ICTV(TM) Bolsters Executive Team Through Merger with Switched Media(TM)

ICTV(TM) Bolsters Executive Team Through Merger with Switched Media(TM)

LOS GATOS, Calif., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- ICTV(TM), creator of HeadendWare(R), the most powerful platform for the delivery and distribution of interactive television content, today announced additions to its management team in connection with the company's merger with Switched Media(TM).

Ed Forman, who had been senior vice president of marketing for ICTV before co-founding Switched Media, will return to ICTV as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Michael Taylor, who has served as vice president, business development for both BigBand Networks and nCube, will join ICTV as Senior Vice President of Business Development and Distribution. Jeremy Edmonds, an industry leader in compressed domain video processing, has joined ICTV as System Architect.

Switched Media has developed a proprietary software solution that enables processing and manipulation of compressed digital video streams without costly decode and re-encode cycles. The merger will enable the combined companies, which will retain the ICTV name, to deliver personalized, Web-driven content to television that combines the live stream video processing capabilities of Switched Media InStream(TM) solution with the interactive capabilities of HeadendWare.

"In addition to its unique technological capabilities, one of the real assets that Switched Media brings to ICTV is the depth of experience and relationships on its management team," said Jeff Miller, president and CEO of ICTV. "With Switched Media, Ed and Mike have been highly-successful in capturing the attention of programmers and network operators through an innovative approach: the creation of a Web-driven content delivery network that seamlessly blends interactive content with live video streams. Jeremy's deep knowledge of MPEG has allowed him to innovate in ways that are unique to stream personalization. His skills complement ICTV's already strong engineering team and will contribute to ICTV's ability to always create the most effective and personal video stream for every user."

"From the beginnings of our work with Switched Media, there were clear indications that our two companies could create unique solutions for personalized television," said Gary Lauder, chairman of ICTV. "The positive distributor and programmer reaction we have received from our joint work in advance of this agreement has demonstrated that there is tremendous value in combining not only the technologies, but also the management teams of our two companies."

Forman co-founded Switched Media with Taylor and Edmonds in 2004, after having served three years as senior vice president of marketing and in an executive consulting capacity with ICTV. Previously, Forman had been president and CEO of RealContax, Inc. and vice president of marketing and new ventures for enCommerce, Inc., an Entrust acquisition. From 1996-99, he was senior vice president of product development and marketing for Elemental Software, Inc., where he was actively involved in developing relationships with Microsoft and AT&T, and helped to engineer the company's sale to Macromedia. Forman is a cum laude graduate of Harvard College, and earned his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Taylor served as Vice President of Business Development for Switched Media, after having spent five years as head of both the nCUBE and later the BigBand Networks business development units. From 1997-99, Taylor was a product and business development consultant to companies in the cable, entertainment and telecommunications sectors. During the prior four years, Taylor was vice president of new market development at IPC Interactive PTE Ltd., a worldwide network-based provider of interactive services. Prior to that, he was founder and consultant for GeoTel, Inc., an independent consulting venture, and held various marketing and management positions at Telic Corporation (now CSC Partners). Taylor received his B.A. in English and Economics from Georgia State University.

Edmonds, who had been vice president of technology and chief technology officer of Switched Media since 2004, previously had served as director of engineering with IVAST, a pioneer in the development of MPEG-4 video solutions, and with Microsoft Corporation as an architect of interactive tCommerce applications and MPEG video engines. With DIVA Systems Corporation from 1998-2001, Edmonds designed and developed the initial DIVA interactive program guide (IPG) set-top application and created and managed the development team that refined the application for deployment on the Motorola platform. During his three years with DIVA, Edmonds was co-inventor on 28 patent applications, 12 of which have been issued to date. A graduate of Harvey Mudd College with a B.S. in Engineering, Edmonds spent the first five years of his career with General Instrument (now Motorola) and C-Cube Microsystems (now Harmonic).

About ICTV(TM)

ICTV offers a network-based solution for the delivery of Web-powered content to cable and IPTV subscribers. The company's HeadendWare platform enables programmers to deliver the highest quality interactive television experience -including animation, high-fidelity audio, and live and Web video. Using ICTV technology, programmers and advertisers can deliver a limitless array of personalized content and advertising, all developed and managed with open Web tools, technology, and talent. The company is based in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, with offices in Baltimore and the United Kingdom. Strategic investors include Liberty Media, Motorola, OpenTV, Cox Communications and Lauder Partners. For more information, visit http://www.ictv.com/.

HeadendWare is a registered trademark and ICTV and Switched Media are trademarks of ICTV, Inc.

Source: ICTV

CONTACT: Paul Schneider of PSPR, Inc., +1-215-702-9784, or pspr@att.net

Web Site: http://www.ictv.com/

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