Omneon Video Networks, the recognized leader in standards-based networked media servers, is making a range of announcements today that demonstrate the Company's unsurpassed momentum in new products, partner applications, and customer acceptance. Omneon has established itself as a technology leader with the Omneon Media Server System, and today's announcements further raise the bar in delivering the strongest customer value proposition in the industry – lowest out-of-pocket costs, lowest ongoing operating costs, and greatest openness and scalability to enable customers to rapidly implement new revenue-generating services. Because of this strong value proposition, Omneon is also able to announce exciting new partner and customer relationships. Even in a difficult economy, Omneon has grown revenues for six consecutive quarters while increasing revenues five-fold since NAB2002.

"We have experienced great momentum over the past 12 months," said Larry Kaplan, Omneon, chief executive officer. "This kind of momentum is based not only on the number of new customers, but on the quality of those customers and on the fact that they keep coming back. Broadcasters have responded positively to our open architecture strategy. Omneon enables them to change the way they work – from media to shared data resources on video networks – and the resulting value proposition has been nothing short of revolutionary."

Omneon has added fourteen new customers in the last 90 days due to its strong value proposition. The Company has a global presence with customers in 18 countries on five continents.

Omneon Increases Cost-Effectiveness, Interoperability, And Scalability With New Omneon Media Server System Version 2.1 Software

With the introduction of Omneon Media Server System version 2.1 software, the Company is again executing on its strategy to deliver a standards-based architecture that results in extremely cost-effective and highly scalable solutions for its customers. Highlights of version 2.1 software include: (1) new Edit-In-Place functionality at a fraction of the cost of the competition; (2) new SDTI-CP support which is an important requirement to enable the transfer of MXF (Material eXchange Format) files; and (3) single file system access across the entire Omneon Media Server System product family resulting in the greatest number of channels per file system on the market. Omneon's customers will profit from these enhancements through increased cost-effectiveness, interoperability, and scalability.

The new software extends Omneon's open architecture, resulting in excellent interoperability with many forms of editing systems. This arms system integrators and resellers with a clear competitive advantage. By integrating Omneon into their offerings, they have the ability to design cost-effective platforms that incorporate best-of-class components to meet their customers' specific requirements. An example of this competitive advantage is integrating the Omneon Media Server System and new version 2.1 software with Apple® Final Cut Pro® workstations. The result is best-in-class Edit-In-Place functionality that can be delivered at less than 50% of the competition in a multi-seat configuration.

In addition to Edit-In-Place functionality, system integrators and resellers can deliver a wide range of editing capabilities including craft editing using Omneon's Media Server System with Pinnacle® Liquid™ Colors, and "browse” editing using Omneon's Media Server System with Building 4Media™ FORK/TV software. And, because Omneon is the only leading media server vendor that supports QuickTime® as the "wrapper" for all media files stored on disk, it mounts quickly and easily as a local drive on all third-party applications.

Omneon Delivers New Low Cost, Easy-To-Use Media Tools To Ensure Greater Operability For Multiple Time Zones And Geographically Dispersed Locations

Omneon is extending its portfolio of Media Tools to include DELAYTOOL™, TRANSFERTOOL™, and VIEWERTOOL™. Consistent with Omneon's strategy to deliver a cost-effective networked media server platform, these new Media Tool utilities are designed to enable system integrators to deliver maximum operability at a very low cost. By providing a full range of utilities, Omneon is able to deliver a ubiquitous platform that makes it easier for its partners to accommodate customer requirements and open up new market opportunities.

The new utilities will offer the most significant advantages to customers who deal with multiple time zones and geographic locations. The first utility, DELAYTOOL, adds a real-time program delay capability to the Omneon Media Server System. With this capability, customers can record with a single channel, yet they can delay playback to accommodate up to six different time zones. TRANSFERTOOL makes it possible to copy, transfer, and manage media between Omneon systems and external standard platforms and workstations in one facility or in different geographic locations. DELAYTOOL and TRANSFERTOOL result in reduced operating costs and capital expenditures. The third utility, VIEWERTOOL, broadens the flexibility of the Omneon Media Server System by allowing customers to parse and view video program streams within MPEG transport streams stored on the Omneon server.

Omneon Ships The Most Cost-Effective High Definition System On The Market

While competitors are just now announcing high definition (HD) capabilities, Omneon has incorporated HD in its products since inception. Now, with the introduction at NAB of the new Evertz device that provides HDCAM™ encoding and decoding in a compact 1RU frame, system integrators can combine Omneon's HDCAM I/O capability with Evertz to deliver a compelling and cost-effective high-definition platform. And, unlike competitors who are not yet shipping their products, Omneon's high-definition products are shipping today.

Omneon recognized that broadcasters would need to deal with multi-format programming from the start. So, although the Company was ahead of market requirements, Omneon designed its open architecture to handle all data types – including standard and high definition – within a single Omneon Media Server System. This visionary approach enables Omneon to deliver products that will meet customer requirements over time.

Omneon Is Among Industry Leaders Driving MXF Standardization

Omneon is delivering on its MXF (Material eXchange Format) strategy at NAB2003 through a technology demonstration at the Pro-MPEG Forum's Interoperability Center. In doing so, Omneon and other industry leaders are acknowledging that MXF has arrived as a technical and commercial reality. There is inherent complexity in managing content acquisition, production, and distribution due to the requirement to implement products from a variety of manufacturers. The MXF standards-based exchange layer will solve this problem once it is adopted and implemented by the major vendors.

Omneon pioneered the use of open standards in broadcast when it became the only leading vendor to implement an open file format from the beginning. Because Omneon is the standards-based leader in networked media server platforms, integrating the MXF specification into its architecture was a natural extension of the Company's strategy. The foundation for Omneon's MXF implementation was laid last year by incorporating essential elements required for compatibility with other major suppliers in its version 2.0 software.

Omneon Announces New Customer Relationships and Partner Network Alliance

Omneon is pleased to announce several new customer relationships as part of its overall momentum since NAB2002. Individual press releases are being issued today announcing customer relationships with: CBC/Radio-Canada, NETWORK TEN, Ohio Educational Telecommunications, and WBOC-TV, a CBS affiliate. NETWORK TEN in Sydney, Australia is utilizing the Omneon Media Server System along with the new DELAYTOOL utility to ingest and store program material from weekly AFL matches and then delay the program playout to three different Australian time zones.

In addition, Omneon is issuing a press release today on its new strategic alliance with Editware. This relationship enables tight integration of Omneon's Media Server System with Editware's Fastrack media controller. Media stored on the Omneon server for broadcast can be directly edited using Fastrack, resulting in an overall increase in production efficiency. This is another proof point relating to the ease in which third-party applications can be integrated into Omneon's standards-based architecture, enabling customers to choose cost-effective and scalable solutions that are also best-in-class.

About Omneon
Omneon Video Networks provides a cost-effective and scalable video server infrastructure for the professional broadcasting industry. Omneon's Media Server System is a data-type independent platform, offering shared-storage and fault-tolerant redundancy for continuous on-line media delivery. The open architecture supports an impressive array of third-party applications - control and transmission, media management, archiving, and collaborative production. For development of new revenue streams, customers can incrementally add clients and channels easily. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Omneon is privately held and funded by prominent venture capital firms. Omneon's web site is www.Omneon.com.

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