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For Further information: Teri Zastrow: 201-368-9171 Brian McKernan: 516-829-0404

GOODYEAR BLIMP FLIES "HIGH" WITH IKEGAMI

MAYWOOD NJ, January 18, 2005: Television audiences are getting the ultimate "high" in quality aerial views this year, thanks to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's famous blimps and Ikegami.

The two companies worked together on the installation of an Ikegami HDK-79NAH High Definition television camera in the blimp's TV system and recently provided the world's first high-definition aerial camera video from a blimp. Some of the shows benefiting from the improved pictures include ABC's Monday Night Football, NBC's Election Night coverage, ESPN Sunday Night Football, and CBS' telecast of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

The Ikegami HDK-79NAH is a high-performance, fully digital High Definition television camera designed for such specialized applications as aerial and POV systems. Featuring a compact and lightweight separate optical block (the HDL-37E), the camera is ideally suited for the DTV and HDTV broadcasting era. The HDK-79NAH employs three 2/3-inch 2,200,000-pixel, 1080i FIT CCDs for superb picture quality. Using newly developed digital processing ICs, the camera provides stable, high-quality HDTV images.

"Goodyear has a 20-year history with Ikegami and a shared high regard for the quality of the TV shows we support," states Richard Morckel, Goodyear's Chief Airship Electronic Technician. "The Ikegami camera provides excellent resolution and depth of field. The stabilized platform exercises good control of its filters and of the video, which is important since the camera's optical block is mounted outside the airship in a Gyron gimbal system."

Goodyear camera operators control the camera from inside the gondola with a Gyron steering console.

According to Mr. Morckel, the stabilized camera platform is necessary for aerial camera work, where steady shots are visually appealing and required for network sports coverage.

Installation of the HDK-79NAH HDTV camera was facilitated because it replaced a previous Ikegami SDTV camera, the HL-59NA. Changes in the routing of control and video cables were, however, necessary, Mr. Morckel added.

During Election Night, the Ikegami HDK-79NAH HDTV camera installed in the Spirit of Goodyear blimp treated TV audiences to a bird's-eye view of NBC's Democracy Plaza in front of the network's headquarters in New York's Rockefeller Center.

Embedded in the Plaza's famed ice-skating rink was a huge map of the United States; states were lit in either red or blue as the evening progressed and election results were tabulated.

Aerial shots of the Democracy Plaza map were yet another unique application of the Goodyear blimp's Ikegami HD camera system, which made history on August 9 when it successfully transmitted the first-ever HDTV pictures of a sporting event from a blimp during the telecast of ABC's pre-season Monday Night Football Hall of Fame game.

The HDK-79NAH HDTV camera isn't the only Ikegami product in the Goodyear blimp camera system. Goodyear also utilizes the Ikegami HTLM-600D High-End HDTV six-inch LCD color monitor.

"It's small, convenient to use, saves us weight, and lowers our power requirements," Mr. Morckel explains. "This HD LCD monitor accepts direct component analog video and HDSDI, and will loop through HDSDI. It works very well in the small space we have in the airship."

As a 20-year veteran of Ikegami aerial cameras on Goodyear blimps Mr. Morckel sees HDTV as a growing trend. "HD is compelling for sports and entertainment TV," he states. "HD is here to stay, and you have to move with the times. There's already a great demand for HD production, which I think will continue to grow."

"The views from the Goodyear blimp enhance TV broadcasts," adds Jennifer Arnold, Manager of Airship Broadcasting and Public Relations for Goodyear. "The Goodyear blimps are pioneers in providing network aerial coverage for major sporting events. Goodyear is the first to install HDTV cameras in a blimp because it makes a broadcast better. Goodyear will continue to push the envelope with the use of new technology."

About Goodyear: Goodyear is the world's largest tire company, manufacturing tires, engineered rubber products, and chemicals in more than 80 facilities in 28 countries around the world. Goodyear employs about 86,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the Goodyear Web site at www.goodyear.com or contact Jennifer Arnold at (330) 796-1229.

About Ikegami: Ikegami is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality professional broadcast equipment. Ikegami offers a broad range of TV cameras for ENG, EFP, Studio, HDTV, CCTV, and Medical Imaging. Ikegami products have received various Emmy Awards for Engineering Excellence. The company's universal High Definition TV cameras have been widely accepted by the broadcast industry as it continues the transition to the High Definition Television Format.

For more information about Ikegami and the location of the Regional Office nearest you, call Ikegami's Maywood NJ headquarters at 201-368-9171 or visit www.Ikegami.com.   Ikegami: Navigating the Way to DTV.