REDMOND, Wash., May 22, 1997 — MSN
™, The Microsoft Network online service, has joined forces with Dewey, Cheetham and Howe to bring a new high-octane “Car Talk® ” Web site to MSN. The new online home for the wildly popular and equally irreverent call-in radio show, heard weekly on National Public Radio, is now available at [http://CarTalk.MSN.com/] .
Car Talk will now be featured on MSN’s Channel 4 (connect-time charges may apply). MSN will work with Car Talk to create new interactive programming exclusively for members of MSN.
When asked to comment on how Car Talk settled on MSN as its new home, Click and Clack Tappet, the never-at-a-loss-for-words hosts of the weekly radio program, could not agree on a single reason. Instead, they gave their top five reasons:
5)MSN will pick up the cost of our servers and phone lines, which means we can finally quit our night jobs at the convenience store.
4)They promised to help us replace Ray’s old 286, which we’ve been using up ’til now as our server.
3)MSN now helps us sell advertising on the site, which works for us because most advertisers instinctively hate our guts.
2)Now, when the server crashes, Microsoft can fix it. This leaves us free to stay on the couch watching reruns of “The Odd Couple.”
1)Three words … “Bill Gates’ pool!”
“In all seriousness, this is great news for me and all the other radio listeners of Car Talk,” said Jeff Sanderson, general manager of marketing for MSN. “Now, if the Saturday show isn’t enough to fix your car, you can try again on MSN any day of the week.”
Several new Car Talk features will be available to members of MSN immediately, including on-demand access to the Tappet Brothers’ weekly radio show. Other new Car Talk items slated to appear on MSN in the coming months are “Car Talk Flicks,” “reviews” of TV and film car scenes by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the real-life brothers who play Click and Clack respectively on Car Talk.
“We’re going head to head with those Siskel and Dogbert guys,” said Ray, the smarter (according to him) brother.
Also in the works is an interactive multiplayer “compatibility/dating” game based on the Car Talk database of car owners and their personalities.
Cartalk.MSN.com will continue to offer all the attractions that have made it one of the most popular sites on the Internet, including the Magliozzi brothers’ famous repartee and the weekly Car Talk “puzzler.” Cartalk.MSN.com also will provide such indispensable tools as a searchable database of Click and Clack’s weekly newspaper column, Tom and Ray’s car reviews, and the Car Talk Car Report, which allows users to download a complete report on automotive safety, recalls and performance.
“Everything that was on CarTalk.com yesterday will be on CarTalk.MSN.com today,” said Tom Lix, CEO of NewMarket Network, co-producers of the Car Talk Web site. “With Microsoft’s technical and financial resources, it will simply become a better and more exciting site with new features and some really advanced interactive content.”
Background
MSN is the third-largest Internet online service worldwide, offering compelling services, entertainment and communications on the Internet. MSN also provides hundreds of special-interest bulletin boards and such high-quality services and Web shows as the Microsoft® Encarta® multimedia encyclopedia, the Expedia Ôtravel service, Star Trek: Continuum® , Slate Ô online magazine, the CarPoint Ô online automotive service, the Microsoft Investor online investing service, and up-to-date news and information from MSNBC News. The MSN home page can be reached [http://www.MSN.com/] .
NewMarket Network (http://newmarket.net) was launched in 1995 to produce interactive information and entertainment in partnership with existing media brands such as Car Talk. With hot site awards and recognition from organizations such as Yahoo, Interactive Week, USA Today, AdWeek, Wired and the Village Voice, the company is an eclectic mix of new media programmers, special effects and graphic designers, hard-core strategic marketers and experienced project managers. In 1996, U.S. News and World Report ranked cartalk.com one of the top eight sites on the Internet.
Dewey, Cheetham and Howe is the Cambridge, Mass., company that produces Car Talk for NPR, Click and Clack Talk Cars® for King Features Sydicate, cartalk.com with NewMarket Network for MSN, and Car Talk Audio Products.
Car Talk is heard by more than 2.6 million people weekly on National Public Radio, a membership organization of 570 public radio stations nationwide, which produces and distributes Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, Performance Today, Car Talk, Fresh Air with Terry Gross, JazzSet, The Derek McGinty Show and The Diane Rehm Show.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft, MSN, Encarta, Expedia, Slate and CarPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Car Talk and Click and Clack Talk Cars are registered trademarks of Dewey, Cheetham and Howe.
Star Trek: Continuum is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
The Microsoft Network is operated by Microsoft Corp. on behalf of Microsoft Network LLC.
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.
