Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) announced on January 12th comprehensive, new long-term program carriage agreements which bring new and expanded CBS programming to Verizon’s television and wireless customers.  Verizon has broadened and extended its rights for retransmission consent for CBS’s owned and operated television stations, Network and local video-on-demand for the FiOS TV platform as well as mobile rights for Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Video service. 

“We are extremely pleased to have reached this broad long-term agreement that recognizes the value of our programming,” said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation.  “Verizon subscribers will have continued access to the Number One TV network not only through FiOS TV, but also through V CAST on the mobile phone, which enhances our profile on a key emerging platform.”

“Verizon is focused on providing the most comprehensive and exciting entertainment to our customers across all our services and platforms,” said John Harrobin, Senior Vice President of Digital Media for Verizon. “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with CBS, which helps us deliver the hit shows and compelling content our customers want to enjoy.”

Under the new agreement, Verizon has secured

The expanded agreements also provide national video-on-demand rights for programs in both standard and high definition format, including such leading shows as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “NCIS,” “Survivor,” and “Numb3rs,” as well as video-on-demand rights for local news, also in SD and HD.

And, Verizon will continue to offer CBS programming on Verizon FiOS TV, its all-digital fiber-optic TV service, which is available in parts of 14 states, and reaches more than 1.6 million subscribers.

Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About CBS Corporation

CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW – a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime Networks and CBS College Sports Network), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/DVD (CBS Home Entertainment), in-store media (CBS Outernet) and motion pictures (CBS Films).  For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.

About Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc., headquartered in

The Nielsen Company released on January 23rd its annual Guide to the Super Bowl, which showcases a full range of consumer and media information about the most anticipated marketing event in the U.S. This year’s matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers is scheduled for February 1 in Tampa, FL.Among the key findings from Nielsen:

• TELEVISION: Last year’s tilt between the Patriots and the Giants was viewed by a record 97.5 million people nationwide. As expected, the Super Bowl was the most-watched TV broadcast in 2008.

• ADVERTISERS: The cost of a 30-second spot in last year’s Super Bowl was $2.7 million. Total spending for the game reached over $195 million. Anheuser-Busch bought the most commercial time (4 minutes total). The highest-rated commercial minute was the Victoria’s Secret spot at 9:44pm, seen by 103.7 million viewers. The most-liked ad was produced by the NFL. The most-recalled ad was produced by FedEx.

• ONLINE: Super Bowl advertisers saw a 24 percent jump in Web traffic the day after last year’s Super Bowl. The Pepsi commercial featuring Justin Timberlake gathered the most Internet buzz.

• MUSIC AND MOVIES: In the week following Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ halftime performance last year, sales of their “Greatest Hits” album jumped 196%. Petty’s “Anthology: Through the Years” album jumped 240% that same week. Box office sales on the weekend of Super Bowl Sunday show notable decline. The NFL Super Bowl XLII DVD was the #1 selling sports DVD in 2008.

• SNACKS AND BEER: The Super Bowl is the 8th-largest beer-selling event each year. Markets with hometown teams involved in the big game are more likely buy more beer. Potato chips are the snack of choice at Super Bowl parties, but tortilla chips are quickly gaining.

• CONSUMER TRENDS: There’s a softer side to football fans. People identifying themselves as avid NFL fans outpaced total U.S. spending in skin care by 74% from 2005 to 2007. NFL fans are also more likely to own hi-tech electronic items than the average adult.

• DEMOGRAPHICS: About 138 million adults - or more than 60% of the adult population in the U.S. - are NFL fans. The league is slightly more likely to attract fans from higher education and income brackets. Fans are also generally more physically active than the average American.

For more details and analysis, please see the full downloadable news release.

For additional advertising and media trends, visit Nielsen’s blog at: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

More than 6.5 million U.S. households - or 5.7 percent of all homes — are not ready for the upcoming transition to all-digital broadcasting and would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today, The Nielsen Company reported on January 22nd. This is an improvement of more than 1.3 million homes since Nielsen reported readiness status at the end of December.

Table 1
Percentage of Households that Are Completely Unready
For the Digital Transition

Source: The Nielsen Company

Under government-mandated action, all television stations are required to switch to digital programming by February 17, 2009, which will leave viewers without a television signal unless they purchase digital television sets, connect to cable, satellite, and alternate delivery systems or purchase a converter box.

Nielsen is making these estimates available as a public service to the television industry, government policy-makers and local communities. This information is based on the same national and local television ratings samples that are used to generate national and local television ratings. To conduct the survey, Nielsen representatives observed and tabulated the actual televisions used in its samples. Because Nielsen has developed samples that reflect the total U.S. population including African American and Hispanic populations, these household characteristics in the samples can be projected to the whole country.

“Nielsen has been preparing for the transition to digital television for more than two years,” said Nielsen Vice Chair Susan Whiting. “Because we recognize that accurate and reliable information on consumer behavior is essential to this transition, we’ve been sharing our data with clients, government leaders and the public so they could track progress to digital readiness.”

“There are still millions of people who will be adversely affected because they are not ready for the digital transition.  So it’s critical that we provide them with the information and resources they need to stay connected with the world,” said Ernest W. Bromley, Nielsen Hispanic/Latino Advisory Council (HLAC).

“Nielsen has played a key role in reaching out to our underserved communities and helping them understand what needs to be done,” said Nita Song, Nielsen Asian Pacific American Advisory Council (APAAC).

“It is imperative that we operate at an accelerated pace to educate those who are at the greatest risk of losing their television service — low-income households, large numbers of senior, minority and disabled viewers.   These viewers rely on traditional television the most and can least afford to lose their television lifelines.  We have a responsibility to make sure that these groups whether in our families, churches or communities are equipped and ready for this transition,” said Cynthia Perkins-Roberts, Nielsen African American Advisory Council (AAAC).

Local Market Rankings

Among the 56 local markets that Nielsen measures with electronic meters, the one that is least ready is Albuquerque-Santa Fe, with 12.4% of the households completely unready. The most prepared market is Hartford & New Haven, with only 1.8% of homes unready.

Table 2
Least Prepared Local Metered Markets Based on Percentage of Households
Currently Unprepared for Digital Conversion

Source: The Nielsen Company

For more information on the U.S. state of readiness for digital transition, please visit: www.nielsenwire.com.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

According to The Nielsen Company, more than 9 million households are not ready for the upcoming transition to all-digital broadcasting and would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today. Another 12.6 million households have at least one television set that will no longer work when the digital transition occurs, meaning that nearly one in five U.S. households are either partially or completely unready for the transition.Under government-mandated action, all television stations are required to switch to digital programming by February 17, 2009, which will leave viewers without a television signal unless they purchase digital television sets, connect to cable, satellite, and alternate delivery systems or purchase a converter box.

In a research paper released on Oct 15, Nielsen reported that the number of fully unprepared homes decreased 1.4 percentage points from May 1 to September 1, 2008, leaving 8.4% of all U.S. households still completely unready (click here for the full report).

New details from this report show that households headed by less educated, lower income and blue collar workers are least prepared for the transition. Consistent with trends in previous reports, older, white households are better prepared than their younger, African American, Asian or Hispanic counterparts.

Nielsen also found that nearly a quarter of all “unready” analog sets are not being used to view regular television. These sets, which are in both partially and completely unprepared homes, are being used for DVD, VCR and Video Games.

“Through its representative panels of television households, Nielsen is uniquely positioned to draw a complete picture of the impact of the digital transition,” said Pat McDonough, Senior Vice President, Insights, Analysis and Policy. ”We hope this report will help the broadcasting industry and the government as they accelerate their campaign to educate consumers about the need to transition to digital television.”

These estimates are based on the same national and local television ratings samples that are used to generate national and local television ratings. To conduct the survey, Nielsen representatives observed and tabulated the actual televisions used in its samples. Because Nielsen has developed samples that reflect the total U.S. population including African American and Hispanic populations, these household characteristics in the samples can be projected to the whole country.

Readiness

Highlights of the report show:

• The percentage of Hispanic households that are completely unready for the digital transition is 13%. About one-quarter of the households that speak only or mostly Spanish are completely unready.

• The percentage of African American households that are completely unready for the digital transition is 12.5%.

• Households whose total annual household income is under $25,000 per year are five times more likely to be unprepared than households earning over $75,000.

• Households whose Head-of-House possesses less than a High School diploma are about twice as likely to be unready than ones with a college degree.

• Households whose Head-of-House is in a blue collar occupation are about three-quarters more likely to be unready than one in a white collar job.

Potential Impact of the Digital Transition on Viewing

Other highlights related to the potential impact of the digital transition on viewing include:

• About 15% of primetime viewing among English language broadcast networks occurs on “unready sets,” compared to 26% of viewing among Spanish language broadcast networks. The greatest contribution of viewing to unready sets is among children and teenagers.

• Unready televisions are disproportionately in the kitchen or secondary bedroom, as opposed to the living room or master bedroom.

• In homes that have made the transition from “unprepared” to “prepared” there is a 19% increase in overall viewing.

• Owners of unready televisions are dealing with their sets in a variety of ways. Among households that have done something about their analog sets, 38% of unready televisions have been removed or replaced; 25% have been made ready through a new digital tuner and the rest have either been switched to cable or satellite distribution.

Local Market Rankings

Among the 56 local markets that Nielsen measures with electronic meters, the one that is least ready is Houston, with 15.8% of the households completely unready. The most prepared market is Ft. Myers, with only 2.4% of homes unready.

Least Prepared Local Metered Markets Based on Percentage of Households Currently Unprepared for Digital Conversion

Most Prepared Local Metered Markets Based on Percentage of HouseholdsCurrently Unprepared for Digital Conversion

Nielsen has developed a model for estimating preparedness in non-metered markets. As a result, there are now estimates of digital preparedness for all 210 local markets. For the full list of local market preparedness, click here for the metered markets and here for the diary markets.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA.

Continuing efforts to make television advertising more relevant, accountable and measurable, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced on Sept 25 that the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION network will make national cable advertising time in the U.S. available through the Google TV Ads™ platform. By offering self-service buying opportunities through Google TV Ads, the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION network will expand its reach to a wider range of advertisers, including those that are new to the medium. With the addition of BLOOMBERG TELEVISION inventory, advertisers using the Google TV Ads platform can not only reach the high-net-worth BLOOMBERG TELEVISION U.S. audience but can also gain access to viewership data at an unprecedented scale. Google’s TV Ads platform can report second-by-second data from millions of anonymized set-top-boxes, allowing advertisers to measure viewership of their ads more precisely than ever before. With this data, advertisers can better understand what consumers are responding to and make real-time adjustments to their campaigns to maximize the return on their TV ad investments. Google’s digital platform also makes it easier for advertisers to find relevant programming through its keyword search functionality.

“We’re pleased to be partnering with BLOOMBERG TELEVISION to continue to make TV advertising more relevant and measurable,” said Mike Steib, director of Google TV Ads. “We will now be able to give advertisers, many of whom have never tried TV advertising before, access to the desirable BLOOMBERG TELEVISION demographic.”

“The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION audience is the wealthiest and most powerful in cable television,” said Trevor Fellows, head of advertising sales at Bloomberg. “As high net worth viewers are extremely difficult to quantify using traditional methods, we believe that involvement with Google TV Ads from an early stage will help us and our advertisers learn more about our audience.”

Google TV Ads offers greater accountability in advertising. With Google’s auction-based pricing system, advertisers only pay for impressions delivered to their ads, and they can receive integrated digital reporting within 24 hours. The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION network joins Google TV Ads’ growing list of inventory, which also includes NBC Universal and DISH Network.

“We’re very happy with the progress of Google TV Ads,” said Michael Kelly, executive vice president for DISH Network, Google TV Ads’ current inventory partner. “Google TV Ads has brought more accurate, accessible, and up-to-date viewer measurement to the industry, enhancing value to our advertisers.”

The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION service is the only 24/7 business and financial news television network. BLOOMBERG TELEVISION content is created exclusively by the global BLOOMBERG NEWS service, with 143 bureaus in 69 countries. BLOOMBERG TELEVISION programming offers viewers a snapshot of the markets with fast, accurate reporting of world indexes, currencies, U.S. Treasuries, commodities futures, agricultural futures, and exchange traded funds, as well as special features, insight and analysis, and proprietary coverage of leading stocks and industry sectors. The worldwide service broadcasts in seven languages.

About Google Inc.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Apple and NBC Universal  announced on Sept 10 the return of NBC programming to the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) including NBC networks’ top 10 series available immediately for purchase and download in both standard definition and stunning high definition. iTunes customers can choose programming from NBC, USA Network, SCI FI Channel, Bravo, Sleuth and NBC News including favorites such as the award-winning and critically acclaimed “Heroes,” and the Emmy award-winning programs “The Office,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “30 Rock.” NBCU standard definition television shows on the iTunes Store are $1.99 per episode and HD programs are available for just one dollar more at $2.99 per episode and select library content is available for $.99. Additional NBCU programming from Oxygen, Telemundo, Mun2 and NBC Sports will be available on iTunes soon.“The return of our shows to iTunes is terrific news for everyone who loves television and the ease and convenience of Apple’s iTunes,” said Jeff Zucker, President and CEO, NBC Universal. “And now, by offering consumers a variety of new options, our fans have even more ways to enjoy our content.”

“We are thrilled that NBC is back on iTunes in time for the Fall TV season,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “NBC has some of TV’s most popular shows and now customers can purchase and download them from iTunes in SD or stunning HD.”

iTunes customers can also purchase a Season Pass which allows viewers to buy an entire season of programming at a discounted price. In addition, NBC Universal is offering one free episode from each of their top series, available in either SD or HD, on the iTunes Store for the next two weeks. The premiere episodes of upcoming NBC shows, such as “Knight Rider,” “My Own Worst Enemy” and “Kath & Kim” will be available on iTunes a week before their broadcast premieres later in September and October, with subsequent episodes available the day after broadcast. NBC is also making full episodes of several vintage television shows available on iTunes for $.99, including “The A-Team,” “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Miami Vice,” “Kojak” and the original “Battlestar Galactica.”

The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 8.5 million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films including 600 in stunning high definition video. With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.

As part of its continuing effort to offer innovative advertising solutions to its clients, NBC Universal (NBCU) will join forces with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to form a strategic multi-year advertising, research and technology partnership. The two companies will work together to develop more effective advertising metrics, attract non-traditional advertising partners to NBCU and incorporate self-service buying opportunities through the Google TV Ads™ advertising platform. The announcement was made on Sept 8 by Mike Pilot, President, NBC Universal Sales and Marketing and Tim Armstrong, Google’s President of Advertising and Commerce, North America.

On the national level, NBCU will offer advertising time from several of its cable networks to Google’s TV Ads platform. Inventory from Sci Fi, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, Sleuth, and Chiller will be made available to Google in the coming months, with potential to expand onto other NBCU properties in the future. With the addition of NBC Universal inventory, advertisers using the Google TV Ads platform can reach NBCU Cable’s national audience and gain access to viewership data at an unprecedented scale. With this data, advertisers can better understand what consumers are responding to and make real-time adjustments to their campaign to maximize their ROI.

“We’re extremely pleased to join forces with Google on this effort, which will help us develop better accountability and ROI metrics for our advertisers and attract an entirely new group of clients to television advertising,” said Pilot. “This is another step in our commitment to trying innovative advertising approaches and testing new technologies that can help benefit our clients.”

“The Google TV Ads platform is making television advertising more accountable and measurable and we’re pleased with our progress to date,” said Armstrong. “Our partnership with NBCU will help us bring the power of television to a broader set of advertisers as well as give our current advertisers increased reach through our system.”

On the local level, NBCU and Google have also agreed to work jointly on adapting the Google TV Ads platform for local market use.

“This is a great way to reach clients who are interested in buying television advertising but may not have previously had the resources or ability to do so,” said Frank Comerford, President, Platform Development and Commercial Operations, NBC Local Media. “A self-service ad platform will be a great complement to our existing sales efforts and help us further connect our clients to their customers.”

As part of the agreement, NBC Universal will maintain its direct relationships with agencies and advertisers and can set parameters around the purchase of the available ad time. NBCU will also gain access to the large base of advertisers using Google’s AdWords™ online advertising program, many of whom are not currently television advertisers. The two companies will share in all ad revenue and explore innovative ways to expand the partnership in the future, including adapting the platform to add local inventory.

As part of their effort to help drive value for advertisers, NBCU and Google will also collaborate on a series of custom marketing and research projects using the Google TV Ads platform. Through its partnership with DISH Network, the Google TV Ads platform can report second-by-second set top box data allowing advertisers to measure viewership of their ads more precisely than ever before. The two companies will also take advantage of joint research that will help advertisers and agencies better understand their media mix and optimize their ad campaigns.

“We’re pleased that NBCU will make some of its inventory available on Google’s TV Ads platform,” said Laura Desmond, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group. “The partnership will generate real value for our clients by providing us with a more measurable–and actionable–understanding of how consumers engage with content.”

About Google Inc.
Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

The Nielsen Company and Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI) have begun delivering the first daily all-electronic national TV ratings of television viewing that occurs outside of the home. This includes audience estimates of television viewing in out-of-home locations such as offices, fitness clubs, hotels and bars.The syndicated service launches with two charter clients - ESPN and Zenith Media.

In the month of July, FOX’s “House” and ESPN’s “Home Run Derby” generated the most out-of-home viewing among primetime broadcast and cable respectively, with both attracting 570,000 out-of-home viewers (see tables 1 and 2).

Among a group of highly rated special events/sports programs from June 30 to August 10, the program with the highest number of out-of-home viewers was the Olympics Opening Ceremony on NBC, with 1.1 million viewers (see table 3).

“Until now, no one has been able to provide on-going 24/7 national measurement of television viewing that takes place outside the home,” said Sara Erichson, Executive Vice President, Media Client Services, for the Nielsen Company. “Working with IMMI, Nielsen can now capture out-of-home viewing and provide a more complete picture of how people are watching television.”

“Our co-branded product with Nielsen is one of the services IMMI offers in an effort to give media companies and advertisers data that helps them make smart business decisions,” said Tom Zito, president and CEO of Integrated Media Measurement Inc. “We are living in an environment where viewers are increasingly consuming media in locations outside of the home, and as researchers we need to factor in audience exposure from all directions.”

“Out-of-home delivery is a critical part of ESPN delivery, encompassing usage on campuses, in hotels, at work as well as bars and restaurants,” said Glenn Enoch, Vice President of Integrated Media Research, ESPN. “ESPN Research has spent years examining and valuing our out-of-home audience in various ways. We are interested both in the technology of this service, utilizing the first meter that captures viewing outside of homes and dorms, and in the program-level precision that it provides.”

“Zenith believes firmly in following the video,” said Wendy Marquardt, President, Zenith Media US. ”In a mobile society, viewership isn’t just about people sitting in the living room gathered around the set.  Nielsen’s Out-of-Home service is part of our commitment to the full understanding of video, in the home, out of the home, on the net and on personal media devices.”

Nielsen is offering the national service to clients as a stand-alone service, separate from Nielsen’s National People Meter sample, which is used to generate program ratings of viewing that takes place inside people’s homes. Later this year Nielsen and IMMI plan to deliver local out-of-home services in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Denver, which are the first markets in which IMMI has established panels.

The six local markets each have a participating panel of approximately 500 people, or a total of 3,000 participants. The sample for the national service is comprised of participants from the local services, plus an additional 1,700 national panelists to provide a greater representation of the rest of the U.S. The national panel is weighted to be representative of the entire U.S. and has an effective sample size of approximately 2,500 panelists.

IMMI provides panel members with a mobile phone, asking them to carry it with them wherever they go. The mobile phone is equipped with a technology that creates digital signatures of all the audio media (television, radio and movies) to which it has been exposed. IMMI then matches these with audio signatures collected by IMMI from actual telecasts with the results then transmitted to IMMI computer servers for reporting.

Table 1

Source: Out-Of-Home Report, a service of Nielsen and IMMI

Table 2

Source: Out-Of-Home Report, a service of Nielsen and IMMI

Table 3

Source: Out-Of-Home Report, a service of Nielsen and IMMI

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

About Integrated Media Measurement Inc.

Integrated Media Measurement Inc. (IMMI) is the developer of an end-to-end media measurement system that links media exposure to consumer action. Using a mobile-phone-based digital monitoring system, IMMI tracks almost all media 24/7 and helps businesses evaluate the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. IMMI is based in San Mateo, Calif.

Microsoft Corp. announced on June, 17th the acquisition of Navic Networks, a leading provider of television advertising solutions. Navic’s technologies include sophisticated campaign management tools that use relevant data to optimize the delivery and placement of targeted interactive television media and through Admira provide a unified ad network for targeting audiences across television advertising inventory. With the addition of Navic solutions, Microsoft’s comprehensive advertising platform will be able to facilitate enhanced digital advertising across online and offline environments.“Television media represents the largest percentage of advertisers and agencies’ media budget today,” said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “Together, Navic and Microsoft will deliver addressable television advertising solutions to help our partners better manage media spend by increasing advertiser reach and ROI, and maximizing publisher yield on television advertising.”

Together, Microsoft and Navic plan to consult and work with the key constituents in the television advertising industry to better understand how its campaign management and advertising platforms for digital television can help advertisers, content owners and distributors maximize yield and achieve their media objectives.

“Viewers across North America are engaging with relevant advertising and interacting with their TVs in ways never before possible. Joining forces with Microsoft will enable our common vision of addressable television advertising solutions to continue to flourish and better meet the needs of our industry partners,” said Chet Kanojia, CEO of Navic Networks. “While our current business relationships will continue to grow, we look forward to extending our technology into a vast array of new markets and software solutions.”

With this acquisition, Navic Networks becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft and will join Microsoft’s Advertiser and Publisher Solutions (APS) Group, the group responsible for Microsoft’s comprehensive advertising platform that spans all digital media including television and video advertising. The APS Group includes Atlas, a pioneer of Video-On-Demand advertising solutions.

About Navic

Navic Networks is the leading addressable advertising and interactive television technology provider to the cable and direct broadcast satellite television industry. Navic provides sophisticated tools that use real-time audience measurement data to optimize the delivery and placement of targeted interactive media. Navic’s patented technology powers addressable advertising and interactive television applications on over 35 million digital set-top boxes in North America. Navic Networks is a privately held corporation headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more information, visit http://www.navic.tv/.

About Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising provides world-class advertising tools and solutions for digital advertisers and publishers to drive brand and consumer engagement. The portfolio includes all our digital advertising businesses: our global media network that includes MSN, Windows Live, Microsoft Office Live, Xbox, Microsoft Live Search, Facebook and more, and our global technology platforms and tools that include Atlas, AdECN Inc., Microsoft adCenter, DRIVEpm, Massive Inc. and ScreenTonic, which together create engaging digital advertising experiences for their consumers. Microsoft Advertising helps make buying and selling media simple, smart and more cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond, which spans 42 markets globally and 21 languages. Visit http://advertising.microsoft.com for more information.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

The Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) has signed distribution agreements with a select group of preferred partners to launch a number of advertiser-supported branded channels in premium environments that will further WBTVG’s strategic expansion into the digital marketplace. WBTVG will work closely with Dailymotion, Joost, Sling Media, TiVo and Veoh Networks to launch channels that will include TheWB.com and KidsWB.com – the two new advertiser-supported broadband destinations WBTVG unveiled in late April at a press conference in New York City. The announcement was made today by Bruce Rosenblum, President, Warner Bros. Television Group.

The channels will launch in mid-September, providing WBTVG’s branded destinations with the added reach of the distribution partners’ target audiences, while giving consumers greater access to the Studio’s programming. The three-screen distribution strategy provides scale to advertisers, allowing them to associate with Warner Bros. brands through the expanding Warner Bros. digital arena, which gives advertisers access to targeted consumers via the Studio’s programming in a premium environment.

“These new premium partnerships fit our overall digital distribution strategy by providing users the opportunity to access our content where and when they choose,” said Rosenblum. “These partnerships will further the reach of the high-quality content we are creating to fuel our branded, ad-supported niche destinations which will benefit both the user and the advertiser.”

The branded channels at Dailymotion.com, www.joost.com, Sling, TiVo and Veoh.com will offer, free of charge to consumers, full-length episodes of programming – some drawing from The WB Network, and others from Kids’ WB! and the Warner Bros. collection. In addition, selected original series will be made exclusively for TheWB.com, including Sorority Forever, an innovative mystery/drama from director/producer McG (the upcoming Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, Supernatural, the Charlie’s Angels movies) and Big Fantastic (Prom Queen) that peeks behind the walls of one of the most intriguing secret societies in the world: the sorority. Additional series being made available will be announced at a future date. In addition to these branded channels, WBTVG and these preferred partners will launch two new themed channels: Classics WBTV, a channel featuring full-length episodes of landmark series from the vast Warner Bros. Entertainment collection of programs, and a Sci Fi channel, including complete episodes from a selection of the Studio’s science fiction titles.

A premium, ad-supported, video-on-demand, interactive and personalized network targeting the Adults 16–34 demographic highly coveted by advertisers, TheWB.com will feature original programming created or acquired specifically for TheWB.com – including series from director/producer McG and writer/producer Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl, Chuck, The O.C.); the re-release of a collection of The WB Network’s most popular series and other successful programming – and an extensive network of distribution partners. Designed for children aged 6–12, KidsWB.com is a premium, ad-supported destination built around youth-oriented, immersive entertainment which unites the Studio’s libraries of animated characters and programming, including Warner Bros. Animation, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics.

These announcements follow the creation of branded channels for TheWB.com and KidsWB.com on AOL, as well as the launch of an original application on Facebook® Platform that allows seamless integration of Facebook’s social utility on TheWB.com, and TheWB.com’s entertainment content on Facebook. WBTVG’s Digital Media Sales team will handle the advertising inventory for both the broadband and wireless marketplaces.

About Warner Bros. Television Group
The Warner Bros. Television Group oversees the entire portfolio of Warner Bros. television businesses, including worldwide production, traditional and digital distribution and broadcasting. WBTVG is committed to creating, producing and distributing content across all traditional, emerging digital and future platforms in the evolving entertainment and media landscape. In the traditional television arena, WBTVG produces primetime, first-run, cable and animation series which are distributed worldwide. WBTVG is also an innovative leader in developing new business models for the evolving digital television marketplace, including ad-supported video-on-demand as well as broadband and wireless destinations featuring original content produced by WBTVG. The Group provides unmatched digital media sales opportunities tailored to clients seeking multiplatform campaigns across broadcast, cable, broadband and wireless outlets. Warner Bros. Entertainment is also a partner with CBS in The CW Television Network.

About Dailymotion
A top 50 website worldwide (source: Alexa), Dailymotion is the world’s largest independent video entertainment website (source: comScore, April 2008). Every day, over 15,000 new videos are uploaded into Dailymotion’s global network of localized video entertainment sites. Every month, over 36 million unique users (source: comScore, April 2008) stream over 900 million videos including curated content from premium and Motionmaker creative contributors. Using the most advanced technology for both users and content creators, Dailymotion provides high-quality and HD video in a fast, easy-to-use Web site that also automatically filters infringing material. Dailymotion’s mission is to provide the best possible entertainment experience for users and the best marketing opportunities for advertisers, while respecting content protection. For more information, please visit http://www.dailymotion.com.

About Joost™
Founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, Joost brings video and social interaction together online. All of video on Joost is professionally produced and streams on-demand to people around the world for free in a high-quality format. Today, Joost has more than 30,000 program elements, including more than 400 television series and 1,200 movie and short film titles. To learn more about Joost, visit www.joost.com.

About Sling Media
Sling Media, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ: SATS), is a leading digital lifestyle company, offering consumer services and products that are a natural extension of today’s digital way of life. Sling Media’s product family includes the internationally acclaimed, Emmy award-winning Slingbox™ that allows consumers to watch and control their living room television shows at any time, from any location, using PCs, Macs, PDAs, and smartphones. In addition, Sling Media will offer a forthcoming video destination site, Sling.com, which will combine long form, premium content from a variety of media partners with clipped, short form content created and shared by Slingbox customers using Clip+Sling creating a truly unique site for both Slingbox customers as well as the community at large. For more information on Sling Media, or the Slingbox, visit www.slingmedia.com. For more information on Sling.com, visit www.sling.com.

About TiVo Inc.
Founded in 1997, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) pioneered a brand new category of products with the development of the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). Sold through leading consumer electronic retailers, TiVo has developed a brand that resonates boldly with consumers as providing a superior television experience. Through agreements with leading satellite and cable providers, TiVo also integrates its full set of DVR service features into the set-top boxes of mass distributors. TiVo’s DVR functionality and ease of use, with such features as Season Pass™ recordings and WishList® searches and TiVo KidZone has elevated its popularity among consumers and has created a whole new way for viewers to watch television. With a continued investment in its patented technologies, TiVo is revolutionizing the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. Rapidly becoming the focal point of the digital living room, TiVo’s DVR is at the center of experiencing new forms of content on the TV, such as broadband delivered video, music and photos. With innovative features, such as TiVoToGo™ transfers and online scheduling, TiVo is expanding the notion of consumers experiencing “TiVo, TV your way.®” The TiVo® service is also at the forefront of providing innovative marketing solutions for the television industry, including a unique platform for advertisers and audience measurement research. The company is based in Alviso, Calif.

About Veoh Networks
Named one of AdWeek’s Top 10 Digital Hotlist sites in 2007, Veoh Networks is an innovative Internet Television company that delivers broadcast-quality video programming via the Internet. The Veoh Networks portfolio includes Veoh.com, one of the most popular video hosting services on the Internet, and VeohTV, a free downloadable application that turns online video into Internet Television. Veoh.com has more than 100,000 content publishers – from CBS, Viacom’s MTV Networks, FEARNet, Lions Gate, PBS, National Lampoon, Road and Track and Us Magazine to thousands of independent filmmakers and content producers – and currently attracts over 28 million unique users per month. VeohTV makes it easy to turn any computer into a digital video recorder that allows viewers to watch and record shows from thousands of Internet video sources. For advertisers, Veoh offers compelling ways of engaging with a targeted audience and measuring performance of their ad buys. Veoh Networks is a privately held company that is backed by leading technology and media investors, including Shelter Capital Partners, Spark Capital, Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner Inc., Intel Capital, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Gordon Crawford, Tom Freston and Jonathan Dolgen. The company’s principal offices are in Los Angeles and San Diego, California.