NBC LOCAL MEDIA ACQUIRES SKYCASTLE UNIT

NBC Universal's Local Media group today announced its second major investment in the last two months, acquiring the marketing and promotional assets of Skycastle Entertainment.

The new unit will function as a stand-alone business within Local Media and focus on developing and producing customized 360-degree marketing and promotional solutions for the group's advertising partners. The announcement was made by John Wallace, President, NBC Local Media. The purchase price was not disclosed.

"This is a key acquisition and consistent with our strategy to expand our capabilities beyond our local television stations," said Wallace. "Our stations have worked closely with Skycastle for years, and their services were critical in terms of fulfilling some of our most important sales deals. As our clients look for more integrated and custom marketing solutions, it only makes sense to bring this resource in-house and have a unit specifically dedicated to creating and executing these types of local multi-platform initiatives."

Former NBC employees and Skycastle Entertainment founders Joseph Candido and David Warshawsky will continue to lead the division as co-general managers. They will report directly to Larry Wert, president-general manager of WMAQ, NBC's Chicago O&O, who will oversee the new business. Candido and Warshawsky will also continue to work closely with Mark Lund, EVP of sales for the Local Media group.

"This is about creating a one-stop-shopping experience for our clients," added Wert. "With Skycastle now a part of our organization, we can offer our advertising partners custom 360-degree solutions from idea to execution, utilizing the full assets of our local media portfolio, as well as our partnerships and expertise in the local media business."

Skycastle Entertainment previously served as the primary outside sales, marketing and promotion company for the NBC owned-stations group since 1993. Skycastle will remain headquartered at KNBC, NBC's Los Angeles O&O, and expand to include additional offices at other NBC-owned stations across the country.

Skycastle Entertainment, an award-winning entertainment marketing and promotion company, is the latest investment by NBC Local Media. It follows the January 2008 acquisition of LX.TV, a content production company that produces lifestyle and cultural programming for the group's numerous local media platforms. Through its ten owned-and-operated television stations reaching 27 percent of U.S. TV households, the NBC Everywhere operation focusing on the growing Out of Home digital market, LX.TV, and the new Skycastle Entertainment unit, NBC Local Media distributes NBC Universal content and produces local content for broadcast television, broadband networks, digital channels and numerous media outlets outside of the home.