The Walt Disney Internet Group has acquired iParenting Media (www.iParenting.com) in a move that adds to its already strong line-up of family-targeted Web properties within Disney Online, including Disney Family.com, FamilyFun.com and Wondertime.com. With the acquisition, Disney Online gains iParenting’s vast resources, quality content and vibrant community that serves families, young parents and parents-to-be in English and Spanish. iParenting’s content and services will be integrated into Disney’s network of family targeted sites. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

iParenting’s portfolio features a wide array of professional and user-generated content, including thousands of articles and expert Q&A’s and hundreds of active mom message boards. Additionally, the network includes the highly-regarded iParenting Media Awards (www.iParentingMediaAwards.com), the only certified product review and awards program in the industry. The iParenting Media Awards recognize the best products in the children’s media and juvenile product industries. Disney will continue the awards program as an impartial resource for parents and consumers. Disney Online plans to integrate all members of the Evanston-based iParenting team.

“iParenting has built a strong, trusted reputation among parents, and we feel the site is a perfect complement to our overall portfolio of family-targeted, online brands,” said Paul Yanover, Managing Director of Disney Online. “This acquisition builds on the successful launch of Disney Family.com earlier this year, and the ongoing success of FamilyFun.com and Wondertime.com, by broadening our content for parents to include information about pre-natal and new baby care. We’re excited to welcome such a talented group to Disney Online.”

“Disney is one of the most trusted brands for parents and we believe this will be a great fit for iParenting,” said Alvin All and Elisa Ast All, co-founders of iParenting Media. “iParenting will be able to bring its core strengths and see them leveraged across the Disney Family network of sites. Together, we will provide many more parents and parents-to-be with much-needed information and inspiration along their parenting journey.”

About Disney Online
Disney Online, a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group, offers a portfolio of parenting sites including the award-winning Disney Family.com (www.family.com), FamilyFun.com (www.familyfun.com) and Wondertime.com (www.wondertime.com). Disney Family.com is designed to present information on a variety of topics important to today’s families in a manner that is compelling, comprehensive, entertaining and, most importantly, unbiased. FamilyFun.com serves moms with kids ages 3-12 with easy-to-do ideas for family oriented activities. Wondertime.com celebrates the joys of parenting, serving moms with kids 6 years old and under.

Additionally, Disney Online produces the number one kids’ entertainment and family community destination on the World Wide Web, Disney.com. Launched in 1996, Disney.com is the online gateway to all of the company’s Disney-branded entertainment initiatives, providing comprehensive access to, and information about Disney movies, travel, television, games, mobile, music, shopping and live events. Disney.com also features Disney XD, a highly interactive broadband experience, that lets Disney.com guests create their own customized online channel with games, videos, music, and chat – all of which can be enjoyed simultaneously in an immersive environment.

About iParenting Media
iParenting Media operates one of the Internet’s most popular communities for parents and parents-to-be at www.iParenting.com. Founded in 1996 by Alvin All and Elisa Ast All during their first pregnancy, the company grew from a single pregnancy site, www.PregnancyToday.com, to an award-winning network of more than 40 sites, in English and Spanish, from preconception through raising teenagers and beyond. iParenting’s Editor-in-Chief, Elisa Ast All, MSJ, writes a monthly newspaper column and co-hosts a Chicago-based radio show, Points on Parenting.

iParenting produces the highly-respected iParenting Media Awards program, the only ISO9001:2000 certified product review and awards program in the industry.

News Corporation announced yesterday that it will sell eight of its owned-and-operated FOX network affiliated television stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners for approximately $1.1 billion in cash.

The stations include:

• WJW in Cleveland, OH
• KDVR in Denver, CO
• KTVI in St. Louis, MO
• WDAF in Kansas City, MO
• WITI in Milwaukee, WI
• KSTU in Salt Lake City, UT
• WBRC in Birmingham, AL
• WGHP in Greensboro, NC

The sale is subject to regulatory and other customary conditions and is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2008. News Corporation was advised by Allen & Company LLC and Hogan & Hartson in the transaction.

Following the sale of the eight stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners, Fox Television Stations will continue to be one of the nation’s strongest and most successful station groups with 27 owned-and-operated stations, nine duopolies in major markets as well as single stations in nine mid- to large-sized markets. A full list of News Corporation’s U.S. stations is available at http://www.newscorp.com/operations/tvstations.html

News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of September 30, 2007 of approximately US$64 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$30 billion. News Corporation is a diversified entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin.

In line with its commitment to the international expansion of its businesses and brands in emerging markets, The Walt Disney Company’s international TV licensing arm, Disney-ABC International Television, has concluded a major, multi-year partnership with Russian state broadcaster Channel One. This agreement covers the licensing of features, live action series, animated series and made-for-TV movies, and also the launch of monthly family film timeslot ”The Wonderful World of Disney.”This follows strong growth of Disney’s Russian TV business in general, where its total distribution revenues for the market have increased by more than 400% in the last three years. At the cinema, Disney has also had a hugely successful year – ”Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” was the number one foreign release of all time in Russia and ”Ratatouille” was the most successful non-sequel feature animation. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Disney Consumer Products and the Walt Disney Internet Group have also seen compelling growth in their Russian business over the past year.

Marina Jigalova-Ozkan, General Manager of The Walt Disney Company CIS, said: ”It is an important milestone in the history of Russian television and will contribute to the further strengthening of Disney brand in Russia”.

Toumazis commented: ”In this key market, we’re pleased to close this significant step in the growth of our business, and the presence of Disney content on Russian television. This agreement builds upon our long-standing successful relationship with Channel One, covering some of the most creative and successful content on television.”

Konstantin Ernst, General Manager of Channel One said: ”This is a further step of working closer with The Walt Disney Company that will allow Channel One to present to a broader Russian audience all the latest Disney animated and live action movies that have recently attracted the largest amount of viewers all around the world. Our partnership will not be limited to movies acquisitions but will be broadened towards the joint production of movies and shows here in Russia”

With this agreement, viewers across Russia will be able to enjoy a wide range of hit first-run features from Walt Disney Pictures including ”Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” and ”Wild Hogs,” Disney/Pixar titles such as ”Finding Nemo”. Also included are much-loved Disney animated classics such as ”The Jungle Book,” ”101 Dalmations” and ”Peter Pan,” to be shown on free TV in Russia for the first time.

Many of these blockbuster titles will premiere on Russian TV within Channel One’s new family film timeslot ”The Wonderful World of Disney,” which will run monthly, for 10 months a year.

Following the success of ABC Studios network series such as ”Lost” in Russia, the hit series ”Dirty Sexy Money,” starring Peter Krause and Donald Sutherland, has been picked up by the broadcaster.

About The Walt Disney Company CIS

The Walt Disney Company CIS - the subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company – was founded in April 2006. General Manager of The Walt Disney Company CIS is Marina Jigalova-Ozkan.

In Russia and CIS the company develops all main lines of business of the global company, which include:

1. Marketing and distribution of films;
2. Distribution of TV content;
3. Home Entertainment (production of DVD);
4. Licensing of Disney consumer products – clothes, toys, goods for children, stationery, food, cosmetics;
5. Production and distribution of games for PC and consoles;
6. Production and distribution of mobile and Internet content;
7. Licensing of publishing – books and magazines for children.

About DISNEY-ABC INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION

Disney-ABC International Television is the international television distribution division of The Walt Disney Company, licensing over 30,000 hours of programming to over 1300 broadcasters across 240 territories worldwide. Disney-ABC International Television distributes a portfolio of motion pictures from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, network TV series, TV movies and miniseries, Disney-branded kids programming, ABC Daytime and ABC News programming as well as the Annual Academy Awards®. The company also services the distribution of the Jetix Europe portfolio internationally. Disney-ABC International Television has been expanding its business portfolio to distribute U.S. - produced reality programs and exploits reality and scripted formats for local production; including local editions of ‘Extreme Makeover’ in the UK, India, Belgium, Scandinavia, Hungary and Colombia; ‘The Amazing Race’ in Central Europe, Asia, and Brazil; local versions of ‘Home Improvement’ and ‘Hope & Faith’ in Russia and Turkey respectively; and local versions of Desperate Housewives in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and US Hispanic Market.

Google yesterday welcomed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s clearance of its planned acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., a premier provider of display ad serving technology and services. Google announced in April 2007 a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management.

“The FTC’s strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. “We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion, and we are confident that this deal will deliver more relevant ads for consumers, more choices for advertisers, and more opportunities for website publishers.”

The acquisition was approved earlier this year by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and was recommended for approval by one of three Brazilian regulatory agencies. Google cannot close the acquisition until the European Commission, which is still examining the transaction, grants clearance of the deal.

In its clearance opinion released today, the FTC explicitly rejected any current or potential competition concerns. Google and DoubleClick are complementary businesses and do not compete with each other. Google’s current business primarily involves the selling of text-based ads, while DoubleClick’s core business is delivering and reporting on display ads. DoubleClick does not buy ads, sell ads, or buy or sell advertising space. Rather, it provides technology to enable advertisers and publishers to deliver ads once they have agreed to terms, and to provide advertisers and publishers statistics relating to those ads.

The FTC’s opinion also noted the robust competition in the online ad serving space, and Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick is just one of several recent transactions that underscore this strong competition. In recent months, several major transactions in the online advertising space were announced, including Yahoo’s acquisition of Right Media; AOL’s acquisition of ADTECH AG and TACODA; WPP Group’s acquisition of 24/7 Real Media; and Microsoft’s $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive and acquisition of AdECN Inc.

While the FTC’s opinion reaffirmed the law by noting that privacy concerns played no role in its merger review, Schmidt reiterated the company’s commitment to user privacy.

“For us, privacy does not begin or end with our purchase of DoubleClick,” Schmidt said. “We have been protecting our users’ privacy since our inception, and will continue to innovate in how we safeguard their information and maintain their trust.”

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.

Vivendi confirms the planned agreement between its subsidiary SFR and the Louis Dreyfus group relating to the potential sale of the latter’s stake in Neuf Cegetel.

The transaction would represent an important step in SFR’s strategy by:
• investing in fiber optics capacity;
• accelerating its fixed-line/mobile convergence strategy for businesses and individuals;
• integrating a growing asset.

Commenting on the transaction, Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman of Vivendi’s Management Board, stated: “This investment is a very attractive opportunity for Vivendi to strengthen its position and development in one of its main business sectors. The planned agreement would make it possible to merge two companies with increasingly complementary and healthy businesses and would create value for Vivendi shareholders.”

Following SFR’s purchase of Louis Dreyfus group’s stake at a share price of €34.50*, the transaction would be completed by a public offering for Neuf Cegetel at a share price of €36.50*.

SFR would finance this transaction through debt, notably with Vivendi granting a loan under market terms. To repay this loan, SFR has agreed to considerably reduce dividend payments that it would pay in the three next financial years.

This transaction would contribute to an optimization of Vivendi’s financial structure. In order to preserve its strategic and financial flexibility, Vivendi plans to raise funds of €1- €2 billion from its shareholders at the appropriate time. The potential amount of this capital increase and the precise timetable will depend on market conditions.

This transaction would be accretive for Vivendi in terms of adjusted net profit per share in 2009.

New Line Cinema’s The Golden Compass passed the $100 million mark in international box office gross Wednesday as the film continues its successful worldwide run since its Dec. 7 opening.

After opening #1 in 23 territories, the fantasy adventure film has continued to play well with notable performances in the United Kingdom ($26.7 million), Spain ($11.4 million), France ($10.3 million), Germany ($9.8 million), Russia ($6.8 million) and Asia ($11.3 million), including a spectacular $3.5 million in its South Korean debut (opening day and previews). The Golden Compass has yet to open in Australia and New Zealand (Dec. 26), parts of South America (Dec. 20 – Dec. 25), India (Jan. 4), and Japan (March 1).

“We’re very pleased to see the film open at number one in so many territories, but it’s even more encouraging to have such strong holds,” says Rolf Mittweg, President and COO of New Line Worldwide Distribution and Marketing. “We’ve always viewed The Golden Compass as a global property.”

About New Line Cinema Corporation:
Celebrating its 40th anniversary year, New Line Cinema is the most successful independent film company in the world. Its mission is to produce innovative, popular and profitable entertainment in the best creative environment. In addition to the production, marketing and distribution of theatrical motion pictures, the fully-integrated studio has divisions devoted to home entertainment, television, music, theater, merchandising and an international unit. In 2005, New Line partnered with HBO to form Picturehouse, a new theatrical distribution company to release independent films. A pioneer in franchise filmmaking, New Line’s Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most successful film franchises in history. New Line is a division of Time Warner, Inc. (TWX).

AOL today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Quigo, a leading site and content- targeted advertising company. The acquisition of Quigo lets AOL expand the use of contextual advertising – which matches ads to the contents of a Web page – across AOL’s own Web pages, as well as its third-party networks. Quigo will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL within its Platform-A organization. AOL originally announced its intention to acquire Quigo on November 7, 2007.

Founded in 2000, Quigo provides innovative, performance marketing solutions for advertisers and premium publishers. The company has more than 500 premium publisher relationships, including a recently finalized deal with Time, Inc., and has a broad network of roughly 3,000 advertisers. Quigo’s AdSonar technology lets advertisers purchase ads on Websites based on specific pages, sections, topics or keywords. In addition, Quigo operates FeedPoint, a search engine marketing business that helps local and retail advertisers efficiently manage their marketing relationships with search engines and comparison shopping platforms.

“This acquisition comes as interest in contextual advertising is climbing rapidly,” said AOL Chairman and CEO Randy Falco. “Quigo is an important part of our new Platform-A organization that we announced in September. Our goal is to have the most sophisticated set of targeting tools, the ability to deliver ads on multiple platforms, including video and mobile, to power the world’s largest advertising display network.”

Quigo is the fourth advertising company AOL has acquired in 2007. Earlier in the year, AOL acquired Third Screen Media, a leader in mobile advertising, ADTECH, a leading ad serving platform based in Frankfurt, Germany, and TACODA, a leading behavioral targeting company. Platform-A reaches over 90% of the online audience.

Quigo, based in New York, employs approximately 100 people. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

About Quigo:
Quigo recently named Company of the Year by AlwaysOn Media – provides innovative performance marketing solutions for advertisers and premium publishers. Quigo’s AdSonar is a leading network of top-tier websites offering a broad range of advertising solutions. AdSonar’s content-targeted sponsored links are distributed to many of the web’s most recognized sites including CNNMoney.com, TIME.com, People.com, ESPN.com, Forbes.com, TheStreet.com, FoxNews.com, CareerBuilder.com, LonelyPlanet.com and on over 200 local, regional and national newspaper and television sites including those of ABC, Tribune Interactive, Fox, The Hearst Company, The McClatchy Company, Morris Communications, Media News Group, New York Daily News, New York Post, Scripps, Stephens Media, USA Today, and others. AdSonar offers advertisers multiple targeting options for their campaigns; including national and local targeting by vertical category, site, individual page, section, topic, and/or keyword. Quigo’s suite of search marketing solutions, including its flagship FeedPoint product, offers scalable, technology-driven services to help leading e-commerce and directory sites drive traffic, acquire new customers, and maximize revenue and profits. Founded in 2000, Quigo’s primary venture backers include Highland Capital, Steamboat Ventures (the venture capital arm of The Walt Disney Company), and Institutional Venture Partners.

About AOL:
AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs one of the largest Internet access businesses in the U.S., and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), AOL LLC and its subsidiaries have operations in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia.

The Nielsen Company and INVIDI Technologies Corporation yesterday announced a multi-year agreement to share data and explore ways to measure personalized television ads targeted at specific viewers.As part of the non-exclusive agreement, Nielsen will provide INVIDI with demographic data that will enable INVIDI to refine and improve its advanced software engine - called Advatar™ - to track “addressable” advertising. Addressable or “targeted” advertising allows digital television providers to simultaneously deliver different ads to specific groups or even individuals based on their demographics, buying habits or personal preferences.

INVIDI Technologies is the global leader in software applications that track targeted advertising. Nielsen and INVIDI will explore ways to use their respective core competencies and seek ongoing input from clients to develop new and enhanced metrics for measuring advanced advertising.

“This relationship presents an enormous opportunity for both companies and the advertising industry across a wide array of real time and time-shifted media,” said Bruce J. Anderson, INVIDI Technologies’ Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer. “As Nielsen moves into measuring many new areas of usage, INVIDI can provide an incomparable range of behavioral insights and targeting intelligence around addressable, targeted television advertising.”

“Nielsen is anxious to create metrics for measuring targeted advertising, and this agreement with INVIDI is an important step forward,” said Scott Brown, Nielsen’s Senior Vice President for Media Product Leadership - Digital Platforms. “The new digital landscape is changing the way advertising is placed. Working with the industry, we expect to discover more effective ways to measure and confirm advertising success, which is increasingly critical to the needs of both ad buyers and sellers.”

During the past year, Nielsen has introduced several innovative services that expand its ability to accurately measure consumer engagement with digital media, including standardized ratings of television commercials that enable clients to gauge the impact on commercial viewing of digital video recorders (DVRs) and other “time-shifting” technologies. The company also launched Nielsen DigitalPlus to work with set top box data from cable system operators and satellite providers to create new insights and services for clients by integrating set top box data with other Nielsen information.

INVIDI’s software-based tools and systems - Advatar™ - is a scalable, enterprise-level headend or digital set-top box application that delivers addressable targeted advertising and marketing messages to individual viewer demographics with exact reach, frequency and separation. It provides multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs), marketers, advertisers, media buyers and sellers with an addressable and measurable way to place television advertising in front of the desired viewer.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (Nielsen Online), mobile media (Nielsen Mobile), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

About INVIDI Technologies Corporation

INVIDI Technologies Corporation is the world’s leading targeted media solutions company. Our vision and expertise in building smart advertising systems creates substantial monetary value for the cable, satellite, telco and advertising industries. Today, INVIDI provides cable and satellite operators the opportunity to optimize advertising revenue by positioning themselves as the most comprehensive source of targeted addressable advertising. Tomorrow our innovations in content delivery solutions and intellectual property development in targeted demographic media will be the foundation for our platform expansion and migration to Wireless, the Internet and beyond. Digital technology has revolutionized media and INVIDI is making it targeted and addressable.

The Nielsen Company today reported that advertising spending for the first three quarters of 2007 decreased -0.1% over the same period last year, with Internet continuing to demonstrate the strongest performance (+15.9%) of any category.According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the leading provider of competitive advertising information, in addition to Internet advertising, other categories that showed an increase during the first three quarters of this year were: National Magazines (7.7%), National Sunday Supplements (6.0%), Outdoor (5.7%) and National Cable TV (1.2%).

Notes:
- Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. These reported estimated expenditures do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, compound ads, sponsorships, barters, in-stream (”pre-rolls”) players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity.

- Newspaper reflects display ads only
- Coupon and Syndicated TV data was excluded due to recent methodology changes

Advertiser Spending
Advertising spending across monitored media for the top 10 companies in the first half of 2007 reached $30.5 billion, down an average of 6.3% from the same time period in 2006. Eight out of the ten advertisers decreased budgets. General Motors continues to show the largest decline.

Category SpendingSpending for the 10 largest categories reached $20.8 billion in the first three quarters, 2.3% less than the same period last year. Most product categories have decreased their ad spending, with the exception of Pharmaceuticals, Wireless Telephone Services, and Direct Response Products. The top category in terms of increased ad spend was Wireless Telephone Services at 7.3%– Verizon Wireless was the top brand in terms of total ad spending for this time period in the wireless product category at $449.2 million, and AT&T Wireless second at $402.5 million in ad spend.

Product Placement

Broadcast Network Product Placement
Nielsen Product Placement Service reports an increased number of product placement occurrences in prime-time broadcast network programming for the first three quarters of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Broadcast Network ranking (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW & MyNetworkTV tracked). The Top 10 programs featured 22,046 occurrences compared to 19,125 occurrences for the same time period last year. “American Idol” is once again the #1 show in terms of the number of product placements, a position it held last year. During the first three quarters of 2007, American Idol featured 4,349 product placement occurrences.

The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time broadcast network television for first three quarters of 2007 accounted for 9,198 occurrences. A slight increase compared to the same time period last year when 9,181 brands were reported. Coca-Cola, primarily through its association with “American Idol,” was the top brand once again, with 3,111 occurrences for this time period. Chef Revival apparel placed second with 1,256 product placements - Chef Revival Apparel outfits the cast on Fox’s reality program “Hell’s Kitchen.”

Cable Network Product Placement

Nielsen Product Placement Service reports a decrease in the number of product placement occurrences in prime-time cable network programming for the first three quarters of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Cable Network ranking (A&E, HGTV, MTV, TLC, BRAVO tracked). The Top 10 programs featured 136,078 occurrences for the first three quarters of 2007 vs 160,118 occurrences for the first three quarters 2006. “American Chopper,” which premiered in Jan 2007, is the #1 cable network show in terms of the number of product placements, with 41,657 occurrences.

The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time cable network television for the first three quarters of 2007 accounted for 37,933 occurrences. A decrease compared to the same time period last year, when 41,493 occurrences were reported. Orange County Chopper apparel was the top brand with 8,030 occurrences for the first three quarters of 2007.

About The Nielsen Company

Nielsen Monitor-Plus is a service of The Nielsen Company, a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), 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 Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA.

Viacom Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced a broad-based, strategic alliance under which major divisions of both companies will collaborate on advertising, content distribution, event promotions and games over the next several years.

The comprehensive agreement spans across the two companies and includes a number of significant components. Among them:
• Microsoft will license, on a non-exclusive basis, long- and short-form television and theatrical content from across Viacom’s cable network and motion picture businesses, including MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Paramount Pictures, for use on Microsoft properties such as MSN and Xbox 360.
• Microsoft’s Atlas division will become the ad server for Viacom’s U.S. Web sites and Microsoft will have the exclusive right to sell remnant display advertising inventory on Viacom’s U.S. Web sites.
• Microsoft will buy advertising on Viacom broadcast and online networks over a five-year period and the companies will work together on promotions and sponsorships for MTV Networks and BET Networks award shows.
• Viacom will work with Microsoft on opportunities to become a preferred publishing partner across Microsoft’s casual gaming platforms.

Detailed financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal has a projected base value of approximately $500 million in financial considerations and business services between the two companies over the initial five-year length of the agreement. The deal includes a combination of revenue sharing provisions, guarantees and content licensing agreements. The agreements contemplate the potential for expansion of the transactions.

Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive officer of Viacom, said, “We are very impressed with how closely Microsoft’s business plans complement our strategic objectives. This is a novel and comprehensive partnership that demonstrates the scale of our digital operation and the value of our branded content across all distribution platforms. By taking advantage of industry-leading assets at both our companies, this landmark alliance brings valuable promotional power and increased monetization to our wide portfolio of branded Web sites, which collectively represent the leading entertainment presence online. Microsoft’s superior assets and expertise in the ad serving and sales business will drive enhanced value to our digital operations.”

Dauman added, “We look forward to collaborating closely with Microsoft as we move forward. This partnership will generate significant value on both sides. This deal is an important example of how the growing success of our digital properties is driving greater revenue for Viacom as a whole.”

Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s Platforms & Services Division, said, “We are delighted to establish this long-term partnership with Viacom. Viacom’s portfolio of original content and strong consumer brand connections are a terrific complement to Microsoft’s Web, gaming and digital advertising assets. This deal is another milestone in our quest to build a world-class advertising platform to serve the broad needs of advertisers and publishers. If ever there was a ‘win-win’ partnership across two companies, this is it.”

Content Distribution

Viacom will provide Microsoft with a broad selection of short-form and long-form audio-visual content from MTV Networks, Paramount and BET Networks for distribution by Microsoft on MSN.com and Xbox 360. A wide range of content from Viacom properties is already distributed to Xbox 360 users through Xbox LIVE Marketplace and this deal adds popular content from BET Networks. In addition, Viacom will work with Microsoft’s casual gaming platforms (MSN, Windows and Xbox) to provide downloadable casual games to the substantial base of consumers playing quick-to-develop, easy-to-learn games on these platforms.

Ad Serving

Microsoft will provide Viacom with its proprietary ad serving solution, known as Atlas AdManager. AdManager is an offering that Microsoft obtained upon completion of its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive Inc. in August 2007. AdManager — which operates within Microsoft’s newly created Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group — will enable Viacom to better monetize its U.S. Web properties, such as MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central, by serving graphical and video ads on those sites, providing an ad serving solution, optimization features, inventory forecasting, real-time reporting and precise audience advertising targeting.

Ad Syndication

Viacom will provide unsold display advertising inventory on its digital sites for Microsoft to sell and serve through both Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions and DRIVEpm. Revenue generated from the sale of this inventory by Microsoft will be shared between the two companies.

Events and Promotions

During calendar year 2008, Microsoft and Viacom will partner to promote a co-branded Web site with exclusive content from at least four MTV Networks and BET Networks events, such as the MTV Video Music Awards and BET Awards, and will share certain advertising revenue generated by the site. Microsoft will provide a pre-determined amount of online promotion for each event.

About Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions

Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) provides world-class advertising platforms and tools for advertisers, agencies and publishers. Its mission is to make buying and selling media simpler, smarter and more cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond. The APS portfolio includes Microsoft adCenter, Atlas, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic. APS businesses span search, display and emerging media including mobile, gaming, video on demand and IPTV. More information can be found at http://advertising.microsoft.com.

About Viacom
Viacom, consisting of BET Networks, MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures, is the world’s leading entertainment content company. It engages audiences on television, motion picture and digital platforms through many of the world’s best known entertainment brands, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Noggin, Nick at Nite, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Gametrailers, BET, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks and Paramount Vantage. Viacom’s global reach includes approximately 145 channels and 300 online properties in 160 countries and territories.

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.