Mexico's Largest Digital Cable Company Rolls Out SeaChange Flash Memory Servers for On-Demand Television

CABLEVISION(R) Mexico Adds Flash Memory Resources to Established VOD Operations; Targets 14,000-Hour Content Offering

ACTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

CABLEVISION(R) Mexico has become the world's first digital cable television company to enhance its video-on-demand operations with the unprecedented reliability, flexibility and economy of SeaChange flash memory storage and streaming. Last month, Mexico's largest digital cable operator switched on SeaChange International's (NASDAQ: SEAC) revolutionary MediaServer Flash Memory Streamers, seamlessly extending CABLEVISION(R)'s well established SeaChange Axiom software and disk-based server operations.

SeaChange's MediaServer Flash Memory Streamer is a 100-percent flash memory-based solution that completely decouples on-demand streaming from disk-based content storage, enabling CABLEVISION(R) Mexico to push its streaming resources to the network edge and meet its goal of growing its centralized content library to 14,000 hours of movies and television programs. The MediaServer Flash Memory Streamer is also the optimal solution for time-shifted television, providing up to 4,400 hours of clustered storage in a single footprint which, in contrast to DRAM, retains real-time ingested content in spite of server failures.

"On-demand has driven CABLEVISION(R)'s digital uptake at a remarkable clip, so we've been very aggressive about growing our library and streaming capabilities to meet subscriber expectations," said Jean Paul Broc, CEO, CABLEVISION(R) Mexico. "We identified flash memory as the very means to help us stay on target and on budget. Once again, SeaChange was in the position to bring pragmatic innovation to market first."

"Television is changing dramatically around the world and CABLEVISION(R) Mexico's operations stand out as a leading example," said Yefim Nivoro, vice president of sales, Latin America, SeaChange. "We are very proud to provide breakthroughs like our Flash Memory Streamers, as well as complete software and expert services to help customers like CABLEVISION(R) Mexico capture success."

CABLEVISION(R) Mexico and SeaChange have a strong collaborative history. In 2005, the operator became the first in Mexico to roll out on-demand television, helping to fuel the addition of new subscribers and increase loyalty of current ones. The foundation for CABLEVISION(R) Mexico's on-demand service is the SeaChange VOD platform. Today the service includes 720 broadcast programs ingested weekly for VOD consumption using SeaChange's Record System software. CABLEVISION(R) Mexico's parent company Grupo Televisa runs one of the country's largest broadcast television operations with SeaChange broadcast systems, which originate more than 40 standard definition and high definition channels for Grupo Televisa.

New capabilities at VOD's network edge

Today, SeaChange's MediaServer Flash Memory Streamer is the industry's only non-volatile flash memory streaming solution (no spinning disks) which also takes full advantage of SeaChange's widely proven MediaCluster server architecture. Without costly mirroring, MediaCluster stripes content files across flash modules in a server and across servers in an InfiniBand connected cluster, ensuring service fault-resilience and cost-efficient scalability since only one copy of a video is ever required at a server location. Overall, flash memory runs on one-tenth the power that disk requires, providing a new dimension of economy for television operations.

MediaCluster technology is also the key to extending flash memory's life expectancy by a factor of five to at least 10 years. Whereas content "write" hot spots would dramatically reduce life expectancy in any other architecture, SeaChange's MediaCluster eliminates write hot spots by perfectly load-balancing content "writes" across all flash modules in a server, and across all servers in a cluster.

SeaChange will demonstrate its systems and applications at the CANITEC conference and exhibition in Mexico City, April 23-25 (booth 112).

About CABLEVISION(R)

Today, CABLEVISION(R) (BMV: CABLE) is the largest Digital MSO in Mexico. This cable company, 51% of which is owned by Grupo Televisa, the largest Spanish-spoken communication enterprise, is the market share leader in the metropolitan Mexico City area with a subscriber base of more than 540 thousand for Digital Cable TV, over 150 thousand for High Speed Internet and over 10,000 Digital Phone in Mexico City and its Metropolitan Area. Founded more than 40 years ago, CABLEVISION(R) has become the leader in entertainment and communication services, providing the latest convergent technology solutions. This grants its clients the freedom to enjoy, in a single account and with important savings, its famous Digital Cable TV service, a powerful High Speed Internet connection, and most recently, a reliable and more attractive Digital Voice Service (Double and Triple Play 100% bundled portfolio).

CABLEVISION(R) was conceived to provide innovative entertainment and communication services through state-of-the-art technologies. Operating since 1966, CABLEVISION(R) was the first company to provide Mexico City residents with innovative services paired only by the most advanced countries in the world. With more than 2,000 employees, CABLEVISION(R) is the first Multi-Channel Provider (cable or satellite) in the country to offer VOD, HD and the TiVo(R) DVR services. Furthermore, CABLEVISION(R) is the only Cable Operator in the country that quotes in the Mexican stock-market. CABLEVISION's last generation hybrid network is conformed by more than 11,000 km of coaxial cable and optical fiber, covering more than 1.5 million households in Mexico City. Through this network, CABLEVISION(R) is able to distribute high quality content through more than 245 channels, unique services, last generation interactivity (with CABLEVISION(R) On Demand), 1080i High Definition, high speed broadband internet connection packed with added value features, and many other premium solutions for the consumers. In the dawn of a new digital era, CABLEVISION(R) is the ally who connects their clients with what is paramount to them: their emotions, their world, their loved ones, through innovative technology and the best value proposition. www.cablevision.net.mx

About SeaChange

SeaChange International is a leading provider of software applications, services and integrated solutions for video-on-demand (VOD), digital advertising, and content acquisition monetization and management. Its powerful open VOD and advertising software and scaleable hardware enable cable and telco operators, as well as broadcasters, to provide new on-demand services and to gain greater efficiencies in advertising and content delivery. With its Emmy Award-winning and patented technology, thousands of SeaChange deployments are helping broadband, broadcast and satellite television companies to streamline operations, expand services and increase revenues. Headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, SeaChange has product development, support and sales offices around the world. Visit www.schange.com.

Across Mexico, SeaChange supports television leaders such as Cablemas, Grupo Hevi, Intercable Monterrey, Megacable, PCTV and Video Rola. Throughout Latin America, SeaChange's direct sales and distribution team leverages an extensive network of television systems integrators, including TVC, SeaChange's partner in CABLEVISION(R)'s on-demand and broadcast rollouts.

Source: SeaChange International