Tuesday, April 21, 2009

BET Launches HD Powered by Motorola

--Motorola extends leadership in MPEG-4 HD program delivery



SAN DIEGO, April 21, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) today announced that BET, the nation's leading provider of quality programming for the African-American audience, has implemented Motorola's high definition (HD) MPEG-4/AVC encoding system to deliver its programming in HD. The deployed system has enabled BET to easily integrate new MPEG-4 HD channels with its existing DigiCipher II uplink systems to deliver high quality video with very efficient distribution and bandwidth utilization. 

"Growing consumer demand for high definition programming spurred our decision to partner with Motorola to roll out the new channel," said Deidre Jackson, senior vice president of technology and operations for BET. "BET is committed to delivering the highest quality programming available; we want to ensure our subscribers can enjoy an unparalleled viewing experience. We have enjoyed excellent video quality and reliability using Motorola DigiCipher II over many years. Being able to merge this easily with Motorola's new MPEG-4 HD equipment has made this transition to HD transmission seamless for us." 

BET will deploy a hybrid uplink system using SE-5100 HD, a real-time, full resolution high-definition and standard definition AVC video encoder which builds on the previously deployed DigiCipher(R) II platform to distribute its programming via satellite. The program content will be received by Motorola's DSR-6050, which is already deployed by many North American programmers to reduce HD bandwidth requirements up to 75 percent through advanced modulation and MPEG-4 video encoding. The DSR-6050 transcodes MPEG-4 HD content into a MPEG-2 format for legacy cable subscribers with MPEG-2 set-tops. 

"The launch of BET-HD is yet another proof point of Motorola's deep experience in the deployment of HD transmission systems," said Bob Wilson, general manager for Motorola's Networked Video Solutions business. "Our product line has the depth and flexibility to meet a wide variety of distribution requirements, so customers like BET can select components to configure the ideal system. BET's deployment strategy lays the groundwork for future HD offerings." 

As a long-time leader in HD digital compression systems and a member of the Grand Alliance HD encoding effort, Motorola has deployed hundreds of HD encoding systems in the MPEG-2 standard. The MPEG-4/AVC technology has been optimized for today's content requirements, handling both 1920 x 1080i and 1280 x 720p resolutions at approximately half the bandwidth required with similar MPEG-2 coded signals. 

About BET Networks 

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc., is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution. 
 


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