Delivering Excellent Video Quality

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) announced that TV Azteca, the second largest broadcaster in Mexico, has deployed Harmonic’s IP-based video processing solutions to facilitate satellite distribution of its expanded HDTV service to hundreds of retransmission sites throughout Mexico and Central America. The new DVB-S2-based distribution system relies on Harmonic’s multifunction compression and stream processing solutions to reduce the cost of satellite uplink and transmission through more efficient use of the satellite bandwidth.

“Harmonic’s compression and stream processing solutions provide the bandwidth efficiency, video quality, reliability, and versatility required to meet our needs, while enabling us to expand our HD service,” said Ing. Román Gomez Mendez, department director, engineering and advanced technology development at TV Azteca. “The new distribution system allows us to securely transmit HD MPEG-4 AVC content over satellite and transcode to multiple formats for retransmission over terrestrial broadcast networks, while providing excellent video quality.”

TV Azteca is using Harmonic’s Electra® 7000 HD AVC encoders and the ProStream™ 1000 stream processing platform with DiviTrackIP™ statistical multiplexing and DVB scrambling to deliver secure, high-quality services while optimizing bandwidth efficiency. Harmonic’s ProView™ 7000 integrated receiver/decoders (IRDs) and ACE™ any-to-many real-time transcoding technology are used by TV Azteca for content reception and format conversion. Project integration and system installation were performed by Teletec de Mexico, SA de CV, a Harmonic reseller and systems integrator in Mexico.

“Cost-effective transmission of high-quality content is among the primary business challenges facing broadcasters today,” said Richard Phelps, vice president of sales for Latin America at Harmonic Inc. “Harmonic’s complete offering for high-quality HD encoding, DVB-S2 distribution and dense transcoding enables operators such as TV Azteca to significantly reduce bandwidth usage costs associated with distribution to terrestrial transmitters and increase the range and quality of the services they provide.”
About Harmonic Inc.

Harmonic Inc. (NASDAQ: HLIT) provides infrastructure that powers the video economy. The company enables content and service providers to efficiently create, prepare, and deliver differentiated video services for television and new media platforms. More information is available at www.harmonicinc.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to: providing bandwidth efficiency, excellent video quality, reliability, and versatility required to meet customer’s needs; and significantly reducing bandwidth usage costs associated with distribution to terrestrial transmitters and increasing the range and quality of services.

Our expectations and beliefs regarding the capabilities of Harmonic’s IP-based video processing solutions and the anticipated benefits for TV Azteca may not materialize, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Harmonic’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its recent Reports filed on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Harmonic does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.

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