April 14, 2008 07:42 ET

THOMSON : Thomson Builds New HD Facilities For France 2

PARIS and LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - April 14, 2008) - Thomson Builds New HD Facilities For France 2

Paris, (France), Las Vegas (USA) - April 14, 2008 - France 2 - owned and operated by the France Television Group - one of the largest television networks in France, and the first public television broadcaster in the country, has chosen Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) to build a new high-definition (HD) studio and control room in Paris. The station's new HD channel, the result of a $3.1 million upgrade to its facilities and equipment, will be on-air by August 27 of this year.

Thomson has been contracted to provide a full range of services to the new France 2 HD project; including system design, installation, staff training and 24/7 customer service.

"We know that Thomson has the expertise, the team organization, and resources to get the job done right - and on time," said Bruno Tézenas du Montcel, CTO at France 2. "Thomson engineers completed the transition of France 2 from an analog to digital operation in 1998 and we are confident that with Thomson's help we will meet our on-air deadline and have a system that we can grow with and expand into the future."

"France 2 is another major broadcaster in Europe to entrust its HD business to Thomson. This new facility for France 2 will not only prepare them for the future, but uses equipment already installed to maximize their capital expenditures," said Patrick Montliaud, Senior Vice President of Thomson's Integration and Network Solutions, within the Systems division. "All over Europe broadcasters are gearing up for the transition to HD and Thomson is in a unique position to provide to our customers an extensive Systems know how and our technology to improve their businesses and give them the competitive edge to succeed in the broadcast marketplace."

Among the many pieces of Thomson Grass Valley™ HD production equipment being installed as part of the new upgrade are two HD video production switchers (Kayak™) and a HD router (Trinix™). France 2 will also use an existing Grass Valley control panel (XtenDD) in tandem with the new switchers.

Thomson was chosen as the system integrator based on its performance on a number of other projects which it had completed for France 2 and the short timetable that was required to finish the buildout. The project was started at the end of March.

Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, "media and entertainment" markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the financial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Thomson -- World leader in digital video technologies

Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) provides technology, services, and systems to help its Media, Entertainment & Communications clients - content creators, content distributors and users of its technology - realize their business goals and optimize their performance in a rapidly changing technology environment. For more information: http://www.thomson.net.

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|Press Relations Thomson  |                    |                    |
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|Martine Esquirou         |   +33 1 41 86 58 51|martine.esquirou@tho|
|                         |                    |mson.net            |
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|Caroline Ponsi           |   +33 1 41 86 61 11|caroline.ponsi@thoms|
|                         |                    |on.net              |
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|Denise Williams (USA)    |  +1 (503) 526 8160 |denise.williams@thom|
|                         |                    |son.net             |
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|Investor Relations       |                    |                    |
|Thomson                  |                    |                    |
+-------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
|Laurent Sfaxi            |   +33 1 41 86 58 83|laurent.sfaxi@thomso|
|                         |                    |n.net               |
+-------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
|James Johnson            |   +33 1 41 86 61 48|james.johnson@thomso|
|                         |                    |n.net               |
+-------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
|Linda Lovichi            |   +33 1 41 86 51 00|linda.lovichi@thomso|
|                         |                    |n.net               |
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