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TV Guide Announces Cross-Platform Sponsorship of This Winter's Dancing With the Stars - The Tour

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 November 2007, 09:00 CST

Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMST), a leading media, entertainment and technology company, announced today that it will be a sponsor of Dancing with the Stars - The Tour, traveling to over 35 venues this winter. Kicking off at Key Arena in Seattle, WA on December 18, the tour stars some of the most popular celebrities and professional dancers from the current and past seasons of Dancing with the Stars including season five couples Wayne Newton with Cheryl Burke, Marie Osmond with Jonathan Roberts and Sabrina Bryan with Mark Ballas; season three's Joey Lawrence with Edyta Sliwinska and Monique Coleman; professional dancers Kym Johnson, Derek Hough, Karina Smirnoff, Alec Mazo and Brian Fortuna; as well as special guest star appearances throughout the tour from season two winner, Drew Lachey.

As part of the sponsorship, TV Guide has produced an exclusive 12-page Tour Guide publication, which will be wrapped around the current issue of TV Guide magazine and given to everyone who attends the events nationwide. The Special TV Guide Tour Guide is a full color, photo-rich mini-magazine featuring exciting and exclusive information about the stars and pros participating in the tour, as well as the Dancing with the Stars TV show. Nearly a quarter million copies will be distributed throughout the course of the tour.

Inside each venue, fans will be invited to visit the TV Guide Red Carpet booth where fans can enter to win TV Guide's "Best Seats in the House" contest, which will award four lucky winners an instant front-row upgrade each night. Decorated with blow-ups of TV Guide magazine's Dancing with the Stars covers, the 12' x 12' booth will allow visitors to sign on to the company's flagship Web site, www.TVGuide.com, at six laptop stations and watch TV Guide Network Red Carpet and Dancing with the Stars exclusive footage.

"Many TV Guide consumers are huge fans of DWTS and we have dedicated an abundance of cross platform content, including numerous TV Guide magazine covers and features, DWTS show pages on our Web site, and clips and other programming at TV Guide Network, in support of the show," said Alan Cohen, chief marketing officer, Gemstar-TV Guide. "Given our established relationship with the franchise, it was a natural for us to sponsor this tour. This tour presents a truly unique opportunity for us to promote the TV Guide brand while directly engaging and informing fans in an interactive manner that showcases our magazine, Web site, and network."

Dancing with the Stars - The Tour is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions (part of BBC Worldwide America), AEG LIVE and Front Line Management Group. The ABC television show, Dancing with the Stars is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions and is the U.S. version of the BBC smash hit series Strictly Come Dancing.

About Gemstar-TV Guide:

Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. is a leading global media, entertainment, and technology company that develops, licenses, markets and distributes products and services that maximize the video guidance and entertainment experience for consumers. The Company's businesses include: television, publishing, and new media properties; interactive program guide services and products; and intellectual property licensing. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.gemstartvguide.com.

About AEG Live:

AEG Live, the live-entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance, touring for a variety of programming and multi-media production. AEG Live, the nation's second largest concert promotion and touring company is comprised of special event, broadcast and exhibition divisions, eleven regional offices and numerous state of the art venues nationwide. The company's national promotion arm is currently producing tours and productions including Celine Dion A New Day... now appearing at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," an international tour of the artifacts of King Tut. Recent and upcoming promoted concert tours have included artists such as Justin Timberlake, Bon Jovi, Prince, Christina Aguilera, Kenny Chesney, So You Think You Can Dance, Paul McCartney, High School Musical, American Idols Live and Dancing with the Stars. Goldenvoice, the company's Southern California-based regional promotion division created and operates the award winning annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival as well as Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival. The company operates NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie in Texas, NOKIA Theatre Times Square, and the recently opened NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE.

About BBC Worldwide America: BBC Worldwide America is the U.S. arm of BBC Worldwide, a commercial and wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Headquartered in New York and Los Angeles, BBC Worldwide America has five core businesses: Channels, TV Sales, Content & Production, Home Entertainment and Digital Media. Profit from BBC Worldwide is returned to the BBC public service. BBC Worldwide Productions, based in Los Angeles, was the first international local production base to be established by BBC Worldwide's Content & Production division. It currently producing the fifth series of Dancing with the Stars for ABC, and will produce this winters' Dance War for ABC and Clash of the Choirs for NBC.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties related to the timely availability and market acceptance of products and services incorporating the Company's technologies and content; our investments in new and existing businesses; the impact of competitive products and services; and the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the most recent reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, each as it may be amended from time to time. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Note to Editors: Gemstar, TV Guide, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. The names of other companies, products and services used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Source: Business Wire

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