LOS ANGELES, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- ValueVision Media, Inc. has taken a license under the patent portfolio held by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. and licensed through its affiliate, A2D, L.P. ValueVision Media's television shopping network -- ShopNBC -- is available in more than 63 million homes through analog and digital cable as well as through DirecTV (channel 370) and Dish Network (channel 228).

The license covers services offered by ValueVision Media in the "Television Shopping Services" Field-of-Use, including customer service provided via automated systems and live agents, such as the services that can be reached when calling ShopNBC's order by phone line, 800-474-6762. Other terms of the license were not disclosed.

The more than 50 United States patents held by Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing, L.P. cover a wide range of interactive technology including automated forms of: customer service, securities trading, merchandising, prepaid services, telephone conferences, registration, home shopping, as well as functions involved in securing information from databases by telephone, interactive cable transactions, and various other uses of toll free and local numbers. Additional patents are currently pending in this portfolio.

"ShopNBC customers can reach us over the phone, 24 hours a day via convenient automated and live agent based services. We believe these services use the latest technology available to speed customer contact. Toll free numbers such as 800-474-6762 facilitate easy customer access to ShopNBC when placing orders or speaking with our agents. We are pleased to have purchased this important license," said Frank Elsenbast, Chief Financial Officer of ValueVision Media.

Ronald A. Katz stated, "We welcome ValueVision Media, Inc. to the significant number of major companies who have purchased license rights under this portfolio."

There are over 150 companies with license rights under this portfolio, including over 15 energy and utility companies. Companies in other industries with license rights under this portfolio include: Advanta Corp., American Century, American Express, Ameritrade Holding Corporation, Automatic Data Processing, Inc., AT&T Corp., Bank of America Corporation, BB&T Corporation, Capital One Services Inc., Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless, Dell Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P., Equifax Inc., Excel Communications Inc., First Data Corporation, First National Bank of Omaha, First Tennessee National Corporation, The Gallup Organization, Hewlett-Packard Company, Home Shopping Network Inc., Household International, Inc., HSBC Bank USA, International Business Machines (IBM), KeyCorp, MCI Inc., Mediacom Communications Corporation, Mellon Financial Corporation, Merck & Co., Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Metris Companies Inc., Microsoft, MoneyGram International, Inc., Nationwide, OppenheimerFunds, Inc., People's Bank, Principal Financial Group, Inc., Prudential Financial, Inc., QVC, Inc., Sears, Roebuck and Co., Shop At Home, Inc., Sprint Corporation, Sunoco, Inc., Synovus, Ticketmaster, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., The Vanguard Group, Inc., Verizon California Inc. and its affiliates, Wachovia Corporation, and Wells Fargo & Company.

Mr. Katz is the named inventor on a large number of patents primarily in the fields of telecommunications and computing. He also formed Telecredit, Inc., the nation's first on-line real time credit and check cashing authorization system, and was awarded a patent as co-inventor of that technology.

Founded in 1990, ValueVision Media is an integrated direct marketing company that markets, sells and distributes its products directly to consumers through various forms of electronic media and direct-to-consumer mailings. For more information, please visit http://www.valuevisionmedia.com/ or http://www.shopnbc.com/ .

CONTACT: Brian Rivette of A2D, L.P., +1-310-247-8191,
brivette@a2dlp.com; or Amy Kahlow, Director of Communications of ValueVision
Media, Inc., +1-952-943-6717, akahlow@shopnbc.com

Web site: http://www.valuevisionmedia.com/
http://www.shopnbc.com/