Electus and Yahoo! Announce Original Content Production and Distribution Partnership

Electus to Create Premium Sponsored Content for Distribution Across Yahoo!

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Jan 08, 2010, 08:30 ET

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ben Silverman's newly formed content studio Electus, an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) today announced a strategic partnership in which Electus will develop and produce exclusive premium content for Yahoo! and its advertising partners. Capitalizing on the expertise of Ben Silverman and the Electus management team and their proven creativity in premium content creation, the new relationship will not only produce original programming for Yahoo! users, but will also give advertisers new opportunities to integrate their brand messages into the next generation of online programming.

"Content creators and producers are looking for more direct relationships with their audiences and advertising partners, and this partnership will allow advertisers to have fresh ideas matched with premium experiences that enable their messages to be delivered directly to their consumers," said Ben Silverman, CEO of Electus. "Yahoo! is the ideal partner for this initiative; not only do they have the audience reach and a deep understanding of what consumers want, but they have a long history of successful custom campaigns that deliver for all partners involved. And this deal moves them even further along that path."

Electus is a next-generation studio that connects content creators with advertisers and technology providers at the start of the creative process so they can produce content for global and multi-platform distribution. Today's announcement is the first of a number of partnerships that Electus will announce in the coming months. As the world's largest online media company, Yahoo! maintains the largest news, sports, finance, and entertainment websites, offering significant scale that will allow Electus to take its creativity and innovation to audiences and advertisers everywhere.

This partnership is designed to help further drive creativity in online programming, and will put Electus and Yahoo! at the forefront of video production and advertising on the Web. Electus will develop a number of original concepts for Yahoo! in partnership with advertising partners, and both Electus and Yahoo! will work together on delivering the final custom experiences on Yahoo!.

"Yahoo! is bringing together the worlds of entertainment and advertising to build differentiated experiences that help redefine branded entertainment," said Joanne Bradford, senior vice president of North America revenue and market development at Yahoo!. "Yahoo!'s original content formula has generated some of the Web's most successful programming, and the addition of Electus' creative expertise will help drive the next wave of branded programming that delivers audience engagement and advertiser results."

Yahoo! has a long history of creating and distributing award-winning branded programming that consumers and advertisers love, and this partnership will expand upon those initiatives and help drive greater creativity throughout the development of Yahoo!'s new premium content initiatives. Yahoo!'s current original content portfolio includes many of the most-watched shows online, spanning the Internet's most popular content categories.

Launched in partnership with Barry Diller's IAC and led by founder and CEO Ben Silverman, Electus is defining an innovative advertising component, which will challenge the traditional entertainment silos, allowing content creators and branding partners to develop premium programs and reach audiences like never before. The content will be distributed globally through the Electus international distribution arm as well as across a multitude of analog and digital platforms.

Before launching Electus, Silverman, the Emmy and Golden-Globe winning producer, was responsible for directing the efforts of NBC Universal's television operations where he rebranded the Upfront and initiated the first of two Infronts by enabling a two way conversation between media companies and advertisers. Fall 2009 marked Silverman's first non-strike-interrupted programming slate which built on the critical and bottom-line success he had with "30 Rock," "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," "Saturday Night Live," "The Biggest Loser," "Celebrity Apprentice" and "The Office," which directly addressed the challenges facing broadcast TV with a topical DVR-proof show. Prior to NBC, Silverman transformed Reveille - his production/distribution company - into a world leader by creating unique, integrated marketing opportunities for advertisers on Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning shows such as The Office and Ugly Betty.

About Electus

Electus is the first integrated multimedia company to unite producers, creators, advertisers and distributors under one roof and produce all forms of content for distribution across a variety of platforms around the world. Headed by Ben Silverman, in partnership with IAC, the company will connect advertisers, distributors and content creators early on in the development process, enabling marketers and advertisers to be a true partner in campaigns and content creation.

About IAC

IAC operates more than 50 leading and diversified Internet businesses across 30 countries... our mission is to harness the power of interactivity to make daily life easier and more productive for people all over the world. To view a full list of the companies of IAC please visit our website at www.iac.com.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its engaging content and services and innovative technology, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.

All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

    Contact Information:
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    IAC Communications
    Stacy Simpson/ Leslie Cafferty
    (212) 314-7470 / 7326

    Yahoo! Communications
    Brian Nelson
    (408) 349-6113

    Electus
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    Sunshine, Sachs & Associates
    Jessica Berger
    (212) 691-2800/ (917)748-9830
    [email protected]

    Sunshine, Sachs & Associates West
    Sara Vicendese
    (310) 275-3222/ (917)620-3908
    [email protected]

SOURCE IAC