WildTangent and TNT Unite With Subaru, MCI's 1-800-Collect and Gateway To
Extend TNT's Popular Witchblade Television Series
LOS ANGELES, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- As a prelude to the launch of the
highly-anticipated second season of Witchblade on June 16, Turner Network
Television (TNT) will offer a sneak peek of Witchblade: The Game May 22-24 at
the E3 Expo 2002, Room 501C, West Hall, Level 2, in the Los Angeles Convention
Center. A Web-based interactive game produced by TNT and WildTangent, the
pioneer of Broadcast Games(TM), Witchblade: The Game is based on TNT's hit
original drama series which tells the story of Sara Pezzini, a New York City
detective, who solves the police force's toughest crimes each week with the
ultimate crime fighting weapon, the Witchblade. Witchblade, starring Yancy
Butler, is produced by Top Cow Productions, Inc. and Halsted Pictures in
association with Warner Bros. Television.
Turner Broadcasting and TNT are at the forefront of a movement by cable
programmers to create interactive games tied to programming. For Witchblade:
The Game, Turner's sales organization secured top advertisers Subaru, MCI's
1-800-Collect and Gateway for cross-media sponsorship packages; combining on-
air spots with in-game placements. TNT is expanding the show's footprint and
its business model into the interactive space. Witchblade: The Game goes live
in June at http://www.tnt.tv with strong additional distribution on AOL properties,
including AOL Games and Winamp.
"Witchblade's huge online fan base gives us opportunities to break new
ground by creating new content and providing an extension to advertisers,"
said Scot Safon, senior vice president of marketing for TNT. "TNT is
extremely pleased with WildTangent's suspenseful and entertaining game -- it
stays faithful to the show's original vision and delivers a great game
experience."
"The game is a wonderful marketing tool for the show, as well as a
powerful way for Turner to close larger, more meaningful deals with some of
its best advertisers," said Dave Madden, executive vice president of sales and
marketing for WildTangent. "By taking advantage of WildTangent's Web
Driver(TM) technology, TNT was provided with a compelling, high quality game
developed in under six months."
Witchblade: The Game takes its user through a hunt for villains, the
discovery of puzzling clues and the rescue of Sara's partner. To help Sara
overcome challenges at each level, the Witchblade provides her with
clairvoyant flashes, a gauntlet for defense moves and a blade for combat.
Witchblade, watched by an average of six-million viewers weekly during its
11-week run last summer, returns Sunday, June 16, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, with a
special two-hour premiere. New weekly episodes will be shown on Mondays
starting June 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Ralph Hemecker (Millennium, The X-Files)
serves as executive producer, along with Dan Halsted (Any Given Sunday, The
Virgin Suicides) executive-producing for Halsted Pictures and Marc Silvestri
executive-producing for Top Cow Productions.
About WildTangent:
WildTangent, http://www.wildtangent.com , the leading provider of
interactive Broadcast Games(TM) technology, development and distribution,
enables the creation of online games that can be subsidized through TV-like
methods such as advertising, sponsorship, pay-to-play, and subscriptions. Our
vision is to usher in a diverse set of television like revenue streams to the
largely one dimensional revenue model of the gaming industry. Selected as one
of Computerworld's Top 100 Emerging Companies for 2002, WildTangent's
proprietary Web Driver(TM) technology provides unprecedented performance on a
web page, by interfacing directly with DirectX. The Web Driver takes full
advantage of 3D hardware acceleration, scaling content to an optimal level for
each user's machine allowing them to experience the same quality of graphics
regardless of their CPU and connection. WildTangent currently has more than
25 million active users of the Web Driver and is broadcasting advertising and
fee based games across the largest portals, ISPs and PC makers.
SOURCE Turner Network Television
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Related links:
http://www.tnt.tv
http://www.wildtangent.com
CONTACT:
Kelly Enstrom of WildTangent,
+1-425-497-4611, or cell, +1-206-954-9184, or
kelly@wildtangent.com ; or Walter Ward of TNT, +1-404-885-0298,
or walter.ward@turner.com
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