Cable Networks Partner with MSOs to Produce Customer Ed DTV Transition Spots

Comcast Media Center Contributes Its Advertising Distribution Network Portal to the Effort

Alexandria, VA November 13, 2008 - In an unprecedented effort to support cable companies in their commitment to educate customers about the impact of the broadcast digital television transition (DTV Transition), twenty-three networks have produced cross-channel spots and made them available to cable companies at no cost.

The initiative has its roots in the CTAM DTV Transition Council and the CTAM MSO Co-op, where cable executives shared their customer communications challenges and content providers stepped up to help solve them.

"MSOs have a huge awareness-building and customer education commitment to meet in preparing for the 2009 broadcast transition. In order to reach the mass market, as well as the various important specific market segments which we serve, we needed a broad array of messages to communicate from October 2008 to late February 2009," says David Pugliese, SVP Product Marketing, Cox Communications and chair of the CTAM DTV Transition Council. "These networks secured a variety of talent to help us reach diverse audiences, worked with us on scripts top create straightforward yet compelling messages, and delivered an extraordinary library of media."

While each network group made the spots available on their affiliate Web sites, the Comcast Media Center stepped up to provide a centralized and "green" solution. Last week, the CMC's Advertising Distribution Network (ADN) launched the CTAM DTV Transition Media portal, which means one-stop shopping for participating cable companies to access the full complement of both taggable and customized creative produced by all participating networks. ADN is providing tapeless, hi-res downloads and electronic fulfillment at no cost to either the networks or the cable companies.

"This project is a testament to how content providers, cable companies and suppliers can collaborate for greater success," says project manager and SVP Communications, Anne Cowan. "Cable marketers have a pool of creative to address the DTV Transition, networks have an opportunity to reinforce their brands with cable viewers, and ADN supports both with access technology. Everyone wins."

"The CMC is very pleased to support the CTAM DTV Transition Council's awareness initiative through contributing the content distribution capabilities of our Ad Distribution Network to the cause," stated Leslie Russell, Vice President, Sales and Marketing for the Comcast Media Center "In addition to providing easy and efficient distribution of the campaign spots, using ADN for this initiative will help to introduce the industry to the potential of green technology in supporting its video distribution requirements."

ADN affiliates may preview and download the spots to their local ad insertion equipment for free directly from their ADN web portals. Other cable systems interested in obtaining the DTV Transition PSAs via the ADN may contact the Comcast Media Center at ADNSupport_requests@cable.comcast.com.

The contributing networks are:
• BET
• BET J
• Cartoon Network
• CBS College Sports
• CMT
• E!
• Fox Sports en Espanol
• FUEL TV
• Great American Country
• GOLF
• Hallmark
• HBO
• HGTV
• mun2
• National Geographic Channel
• NBCU
• Nickelodeon
• Retirement Living TV
• SPROUT
• Style
• TBS
• TCM
• VERSUS

About CTAM
CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, is dedicated to helping the cable business grow. As a non-profit professional association, CTAM provides marketing education and networking opportunities to more than 5,500 members, through conferences, consumer research, publications, http://www.ctam.com/, a network of regional chapters, and the CTAM Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School. CTAM also facilitates unified, national cooperative marketing efforts on behalf of its corporate members, such as the Cable Mover Hotline (SM), Business Services Initiative and On Demand Consortium. Consumers can learn about cable's advanced services and see offers from their local providers at the CTAM-supported http://www.thisiscable.com/ (TM).

About ADN
Comcast Media Center's Ad Distribution Network, which currently has over 1,735 users at cable system and MSO offices across the country, features customized web portals that allow systems to search, preview and download the high-resolution version of spot advertising directly from the ADN portal to their local editing suites or directly to their local ad servers. In addition, local ad sales departments can download lower resolution files of promotional content for use in sales presentations. ADN also features a reporting package that allows its network and MSO clients to track downloads of campaign materials. Denver-based Comcast Media Center (CMC), a business unit of Comcast Cable, provides centralized content management and distribution solutions for cable systems, video content providers and advertisers "All From The CENTER." More information is available at http://www.comcastmediacenter.com/.