Eyeing New Business Paradigms, LodgeNet Joins Consortium Promoting UltraViolet(TM) Model for Digital Content Distribution

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET), the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services to hospitality and healthcare businesses and the consumers they serve, announced today that it has joined the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE). In joining DECE, LodgeNet aligns itself with more than 75 leading companies who have come together to create and operate UltraViolet(TM) a groundbreaking, open cloud-based ecosystem that offers consumers a new and compelling way to collect and enjoy home video entertainment.

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A recently released study by PricewaterhouseCoopers states that consumers are much more aware of cloud-based content than they were a year ago and are expressing significantly more interest in the concept.(1) UltraViolet provides consumers with a new, compelling way to collect and enjoy movies and TV shows from a wide array of outlets. Centered around a shared, cloud-based account and an interoperable digital rights "library" system, UltraViolet allows consumers to create personal digital video libraries, with the freedom to access movies and TV shows both at home and on-the-go, across multiple devices.

Derek S. White, President of LodgeNet's Interactive & Media Networks, outlined the company's four-track strategy with regard to DECE and UltraViolet:

• Enabling access to UltraViolet digital media content by consumers in hotel guest rooms through LodgeNet's new Envision(TM) platform,
• Laying the groundwork for future sale of movies (EST, or electronic sell through), potentially offering guests a "try-and-buy" option for Hollywood programming,
• Driving travelers' adoption of UltraViolet through in-room promotions and education via LodgeNet's guest room interactive HDTV systems, and
• Providing hoteliers with the technology and consultative services necessary to serve UltraViolet subscribers staying in their properties.

"We are very excited to join DECE, whose members constitute a veritable 'who's who' of digital media providers and technology innovators," said White. "UltraViolet represents a revolutionary, consumer centered approach to content consumption and positions LodgeNet to respond to consumers' demands for accessing their cloud-stored content as they travel through our Envision platform. Furthermore, guests will have the unique ability to rent a movie in a hotel, elect to purchase it through an up-charge and seamlessly have their ownership rights to it stored in their UltraViolet digital library for future viewing anytime, anywhere and on any device."

"LodgeNet's unique marketplace footprint and advanced services offer the opportunity to present UltraViolet to millions of potential users – many of whom are high-volume media consumers and likely to be early adopters as well," said Mark Teitell, General Manager of DECE. "I believe LodgeNet's expertise in marketing media to consumers who are on-the-go will be an important complement to the impact of other UltraViolet retailers, putting UltraViolet in a very attractive position for next-generation digital programming sell through."

Teitell, a featured speaker at LodgeNet's annual Customer Technology Symposium concluding today in Chicago, added that consumers in the United States will be able to purchase select movies and TV shows with UltraViolet rights from Hollywood studios, such as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, beginning in October.

(1) PricewaterhouseCoopers, "Premium Content Consumption: Responding to the 'Instant Access' Consumer", September 2011

About LodgeNet

LodgeNet Interactive Corporation is the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services to hospitality and healthcare businesses and the consumers they serve. LodgeNet Interactive serves approximately 1.8 million hotel rooms worldwide in addition to healthcare facilities throughout the United States. The Company's services include: Interactive Television, Broadband, Mobile and Advertising Media Solutions along with nationwide technical and professional support services. LodgeNet Interactive Corporation owns and operates businesses under the industry leading brands: LodgeNet, The Hotel Networks and LodgeNet Healthcare. LodgeNet Interactive is listed on NASDAQ and trades under the symbol LNET. For more information, please visit www.lodgenet.com.

LodgeNet, the LodgeNet logo, and Envision are trademarks or registered trademarks of LodgeNet Interactive Corporation.

SOURCE LodgeNet Interactive Corporation