JumpTV, NeuLion to Merge

TORONTO, June 9: JumpTV, a
Canadian-based online streaming broadcaster of sports and international
television, has reached an agreement to merge with NeuLion, a New York-based
provider of web-based IPTV services to customers such as the National Hockey
League and the International Fight League.

The merged entity aims to
deliver a multiplatform IPTV and set-top box solution encompassing sports,
international programming and religious fare. The transaction is expected to be
completed in the fall, and will result in about 60 layoffs, the companies said
today.

The combined entity will
have more than 200 partnerships with leading professional and collegiate sports
properties, including the National Hockey League, 150-plus NCAA colleges and
universities, the World Championship Sports Network and the 2010 South
American, African and Asian World Cup Qualifiers.

The
combined group will also deliver live and on-demand video streaming from more
than 200 international partners, among them ABS-CBN from Philippines,
Bangladesh’s Channel i, America TV in Peru, TV Chile and MBC Broadcasting in
the Middle East. KyLinTV, meanwhile, a 17-percent minority owned subsidiary of
NeuLion, offers more than 40 of the most popular Chinese TV channels and a
large selection of VOD content.

Charles
Wang will become the chairman of the merged company. He is the founder and
former CEO of Computer Associates International (now CA, Inc.), owner of the
New York Islanders and husband of Nancy Li, the founder and CEO of NeuLion. Li
will become CEO and a director of the merged company, G. Scott Paterson, the
executive chairman of JumpTV, will be the executive vice chairman. Jordan Banks
will continue to serve as CEO of JumpTV on an interim basis. Nada Usina, the
current president of JumpTV, will continue as president of the merged company.

"The combination of
our highly complementary technologies and depth of expertise in the areas of
sports and international IPTV delivery makes for incredible synergy between the
two companies," said Paterson. "This merger enables us to provide our
partners with a complete solution for streaming content live online across
multiple devices and viewing platforms."

"Consumers are
becoming more reliant on broadband and Internet services for their media
experiences and this shift creates enormous opportunity for content owners to
reach untapped global audiences," added Li. "NeuLion and JumpTV have
committed to creating a one-of-a-kind enterprise offering that manages the
end-to-end delivery of content through all broadband platforms: the PC, the TV,
and an array of mobile devices."

—By Irene Lew