Statement on the Passing of Dick Clark - From WPVI-TV/6abc, the Original Home of American Bandstand

The following is a statement by 6abc President and General Manager, Bernie Prazenica:

"Dick Clark was one of the great pioneers at WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV). He will always be a part of our family and our legacy, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family."

SOURCE WPVI-TV/6abc

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Statement from Dan Snyder and Mark Shapiro of Dick Clark Productions About Dick Clark

Daniel M. Snyder, Chairman, and Mark Shapiro, Chief Executive Officer today issued the following statements about Dick Clark:

Daniel M. Snyder, Chairman, Dick Clark Productions
One of the real draws when we purchased Dick Clark Productions was the opportunity to build on the tremendous foundation of programming that this icon of American broadcasting created.

I got to know Dick over the past five years and he was just as personable and warm in person as he was on television. Once you got to know Dick, it was obvious why he was so beloved by his fans. He was in every sense of the word, a giant.

Dick Clark will be sorely missed. He was truly one of a kind.

Mark Shapiro, Chief Executive Officer, Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark was an American institution. He was able to replicate the magic he brought to American Bandstand, not once but several times, through The Golden Globes, New Year's Rockin' Eve and thousands of hours of programming in almost every genre imaginable. He was the first of his kind -- a pioneer, entrepreneur and creative visionary who bridged and cultivated the music scene with traditional show business.

Dick Clark entertained and touched the lives of several generations. He is truly irreplaceable and will be greatly missed by the employees of our company and millions of fans worldwide.

SOURCE Dick Clark Productions

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CBS Interactive Expands Into eSports Category With Exclusive Live Gaming Video and League Partnerships

Partnership with TwitchTV brings the World's Largest Live Video Gaming Community to CBS Interactive

Deal with Major League Gaming, the Largest Competitive Video Game League, Guarantees Global Broadcast Rights to Fast Growing eSports Scene

CBS Interactive today announced a major expansion into the fast-growing categories of live gaming and eSports through exclusive partnerships with TwitchTV and Major League Gaming (MLG). By combining the world's biggest live video gaming community with the most popular eSports league, and its flagship gaming property, GameSpot.com, CBS Interactive Games now serves more than 3 billion minutes of live gaming and eSports content monthly, making it the most engaged video property for gamers worldwide[1].
The expansion of the CBS Interactive Games group includes the following deals:

Partnership with TwitchTV: CBS Interactive has signed an exclusive partnership with TwitchTV, the world's leading video game broadcasting network. Each month, TwitchTV attracts 16 million people from all over the world who tune in to watch other players, commentators, and live gaming competitions and events[2]. CBSi Games, which now has a total reach of 25 million users watching almost 50 million hours of live gaming video per month, will exclusively sell advertising, promotions and sponsorships for this community[3].
Partnership with Major League Gaming (MLG): The world's most prominent eSports league, Major League Gaming (MLG), has signed a partnership with CBS Interactive to be the exclusive online broadcaster of their Pro Circuit competitions, as well as for advertising representation. MLG is the world's largest competitive video game league with over 15 million hours of live video served to fans during the 2011 Pro Circuit season, nearly 2,500 hours of live gaming competition scheduled in 2012, and thousands of the world's best players competing at MLG events annually.
"The eSports scene is one of the hottest trends in video, and is rapidly attracting the core 18-34 male demographic in greater numbers than any other medium or category," said Jim Lanzone, President, CBS Interactive. "With these partnerships, CBSi now represents the biggest audience in live gaming and is able to offer our advertising partners a unique mix of trusted, premium content along with the huge engagement and audience that the eSports scene is commanding right now."

Competitive gaming, often referred to as eSports, has grown dramatically over the past several years driven by the success of platforms like TwitchTV and the popularity of live gaming. On average, people tune into live gaming competitions and events for 23 minutes versus the 3 minutes for a typical on-demand clip[4]. Across CBS Interactive Games, more than 3 billion minutes of video are served each month to 18-34 year old men, making these sites 300% more likely to deliver this coveted demographic than traditional video sites like YouTube[5]. In addition, live eSports competitions deliver a massively engaged audience, with fans engaging real time through social media versus the quick tune-in, tune-out mentality of watching clips.

"The people that visit TwitchTV make up the most engaged audience online today. Each tournament we broadcast draws millions of fans that congregate online through our platform to root for their teams and connect with their peers through social media," said Emmett Shear, CEO of TwitchTV. "The combination of TwitchTV's engagement and the reach of GameSpot's premium editorial content is a perfect match. With the benefit of the sales and marketing efforts of CBS Interactive, we expect this partnership to be a great success."

As the success of eSports skyrockets, so does the popularity of the MLG. In 2011, the MLG Pro Circuit enjoyed its strongest year to date since being founded in 2002 with viewers from a record 175 countries tuning in to watch the MLG National Championships in Providence, Rhode Island, last November.

"Major League Gaming's live audience is growing in popularity to rival some of the most popular traditional sporting events with a highly engaged fan base worldwide," said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO and Co-Founder, Major League Gaming. "Leveraging the reach of CBS Interactive, we will now be able to create a premiere eSports destination for current and future fans alike, while providing some of the most powerful brands an opportunity to reach this coveted, passionate audience."

About CBS Interactive

CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation, is the premier online content network for information and entertainment. With more than 250 million people visiting its properties each month, it is a top 10 Web property globally and a top 5 Web property in the U.S. in terms of unique video viewers. Its portfolio of leading brands, which include CNET, CBS.com, CBSSports.com, GameSpot, TV.com, BNET, CBSNews.com, and Last.fm, span popular categories like technology, entertainment, sports, news and business.

Follow CBS Interactive on Twitter: twitter.com/cbsi and on Facebook.

Follow GameSpot.com on Twitter: twitter.com/gamespot and on Facebook.

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Aljon


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Clearasil® Signs on as Official Title Sponsor of Six Flags 2012 Summer Concert Series

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:SIX) today announced a new partnership agreement with Clearasil®, a leading brand of skin care products, to be the title sponsor of this summer's concert series held at participating Six Flags parks across the nation.
Kicking off in May, the Clearasil Summer Concert Series will host approximately 25 to 30 shows encompassing a diverse mix of talent including Cobra Starship, Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat as well as top and emerging recording artists in the genres of Pop, Rock, R&B, Country, and Christian.

"With its consistent position among teens, Clearasil is a great brand to partner with on our summer concert series," said David McKillips, senior vice president of corporate alliances. "We look forward to using our effective in-park media and experiential marketing benefits to complement Clearasil's goals this summer."

As title sponsor of the concert series, Clearasil brand messaging and communications will be featured in park media and promotions touting the concert series, as well as throughout Six Flags Media Networks, including commercials on Six Flags TV, out-of-home signage and experiential sampling in parks. Additionally, Six Flags and Clearasil will partner for a national sweepstakes — a consumer engagement initiative hosted on the Clearasil Facebook page (facebook.com/clearasilUS) in which one lucky winner will win a VIP fly-away grand prize to a Clearasil Summer Concert at the Six Flags park of their choice. Support for the sweepstakes will include social media, online advertising, in-park promotion and retail support.

The participating Six Flags parks include Six Flags America in Bowie, MD; Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, TX; Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ; Six Flags New England in Agawam, MA; Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, GA; Six Flags St. Louis in St. Louis, MO; Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL; and Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, TX. Visit sixflags.com for this summer's lineup and concert dates.

About Six Flags Entertainment Corporation
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world's largest regional theme park company with $1.0 billion in revenue and 19 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada. For more than 50 years, Six Flags has entertained millions of families with world-class coasters, themed rides, thrilling water parks and unique attractions including up-close animal encounters, Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park. For more information visit sixflags.com.

About Clearasil®
Clearasil® is a leading brand of young skin care products that range from acne/blemish prevention, to skin care maintenance and spot treatment. Clearasil® is renowned for its highly effective range of acne treatment creams, facial washes and cleansing pads, giving consumers the confidence of visibly clearer skin. Clearasil® products may be purchased at any major drugstore and mass merchandiser nationwide.

About Reckitt Benckiser
Reckitt Benckiser (RB) is a world leader in household, health and personal care. It is an FTSE top 25 company, and since 2000, net revenues have doubled and the market cap has quadrupled. Today, it is globally ranked first or second in the majority of its fast-growing categories, driven by an exceptional rate of innovation—typically about 35 percent of net revenue comes from innovations launched in the prior three years. It has a strong portfolio led by 19 global power brands, which account for 70 percent of net revenue: Airwick, Bang, Calgon, Clearasil, Dettol, Durex, Finish, French's, Gaviscon, Harpic, Lysol, Mortein, Mucinex, Nurofen, Scholl, Strepsils, Vanish, Veet and Woolite. RB people are at the heart of the company's success. They have an intense drive for progress and action and a desire to outperform wherever they focus, including in CSR, where the company has the most ambitious corporate responsibility program in the industry through its Carbon 20 initiative. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, the company employs about 25,000 people worldwide, with operations in more than 60 countries and sales in almost 200 countries. For more information visit RB.com.

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Aljon


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Demand for an Apple TV Set Threatens to Seriously Disrupt Established Players Says a new Research Report

"Can Apple do to the TV market what it did to mobile?" KAE and Toluna says an Apple TV set has the potential to be a huge hit with consumers

KAE a leading strategic marketing and research consultancy and Toluna, a global pioneer in online polls, surveys and opinions have teamed up to release a major new study illustrating how large manufacturers could lose out if Apple launches a physical TV set.

Overall, the study highlighted that 25% of consumers in the US find the idea appealing and would buy it once it becomes commercially available - compared to 30% in the UK. Consumers that already own at least one Apple device are more likely to buy an Apple TV set, 2 in 5 (US 38% - UK 43%) find the idea appealing and would purchase should the product become available.
Lee Powney, Chief Commercial Officer at KAE said: "The huge potential of an Apple TV set, although impressive, should not be seen in isolation. Such a move would be an incredibly powerful extension of the iOS platform, accessed via a more compelling device option than Apple's current offering (Apple TV). It would create new monetisation opportunities for developers and accessory manufacturers by bringing the Apple experience further into the home. This would strengthen both the ecosystem and the benefits that consumers derive from owning many differing Apple devices. Will Apple do this? The pressure to maintain the lion's share of preference from ecosystem members and create additional device-to-device interaction benefits for consumers means it should do this, and must do this."

Sony, Samsung and LG are the market-leading brands most likely to suffer should Apple decide to launch its mooted Apple TV concept. In the UK, a sizeable 38% of current Sony TV owners and 36% of Samsung TV owners claimed they find the idea of an Apple TV appealing and would buy one. In the US, the brand most at risk from the concept is LG, where 3 in 10 (31%) of owners would be likely to convert should an Apple TV become available.

Approximately 3 in 5 US consumers questioned who were very likely to buy the TV said they trust Apple to produce a high quality TV set (59%), a sentiment echoed by UK consumers (62%). Design also features highly in respondents' reasons to purchase with over half of all those likely to buy claiming that Apple's reputation in ground-breaking design would no doubt also be used in TV (52% in US and 58% in the UK).

MD of KAE, David Rankin,: "Although this wave of research looked only at the USA and UK, we believe that the greatest revenue opportunities in 2013-15 for an Apple TV set are clustered in the 'home territories' of Apple's TV competitors - i.e. Japan, Korea and China. We're excited at the prospect of measuring that potential and the impact that success will have on Apple's share price."
Consumers were asked which features they felt an Apple TV set would be equipped with: The top anticipated feature for potential customers of the unconfirmed Apple TV set is similar for both countries, which is the ability to connect to the internet (73% in the US & 75% in the UK). The other top features selected by potential US customers were running apps on TV (44%) and the ability to synchronise automatically with other Apple devices (41%). For the UK market the other two main features expected were the ability to synchronise automatically with other Apple devices (47%) and for the device to be 3D enabled (41%).

This survey is the latest in a series by KAE conducted to assess Apple's potential to extend into new categories. To view previous research please visit http://tinyurl.com/84uozly

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Aljon


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