RAYCOM AND ITV STUDIOS ANNOUNCE GROUNDBREAKING FIRST RUN PROJECT

 'AMERICA TODAY'

Montgomery, Alabama. July xx – Raycom Media and ITV Studios are announcing a groundbreaking deal for a new weekly, first-run hour lifestyle series with the working title "America Today". ITV Studios will produce the series which will initially air exclusively on Raycom stations around the country, it was revealed today by Paul McTear, President & CEO for Raycom and Paul Buccieri, CEO of ITV Studios.  Raycom and ITV would then look to distribute the show to other stations nationally

America Today will be a unique hybrid of national and local content, focusing on lifestyle, health and finance issues that Americans deal with every day and, according to McTear, the series “will speak to a new generation of viewers who want programming that helps them lead better lives”.

Buccieri added “I am delighted to be working with Raycom under a new model which allows us to produce compelling programming for Raycom, but which we believe also has appeal for wider local audiences."

The initial production agreement calls for 52 hour episodes, airing once a week on the Raycom stations including Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memphis and West Palm Beach with an intended launch date in October 2010. 

About Raycom Media Inc.

Raycom, an employee-owned company, is one of the nation’s largest broadcasters and owns and/or operates 47 television stations in 36 markets and 18 states.  Raycom stations cover 12.6% of U.S. television households and employ nearly 3,500 individuals in full and part-time positions.  In addition to television stations, Raycom owns Raycom Sports (a marketing, production and events management and distribution company in Charlotte); Raycom Post (a post production facility in Burbank, California), and Broadview Media (a post production facility based in Montgomery). 

Further information about Raycom can be found at the corporate website, http://www.raycommedia.com.

About ITV STUDIOS, Inc.

ITV STUDIOS, Inc., the U.S. based production entity of ITV STUDIOS in the U.K., is one of the largest int-ernational producers for the U.S. market and a major force in acquiring, developing and producing reality and scripted programming for U.S. networks.

ITV STUDIOS is a world leader in television production and distribution, with international production centers in the UK, Germany and Australia, as well as America and programs distributed to over 155 territories worldwide. Our U.S. hit TV show, Nanny 911, has been sold to more than 60 countries. Other ITV Studios series include Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Steven Segal Lawman, First 48 and the upcoming NBC series, Prime Suspect.

Contact: Pamela Golum (323)965-1990 x325 pgolum@lippingroup.com