DirecTV in the News

DirecTV Co-Brands With Blockbuster Movies

DALLAS and EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 31, 2001 /PRNewswire/ -- Building upon their year long alliance, Blockbuster Inc. and DIRECTV, Inc. announced today they will begin offering a co-branded pay per view service, "BLOCKBUSTER® TICKET only on DIRECTV," beginning Friday, June 1, 2001.

BLOCKBUSTER TICKET only on DIRECTV will offer up to 44 movie choices per day. DIRECTV will continue to offer its customers access to one of the largest pay per view movie services available, as well as the DIRECT TICKET® Pay Per View service featuring special events. Customers will also have access to services, such as double features and movies specially acquired by Blockbuster through its acquisition and distribution subsidiary, DEJ Productions Inc. Both services together will offer up to 55 pay-per-view choices per day.

"By combining two of the most powerful brand names in entertainment, both well-known for their wide selection of movies, we are elevating the profile of our pay per view service, which will increase its drawing power and appeal for DIRECTV customers," said Stephanie Campbell, senior vice president, Programming for DIRECTV, Inc. "Our alliance with Blockbuster is all about providing the customer with the best possible home entertainment experience and we believe our re-branding initiative fulfills that intention."

DIRECTV will promote the new service with an extensive on-air, cross- channel promotional campaign highlighting the pay per view service's benefits to its more than 9.8 million customers. It will also feature the newly branded service on the cover of its monthly bill stuffer and programming guide, DIRECTV-The Guide(TM), that will include a two-page ad promoting four top June movie titles and the benefits of the pay per view service. BLOCKBUSTER TICKET only on DIRECTV will also be featured in a two-page ad in the June issue of "Premiere Magazine."

Blockbuster will promote the announcement to its 48-million customer base with in-store messaging that includes a special ad on its in-store monitors in more than 4,100 participating company-operated stores, as well as enhance existing DIRECTV in-store kiosks with additional signage promoting the co- branded service. The kiosks, which contain television monitors, will air the movie "Space Cowboys" (scheduled to premiere on pay per view this week) continuously in stores on the June 1 launch day.

Both companies will also use their Websites and reciprocal links to promote monthly titles and pay per view benefits. In addition to programming and scheduling information, the Blockbuster site will be organized for customers by genre, making the site easy for movie buffs to navigate.

The co-branded service will continue to offer movies for $3.99 when ordered by remote, a new movie premiere every week; hit movies starting every half-hour, and the convenience of All Day Ticket - order once and the movie is available until 6 a.m. (ET) the following day.

Blockbuster Inc. is a publicly traded subsidiary of Viacom Inc. and is the world's leading renter of videos, DVDs, and video games with more than 7,700 stores throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia. The company may be accessed internationally at blockbuster.com. Viacom is the No. 1 platform in the world for advertisers, with preeminent positions in broadcast and cable television, radio, outdoor advertising, and online.