USA TODAY Announces New Broadcast and Internet Programming for 2008

USA TODAY Announces New Broadcast and Internet Programming for 2008

New Programming Partnerships with Fuse, VERSUS and MOJO HD

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of the USA TODAY brand, announces a new line-up of television and online projects for 2008. USA TODAY LIVE will partner with Fuse, the national music television network, VERSUS and MOJO HD on a variety of series-based programming, in addition to continuing to create regular online video features for USATODAY.com.

City Limits Fishing is a six-part weekly series on VERSUS which highlights places where anglers regularly catch limits of fish in not so far-off, exotic destinations. City Limits Fishing will travel to New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Chicago, Tampa and Sacramento showing secret places within cities where the fishing is world class. The show premieres Friday, Feb. 15.

10 Great Reasons, an eight-part weekly series on Fuse, premieres Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 10pm. The show will pay tribute to acts, genres, rumors and stories about our musical guilty pleasures and why we love them so, but may be just a tad embarrassed to admit.

Gotta Get Gold is a 10-part series on MOJO HD which launches Monday, July 28 and runs for 10 consecutive weekdays. USA TODAY LIVE will team up with Gannett Broadcasting to produce this series. This 10-episode series focuses on what it takes to train and to compete at the highest levels in athletics. The show will identify athletes poised to excel in Beijing, and will follow them through their intense training schedule.

In 2007, USA TODAY LIVE produced two new online video projects for USATODAY.com, both programs have been slated to return in 2008. CelebWatch with Will Keck features interviews with the hottest Hollywood celebrities and appears every Monday. CelebStyle is hosted by reporter Olivia Barker and is designed to show readers how to get the look of a celebrity and appears every Wednesday.

"We are excited about the year ahead and the direction of USA TODAY LIVE," said Lauren Ashburn, managing editor of USA TODAY LIVE. "We are taking great strides in extending the USA TODAY brand to multiple platforms and feel that we have found some exceptional partners to create world-class content. We look forward to seeing more programming from USA TODAY on television and online."

Past programming from USA TODAY LIVE has included a controversial public opinion program Debate on HDNet; two in-depth documentaries on the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for Animal Planet, Animal Planet Heroes: Hurricane Rescues and Animal Planet Heroes: Hurricane Reunions; USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge 2006, which aired on Women's Entertainment (WE); and Soul of a Champion, a series on VERSUS profiling ten of the greatest athletes as determined by the USA TODAY Sports department. In 2007, USA TODAY LIVE created video segments for the T-Mobile Invitational Preview Basketball Tournament. These two to three minute videos highlighted the eight individual high school basketball teams playing in the tournament and can be seen on USATODAY.com, the National Federation of State High School Associations website, t-mobileinvitational.com and versus.com.

Founded in 2000, USA TODAY LIVE was designed to feed video versions of USA TODAY content to 22 Gannett Broadcasting television stations, as well as to work closely with USATODAY.com in its transition from a text-based format to one fully utilizing the power of audio and video. In 2005, USA TODAY LIVE expanded its focus to produce award-winning documentaries and television series. USA TODAY LIVE seeks to bring the rich quality, spirit and diversity of the nation's newspaper from the page to the screen.

USA TODAY is the nation's top-selling newspaper. It is published via satellite at 34 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI). The USA TODAY brand also includes: USATODAY.com, an award-winning news and information Web site that is updated 24 hours per day; USA TODAY Sports Weekly, a magazine for enthusiasts of college and professional football and baseball; USA TODAY Mobile, offering up-to-the minute news and information on a variety of mobile platforms and devices; and USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of the USA TODAY brand that brings the spirit and quality of the newspaper to television.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: USA TODAY

CONTACT: Heidi Zimmerman, Director/Communications, +1-703-854-5304,
hzimmerman@usatoday.com; or Alexandra Nicholson, Manager/Communications,
+1-703-854-5872, anicholson@usatoday.com, both of USA TODAY

Web site:

http://www.usatoday.com/
http://www.versus.com/

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