DVD-VIDEO SETS MILESTONE AS 10 MILLIONTH PLAYER IS SHIPPED

DVD-Video Reaches Benchmark Faster Than Any Other Consumer Electronics Product Including VCR and Compact Disc

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. - October 4, 2000 - Ten million DVD-Video players have shipped to market, signaling the format's unparalleled acceptance among consumers in North America. This level is reached faster than any other consumer electronics product in history, just three and a half years after its introduction. The DVD Entertainment Group announced this new milestone for the popular home video format at the annual DVD Forum meeting in Scottsdale.

According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), CD players took seven years to ship 10 million units, and eight years for VCRs to reach this level. Underscoring the strong consumer demand for the format, DVD-Video players have doubled their presence in the marketplace since reaching five percent household penetration in December 1999.

Fueling this growth is the enthusiastic support of movie studios and record labels, which are releasing more than 250 new DVD-Video titles each month. In response, DVD replicators have increased their capacity by more than 150 percent for the second half of 2000 over the same period last year in preparation for the extraordinary anticipated growth throughout the holiday selling season.

"The milestone of shipping 10 million DVD-Video players is regarded as an indicator of mass market acceptance," said Emiel N. Petrone, chairman, DVD Entertainment Group and executive vice president, Philips Entertainment Group, Worldwide. "We know that shortly we will achieve 10 percent household penetration - a benchmark of success for any consumer electronics product."

The convergence of consumer electronics - as DVD-Video players are integrated into televisions, stereos, video game consoles and home theater systems - will continue to propel penetration of DVD-Video players into households in the upcoming fourth quarter. Additionally, portable DVD-Video players, DVD-Video/Audio combination players and units for the car will also help to make DVD one of the most popular gift items this holiday selling season.

The DVD Entertainment Group is a Los Angeles-based, industry-funded nonprofit corporation that exists expressly to promote consumer awareness of the benefits of DVD-Video and DVD-Audio, and to provide updated information to the media and the retail trade about DVD players and titles. As part of the group's charter, it also looks to incorporate future applications for the DVD format such as interactive games.

Regular members of the DVD Entertainment Group are 5.1 Entertainment Group, Artisan Entertainment, BMG Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Home Video, DreamWorks Home Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music, Funai Corporation, Image Entertainment, Kenwood USA Corporation, MGM Home Entertainment, New Line Home Video, Onkyo USA Corporation, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company, Paramount Home Entertainment, Philips Consumer Electronics Company, Pioneer Electronics (USA), ProScan, RCA, Sharp Electronics, Sony Electronics, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Wonder, Toshiba America Consumer Products, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Universal Studios Home Video, USA Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and Warner Music Group.

Associate members are Alpha Enterprises, Americ Disc, Cinram, California Video Center, Crest National, Deluxe Digital Entertainment, Disc Graphics, Dolby Digital, dts, MRT, Panasonic Disc Services Corporation, Sony Disc Manufacturing, Sony Pictures DVD Center, Technicolor, VM Labs and Warner Advanced Media Operations.

Interested consumers can reach the DVD Entertainment Group at (310) 967-2940, via e-mail at getinfo@dvdinformation.com or through its web site at www.dvdinformation.com.