TV Guide and The Museum of Broadcast Communications Join Forces

TV Guide and The Museum of Broadcast Communications Join Forces

CHICAGO, July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) and TV Guide have announced an innovative alliance that will place one of the country's most recognizable brands front and center at America's newest broadcast museum. TV Guide magazine will provide access to its vast collection of cover artwork for use in the museum's displays. TV Guide and MBC will also develop a series of public programs, once the new $21-million museum opens in the summer of 2006.

The story of American radio and television will be told through public programs and interactive exhibits in galleries, studios and theaters in MBC's new 70,000-square-foot museum in downtown Chicago. The museum experience will include nine programming genres -- Comedy, Drama, Music, News, Sports, Talk, Games, Children and Commercials. Jack Rouse Associates, one of America's leading exhibit design firms, will create the genre experiences. The exhibits will include a number of TV Guide covers from the past 50 years.

The public programming initiative will include TV Guide magazine critics and editors, who will participate in VIP seminars and screenings that will discuss the current state of television as well as historic analysis.

"The new Museum of Broadcast Communications will be a vibrant cultural destination that brings the history of television to life," said Ian Birch, editor of TV Guide magazine. "Almost from the moment TV sets began popping up in family rooms everywhere, TV Guide has covered it all, from I Love Lucy to Desperate Housewives. We are happy to partner with the MBC to tell television's great stories and create a valuable experience for visitors."

Bruce DuMont, MBC Founder and President, said, "TV Guide is dedicated to providing the best guide to today's television shows and stars. Expanding its commitment to excite and engage a broader audience who thirst for a more active interest in television, TV Guide is helping the MBC to enrich the overall visitor experience."

The MBC and TV Land recently announced a 10-year deal to develop the Comedy section of the museum. A $500,000 donation from Disney Hand, the philanthropic arm of the Walt Disney Company, will be used to develop the Children's area. The MBC is a non-profit institution.

TV Guide, the country's largest selling weekly magazine, has a weekly readership of approximately 26 million people. From broadcast and cable programming to syndicated shows and celebrities, TV Guide has every corner of the television medium covered. The premiere source for entertainment news and information since its debut on April 3, 1953, TV Guide magazine continues to enable readers to maximize their relationship with television and navigate their choices.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of only three broadcast museums in the United States. The new MBC will be the first public museum in the nation to achieve the Gold rating of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria. For more information, please visit http://www.museum.tv/ .

Source: The Museum of Broadcast Communications

CONTACT: Raissa Allaire of MBC, +1-312-822-0511, or Allison Bennett of TV Guide, +1-212-852-7464

Web site: http://www.museum.tv/

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