Vyvx Selected by Arbitron as a Preferred Commercial Encoding and Distribution Provider

Vyvx Selected by Arbitron as a Preferred Commercial Encoding and Distribution Provider

BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Vyvx, the market leader in gathering and distributing broadcast-quality media content for the advertising, media and entertainment industries, announced today that Arbitron, Inc. has selected Vyvx as a preferred encoding and distribution provider of radio, television and other spots for national advertisers who are participating in the pilot panel of "Project Apollo."

A joint initiative by Arbitron and VNU, Project Apollo is the proposed single-source, national research service based on Arbitron's Portable People Meter (PPMSM) system and ACNielsen's Homescan technology. A national pilot panel of more the 11,000 consumers are currently volunteering to report their media exposure by carrying an Arbitron PPM and to detail their product purchases using the ACNielsen Homescan bar code scanners. The combination of the two technologies provides the participating national advertisers with detailed information about consumer exposure to electronic advertisements and their resulting buying behavior.

Vyvx is providing two important services to their national advertising customers who are participating in the Project Apollo pilot. Using a software workstation designed by Arbitron Inc., the company is encoding the audio tracks of commercials with unique, inaudible PPM identification codes. These codes enable the Arbitron PPM to recognize and register the exposure to a specific commercial, no matter what station or medium the spot is broadcast on. Vyvx is also delivering the spots, via its inV(SM) media distribution service, reaching more than 21,000 media destinations in the United States.

"The Portable People Meter encoding system allows virtually any commercial to have a unique, identifiable code for content and for source," said Linda Dupree, senior vice president, Portable People Meter, New Product Development. Arbitron Inc. "This lets advertisers know who heard what commercial on which medium, a critical element for targeting and towards establishing return on investment."

Derek Smith, senior vice president of Vyvx, said the company will continue to work with leading companies like Arbitron to provide value added services to its current media distribution customers.

"Two of the major issues that advertisers face are determining a reliable ROI on their media buys and reducing their work flow costs," said Smith. "By becoming a preferred provider for Arbitron's PPM encoding system, we can enable our customers to measure their media investment through the integration of this service into Vyvx's distribution offering."

Vyvx is the industry leader in gathering and distributing broadcast-quality live and non-live video for the media and entertainment industry. Using its unmatched network reach and innovative solutions, Vyvx delivers nearly 250,000 fiber and satellite video feeds and more than 5 million ads and promotional media content around the world each year. Offering both HD and standard-definition digital services to the sports, cable, and broadcasting industries, Vyvx supplies its customers with the broadest range of flexible and reliable services in the industry.

About Vyvx, LLC

Vyvx provides video delivery solutions over fiber optics and satellite to global advertising, sports, news, and entertainment customers. Vyvx offers a wide range of dedicated and occasional services and its electronic footprint reaches more than 13,000 online television and radio stations, networks and cable head-ends, as well as more than 100 professional sports venues and all major media centers, movie studios and production facilities. Vyvx is a subsidiary of Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LVLT).

The Vyvx logo, Vyvx HD logo, and inV are service marks of WilTel Communications Group, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Level 3 Communications, LLC.

Level 3 Forward-Looking Statement

Some of the statements made by Level 3 in this press release are forward- looking in nature. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Level 3 believes that its primary risk factors include, but are not limited to: developing new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; increasing the volume of traffic on Level 3's network; overcoming the softness in the economy given its disproportionate effect on the telecommunications industry; integrating strategic acquisitions; attracting and retaining qualified management and other personnel; successfully completing commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services, including voice transmission services; ability to meet all of the terms and conditions of our debt obligations; overcoming Software Spectrum's reliance on financial incentives, volume discounts and marketing funds from software publishers; reducing downward pressure of Software Spectrum's margins as a result of the use of volume licensing and maintenance agreements; and reducing rate of price compression on certain of the Company's existing transport and IP services. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this release should be evaluated in light of these important factors.

Source: Vyvx

CONTACT: Media, Jennifer Daumler, +1-720-888-3356; or Industry Analysts,
Lisa Powell, +1-918-547-8292, both for Vyvx

Web site: http://www.level3.com/

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