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Avid Acquires Sundance Digital, Inc. (18/4/2006)

Deal broadens company's broadcast workflow solutions with powerful automation capabilities

Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ : AVID) today announced that it has acquired Sundance Digital, Inc. for approximately $12 million in cash. Sundance - which is based in the Dallas, Texas area - is a leading developer of automation and device control software for broadcast video servers, tape transports, graphics systems and other broadcast station equipment. The acquisition further widens Avid's worldwide leadership position as the provider of choice among broadcasters for digital systems to produce, manage, control, and play back television programming.

"For more than a decade, Sundance Digital has been committed to developing leading-edge technologies that automate and control a broad range of playout devices, enabling broadcasters to operate more efficiently and deliver a higher degree of error-free transmissions," said Chas Smith, vice president and general manager of Avid's Video division. "Sundance has built a successful business with a family of open solutions that interoperate with major traffic and production systems from many companies. We plan to maintain this distinct advantage while also exploring opportunities to extend the powerful automation capabilities that Sundance already provides for our own transmission products. With Sundance systems in our portfolio, Avid will offer more open and streamlined broadcast production workflows across the entire spectrum of media acquisition, production, and transmission."

Robert C. Johnson, president of Sundance Digital, said, "Sundance and Avid share a common vision: to help broadcasters transition into the world of all-digital production. Our award-winning systems - currently in use by many Avid clients - are the perfect complement to Avid's news creation tools. Now, broadcasters searching for the most seamless production and automation workflows will be able to rely on a single vendor. With Sundance systems in its mix, Avid will offer more comprehensive automation control over the entire media production process and further empower broadcasters to run their operations with greater precision and agility."

As a leader in the television automation industry, Sundance Digital has been providing cost-effective, high-performance solutions to public and commercial broadcasters since 1994. The company's products, which offer powerful, easy-to-use software to manage broadcast master control operations, include Titan(tm), FastBreak NXT Automation(tm) and FastBreak NXT XPress(tm), Intelli-Sat(tm), Digital Delivery Management System (DDMS), NewsLink, and Sundance Seeker(tm). Sundance automation systems already integrate smoothly with a range of Avid broadcast solutions, including MediaStream(tm), Avid(r) iNEWS(r), Deko(r), DekoCast(tm), Thunder(r), and AirSpeed(r).

www.SundanceDigital.com

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