TBS Jams with Bon Jovi to Promote Exclusive MLB Postseason Coverage

TBS, home
of the Major League Baseball (MLB) Division Series and the National League
Championship Series (NLCS), unveiled today a new full-length promo featuring
the GRAMMY Award winning rock ‘n roll group Bon Jovi. The rollicking new
spot features the band performing “I Love This Town” from their new

Lost Highway album
interspersed with action footage of some of MLB’s hottest postseason
contenders, including the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim, New York Yankees and more. The two minute 30 second spot will
run in its entirety exclusively in movie theatres and select MLB ballparks
throughout the country. Shorter versions will appear on TBS with the song
serving as the primary musical bed for bumps and teases throughout the
network’s 2007 MLB postseason coverage. TBS takes the mound on Oct. 3rd
with exclusive coverage of the Division Series, followed by the NLCS.

The Bon
Jovi promo will appear Aug. 31 – Oct. 11 on more than 6,400 movie screens
nationwide during National CineMedia’s digitally delivered pre-show exclusively
in AMC, United Artists, Regal, Edwards, CineMark and Georgia Theatre Company
movie theatres.

“The true
heart of a baseball franchise lives outside the stadium walls, in the hearts
and minds of the fans. These fans love their hometown as much as they love the
baseball team that represents them and that is the essence of the piece,” said Craig
Barry, vice president and creative director for Turner Sports. “We wanted to
find an up-tempo, grassroots piece of music that represented not only baseball
and the teams, but the fans and cities as well. Bon Jovi has always been known
to captivate and entertain diverse audiences around the world, so who better to
deliver the message for TBS.”

TBS’ MLB
campaign will also include on-air promos featuring the network’s Hall of Fame
announcers Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn. The 30-second spots will run
in heavy rotation on the Turner family of networks, which includes TBS, TNT, CourTV,
CNN, CNN Airport Network and Cartoon Channel, beginning in September. Ripken
(studio analyst) and Gwynn (game analyst) are the cornerstone of TBS’ marquee
roster of baseball announcers which also includes two-time Emmy award-winning
studio host Ernie Johnson, MLB veteran Joe Simpson (game analyst) and veteran
baseball announcer Chip Caray (play-by-play).

TBS also
recently completed promos with comedian and longtime Red Sox fan Dane Cook in
step with MLB’s “There’s Only One October” advertising campaign. The fresh Bon
Jovi and Dane Cook ads are another triumph for Turner, which has received
critical acclaim for its previous ads featuring such entertainment superstars
as Jay-Z, The Rolling Stones, actor Jeremy Piven, music producer Pharrell and
comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

“Our new
baseball marketing campaign is designed to drive awareness about our exclusive
MLB postseason programming in a fresh and exciting way,” said Jenny Storms, SVP
of marketing and programming for Turner Sports. “From the energizing Bon
Jovi piece in theatres, to the on-air spots featuring baseball legends, to the
billboards featuring hometown favorite players, we’ve created a captivating and
energetic campaign to get fans riled up to watch the postseason on
TBS.”

The Bon
Jovi, Ripken and Gwynn and Dane Cook promos are a part of TBS’ multi-platform
marketing campaign to promote its first year of MLB postseason coverage.
Additional campaign outreaches include an extensive outdoor campaign in major
markets such as
Atlanta,
Boston,

Chicago,
Los Angeles
and
New York, which will include two towering
billboards in
Times Square featuring
larger-than-life images of Derek Jeter (NY Yankees), David Wright (NY Mets), David
Ortiz (Boston Red Sox) and John Smoltz (Atlanta Braves).

Additional
marketing activities include national radio buys, online advertising and print
advertisements in national publications such as USA Today, Sports Illustrated
and Sporting News. TBS will also implement a unique Hispanic outreach
campaign with specialized outdoor, radio and print advertising in select
markets, including
Los Angeles and

New York.

In Sept.
TBS will launch TBS Hot Corner on MLB.com, a new broadband channel that will
offer unique streaming from postseason match-ups and reports and updates from
TBS on-air announcers.

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