PRESS RELEASE
WD TV® LiveTM Streaming Media Player also Plays Consumers' Personal Content on the Biggest Screen in the House
London - Western Digital® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions and maker of the popular WD TV® media player family, today announced the availability of BBC iPlayer® service in the UK and the Netflix® service in the UK and Ireland on the WD TV Live wireless streaming media player (third generation). The services join YouTubeTM, Spotify® and many other premium entertainment and information services available to customers through WD TV media players, enabling access to a range of TV and radio programmes and films on the biggest screen in their home - the high-definition television.
Additionally, unlike many other streaming media players available in the market, WD TV media players also let customers enjoy a broad variety of digital media they already own, such as photos, video and music, on their home entertainment systems, creating a unified entertainment experience. WD TV devices support a wide range of file formats for streaming content from any connected USB drive, digital camcorder or camera, network drive such as the My Book® LiveTM personal cloud storage and any networked PC or Mac® computer in the home.
WD TV Live users in the UK will gain access to over 400 hours of BBC® TV and radio content, including HD programmes, from the previous seven days and as they are transmitted live.
With more than 20 million streaming members globally, Netflix, Inc. is the world's leading Internet subscription service for enjoying films and TV shows. Netflix members in the UK and Ireland can instantly watch unlimited films and TV episodes streamed over the Internet to WD TV media players, PCs, Macs and TVs, as well as other Internet-connected devices. WD TV Live customers with a Netflix membership simply connect to their Netflix account to instantly watch on their TVs.
"Netflix has become a 'must have' for consumer electronics devices," said Netflix vice president of business development Bill Holmes. "We're proud to align with WD to include Netflix on the WD TV Live streaming media players and to provide consumers with another great choice for enjoying unlimited films and TV programmes streaming over the Internet for a low monthly subscription price from Netflix."
"Over 3 million WD TV media players have been sold worldwide to date, fulfilling consumer demand for a product that integrates quality content from providers like BBC, Netflix and Spotify with consumers' personal content such as photos, videos and music," said Chris Bull, director of marketing for connected home solutions for WD. "Further, WD personalises this entertainment experience by offering users mobile access to their content and enabling customisation of their WD TV experience. We designed today's generation of WD TV players from years of feedback from our customers."
The WD TV line of media players can be purchased at select retailers worldwide and online at www.shopwd.co.uk
About WD
WD, one of the storage industry's pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organisations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users' data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and home entertainment products. WD was founded in 1970. The company's storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.