The increasing market penetration of CD-recordable devices has led to software publishers rethinking their protection strategies for traditionally unprotected products in the educational, reference and business application areas.

Gerry Clark, Technical Development Director at BBC Worldwide commented: "With the increasing availability of copying devices, BBC Worldwide feels it has to protect its branded Multimedia titles."

The total estimated value of unauthorized copies of PC application software CD-ROMs among consumer households is estimated to approach $675 million in 1999 in the U.S., according to a study sponsored by Macrovision Corporation and conducted in February, 2000 by San Mateo, CA-based Merrill Research & Associates. In 69% of the cases where unauthorized copies were made or borrowed, respondents indicated they would have purchased the software if copying were not an option.

The survey found that 20% of surveyed households have a CD-recordable drive currently installed in their household/home office. This represents a dramatic 200% increase in one year over the percentage of households that reported owning CD-recordable drives in Merrill Research's March 1999 study.

"We believe these casual copying study results may, if anything, underestimate overall losses due to consumer copying," said Dr. Joseph Wheeler, general partner at Merrill Research. "For instance, some respondents may not want to admit to involvement in unauthorized copying.

"Only 37% of respondents in the current study said they had not or would not copy application software. In addition, the study did not measure copying of application software in group-living situations such as college dormitories. Nevertheless, we believe the results provide an excellent benchmark from which trends in unauthorized copying can be evaluated."

CD-recordable drives have only become widely available at affordable consumer price points under $200 within the past two years. The worldwide installed base of consumer-priced CD-recordable drives is expected to reach over 77 million in the next two years, with 35% in the U.S. and 30% in Europe. The International Recording Media Association forecasts that the replication of CD-R discs will exceed 1.3 billion units this year compared to 850 million units in 1999 worldwide. Given the fact that these discs can be purchased at retail for 60 cents, it is easy to see why CD-recordable drives have become one of the most popular consumer electronics products to become available in years.

Matthew Hall, Major Account Sales Manager of Macrovision said: "Educational and business publishers are now seriously looking at copy protection. They need to implement a strategy quickly to avoid a decline in revenues as the surge in sales of blank CD-R's continues."

About BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was formed in 1994 to develop a coordinated approach to the BBC's commercial activities and to ensure that the BBC continues to develop into a leading player in the world media market. BBC Worldwide has activities that span 200 countries and is Europe's largest exporter of television programs and manages international television channels and joint ventures. The company also develops commercial publishing opportunities linked to BBC programming in the UK and internationally -- products include books, magazines, audio tapes, videos, CD-ROMs and music -- and handles the licensing of BBC brands, characters and other properties.

Additional information on BBC Worldwide can be found on the Internet at www.bbcworldwide.com or www.bbc.co.uk.

BBC, BBC Worldwide and their respective logos are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

About Macrovision

Macrovision Corporation develops and markets content copy protection and rights management technologies to prevent the unauthorized duplication, reception or use of video and audio programs and computer software. The Company provides its products and services primarily to the home video, consumer multimedia software, digital pay-per-view, cable, satellite and video security markets. Macrovision has its headquarters in Sunnyvale, California with subsidiaries in London and Tokyo.

All statements contained herein, as well as oral statements that may be made by the Company or by officers, directors or employees of the Company acting on the Company's behalf, that are not statements of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" and are made pursuant to the Safe-Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of the Company to be materially different from the historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties are outlined in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2000 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Note to Editors: Additional background information on Macrovision Corporation can be obtained from our Web Site at www.macrovision.com

Macrovision and SafeDisc® are trademarks of Macrovision Corporation.