Paris, France (April 2, 2002) - Thomson (Paris Euronext: 18453) (NYSE: TMS), and MediametrieCabSat have decided to join forces to design and develop automatic measurement solutions in the areas of digital TV (over satellite, cable or terrestrial broadcast), interactive services, radio, cinema, billboard, mobile telephony and streaming media.
Thomson will reinforce MediametrieCabSat, a common subsidiary of Mediametrie and Viaccess (a France Telecom company) through a capital increase and will control 34% of the company. Mediametrie will own 51% and Viaccess will own the remaining 15%. Mediam�trieCabSat has already designed and developed the first digital "people-meter" used for the digital channel audience measurement.
MediametrieCabSat will market and sell its solutions to audience rating agencies, their customers and users or third parties, initially in France, shortly followed by other international markets.
"Audience measurement is the cornerstone of the economic equation linking media companies, broadcasters, advertisers and media agencies. Measuring audiences in the traditional media, such as TV or radio, is already a complex job, and Mediametrie has acquired a recognized know-how and undisputed reference position in this field. New forms of distribution such as digital satellite, cable and the advent of interactive services on these media, further extend the choices of viewers, and creates new challenges in terms of audience measurement. New tools are needed, and I believe our partnership with MediametrieCabSat will position Thomson as a leading provider of consumer behavior measurement technologies and solutions" said John Neville, Senior Executive Vice President, New Media Services business unit for Thomson multimedia.
"We are pleased to partner with Thomson, the world leader in digital set-top boxes and a pioneer in interactive television. This new partnership will position MediametrieCabSat as a worldwide market leader for solutions not only for cable and satellite, but also for digital terrestrial broadcast and all equipments for the distribution and reception and other media. The agreement reinforces M�diam�trie as the reference in the French measurement media market" said Jacqueline Aglietta, Chief Executive Officer of MediametrieCabSat.
Thomson and MediametrieCabSat just finalized their agreement on March 29, 2002.
* * *
About Thomson
With sales of 10.5 billion Euros (U.S. $ 9.3 billion) in 2001
and 73,000 employees in more than 30 countries, Thomson
(Paris Euroclear: 18453) (NYSE: TMS), provides a wide range
of video (and enabling) technologies, systems, finished products
and services to consumers and professionals in the entertainment
and media industries. To advance and enable the digital media
transition, Thomson multimedia has five principal activities:
Digital Media Solutions, Displays and Components, Consumer Products,
Patents and Licensing, and New Media Services. The company distributes
its products under the THOMSON, RCA and TECHNICOLOR brand names.
About MediametrieCabSat
MediametrieCabSat is a common subsidiary of Mediametrie, Thomson multimedia, and Viaccess (a France Telecom company) . With revenues of 35.7 millions Euros and 316 employees and shareholders including the media, major radio and television channels as well as their advertising customers: advertising agency representatives and their agencies, Mediametrie is the inter-professional audience measurement company for the broadcast and interactive media. Mediametrie started measuring cable and satellite audience in 2000 and released its first audience figures in 2001. Viaccess delivers digital solutions for pay television. Its products and services are deployed in more than 6 millions households in the world. For more information: www.mediametrie.fr - www.viaccess.com
Thomson Press Relations
Jean-Loup Bourgois - Tel: 331.41.86.55590 -
