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CBS AND REALNETWORKS BRING
"BIG BROTHER 5" LIVE TO THE INTERNET — PREMIERING TONIGHT!
Exclusive Live Video Streaming 24 Hours a Day From the "Big Brother" House
Available Through CBS.com and RealOne SuperPass
LOS ANGELES and SEATTLE, July 6, 2004 — CBS and RealNetworks®, Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK), the global leader in digital media services and software, today announced that for the fourth year in a row the two companies have joined forces to provide exclusive, 24/7 live video streaming from the BIG BROTHER 5 house. The webcast coverage premieres tonight, immediately following the premiere of BIG BROTHER 5 (8:00-9:30 PM, ET/PT), and will be accessible through the official BIG BROTHER 5 website at www.cbs.com and through the Real Guide at www.realguide.com.
Subscribers to the 24/7 video stream can watch any one of four live camera feeds from the BIG BROTHER 5 house or catch all of the action at once with the special quad-cam view, which allows fans to simultaneously see four different video feeds. Subscribers can also access other key components of the official BIG BROTHER 5 website, including: detailed summaries of all the events that happen during each televised broadcast; a live 24/7 chat room; an interactive "BIG BROTHER Fantasy League" game where fans compete for prizes based on the events that transpire in the house; popularity and opinion polls; a virtual tour of the BIG BROTHER house; descriptions of the week's challenges; voting history pages; photo galleries and a HouseGuest section with complete profiles.
The entire three-month broadcast run of BIG BROTHER 5 is available through RealNetworks' RealOne® SuperPass® subscription service. In addition to BIG BROTHER 5, RealOne SuperPass subscribers receive exclusive news, sports and entertainment content. Fans may subscribe to receive the three-month broadcast for $24.95, or $9.95 per month. RealNetworks now has more than one million paid monthly subscribers to its subscription services.
"The BIG BROTHER 24/7 provides our loyal online fans with an all-access pass to the HouseGuest's fears, tears and cheers as they compete for half a million dollars," said David Katz, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Interactive Ventures, CBS. "We look forward to another exciting summer with one of television's most compelling interactive shows."
"RealNetworks delivers the best in online entertainment to consumers - music, games, movies and more," said Karim Meghji, Vice President, Video Services, RealNetworks, Inc. "With four always on cameras in the BIG BROTHER house, BIG BROTHER 5 online offers subscribers a unique, day and night taste of house life that can't be matched. We are happy to partner with CBS to bring the popular BIG BROTHER series to returning and new fans of the show through our RealOne SuperPass service."
CBS/Endemol Entertainment will provide the content from the house, while RealNetworks' content delivery division, Real Broadcast Network, will deliver the 24/7 live streaming webcast feed.
To preserve the drama for BIG BROTHER 5 television viewers, CBS may block or delay the webcast for a limited number of real-time events that transpire in the house.. The 24/7 live video stream compliments cbs.com's recently announced HOUSE CALLS: THE BIG BROTHER TALK SHOW, a half-hour, streaming video daily talk show about the summer reality series seen every Monday through Friday (1:00 PM/ET, 10:00 AM/PT).
HOUSE CALLS, hosted by Marcellas Reynolds, a houseguest on "Big Brother 3" and Gretchen Massey, an on-air host on Infinity Radio's KLSX Los Angeles, interacts with viewers though phone calls and e-mails, discuss events that transpire in the Big Brother house, offer prognostications, analyze strategies, and interview former "Big Brother" houseguests as well as current houseguests following their eviction. HOUSE CALLS is believed to be the first live daily Internet talk show produced exclusively for a television network.
Arnold Shapiro and Allison Grodner are the executive producers of BIG BROTHER 5 for Shapiro/Grodner Productions, in association with Endemol Entertainment.
ABOUT REALONE SUPERPASS
RealOne SuperPass is the fastest growing Internet rich media subscription service in history, bringing consumers the best and most innovative online sports, news, music and entertainment programming. Today, there are over 1.3 million subscribers to RealNetworks' subscription services. RealOne SuperPass includes the premium version of RealPlayer, offering universal playback of Windows Media, QuickTime and over 50 additional media types, advanced CD-burning options, and access to more than 3200 radio stations, additional audio/video controls and features enabling users to build and manage high quality music and video collections. RealOne SuperPass is priced at $9.95 per month and available at www.real.com
ABOUT REALNETWORKS
RealNetworks, Inc. is the leading creator of digital media services and software including the award-winning Rhapsody® Internet jukebox service and RealPlayer®. Consumers can access and experience audio/video programming and download RealNetworks' consumer software at www.real.com. Broadcasters, network operators, media companies and enterprises use RealNetworks' products and services to create and deliver digital media to PCs, mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. RealNetworks' systems and corporate information is located at www.realnetworks.com.
ABOUT CBS.COM
CBS.com, the official website of the CBS Television Network, has become the top web destination among all Network television websites. CBS.com has been the most trafficked website among its Entertainment competitors with more unique visitors every month for the past two years. With its proven success of intersecting traditional television with new media, CBS.com attracted a record high of more than 12 million unique visitors in May 2004 as a result of the "Survivor: All Stars" finale and online voting for America's Tribal Council. Home to the official websites for all CBS television series, CBS.com's notable sites include "Survivor," "CSI" and "CSI: Miami," "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" and "Late Show with David Letterman."
For More Information, Press Only:
Ed Harrison, CBS, 323-575-4254, ed.harrison@tvc.cbs.com
Lisa Strong, RealNetworks, 206-892-6585, lstrong@real.com
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