ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2000--Odetics Broadcast, a leader in on-air automation and content management solutions, today announced that it is now shipping the new MicroStation(TM) Automation System and that in April 2000 the first two installations went live at broadcasters in North America and Europe.

A complete "station in a box," the MicroStation system is a turnkey, cost-effective television automation solution that reduces labor and can improve quality for broadcasters in a single, on-air channel operation.

The compact MicroStation is the size of a standard Betacam video tape recorder and requires minimum operator intervention while automating video programming and the insertion of interstitial content. It has an integrated disk recorder and intelligent automation control. MicroStation is shipped with Windows(TM) NT-based applications for media preparation, traffic interface, database management and on-air play list management. Media preparation can occur simultaneously while programming is airing.

"Until now, most stations in small markets, government broadcasters or other specialty operations with one or two channels generally could not justify the cost of an automation system. Yet these operations could greatly benefit by improving their efficiency and on-air quality with the advanced technology that is available today," said Steven L'Heureux, Odetics Broadcast vice president of sales and marketing.

"The MicroStation provides professional-quality station automation at a cost that is easily within the reach of the smallest broadcasters. It offers these stations reliable operations and requires only minimal training since it operates with a familiar Windows interface," he said.

The MicroStation Automation System integrates network feeds, locally-originated programming and spot insertion. The system incorporates control of the switcher, video tape recorders (VTRs) and General Purpose Interface (GPI) inputs/outputs.

The integration of these functions reduces operator intervention and can improve on-air operations for small-to-medium size television stations, head-ends, cable access stations and educational television systems. The turnkey system starts under $50,000 (US dollars).

About Odetics Broadcast

Odetics Broadcast markets and develops content management and delivery solutions and has systems installed at over 600 broadcast stations in 40 countries. Its Emmy Award-winning product design and de facto industry-standard technologies enable reliable on-air presentation and complete facility automation while reducing administration costs. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Odetics, Inc. and additional information is available at www.odetics.com/broadcast/.

Odetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ODETA)(Nasdaq:ODETB) is a high technology incubator with a mission to nurture and develop its businesses to be spun-off to stockholders. Odetics' current companies develop software-and hardware-based solutions for the television broadcast, video security, telecommunications and intelligent transportation systems markets. Both Odetics, Inc. and Odetics Broadcast are headquartered in Anaheim, Calif., with offices in Asia and Europe.

MicroStation is a trademark of Odetics Broadcast. Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

NOTE TO EDITORS: An image file of the MicroStation is available on request.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This release contains statements, which may be deemed to be forward looking. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of risk factors such as: short product lives, technological shifts, current technical issues that cannot be resolved on a timely basis, component availability, competition (including new and directly competitive products from others), pricing pressures, incorrect assumptions regarding market demand, and the significant uncertainty of market acceptance of new products by both distributors and end-user customers.

Investors are strongly encouraged to review the risk factors set forth in Odetics, Inc.'s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999 on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report for the quarter ended December 31, 1999 on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC.

CONTACT: LFM Communications

Linda Marcus, 949/362-0356

lmarcus@lfm-com.com