Pathfire and Warner Bros. Technical Operations Create           Revolutionary Service to Distribute High Definition (HD) Ads

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LOS ANGELES, CA and ATLANTA, GA – January 19, 2007 - Warner Bros. Technical Operations and Pathfire have teamed up to create a full-service, end-to-end HD Ad distribution network, capable of delivering content to over 1400 broadcast facilities. The partnership enables Warner Bros. to deliver High Definition (HD) ads via Pathfire's Digital Media Gateway (DMG) network of servers and represents a giant leap forward for the television industry.

 The service was launched on Dec. 6, 2006 when Warner Bros. delivered movie promotional ads encoded at its Los Angeles based Global Digital Media XChange facility (GDMX) to Meredith Corporation's WGCL-TV in Atlanta. This delivery utilized the existing Pathfire infrastructure to enable the satellite delivery of the ad content. In Atlanta, the content arrived on the DMG Server located at WGCL, and was transferred to the station's play-to-air server via a file transfer process.

 "This is a remarkable accomplishment for Pathfire, Warner Bros., the Meredith Broadcasting Group and perhaps, most importantly, our industry," said Mike Eckert, Pathfire's Chairman and CEO. "The tidal wave of HD content delivery is finally here and Pathfire and its partners are ready to support the ever-increasing consumer demand for HD programming."

 "Warner Bros. and many of our colleagues in the industry support the delivery of HD content in file form as it is the natural progression of today's SD store and forward platforms," said Paul Saccone, Senior Vice President and General Manager of GDMX "Our experience in file-based SD content has helped us to identify the criteria for a successful HD solution.  We're pleased to be working with Pathfire in this area."

 Utilizing the Pathfire DMG HD delivery network, GDMX delivers file-based HD content on-demand, virtually without delay. Pathfire provides end-to-end technology to enable this delivery all the way to the station's play-to-air server, providing delivery confirmation to the providers. Pathfire enables native integration into play-to-air servers, as well as providing transcoding to either 1080i or 720p to match a station's infrastructure. 

 Pathfire's DMG HD product line has been shaped, developed and released with guidance from the industry's top technology leaders. The Pathfire lead HD Conclave, comprised of senior level experts from Content Providers, Content Distributors, and Broadcast Groups, has provided Pathfire with industry validation in the form of technical guidance for the Pathfire DMG HD product roadmap. The successes so far in HD distribution are a direct result of the industry working together to create a standard platform for HD distribution. The Conclave's efforts enabled a superior solution for the complex challenges associated with HD content distribution. 

 Steve Flanagan, Director of Engineering at WGCL-TV added, "Warner Bros. has delivered pristine, broadcast quality HD content to WGCL. We look forward to airing additional ads and programming delivered to the DMG platform at our facility. The file-based transfer of content ties directly to the Meredith vision for processing of digitally delivered content. This enables the elimination of base-band processing of the HD content, requiring additional costly infrastructure."

 About Pathfire, Inc.

Pathfire (www.pathfire.com), headquartered in Atlanta, is the leading provider of Standard and High Definition digital content distribution and management solutions for the broadcast, media and entertainment industries, supplying innovative digital solutions, from distribution to air, for broadcasters, news organizations, television networks, Hollywood studios and other media companies. Pathfire's Digital Media Gateway (DMG) is an advanced digital IP store-and-forward platform, delivering news stories, electronic press kits, syndicated programming, advertising spots, infomercials and video news releases to 1,400 local broadcasters, broadcast networks and cable networks throughout North America.

 

About Warner Bros.' Global Digital Media XChange

Global Digital Media Xchange is a valued member of the Warner Bros. family and delivers a vast array of digital services, while continuing to set the pace in the ever-changing technological landscape. GDMX's four divisions provide world-class services for Warner Bros. and other clients in:

 *         Broadcast Origination

*         Syndicated Program Distribution (The first facility to distribute long form content via Pathfire's Digital Media Gateway)

*         Advertising Distribution

*         Digital B2B Distribution

*         Video On Demand Compression and Distribution

*         SD DVD, HDDVD and Blue Ray Compression and Authoring

 

About Meredith Corporation

 Meredith Corporation (www.meredith.com) is one of the nation's leading media and marketing companies with core competencies in magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing and interactive media. Meredith owns 14 television stations that reach nearly 10 percent of television households across the country.

 Meredith's Broadcasting assets include: WGCL-TV (CBS), Atlanta; KPHO-TV (CBS), Phoenix, AZ; KPTV (FOX) and KPDX-TV (UPN), Portland, OR; WFSB-TV (CBS), Hartford-New Haven, CT; WSMV-TV (NBC), Nashville, TN; KCTV (CBS) and KSMO (WB), Kansas City, MO; WHNS-TV (FOX), Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC-Asheville, NC; WNEM-TV (CBS), Flint-Saginaw, MI; KVVU-TV (FOX), Las Vegas, NV; WFLI-TV (WB), Chattanooga, TN; WSHM, (CBS) Springfield, MA;  KFXO-CA (FOX), Bend, OR; and radio station WNEM-AM in Saginaw-Bay City, MI.

 

 

Press Contact for Pathfire

Shea Stanback

770-619-0801

sstanback@pathfire.com

 

Press Contact for Warner Bros.

Craig Hoffman

Director, Corporate Communications

Warner Bros. Technical Operations

(818) 954-2074

Craig.Hoffman@warnerbros.com