AARHUS, Denmark, 6 June 2003 -- A new way for broadcasters, newspapers and
web sites to exchange TV listings has been begun the formal approval
process that will end with adoption as a new worldwide standard.

At its annual meeting, the International Press Telecommunications Council
voted to move ahead with review and approval of ProgramGuideML, a powerful
but simple way to show program and channel information in any language.

Designed by a group of Japanese newspapers and broadcasters,
ProgramGuideML uses XML technology to mark up important programming
information with simple text tags that allow easy files exchange between
news agencies and automatic processing. If approved by the IPTC at its
spring 2004 meeting in Athens, ProgramGuideML will join a list of
standards that are used by news agencies around the world.

IPTC members also studied proposals to redesign the group's web site,
where standards and documentation are made available at no cost. The
redesign will include interactive aids to help programmers and news
executives understand the features of the standards.

In other business, IPTC members re-elected Dr. John Iobst of the United
States as chairman and returned several other board members: Klaus Sprick
of Germany, Peter Muller of Switzerland, Stephane Guerillot of France,
Rudi Horvath of Austria and Naoshi Hashimoto of Japan.

The IPTC's next regular meeting will be in Leipzig, Germany, in October
2003.