Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment Partners With Hulu, Clear Channel, MySpace, Pepsi and Ford Motor Company in Innovative Entertainment Venture

Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment Partners With Hulu, Clear Channel, MySpace, Pepsi and Ford Motor Company in Innovative Entertainment Venture

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon Fuller's new entertainment venture IF I CAN DREAM, which launches early 2010, will be distributed and marketed to a global audience through a number of integrated partnerships with blue chip brands.

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Hulu and Clear Channel will create a ground breaking distribution partnership with MySpace building an exclusive audition platform. Both PepsiCo and Ford Motor Company are also confirmed as founding partners for the production.

HULU

Hulu will stream an IF I CAN DREAM TV episode each week exclusively via Hulu.com. Each programme will include highlights from the week, stringing together the storylines from the past seven days into an easy to follow episode. It will be the first recurring show to be available to select international audiences via Hulu.

"Innovate is not a buzzword for Simon Fuller and 19 Entertainment. They've consistently delivered extremely high quality content in innovative ways, and helped to change how viewers engage with entertainment," said Andy Forssell, SVP of Content and Distribution at Hulu. "That's a great match with what Hulu is all about, and we're excited and honored to partner with them on IF I CAN DREAM as part of our mission to help people find and enjoy the world's premium content, when, where and how they want it."

CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO

Clear Channel Radio will serve as a core partner in introducing the IF I CAN DREAM (cast) to a national audience of over 100 million people on-air each week and to 30 million people on its digital properties monthly. Clear Channel's local radio personalities and audience interaction will spur daily conversations, and through Clear Channel's content creation and distribution platform, the IF I CAN DREAM cast member stories will come to life on-air, online, and on mobile devices.

"19 Entertainment's fresh approach to talent development will find fertile ground on Clear Channel's stations and digital properties," said Evan Harrison, EVP of Clear Channel Radio and president of the company's digital group. "Our highly engaged on-air and online communities will be the engines that drive ongoing interest in the cast. Together, we have the opportunity to completely change the paradigm and break new talent across multiple platforms simultaneously."

MYSPACE

As the exclusive audition and primary social networking platform for IF I CAN DREAM, MySpace will provide the ability for other hopefuls to realize their own dreams. Through the audition process, essentially anyone will have the chance to take part in the show by uploading videos explaining why they deserve to be featured. IF I CAN DREAM will have a customized page on MySpace empowering fans to socialize content by sharing, commenting and interacting. The integration exemplifies the aspirational overlay that has always existed on MySpace and the site's ongoing capability to offer access to once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Angela Courtin, SVP of Marketing, Entertainment and Content at MySpace, comments: "For years musicians, comedians, filmmakers, models and actors have come to MySpace to express themselves and to showcase their talents to a global community. Now we are giving them another incredible opportunity to do just that and looking forward to the talent that we know will emerge. We're thrilled to be working with 19 Entertainment and all other involved partners on this project to bring IF I CAN DREAM to a large audience."

PEPSI

IF I CAN DREAM is developing integrated partnerships with a select set of blue chip brands. Pepsi was the first company to embrace this innovative concept and its unconventional approach to multiple platforms. In keeping with the IF I CAN DREAM spirit of young people refreshing their worlds, Pepsi's Refresh Project will play an important role in the experience. As a founding partner The Pepsi Refresh Project on IF I CAN DREAM, which will also enable people to submit ideas that will refresh their world and lead to positive change, is a multi-million-dollar grant program that will launch in January.

"IF I CAN DREAM is a groundbreaking interactive experience that represents our ongoing efforts to engage with consumers across a variety of platforms," said Frank Cooper, SVP and Chief Consumer Engagement Officer, Pepsi-Cola North American Beverages. "IF I CAN DREAM is one of many innovative ways the Pepsi Refresh Project will be featured in the digital space. Partnering with 19 Entertainment, Hulu, and MySpace ensures that this will be a multimedia project that will change the way people interact with programming"

FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Ford Motor Company will be partnering with IF I CAN DREAM to create a new marketing initiative to pre-promote the launch of the 2011 North American Ford Fiesta. This will build on the Fiesta Movement programme, a social media initiative that generated over 675,000 flickr views and 5.5 million YouTube views.

"The Ford Fiesta already has the attention of socially vibrant consumers months before it goes on sale in North America next summer," said Connie Fontaine, manager, Brand Content and Alliances at Ford Motor Company. "So when 19 Entertainment approached us to cast the Fiesta in IF I CAN DREAM, it seemed only natural. The role that 19 Entertainment and Ford has created for Fiesta is really exciting and will provide viewers a different look at the cast members through amazing technology and the Fiesta."

IF I CAN DREAM is produced by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment, a fully owned subsidiary of CKX, Inc. (NASDAQ:CKXE)

   For further information contact:    19 LA:  Roger Widynowski, rogerw@19entertainment.com, tel: 310-461-1788   19 London:  Clare Cooke, clare@19.co.uk, tel: +44 207-801-1986   Hulu:  Christina Lee, Christina@hulu.com, tel: 310-571 -4759   Clear Channel:  Lisa Dollinger, lisadollinger@clearchannel.com, tel:    210-832-3348   MySpace:  Tiffany Duersch, tduersch@myspace-inc.com, tel: 310-969-7689   Ford Motor Company:  Angie Kozleski, akozlesk@ford.com, tel: 313-323-1984   Pepsi:  Nicole Bradley, nicole.bradley@pepsi.com, 914-253-2000  

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Source: 19 Entertainment

CONTACT: Roger Widynowski of 19 LA, +1-310-461-1788,
rogerw@19entertainment.com, or Clare Cooke of 19 London, +44 207-801-1986,
clare@19.co.uk; or Christina Lee of Hulu, +1-310-571 -4759,
Christina@hulu.com; or Lisa Dollinger of Clear Channel, +1-210-832-3348,
lisadollinger@clearchannel.com; or Tiffany Duersch of MySpace,
+1-310-969-7689, tduersch@myspace-inc.com; or Angie Kozleski of Ford Motor
Company, +1-313-323-1984, akozlesk@ford.com; or Nicole Bradley of Pepsi,
+1-914-253-2000, nicole.bradley@pepsi.com

Web Site: http://www.19entertainment.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment