REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 19, 2007 — MSN® is joining forces with Variety.com to bring even more entertainment information to the site’s visitors. The distribution relationship will provide Variety with an avenue for reaching an even wider global audience and at the same time offer MSN a broader range of information on television, movies, music and Internet deals.
“For decades, Variety has set the standard in reporting on the entertainment industry,” said Jeff Dossett, executive producer and general manager for MSN. “We’ve seen a growing appetite on MSN for Hollywood information, and this collaboration will help us continue to offer our audience the best source for what’s happening in the entertainment industry.”
“Variety has long provided the best source of information to meet the needs of entertainment industry professionals. Variety.com also allows us to provide the kind of insider insights and scoops that the broader entertainment enthusiast wants,” said Charlie Koones, president and publisher of Variety. “Our distribution partnership with MSN will allow their users to enjoy the kind of in-depth entertainment coverage only Variety can provide.”
The Variety content on MSN covers a broad range of entertainment topics, including breaking news, in-depth coverage of award shows and film festivals, film and television, reviews, and video coverage of daily entertainment news and celebrity interviews. Over time, additional columns and blogs will be added including weekly columns from Editor in Chief Peter Bart. The most popular blog within the film community, Anne Thompson’s “Thompson on Hollywood,” which covers the film industry, and its exclusives, will be added, as will Cynthia Littleton’s “On the Air,” which offers a frank perspective on all things television. Beginning today, MSN users will see top entertainment stories from Variety on MSN Entertainment.
About MSN and Windows Live
MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Windows Live™, a comprehensive set of personal Internet services and software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these and future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com. Windows Live is available at http://www.live.com. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com.
About The
Variety
Group/Reed Business Information (RBI)
The Variety Group — Daily Variety, Daily Variety Gotham, Weekly Variety, Variety China, Variety.com, 411 Publishing, Video Business and Tradeshow Week — are all owned by Reed Business Information (RBI), the largest business publisher in the U.S. RBI is a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE: RUK and ENL) — a world-leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft® Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.
