Industry Leader Richard Beahrs Named Chairman of the Board, Expo Communications

Industry Leader Richard Beahrs Named Chairman of the Board, Expo Communications

NEW YORK, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Expo Communications has named Richard Beahrs to chairman of the board of directors, it was announced today by Daphne Kwon, co-founder & chief executive officer, Expo Communications.

The appointment of Mr. Beahrs to chairman follows the recent launch of Expo TV, the first video marketplace answering the needs of today's consumers. The 24/7 TV channel will be available in the third quarter of this year and extends Expo's existing multiple platforms, which include an on-demand service and an online community website at http://www.expotv.com/.

Mr. Beahrs brings Expo a unique vision and a track record for building cable networks established over an impressive 35-year career at Time Warner. He has been widely recognized for his contributions not only to Time Warner, but to the industry at large, and in 2003 he was honored by the NCTA with a Vanguard Award, the cable industry's highest honor, for his contributions in public affairs programming.

Most recently, Mr. Beahrs served as the President of Court TV until his retirement in 2004. He has also served as the President of The Comedy Channel, the predecessor company of today's Comedy Central, and Senior Vice President of Home Box Office, where he served as head of New Business Development at HBO and managed the launch of Cinemax.

In assuming his new post, Mr. Beahrs leads an impressive board that includes Lisa Gersh Hall, president & COO of Oxygen Media, and company co-founders Ms. Kwon, former CFO of Oxygen Media, and Bill Hildebolt, company president. Investors include Nick Nicholas, former CEO of Time Warner, Thayer Bigelow, former president of HBO, and Dick Barovick, former CEO of Grundy Worldwide production company.

"Dick's unparalleled experience in building breakthrough brands, combined with his record of identifying and growing new television businesses, has already made a tremendous impact on Expo's distribution, staffing and financing," said Ms. Kwon. "We are confident that his deep relationships with key distributor and advertiser industry leaders will help establish Expo as a new growth engine for them."

"Expo Communications has identified a very attractive growth opportunity for operators and advertisers and I am delighted to be a part of this exciting new company," Mr. Beahrs said. "Daphne and Bill have assembled an outstanding and highly talented management team who along with the support of a strong and committed board of directors are capable of making this one of the most exciting new television concepts to come along in years."

Mr. Beahrs' Vanguard Award in 2003 was in recognition for his development of the Choices and Consequences initiative. The program uses live television events, local town meetings, the Internet, and classroom materials to enhance the decision-making skills of teens and young adults.

He also serves on the United Nations Hunger Task Force, which is charged with developing a plan for halving the instances of extreme malnutrition throughout the world over the next decade. Long interested in environmental and natural resource science, Beahrs and his wife Carolyn, both of whom are Berkeley alumni, established the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program. Mr. Beahrs also serves as a Trustee of the School of Management at St. Petersburg University (Russia). He is the Chairman of the Arbor Day Foundation, which is the world's largest nonprofit tree planting organization. He has previously served on the Board of Trustees of the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya and the Near East Foundation in New York.

Separately, Expo Communications announced the Expo Communications Advisory board, a leading group of prominent industry advertising and marketing executives who will provide overall industry guidance to the management team.

The following industry executives were named to the advisory board: media industry analyst Jack Myers, President of Myers Publishing, LLC; two of the most respected leaders in the direct response industry Ed Garrubbo, CEO of American Telecast and Tim Hawthorne, Chairman of Hawthorne Direct; Pete Blackshaw, Chief Marketing Officer of Intelliseek and founder of PlanetFeedback.com; Lawrence Wilkinson, Chairman of strategic consulting firm Heminge & Condell; Corey Torrence, CEO of online focus group service Invoke Solutions; and entertainment attorney Mike Tannen, head of the Tannen Media Fund.

Expo TV is a multiplatform programmer offering a 24/7 linear programming network, an intuitive VOD service, and a reliable online destination. Managed by a team of cable leaders, and backed by an advisory board of notable programming, advertising and financial executives, Expo TV is the first television network to offer a trusted destination for consumer information. Expo TV provides a seamless experience for consumers and offers affiliates and advertisers a differentiated programming partnership. More information about the company can be found online at http://www.expotv.com/.

For more information:

Expo TV Thi Luu 212-905-8951
PK Network Pat Kehoe 212-888-4700 ext. 218
Joe Boyle 917-376-3595

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com/.

Source: Expo Communications/Expo TV

CONTACT: Expo TV: Thi Luu, +1-212-905-8951; or PK Network: Pat Kehoe,
+1-212-888-4700 ext. 218; Joe Boyle, +1-917-376-3595

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

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