CBS Introduces WATCH! Magazine

CBS Introduces WATCH! Magazine

Network to Debut New Quarterly Publication Celebrating the Best in Television, Sports, News and New Media, With Run of 400,000 Copies

WATCH! Magazine to Be Distributed at CBS Show Tapings, Paramount Theme Parks and Through CBS's 200+ Affiliates

Will Be Published in Association With McMurry, the Nation's Leading Custom Publisher

NEW YORK, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The CBS Communications Group announced today it will publish a new quarterly magazine celebrating the best in televised entertainment, news and sports, as well as DVDs, theme parks and new media, starting in January 2006. The publication, titled WATCH!, will include exclusive interviews, photos, previews and behind-the-scenes features of CBS talent and shows, as well as guides to travel, fashion and living the Hollywood lifestyle.

The debut issue will feature interviews with TWO AND A HALF MEN stars Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer, as well as exclusive photos of THE AMAZING RACE host Phil Keoghan's recent cross-country road expedition; CBS Sports' David Feherty talking golf and Pebble Beach with CRIMINAL MINDS star Thomas Gibson; a trip down memory lane with AS THE WORLD TURNS' Martha Byrne; first-person accounts from CBS News Correspondents Lesley Stahl and Lee Cowan on covering the biggest stories of the last 25 years, including the Reagan assassination attempt and last year's tsunami; an interview with HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER star Neil Patrick Harris; and a talk with CBS News' John Roberts on traveling with the president on Air Force One, among many other features.

WATCH! will be distributed freely at CBS show tapings, Paramount Parks and through more than 200 CBS affiliates across the country, debuting with a 400,000 circulation. The magazine is being published by the CBS Communications Group, in association with McMurry, the nation's leading custom publisher.

"This is a unique opportunity for us to leverage the access we have as a Network into a fun and insightful celebrity magazine that offers something no one else can -- an insider's perspective," said Gil Schwartz, Executive Vice President, CBS Communications Group. "We've assembled some of the most entertaining and compelling content about our talent and shows, and we're providing it free to the viewing public. WATCH! Magazine is going to be a highly-readable, enjoyable publication that will strike a chord with TV lovers, as well as a public that's become grown fascinated by the celebrity life and culture."

"This publication is a great way to extend the promotional reach of our stars and programming," said Nancy Tellem, President, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group. "Each quarter, we'll be able to showcase our primetime, late-night, daytime, sports and news programming to more than 400,000 TV fans across the country, who we think will enjoy reading about their favorite shows and talents in a slick, engaging celebrity magazine."

"This is the perfect extension of the CBS brand, and a strategic way to introduce new viewers to all the phenomenal talent we've assembled in our entertainment, news and sports programming," said George Schweitzer, President, CBS Marketing Group. "The distribution model we've put together assures us that this publication will have a fantastic debut, and that TV lovers across America will have access to all the inside scoop, profiles and features that only WATCH! Magazine can deliver."

"We think this is a great idea, especially for those clients wishing to work with CBS in print," said Jo Ann Ross, President, Network Sales, CBS. "Celebrity magazines have become very popular with our core audience, and we look forward to collaborating with our partners at McMurry as they sell this exciting new project."

"We're very excited that our 200+ affiliates across the country will be helping the Network successfully launch WATCH! Magazine," said Peter Schruth, President, Affiliate Relations, CBS. "This kind of grassroots distribution gives our stations a great, high-profile promotional tool that they can use locally to keep their CBS shows top of mind with viewers and clients."

"Custom publications are truly becoming mainstream in the modern media world and the arrival of a player like CBS, who touches all corners of America, into one of the fastest growing forms of marketing and communications illustrates this reality incredibly clearly," said Chris McMurry, President/CEO of McMurry. "It's an honor and privilege to be working with CBS, and we're looking forward to establishing new frontiers through this partnership."

Jeremy Murphy, Director of Editorial Services for the CBS Communications Group, will serve as Editor of the publication. Advertising sales, editorial support, design, production and distribution will be handled by McMurry. The magazine will be supported entirely by advertising sales.

CBS Television is comprised of the CBS Television Network -- with over 200 owned and affiliated stations reaching virtually every television home in the United States; the Network's programming arms CBS Entertainment, CBS News and CBS Sports; and CBS Enterprises, a global leader in distribution.

McMurry (www.mcmurry.com) offers integrated marketing, advertising, online, public relations, custom publishing and database management services to a variety of clientele, including GlaxoSmithKline, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Amtrak, 24 Hour Fitness and STMicroelectronics, as well as professional development services for corporate professionals. The company employs a highly desirable corporate culture and has been recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute as the "Best Place to Work" in the great Phoenix area for medium-sized companies and BizAz magazine, which named McMurry one of the "Coolest Places to Work in Arizona."

Source: CBS

CONTACT: Dana McClintock, +1-212-975-1077, dlmcclintock@cbs.com; or
Jeremy Murphy, +1-212-975-4577, jeremy.murphy@cbs.com, both for CBS; or Fred
Petrovsky, 1-888-626-8779, fredp@mcmurry.com, or Paul X. Loughran,
+1-602-395-5850, paull@mcmurry.com, both for McMurry

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

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/965075.html

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