The Home Depot and Mark Burnett Productions Enter Into Unique Broadcast Programming Partnership

The Home Depot and Mark Burnett Productions Enter Into Unique Broadcast Programming Partnership

Home Improvement Leader's Programs, Products and Services To Be Featured in Multi-Program Deal

ATLANTA, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Home Depot(R) and Mark Burnett Productions (MBP) announced today that the companies have entered into a strategic alliance to develop programming that highlights The Home Depot's products and services in Burnett-produced television programming. The agreement is a multi-program, multi-year deal.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030502/HOMEDEPOTLOGO )

Through the partnership, The Home Depot will be integrated into multiple MBP programs, including "The Apprentice III" and "The Contender," Burnett's newest reality program, which premieres March 7 on NBC. The Home Depot, which partnered with Mark Burnett on both "Survivor" and "Apprentice II," will play a role specifically tailored to the content of each program.

"We are thrilled to be involved with an innovative and exciting reality production company that is committed to showcasing The Home Depot brand and services in the content of the shows," said John Costello, executive vice president, Merchandising and Marketing, The Home Depot. "This new partnership enables us to continually reach our target audiences in unique ways."

"Our company strives to be on the cutting edge of unscripted programming in an ever changing medium, and we are excited to work with a prestigious corporate partner like The Home Depot," said Mark Burnett. "With locations in thousands of local communities and a wide variety of products, services and programs, The Home Depot offers us unique opportunities to provide the crucial element of realism to the story lines in a number of shows."

"This agreement is important to us because The Home Depot touches its audience in a unique and local way. We are proud to be associated with such an important American brand," said Conrad Riggs of Mark Burnett Productions, who helped develop the partnership.

The Home Depot

Founded in 1978, The Home Depot(R) is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer and the second largest retailer in the United States, with fiscal 2003 sales of $64.8 billion. The company employs approximately 325,000 associates and has 1,890 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, nine Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company recently announced the creation of a business development operation for retail expansion into China. Its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500 Index. HDG

Mark Burnett Productions

One of the driving forces behind reality television, and a true visionary, Mark Burnett has a long history of executive producing Emmy Award-winning television. Burnett's entrepreneurial spirit pioneered the success of the reality "unscripted" drama series, garnered skyrocketing ratings and

introduced millions of Americans to an entirely new television genre. Mark Burnett Productions revolutionized television, with hits such as Eco-Challenge, Survivor, The Apprentice and the upcoming Contender. MBP also successfully reintroduced product placement as an integral part of each of its shows and has garnered a total of 24 Emmy nominations since 2001. Mark Burnett was listed as the #1 Most Valuable Player by TV Guide and also in Time Magazine's Top 100 most influential people in the world today.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030502/HOMEDEPOTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: The Home Depot

CONTACT: Eric Oberman of The Home Depot, +1-770-384-4155, or
eric_oberman@homedepot.com

Web site: http://www.homedepot.com/


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