TEWKSBURY, Mass.--April 3, 2000-- Avid Technology, Inc. announced that iCAST, an online entertainment and majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., has selected Avid's nonlinear editing and storage tools to create a complete digital media workflow solution. Avid's content creation products will allow iCAST to create broadcast audio/video content for streaming on the Web, making it one of the leading Web-based multimedia companies using broadcast editing technology for high bandwidth online entertainment.

Avid Xpress, Avid's broadcast-quality video editing system designed for multimedia professionals, and Avid Unity MediaNet, a shared storage network for professional media production environments, will enable iCAST's editors to store, share and deliver high volumes of digital multimedia, allowing them to meet the demanding production deadlines of online multimedia companies. iCAST's investment in Avid Unity MediaNet is a milestone for Avid as it marks the 1000th client seat sold to a customer.

"By selecting Avid's tools, iCAST will receive not only the speed and flexibility, but also the end-to-end creation, collaboration and publishing capability that only Avid can deliver," said Chas Smith, Avid's vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. "The shipment of the 1,000th seat of Avid Unity MediaNet underscores the fact that more and more leading broadcasters, post-production facilities, studios and web publishing organizations are endorsing Avid Unity MediaNet as the preferred solution for linking digital content creation and web publishing tools."

"Our use of Avid's solution is an innovative demonstration of how television and film editing technology can be used to optimize new media entertainment in a high bandwidth environment," said Jeff Brissette, multimedia producer at iCAST. "With Avid's solution, we can preserve our content at broadcast quality before uploading it from our site."

The industry-leading capabilities of Avid Unity MediaNet will allow iCAST to store, share and distribute large media files among its multimedia editors and producers. Editors and producers will have instant, transparent and simultaneous access to over six hundred hours of high-resolution media, or several thousand hours of high desktop-quality media. In addition, Avid Unity MediaNet will support multiple background media conversion processes to Microsoft Windows Media and eventually other streaming formats.

The two Avid Xpress systems for the Windows NT platform will be used by iCAST to edit and prepare digital content in conjunction with their previously owned Avid Xpress system for the Macintosh platform. Avid Xpress software features include a robust set of editing, effects, titling, compositing, audio, graphics and interoperability tools that will enable iCAST to create original content such as interviews and live event footage, electronic press kits, film trailers and music videos. The Avid Unity MediaNet support of Avid Xpress editing clients means that iCAST can edit, store and manage large quantities of both raw and finished media, creating a powerful workflow solution.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is an international, industry-leading provider of digital audio and video tools for information and entertainment applications. The company's products are used by a variety of customers worldwide including film, television and interactive content producers, corporate communicators, TV news broadcasters, and consumers. For more information, visit Avid's Web site at www.avid.com.

About iCAST

iCAST (www.icast.com) is a multi-media rich, online entertainment company that champions self-publishing within a personalized, community-oriented environment. icast.com empowers individuals with the tools to create, customize and share their personal entertainment passions. It offers original, user-generated and syndicated audio and video content, entertainment news, features and interviews, live and archived events and more. iCAST and the iCASTER, its downloadable media player, use Microsoft Windows Media as its preferred streaming media format. iCAST is a majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Inc.

Pricing and Availability

Avid Xpress and Avid Unity MediaNet are available through Avid's worldwide reseller channel. USMSRP for the Avid Xpress complete turnkey system is $24,999, while the Avid Xpress kit, which includes software and Meridien(TM) board only, is USMSRP $12,999. Prices for Avid Unity MediaNet begin at USMSRP $38,000.


This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events, and these statements are subject to important factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release address a variety of subjects including, for example, the benefits expected to result from the agreement between Avid and iCAST, the expected functionality of the combination of the technologies and products of Avid and iCAST and the anticipated offerings of iCAST. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements: iCAST may not successfully integrate the personnel, technologies and operations of recent acquisitions; iCAST may not successfully execute on its business plan; and increased competition and technological changes in the markets in which iCAST competes. For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to CMGI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CMGI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year.