STORY:
Pax TV To Broadcast 24-hour Millennium Show

PAX TV, the national family network, and The Millennium Television Network (MTN), developed by the producers of "LIVE AID," announced a unique partnership to bring the world closer together. At midnight, on December 31st, 1999, at the Pacific Dateline, a worldwide broadcast to the largest audience in television history will air segments from more than 70 nations around the world depicting celebrations of the millennium as they occur.

The show, featuring international celebrities and musical acts, will include live inserts from venues around the world, including Fiji and Tonga, Sydney Harbor, Albert Hall, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, The Millennium Dome, Robben Island in South Africa, the Ganges River, Times Square, the Great Pyramids, and many others, beginning at 6:00 AM (EST) on PAX TV. PAX TV network has secured exclusive domestic television rights to air the historic broadcast.

Paxson Communications CEO Jeff Sagansky noted: "The worldwide audience for welcoming the Year 2000 is anticipated to be the largest in television history. PAX TV is very excited to be the exclusive network to bring this monumental global celebration to families here in the U.S." He added, "Besides showcasing the world's most popular entertainers, the show's wide cultural scope and international participation will make Pax-TV's MILLENNIUM LIVE a spectacular worldwide event."

Hal Uplinger, one of the producers of "LIVE AID," and the Executive Producer of the Millennium Television Network, commented, "This broadcast will allow people throughout the world a chance to speak to each other in a way never before attempted. The result of this unique, live format will be more than just an entertainment celebration; it will be an opportunity for people of different cultures and communities to express their vision of the possibilities that the future, and our global society, will bring."

Michael McLees, Co-Executive Producer of MTN, commented on the partnership with PAX TV: "PAX TV's philosophy of programming is in keeping with MTN's desire to create a 24 hour live television event that is appropriate for a worldwide audience of all ages."

The broadcast will be made available to networks around the world. The partnership with PAX TV will guarantee that the full 24 hours of programming will be seen in the United States on all of PAX's owned, operated and affiliated stations and additional cable and satellite distribution. Negotiations are underway with more than 150 broadcast partners which would bring this show to the largest global television audience in history, an estimated four billion.

Planning and coordination of format and programming of the broadcast began in Cannes last October when representatives from the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India, Brazil, Germany, United Kingdom, Rio de Janeiro, France, Italy, and Australia met to discuss what has come to be known as "Humanity's Broadcast."

Paxson Communications Corporation owns and operates the nation's seventh and newest broadcast network. Upon completion of pending transactions, the PAX TV Network will include 116 broadcast television stations, consisting of 71 stations which are owned and operated by the Company or in which the Company has an economic interest, and 45 non-owned or operated PAX TV affiliates.

Source: Business Wire

DATE: 5/21/99

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