BBC Worldwide and Newsplayer

Newsplayer Group PLC
22 July 2002

For immediate release

Monday, 22 July 2002





                                 PRESS RELEASE



      BBC WORLDWIDE AND NEWSPLAYER SIGN INNOVATIVE GLOBAL LICENCE AGREEMENT.



NPG plc ('NPG' or the 'Group'), the media company, has today announced that it
has reached a global agreement with BBC Worldwide ('BBC') to license over 10,000
hours of Sir David Frost's archive material primarily from the Breakfast with
Frost series between 1999 and 2002. This material will be made available as a
video-on-demand product on a subscription basis as part of the Group's FrostTV
(www.Frost.TV) operations.



The agreement, which is believed to be the first of its kind involving the BBC,
takes immediate effect and runs for a period of 5 years, at which time both
parties have agreed to renegotiate the terms. The agreement does not require
advance payment by NPG to the BBC, but will operate on a 50/50 revenue share
basis.



The agreement adds to the current extensive archive of Sir David Frost's
material already managed by NPG through its Frost TV operation, which
encompasses clips of some of the most memorable and high profile interviews ever
conducted with world leaders and leading personalities, including President
Bush, Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Gates and Clint
Eastwood.



Under the terms of the agreement, the BBC intends to licence additional material
from Sir David Frost's activities to include all the 'Breakfast with Frost'
broadcasts from 1993 to 1998 and also features such Frost exclusives as his
interview with HRH The Prince of Wales in 1997, his interview with The Man Who
Broke The Bank, Nick Leeson, in 1995 as well as the classic material from The
Frost Report and That Was The Week That Was from the 1960s.



Paul Duffen, CEO, NPG, commented on the agreement:



'As broadband penetration continues to grow around the world, so does the
audience for video-on-demand content. This addition to our collection of
material will further enhance the value proposition of our offering. We value
highly our relationship with the BBC and are delighted to have been chosen as
their partners in this venture. '





                                     -Ends-













For further information, please contact:


NPG plc                                        020 7927 6699
Paul Duffen, CEO
Merlin Financial                               020 7606 1244
Philip Ranger/Nicola Davidson





Notes to Editors



NPG plc



Newsplayer Group plc (NPG) is a new media company that exploits rights and/or
licences to television and cinema content and markets them globally to business,
educational and consumer audiences using interactive technology.  Revenues are
generated from the licensing of content to third parties, from subscription and
pay-per-view fees paid by consumers, and from shared advertising revenues.  NPG
is listed on London's AIM and has an ADR program in New York.



NPG has a range of on-line channels including:

  • Newsplayer.com - a thousand hours of 20th century news material from ITN
    and Reuters
  • Frost.tv - hundreds of interviews conducted by Sir David Frost
  • Screenplayer.com - Hollywood and showbiz footage
  • Ucreate.tv - online video editing service
  • Birdstream - archives of RSPB film unit
  • Video.tv - hundred years of music videos from EMI



Sir David Frost

Sir David Frost is the author of 15 books, producer of seven films, publisher,
lecturer, impresario and the joint founder of London Weekend Television and
TV-am. He is also the best-known television interviewer in the world. His Nixon
Interviews achieved ' the largest audience for a news interview in history' (New
York Times). In addition to their unprecedented impact in the United States, the
interviews were also seen either in English or dubbed into local languages - in
almost every television nation in the world. The same pattern of worldwide
distribution was repeated when Sir David conducted the only interview with the
late Shah of Iran in exile.

Sir David has been awarded all the major television awards - the Emmy Award (For
The David Frost Show - twice); the Royal Television Society Silver Medal and the
Richard Dimbleby Award in the UK and, internationally, the Golden Rose of
Montreux.

In addition to Breakfast With Frost, his weekly programme broadcast live on BBC1
featuring the leading newsmakers of the week, he presented nine series of
Through The Keyhole, whilst for BBC Radio 2 he has hosted five series of the
popular comedy quiz, Pull The Other One.

David Frost is married to the former Lady Carina Fitzalan Howard, second
daughter to the Duke of Norfolk. They have three sons; Miles, Wilfred and
George. His gratitude for three healthy children is the main motivation for his
work on behalf of Birthright, a charity which researches into premature birth,
infant death and infertility. The first volume of his bestselling autobiography
has been published in paperback by Harper Collins.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange