Premiere, the leading pay TV operator in Germany and Austria, has chosen the NDS MediaHighway middleware solution to set-up an interactive platform paving the way into advanced digital TV services. The agreement has been announced today by Premiere and NDS Group plc, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay TV. The middleware-based TV platform will enable customers to interactively use innovative add-on-services – all with the ease of using their remote control via a return channel over the Internet. Based on the world’s renowned NDS MediaHighway middleware, Premiere will launch this innovative platform that will offer an unprecedented range of TV services to Premiere subscribers from August 2006.

NDS MediaHighway, running an open middleware language, will play a key role in operating the interactive TV architecture, that combines broadcast and IPTV technologies into a single service on a hybrid STB. The cornerstone of the new platform will be a middleware enabled easy-to-use STB user-interface, that ensures the same look and feel over a variety of STBs and provides convenient and instant access to the services. The new infrastructure will enable Premiere to further extend its exclusive content offering combined with maximum usability for the viewer.

The innovative technological architecture of the platform unites the advantages of classic broadcasting with the individual and on-demand features of the Internet. While the viewer will enjoy a premium quality TV experience, customers will be able to use interactive applications such as making pay-per-view orders at the touch of the remote control on their STB. Premiere will build up its range of interactive applications and add-on-services progressively based on open application standards.

NDS is working closely with Premiere to launch this innovative platform that will mark the start of middleware-supported and advanced interactive TV services in Germany and Austria. The agreement is a major reference for the NDS MediaHighway middleware solution and the first large scale customer win for NDS in Germany. In deploying the proven NDS solutions, Premiere is investing in building and further developing a superior digital infrastructure for the German and Austrian TV marketplace.

Dr. Georg Kofler, CEO of Premiere, says: "NDS is the ideal partner for us for establishing our interactive platform. NDS MediaHighway middleware has proved itself around the world, and is already running on more than 38 million set-top-boxes. It is extremely powerful and flexible and covers all the functions that we need, from interactive and add-on services to advanced PVR technology. We are thus gaining a fast and efficient entry into modern, interactive television."

"We could not think of a better reference than Premiere for our NDS MediaHighway middleware and hybrid TV solutions", says Caroline Le Bigot, VP and General Manager NDS France. She continues: "We are delighted to be working with Premiere as our first large scale customer win in Germany. NDS will be supporting the company now to unlock the opportunities of advanced, interactive television."