Los Angeles, CA, May 12, 2004 -- In a move to expand its revenue from the global exploitation of ancillary rights for television and DVD, industry veteran Tony Lynn has been named to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Program Distribution at Showtime Networks Inc., it was announced today by Matthew Duda, Executive Vice President of Program Acquisitions, Planning and Distribution. Lynn, who is Duda's first key hire since his responsibilities were expanded in January to include Program Distribution, will be responsible for the licensing and sale of Showtime's original film and television programming to the worldwide television and video/DVD markets.

Lynn has been involved in pay television and program distribution for nearly 30 years, most recently managing his consulting practice, Agile Enterprises. Prior to that, Lynn was President of Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. from 1992 to 2000. He spent five years at MGM, concluding his tenure there as President of Worldwide Television Distribution. Other positions include President of Cable, Pay and Home Video at Coca-Cola Telecommunications, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Columbia Pictures International Corp., and Senior Vice President and General Manager for Columbia Pictures Pay Television. He also served for three years as Director of Programming for HBO Program Services. Lynn began his career in 1975 as Program Manager at the local cable system in Elmira, New York.

"Tony Lynn is an expert in the program distribution field and a valuable addition to our Showtime executive team," said Duda in making the announcement. "His strategic vision for building a solid distribution arm for this network is second to none."

Said Lynn, "I am delighted to be joining Showtime at this exciting time in the network's history and to be able to represent such outstanding series as "The L Word" and "Queer as Folk," as well as Showtime's provocative original movies. Bob Greenblatt has excellent new product in the pipeline and I look forward to maximizing its potential in both the U.S. and overseas."

Lynn is a graduate of Duke University and holds a Master's degree in Public Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University. He will be based in Showtime's Los Angeles offices.