NORPAK CORPORATION LAUNCHES WHAK-it INTERACTIVE TV DATA FILTERING AND SUBSTITUTION SOLUTION

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The folks at Norpak sent in this news announcement:

For immediate release

NORPAK CORPORATION LAUNCHES WHAK-it^TM INTERACTIVE TV DATA FILTERING AND SUBSTITUTION SOLUTION

With WHAK-it^TM broadcasters can now control data flowing through their networks and take action to remove or replace it.

23 April 2001 - Today at NAB 2001 in Las Vegas, broadcasters and network operators got their first chance to see demonstrations of how to manage interactive TV (iTV) content with the Norpak WHAK-it^TM filtering and substitution solution. WHAK-it^TM filters and/or replaces embedded interactive TV data in real time, based on pre-determined rules established by the broadcaster and network operator.

WHAK-it^TM maintains a database of all changes made to the data feed, allowing the generation of detailed activity reports. It can be placed at any transmission or re-transmission site, allowing for localization of iTV embedded links.

WHAK-it^TM is a facility for removing and modifying inappropriate interactive TV data, automatically, in real time. This is important since video content is sourced from many different locations and organisations.

WHAK-it features include:

Localization of individual interactive TV triggers, such as ATVEF content;
Blocking information based on a "black" list of iTV data to block or a "white" list of data to pass;
Substitution list of iTV data or portions of iTV data to replace;
Fully expandable open model with future addition of data types for filtering and substitution.

ITV provides a powerful capability to add further content beyond that which can be carried by the traditional TV signal. The challenge is to provide compelling content which often means localized content which varies widely across the country. To do this local data must be substituted, in real time, in a national broadcast or syndicated show. Examples of such data substitution are the localization, by adding local based content to a commercial which was broadcast nationally, or the addition of local election data to national election results.

"WHAK-it^TM provides the broadcaster active control of iTV content for the first time. Broadcasters can now carry out interactive TV trigger blocking, substitution and modification; control of outgoing data, localization of National iTV data and substitution with local iTV data" said Jim Carruthers, President of Norpak. "With this solution our equipment and software, already in use by all major TV broadcasters, can be further enhanced to provide the content flexibility required to enhance the iTV business".

About Norpak Corporation

Norpak Corporation is the leading supplier in Interactive TV and metadata solutions with over 20 years of experience and 3,500 headends in 42 countries. Norpak is the only supplier of a complete line of TV data broadcast products, with analog, serial digital, HD and MPEG2 encoders, bridges and receivers supporting all world data standards. Its data monitoring, filtering and substitution products provide broadcasters a full line of multistandard data solutions. Norpak's products and technology have been adopted worldwide for use by major TV broadcasters, cable TV system operators, content creators, systems integrators, value-added service providers and OEM equipment suppliers. Additional information on Norpak technology and products can be found at www.norpak.ca.

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