“TVB ePort” Hailed As a Major Breakthrough
By Industry Players; NAB To Provide Initial Funding

New York, February 21, 2007--Marking a major breakthrough in the effort to achieve a paperless process, the Television Bureau of Advertising announced today that the broadcast television industry has made a multimillion dollar commitment to build TVB ePort, an eBusiness digital platform that will enable a new wave of open-standard electronic transactions between advertisers, agencies, broadcasters and station reps.

The digital platform is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter.

The announcement came at a luncheon at the offices of Gannett Broadcasting in New York, its significance underlined by the presence of the important players in the advertising industry.

Chris Rohrs, TVB President, said: "We're going to build it. We know the buyers and sellers will come. They're here today."

Mr. Rohrs said there would be "zero cost" to customers and would be a "win-win" for all parties. "The customer is increasingly empowered with a vast menu of media choices. To grow our core business, broadcasters have to make the process as easy as possible. Looking beyond Spot TV, new digital platforms will require an evolution to electronic business practices that are faster, smarter, more accountable and more efficient - the TVB ePort will enable that evolution."

Paul Karpowicz, president of Meredith Broadcasting and chairman of the TVB board, said: "There is very strong broadcaster commitment to this project. And we are putting our money where our mouth is."

The initiative was launched with initial funding from the National Association of Broadcasters. David Rehr, president of the NAB, said, "The NAB is pleased to be a part of this effort to further strengthen the already strong bonds between local broadcasters and the advertising community."

Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers, said: "With technology continuing to develop, the reinvention of marketing is becoming more dynamic. With TVB ePort leading the way, archaic business systems will move towards automated, highly efficient processes that will improve the entire media business."

Greg Smith, Co-Chair AAAA E-Biz Committee and CIO McCann Worldgroup, said: "We applaud the forward movement in this space by the TVB. Acceptance of our strategy and standards in web services and registry continue to show that people are committed to this effort. Delivering a faster better cheaper process is becoming more and more a reality with initiatives such as this one."

TVB emphasized that the ePort will employ open standards that everyone can use.

Abby Auerbach, Executive Vice President, TVB, stressed the benefits of open standards will be widespread. "Providing open-standards connectivity between trading partners is about eliminating time-consuming and error-prone re-keying in the selling/buying process. We want to free sellers and buyers to have more time for professional negotiation - this is about automating the backroom process, not online negotiation."

She continued, "This platform will allow participation by every size player. Think of the TVB ePort as a hub through which sellers and buyers can send anything they want to each other. In addition to the standard transactions like orders and invoices, the ePort will make it possible for information like log times, traffic instructions and web orders to pass electronically."

Mr. Rohrs said the ePort would have important implications for the broadcast community's embrace of multiplatform opportunities, which he referred to as "our new digital assets."

"As broadcasters increasingly move into video-on-demand, website advertising, wireless marketing, digital sub-channels, and the like, the TVB ePort will be vital to managing the multiplatform revolution," he said.

Further announcements about ePort can be expected in the coming weeks, TVB officials said.

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