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Charles Hirschhorn Elected to Playboy Enterprises' Board of Directors

Posted on: Monday, 7 August 2006, 12:00 CDT

CHICAGO, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Playboy Enterprises, Inc. (PEI) today announced the election of Charles Hirschhorn to its board of directors. A resident of Los Angeles, Hirschhorn is the founding partner of Fountain Productions, an independent production company that produces theatrical motion pictures, television movies and direct-to-video films. Hirschhorn founded and was CEO of G4, the world's first videogame television network. He worked for 10 years at the Walt Disney Company, including as President of Walt Disney Television and Television Animation. He also served as head of development at Fox where he was involved in the launch of their network.

"Charles' knowledge and experience in both the content and the business sides of the entertainment industry will be great assets for Playboy," said Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises. "We welcome his growth-oriented perspective."

Hirschhorn said: "I look forward to being a part of Playboy's success and the company's continued global growth."

At Disney, Hirschhorn was responsible for the development and production of theatrical motion pictures, including The Joy Luck Club, Quiz Show and The Santa Claus. Prior to Disney, he served as Vice President of Development for Fox Broadcasting where he managed the network's primetime programming and developed the Emmy Award-winning series In Living Color.

Hirschhorn conceived and built the first videogame television network, G4, which he launched in 2002 with 12 originally produced series. He grew G4 to over 350 employees with $50 million in revenue and more than 53 million cable and satellite subscribers.

A graduate of Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, Hirschhorn served as an Arts Management Fellow for the National Endowment for the Arts. He serves on the boards for the Harvard College Office of the Arts and for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Hirschhorn was recommended by Spencer Stuart & Associates, a global management consulting firm specializing in senior-level executive searches and board director appointments.

He joins six non-executive directors: Dennis S. Bookshester, a business consultant and former CEO of Turtlewax, Inc.; David I. Chemerow, SVP and CFO of Olympus Media, LLC; Donald G. Drapkin, Vice Chairman and Director, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Inc.; Jerome H. Kern, Chairman of Symphony Media Systems, LLC and President, Kern Consulting LLC; Russell I. Pillar, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Catalytic Capital; and Sol Rosenthal, of counsel, Arnold & Porter LLC. Playboy has two executive directors: CEO and Chairman Christie Hefner and Executive Vice President Richard S. Rosenzweig.

Playboy Enterprises is a brand-driven, international multimedia entertainment company that publishes editions of Playboy magazine around the world; operates Playboy and Spice television networks and distributes programming globally via DVD and a network of web sites including Playboy.com, a leading men's lifestyle and entertainment web site; and licenses the Playboy trademark internationally for a range of consumer products and services.

Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

CONTACT: Linda Marsicano of Playboy Enterprises, +1-312-373-2447,lmarsicano@playboy.com

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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