CANAL OVERSEAS Selects NDS to Deliver External PVR with a Flash EPG

Highlights:

* CANAL OVERSEAS is launching an external personal video recorder (PVR) service running a Flash™-based Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)
* Next-generation user interface will enable subscribers to browse and discover content and services more easily
* CANAL OVERSEAS has deployed a new version of NDS MediaHighway® set-top box software, allowing subscribers to easily transform their set-top box (STB) into a PVR by adding an external hard drive

LONDON, UK and PARIS, France - NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced that CANAL OVERSEAS, the international arm of CANAL+ Group, is introducing a personal video recorder (PVR) service with a Flash™-based Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) developed by NDS. This is the first PVR service for CANAL OVERSEAS markets across the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean. French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa and the South Pacific will benefit from this service in the near future.

CANAL OVERSEAS has deployed a new version of NDS MediaHighway® set-top box (STB) software to power its satellite pay-TV service. The new version of MediaHighway automatically downloads new software to each STB, enabling the STBs to detect the addition of an external hard drive and format the drive for use as a PVR.

OCANAL OVERSEAS subscribers who wish to upgrade to a PVR service can now rent a Western Digital 500 GB hard disk to connect it to their dual-tuner Pace STB via its USB port.

The new version of NDS MediaHighway also provides the foundation for CANAL OVERSEAS to offer catch-up TV services in the future.

The Flash based EPG design and production is the result of collaboration between CANAL OVERSEAS, CANAL+ CYFROWY’s design teams, NDS design studios in Paris and NDS’ R&D facility in India.

“The delivery of the PVR service and Flash EPG is a great achievement. With the PVR, we offer a service most appreciated and expected by our customers. Indeed the PVR service will change their way of consuming television and allow them to make the most of their subscription.” said Marc Noblet, Chief Technology Officer of CANAL OVERSEAS. “Our partnership with NDS will enable us to continue to deliver new user experiences in the future.”

Caroline Le Bigot, NDS senior vice president, EMEA and Latin America, commented, “MediaHighway is ideal for initiatives such as CANAL OVERSEAS’s innovative Electronic Programme Guide which was designed with ease-of-use in mind. When content and services are easier to find, subscribers are more likely to access them, increasing revenues and reducing churn.”

About CANAL OVERSEAS

CANAL OVERSEAS is the subsidiary of CANAL+ Group in charge of French overseas territories and international development. CANAL OVERSEAS is the operator and distributor of CANAL+, CANALSAT and other localized channel packages around the world: Poland, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, the Oceania/South Pacific area and Vietnam. CANAL OVERSEAS also edits the CANAL+ HORIZONS channel for Sub-Saharan Africa and CANAL+ for the Maghreb. With satellites that cover five continents, CANAL OVERSEAS packages are marketed in over 40 countries and are potentially accessible by tens of millions of people in the world.

About NDS

NDS Group Ltd. creates the technologies and applications that enable pay-TV operators to securely deliver digital content to TV STBs (set-top boxes), DVRs (digital video recorders), PCs, mobiles and other multimedia devices. Over 70 of the world’s leading pay-TV platforms rely on NDS solutions to protect and enhance their businesses. VideoGuard® is the world’s marketleading conditional access (CA) and digital rights management (DRM) technology, currently deployed on 107 million active devices, and safeguarding pay-TV service revenues exceeding $40 billion. NDS middleware, including MediaHighway ® which enables a host of advanced services for subscribers, has been deployed on 123 million devices. NDS DVR technology, centred around XTV™, leads the global industry with 21 million units deployed. (Deployment figures as of 30th June 2009).

Headquartered in the UK, NDS remains committed to investing in R&D with over 75% of its employees dedicated to pioneering work at development centres in China, Denmark, France, India, Israel, Korea, UK and US. NDS has also implemented a host of initiatives aimed at reducing its carbon footprint and helping digital TV subscribers reduce energy consumption.

NDS Group Ltd. is a private company owned by the Permira Funds and News Corporation. See www.nds.com for more information.