LAS VEGAS -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, today announced that its MPEG-4/AVC silicon, featuring new video compression functionality, is being used as the core technology in DIRECTV's digital high-definition television (HDTV) set- top boxes. Production versions of Broadcom(R)MPEG-4/AVC chips were provided to LG Electronics in October 2005, enabling it to incorporate Broadcom's powerful video compression functionality into its LG-manufactured set-top boxes for DIRECTV. As a result, DIRECTV became the first provider in the world to launch a set-top box that incorporates HDTV MPEG4/AVC technology.

Broadcom will be demonstrating this first-of-its-kind HDTV set-top box at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Meeting Room #35781, South Hall 4 from January 5 through 8, 2006.

Having previously announced plans to dramatically expand HDTV programming for local and national broadcast channels, DIRECTV required MPEG-4/AVC technology to help meet its future strategic objectives. By incorporating MPEG-4/AVC technology into its set-top boxes, DIRECTV will accomplish a 2 to 3 times improvement in the number of HD channels that can be carried within the same bandwidth over prior MPEG-2 technology.

"Broadcom established itself as the early leader in the MPEG-4 marketplace," said Roger Lambert, Vice President of Set-Top Box Products, DIRECTV. "As MPEG-4/AVC video compression is a key technology element to our set-top box strategy, Broadcom has become a key partner in this segment."

"We are very pleased that our new relationship with DIRECTV and LG Electronics has produced the world's first set-top box incorporating HDTV MPEG4/AVC technology," said Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Business Group. "A complete team effort went into the production launch of this very complex technology, which we feel will set the benchmark for future HDTV set-top box products."

In a separate release:

LAS VEGAS -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, today announced that EchoStar Communications Corporation and its DISH Network satellite TV service have selected Broadcom(R) MPEG-4/AVC chipset solutions for two MPEG-4-specific set-top box products currently in volume production.

The first product incorporating Broadcom technology is the DISH Network ViP 211, which is DISH Network's first ever MPEG-4/AVC set-top box launched in December 2005. This product supports both high-definition (HD) and standard-definition (SD) video in both the future format of MPEG-4/AVC as well as MPEG-2 for legacy services. The second product, announced today at CES, is EchoStar's flagship ViP 622, which is an MPEG-4/AVC set-top box with dual HD decoding that is capable of supporting multiple televisions within the home and that also incorporates digital video recording (DVR) capabilities.

One of the key advantages for EchoStar in migrating to the Broadcom MPEG-4/AVC set-top box technology is that it helps reduce the required bandwidth for delivering digital video content over its satellite network. By implementing Broadcom's field-proven MPEG-4/AVC technology, EchoStar is able to offer more programming and services (such as high-definition) to its customer base.

"Broadcom has been a key technology provider to EchoStar in many areas," said Mark Jackson, President of EchoStar Technology. "After working together with Broadcom on many projects in the past, we knew that we could rely on it for our launch of MPEG-4/AVC set-top box technology, which is a key technology to our future strategic goals."

"Broadcom continues to invest significant resources in the set-top box market and specifically in MPEG-4/AVC high-definition technology," said Daniel A. Marotta, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. "We see the landscape changing to a broad adoption of MPEG-4/AVC solutions and are pleased to drive this technology forward by being the first to deploy our MPEG-4/AVC chipsets in a key network like EchoStar's."

Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM)