Senior International Broadcast Executives to Gather AtPrice Waterhouse Seminar in Cologne,...

NEW YORK and COLOGNE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 1998--Senior international broadcast industry executives will gather at a Price Waterhouse seminar in Cologne, Germany on June 16th to discuss key issues impacting the German and pan-European television markets. The seminar, entitled "The German

Among the featured speakers at the seminar:

Wolf Bauer, Managing Director, UFA Film & TV Produktion, Potsdam

Jean-Michel Ciszewski, President, Alliance Television International,
London

Greg Dyke, CEO, Pearson Television, London

Prof. Dr. Georg Feil, Managing Director, Colonia Media, Cologne

Sandra Kresch, Partner, Price Waterhouse Management Consulting, New York

Lothar Lanz, Member of the Board, ProSieben Media AG, Unterfohring

Hans Mahr, Head of News and Information, RTL Television, Cologne

Christian Rottmann, Managing Director, Endemol Entertainment, Cologne

Markus Schachter, Head of Programming, ZDF, Mainz

Olivier Rene Veillon, General Manager, TV France International, Paris

Claudio Wieland, Partner, Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance, Berlin

Andrea Wonfor, Joint Managing Director, Granada Productions, Manchester

The one-day Price Waterhouse seminar will focus primarily on key trends and issues relevant to Germany, Europe's largest internationally competing television market, such as globalization, the rise of digital television, broadcast programming, market privatization and the concept of shareholder value.

While it has provoked controversy in some circles, the shareholder value concept has been praised by others within Germany as an important instrument for gauging and devising strategies to enhance the long-term health of broadcast companies. Price Waterhouse, a leader in providing management consulting, accounting and corporate finance services to international entertainment and media companies, has done significant work in applying shareholder value principles to the broadcast industry.

During the seminar, Andreas Hanitsch, Managing Partner of the German practice for Price Waterhouse's Entertainment, Media and Communications (EMC) Group, will present the results of a first-of-its-kind Price Waterhouse survey of German entertainment industry executives on the subject of shareholder value. "As the German and pan-European media markets liberalize and become more competitive, broadcasting companies need to pay much closer attention to all of the key pressure points that can impact shareholder value," said Hanitsch. "At the same time, with a sound business strategy and execution, success in the stock market and excellence in the production of creative content can be achieved simultaneously."

While focused primarily on the German television market, the seminar will involve broadcast industry leaders and experts from around Western Europe and the United States. "Germany is home to a number of key players that are impacting the broadcast industry on a global basis," said Steven Abraham, Global Managing Partner of the Entertainment and Media Consulting practice for Price Waterhouse's EMC Group. "This seminar should shed considerable light on the business challenges facing these companies as we head toward the 21st century, as well as how their strategies for meeting these challenges will impact markets world wide."

The Price Waterhouse seminar, "The German TV Market Inside Out," will take place on Tuesday, June 16, from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm at the Rheinterassen in Cologne, Germany. For more information or to register for the seminar, please contact Steffen Grimberg by phone at +49-221-454-3280 or by fax at +49-221-454-3289. To receive a copy of the Price Waterhouse shareholder value survey results after the seminar, please contact Oliver Weyergraf at +49-211-9615-228.

Price Waterhouse has long served companies in the Entertainment, Media and Communications industries. In 1994, Price Waterhouse merged its industry resources into a single global practice, the Price Waterhouse Entertainment Media and Communications (EMC) Group. We work with the most respected players in the EMC industries, helping them to understand and solve today's challenging business issues. Additional information about the EMC Group is available on the Internet at: http://www.pw.com/emc.

Price Waterhouse, a business advisory and consulting organization with 60,000 professionals around the world, helps its clients develop and execute integrated solutions to build value, manage risk and improve global performance. The partners of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand have voted to merge their worldwide organizations. The merger has received regulatory approvals and the global organization will begin operations on July 1, 1998.

    CONTACT:  In the United States:      In Germany:
               Peter Winkler              Oliver Weyergraf
               Price Waterhouse           Price Waterhouse
               +1-212-596-5699            +49-211-9615-228
                      or
               In the United Kingdom:
               Fiona Scholes
               Price Waterhouse
               +44-171-939-2695