@jani
kannst hoffentlich etwas engelisch. wenn nicht, auch egal, die datumangabe ist internäschenäl...
Press Releases
Press Releases of KirchGruppe and KirchHolding
Strategic decision: KirchGruppe to opt for digital television activities based on MHP - PREMIERE WORLD and BetaResearch launch initiative for open standard platform
Munich, 20 September 2001. The KirchGruppe has made a far-reaching strategic decision. With immediate effect, the company will be directing its technical strategy in the field of digital television entirely towards the introduction of new MHP technology (Multimedia Home Platform) for its set-top boxes. MHP is a globally-recognised open standard for digital television and caters for the entire spectrum of interactive services and applications, including Internet access, on a non-captive basis, i.e. irrespective of manufacturers and equipment.
After having evaluated several options including MHP, the KirchGruppe now sees the technical future of digital TV as being clear-cut. The KirchGruppe welcomes the decision taken in the Mainz Declaration jointly signed yesterday with ARD, RTL, ZDF, the Directors’ Conference of regulatory authorities for broadcasting and KirchGruppe, and will actively promote MHP. This understanding represents an end to the technological disputes which have persistently hindered the development of digital television in Germany and of PREMIERE WORLD.
Dr. Peter Mihatsch, Technology and Networks Director at KirchHolding, said: "Our decision in favour of MHP is more than just a technological decision. It means that the KirchGruppe is making a commitment to a far-reaching strategy in a changing competitive environment. In the past, we ourselves pioneered the development of the d-box technology in order to build up a technical infrastructure for digital television, but this is no longer necessary in view of the emergent momentum on the market for terminal devices and new standards like MHP, which enable mass marketing. Now we shall leverage the potential of an increasingly wider market and, apart from continuing to develop our attractive range of programmes, will be concentrating on the development of innovative services, interactive applications and offerings with added value for our customers. To this end, the KirchGruppe will also be restructuring relations between its technology company BetaResearch and PREMIERE WORLD."
The refined technology strategy to be implemented by the KirchGruppe includes the following measures:
· The KirchGruppe will promote and support the MHP standardisation process at all levels, with the aim of achieving a rapid breakthrough for MHP as the leading digital-TV standard in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world.
· MHP technology will be introduced into the PREMIERE WORLD infrastructure as quickly as possible. The d-boxes already on the market act as a good initial basis for this step. Based on Java, they can run MHP applications which can be automatically downloaded to the d-boxes already deployed in the field. No action will be required by customers.
· Until the new MHP products are available, BetaResearch continues to support its set-top box software, which is already MHP-compatible, ensuring that all set-top boxes containing BetaResearch software can also be used in an MHP environment without any limitations.
· The KirchGruppe will encourage an open, competition-driven manufacturing market for MHP set-top boxes in order to boost continued market growth. PREMIERE WORLD will no longer be captive by proprietary technology. This will provide PREMIERE WORLD with added flexibility to realise innovative programmes and services for its customers.
· BetaResearch is to increase its efforts in further developing and marketing the "BetaCrypt" encoding system on the open market.
· To further market expansion, PREMIERE WORLD will also market Common Interface Modules for the “BetaCrypt” encoding system based on MHP.
· The existing software skills, competencies and resources available at BetaResearch and PREMIERE WORLD will be increasingly utilised for the development of interactive TV-applications and services.
The following decisions have also been taken:
· Dr. Peter Mihatsch will take over the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board at KirchPayTV GmbH & Co. KGaA/PREMIERE WORLD and in this capacity will provide active support for the company´s management. The Deputy Chairman of the KirchHolding Executive Board, Dr. Dieter Hahn, will be vacating the chair on the KirchPayTV GmbH & Co. KGaA supervisory board in order to take over as Chairman of the Executive Board of KirchMedia upon its merger with ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. He has already assumed responsibility for preparation of this merger and for the company´s subsequent listing on the stock exchange.
· PREMIERE WORLD is to be managed by an executive board comprising Michael Börnicke, Ferdinand Kayser (spokesman) and Hans Seger.
· Dr. Manfred Puffer will be leaving PREMIERE WORLD. The Chairman of KirchPayTV Supervisory Board, Dr. Dieter Hahn, thanks Dr. Puffer for his committed involvement.
· Dr. Helmut Stein will be joining the PREMIERE WORLD executive board as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) to implement its technical realignment. He is a proven expert in the field of digital television, specialising in MHP. Dr. Helmut Stein will be moving from Nokia to join the KirchGruppe.
· Gabor Toth, having built up and managed BetaDigital and subsequently BetaResearch, laid the first foundations for the development of digital television in the KirchGruppe and has since made a substantial contribution to its on-going expansion, will be moving to KirchHolding where, based on his experience and expertise, he will be supervising the imminent strategic reorientation in an advisory capacity. Dr. Leo Kirch said: "I am delighted that we have been able to engage Gabor Toth in KirchHolding itself for this extremely important assignment of aligning our technical platform to MHP. I would like to thank him for all he has achieved so far."
· The Deputy Managing Director of BetaResearch, David Gilles, will meanwhile take over the executive board.
Further information on the KirchGruppe is available at
www.kirchgruppe.de.
Queries to:
KirchHolding GmbH & Co. KG
Hartmut Schultz
Corporate Spokesman
Telephone: +49 (0)89 9956-2325
[email protected]