NDS Mediahighway Middleware Deployed Across DIRECTV Latin America

Highlights:

• NDS to deploy MediaHighway™ middleware on more than 800,000 set-top boxes in Latin America

• First release of NDS middleware on DIRECTV Latin America set-top boxes including the LR15 DVR

• DIRECTV LA subscribers now benefit from advanced interactive applications

COSTA MESA, USA – February 14, 2007 – NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced that its MediaHighway middleware, currently deployed on 41.6 million set-top boxes worldwide, is being downloaded to all DIRECTV Latin America L10 and L11 set-top boxes as well as the LR15 Digital Video Recorder (DVR).
Via this deployment, NDS provides a much anticipated upgrade to the current subscribers’ interface. With the download of NDS MediaHighway middleware, viewers can use an advanced program guide through which they can see a wide variety of channel choices on one screen – a mosaic – enabling them to choose their next program as it airs. The middleware also enables DIRECTV Latin America (LA) to offer additional advanced features to their subscribers including interactive TV applications and interactive games.
This is the first release of the NDS MediaHighway middleware on DIRECTV Latin America set-top boxes. The download, which is being deployed to more than 800,000 subscribers’ set-top boxes, also standardizes the user interface with that of the DIRECTV LA version of the new DVR which has recently been rolled out.
NDS is powering the DVR engine of DIRECTV LA LR15 with its XTV software, the platform that enables a broad set of new services with more than 100 hours of program storage. XTV allows content to remain copy protected while stored on the disk, but it can still be easily viewed, searched and managed.
“By standardizing our set-top box technology through the NDS MediaHighway middleware upgrade, DIRECTV Latin America customers will experience an unprecedented ease of use and access to services that have set new standards in interactivity and digital video recording capability,” said Romulo Pontual, DIRECTV’s Chief Technology Officer.
“Our MediaHighway middleware has proven to be the platform of choice for the development of advanced interactive applications and, with this deployment, we are very pleased to bring the future of TV to the DIRECTV LA subscribers,” said Dr. Dov Rubin, Vice President and General Manager of NDS Americas. “By deploying a consistent platform across set-top boxes throughout North and South America, DIRECTV now
offers all of their viewers the most advanced, state-of-the-art, interactive TV applications available in the world today.”
About NDS
NDS Group plc (NASDAQ: NNDS), a majority owned subsidiary of News Corporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology and services to digital pay-television platform operators and content providers. See www.nds.com for more information about NDS.
About DIRECTV Latin America
DIRECTV Latin America, LLC, is a multinational company, which is 100% owned by The DIRECTV Group, Inc. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, DIRECTV Latin America provides digital television service to approximately 4 million customers in Latin America.
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