THOMSON multimedia Shipments Of Electronic Program Guide-Equipped Televisions Top 2.5 Million Units

Consumer Survey Shows Differences In TV Viewing By Men And Women

29-Aug-00

THOMSON multimedia (NYSE: TMS) announced that more than 2.5 million Thomson televisions featuring an interactive on-screen TV guide have been shipped to retailers since the company started adding the electronics for the no-fee service to its TV sets. The milestone coincides with the introduction of the fourth generation of on-screen guides, a feature in over 90 different RCA, GE and PROSCAN brand models, encompassing screen sizes ranging from 19-inch tabletop sets to 61-inch projection televisions.""Interactive program guides are a key component of our long-term New Media Services strategy, as consumers ask for ways to simplify the expanding array of choices they have in TV viewing,"" said James E. Meyer, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Executive Vice President, THOMSON multimedia. ""We're hearing positive feedback from consumers who enjoy the convenience of an interactive on-screen guide and news service. We will continue to integrate these types of interactive services into our core product line, giving millions of consumers the opportunity to enhance their entertainment experience.""Survey Shows Interesting Consumer Behavior Consumers are relying on the convenience of GUIDE Plus+ to do more than just check what programs are on television. More than ever, consumers are using their interactive TV guide to check what programs are coming up. Use of the guide by two or more people in a household has also increased since Thomson last surveyed consumers who have purchased a TV set equipped with an interactive TV guide.The survey shows that men use the guide substantially more than women, even though men say they actually watch less TV. Almost 9 out of 10 say they use the interactive TV guide to find out what's on, and five out of six say they look to see what's coming next.Younger consumers use the guide more than older consumers, and evenings are periods of very high use. The rich amount of information and program descriptions on the electronic guide rates highly with consumers, as does the convenience factor of not having to rely on a paper guide. Less than half of those who use electronic guides also use other program guides (such as the local newspaper), and use of paper guides drops off after the on-screen electronic program guide is brought home with a new TV, according to consumers participating in the survey.A compelling application of the new electronic program guide is the MSNBC NewsGuide feature, which provides consumers with free 24-hour, news, sports, business and lifestyle headlines, courtesy of MSNBC news. NewsGuide allows users to read news headlines and stories by highlighting an on-screen ""News"" window with the remote control unit. Thomson's new line of televisions with interactive TV guides also offer an easy set-up process for consumers, customizing program information based on the consumer's postal zip code.In addition to current program listings and news, the interactive TV guides also include one-button program recording (with use of a simple infrared signal sender from the consumer's VCR.) The electronic guide also provides convenient sorting by theme of shows coming up over the next week - such as sports, movies, and childrenís programming - so viewers can easily find preferred programs.About THOMSON multimediaWith sales of 6.7 billion Euros (U.S. $6.5 billion) in 1999 and 55,000 employees in more than 30 countries, THOMSON multimedia is the worldís fourth largest producer of consumer electronics. The group has four principal activities: Displays and Components, Consumer Products, New Media Services, and Patents and Licensing. THOMSON multimedia engineers, manufactures, and markets display components and consumer products such as televisions, VCRs, audio systems, digital decoders, DVD-Video players and professional video equipment under the popular RCA and THOMSON brand names. THOMSON multimedia is listed in the Paris (Sicovam: 18453) and New York (NYSE: TMS) stock exchanges. THOMSON multimedia is the parent company of the U.S.-based Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.thomson-multimedia.com

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