Release
<div>SHOWTIME "HAMMERS" OUT FIRST QUARTER 2003 ACQUISITION CAMPAIGN WITH INNOVATIVE GIFT CARD TIE-IN TO THE HOME DEPOT®</div>
Campaign Gives Subscribers An Opportunity To Improve Their Home Entertainment Options And Their Home At The Same Time
New York, NY, January 21, 2003 -- In an effort to generate incremental subscriptions, Showtime Networks Inc. will be offering gift cards to The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, as part of its upcoming first quarter acquisition campaign. During the promotional period, consumers who sign on for SHOWTIME between January 27 and April 30 will receive a $50 gift card good at any Home Depot store or EXPO® Design Center location. The campaign, which gives consumers an opportunity to improve their home entertainment - and home - at the same time, kicks off in February 2003.
"We are really excited about this campaign and have been getting a tremendous response from our affiliates. The Home Depot gift card offer has generated an extremely high response rate, well above standard cable offers, in a recent direct mail offer test that we conducted, stated Geof Rochester, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Showtime Networks Inc. He added, "Over the past year, we've been taking our acquisition campaign strategy in a new direction, working with high-profile brands and offering high-value overlays. Based on our consumer testing and affiliate interest, we're confident that this innovative approach will help grow our affiliates' business."
In addition to The Home Depot gift card, consumers who first subscribe to SHOWTIME during the promotional period will be treated to exclusive Hollywood hits that can't be seen anywhere else such as "Vanilla Sky," "Jimmy Neutron," "When We Were Soldiers," and "Zoolander," among others. They will also see Showtime Original Pictures including GOOD FENCES, starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, DEACONS FOR DEFENSE, starring Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Silverman and Ossie Davis, as well as Showtime Original Series including QUEER AS FOLK, SOUL FOOD and the upcoming series PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT!
The promotion will be supported by SHOWTIME via national Direct Response Television (DRTV), direct mail including selfmailers, letter packages, postcards, billstuffers, doorhangers, cross channel and radio spots, web banners, HTML email, direct sales coupons, point of sale displays and telemarketing. There will also be Hispanic versions of these tactics.
In addition, SHOWTIME will support the campaign with a CCP incentive sweepstakes in which the Grand Prize-winner will receive a home entertainment center. Numerous other home-related prizes will also be awarded. The incentive will be customized for most MSOs, with a Grand Prize winner - and lots of other winners - at each.
SHOWTIME is not affiliated with The Home Depot®. The Home Depot® is a registered trademark of Homer TLC, Inc.
