G4 and YouTube Form Strategic Alliance, Beginning With Exclusive World Premiere of G4 'Star Trek 2.0' Short

G4 and YouTube Form Strategic Alliance, Beginning With Exclusive World Premiere of G4 'Star Trek 2.0' Short

Series of Shorts Combine Star Trek Action Figures, Stop-Motion Animation, and Irreverent Comedy - Featuring the Voices of Craig Kilborn and Charlie Murphy - to Introduce the Legendary Series to New Generation of Fans

LOS ANGELES and SAN MATEO, Calif., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- G4 and YouTube announced today an ongoing strategic alliance that will allow both companies to bring more entertaining video content to their audiences. The alliance kicks off today with the exclusive, world premiere on YouTube of a new, innovative short promoting G4's upcoming series, "Star Trek 2.0." "Star Trek 2.0" consists of classic "Star Trek" episodes framed with G4's own interactive content. G4 created the irreverent, comedic on-air spots -- which feature Star Trek action figures in contemporary urban settings, using stop-motion animation -- to help attract a whole new generation of viewers to the iconic series.

The partnership creates a natural launching pad for "Star Trek 2.0": both G4 and YouTube attract consumers who thrive on the kind of multi-platform entertainment -- TV, streaming video, interactivity, podcasting, video-on-demand -- that G4 offers. YouTube, www.youtube.com, a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a web experience, has recently become the leading destination on the Internet for video, now delivering more than 35 million video views every day.

Three additional "Star Trek 2.0" promotional shorts will be uploaded through YouTube throughout April, and will feature G4's logo, branding and links back to the G4 website, www.g4tv.com. The spots will begin running cross-channel on April 5, and on G4's air beginning April 10. Additionally, G4 and YouTube will be working together to cross-promote YouTube's latest popular user-generated videos with G4's best of the Internet "The Daily Nut" podcast on G4tv.com. "The Daily Nut" is G4's online-only compilation of the best Internet finds of the day.

"TV is not just on television anymore," said Neal Tiles, President of G4. "G4 understands this better than most other networks, and YouTube is the perfect partner for promoting G4 content -- their community is a great match to our male 18-34 audience. G4 gets guys, and by leading the way in multi-platform and interactive entertainment content, we're giving guys more ways to integrate us into their increasingly digital lives."

"YouTube users enjoy watching cool new TV clips and other professionally-produced videos alongside the entertaining stuff they're creating themselves," said Kevin Donahue, vice president, marketing and programming for YouTube. "Our partnership with G4 will introduce some great new programming to our community while providing G4 with an opportunity to reach an even larger audience for its network and website."

G4's four on-air promotional spots use stop-motion animation to bring Star Trek action figures -- Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Lt. Uhura, Sulu and Chekov -- to life in contemporary urban settings: a coffeehouse, a swimming pool, a karaoke bar, and Spock's "crib." In "Karaoke," the first of the spots to air on YouTube, Spock performs Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" -- complete with Vulcan salute -- to an enthusiastic, jumping crowd that includes Kirk, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. The characters are voiced by comedic actors, including Craig Kilborn as Captain Kirk, and Charlie Murphy of "Chappelle's Show" as Mr. Spock.

"Star Trek 2.0" will air on G4 Mondays through Fridays at 11:00 PM ET/PT beginning Monday, April 10. G4 will also air the "Star Trek" episodes in their original, non-interactive form during Saturday marathons from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM beginning Saturday, April 8.

About G4

G4 launched in April 2002 and is now available in 56 million cable and satellite homes nationwide. The #1 podcasted cable network in America and a leader in VOD, G4's programming includes breaking video game industry news, trends, reviews, the hottest games and gear, celebrity interviews and insider opinions. Targeting the male 18-34 audience, G4 is the last word on games, technology, animation, interactivity, the Internet and broadband. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles and is owned by Comcast Corporation. To learn more, log onto www.g4tv.com.

About YouTube

Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. The company currently delivers more than 35 million video views every day with 35,000 new videos uploaded daily. With investment support from Sequoia Capital, YouTube has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment.

Source: G4

CONTACT: Jenny Snegaroff of G4 Publicity, +1-310-721-6594,
jennysnegaroff@earthlink.net; or Julie Supan of YouTube, +1-650-685-6401,
julie@youtube.com

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

Web site: http://www.g4tv.com/

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