“Great Entrepreneurs” to be Seen in Over Half the U.S.; Public Television Series Takes Lead as Sole National Broadcast on Entrepreneurship

San Francisco (February 20, 2001)--“Great Entrepreneurs,” the leading national television broadcast focused on entrepreneurship and the life lessons derived from the greatest historic and living business pioneers, announced that Public Broadcasting stations representing more than 53% of the U.S. will air the series.

In addition, the show announced two major sponsorships. Marketing, technology and media leader, L90 Inc., became the series' first national sponsor. L90 works with marketers and Web publishers to build brands, acquire new customers, increase traffic, drive sales, and retain customers on the Internet. The show’s second sponsor is LifeMinders Inc., a leading online direct marketer that serves over 21 million members and provides direct marketing products and services to companies.

The weekly half-hour broadcast, co-produced by digital-media company MyPrimeTime Inc., and public television’s award winning “Nightly Business Report,” currently airs in prime time in such major markets as Dallas, Los Angeles, Austin and the states of Kentucky, Hawaii and Connecticut. "Great Entrepreneurs is an exciting, unique series for public television,” says Chris Funkhouser, Vice President of Exchange and Distribution for APT. “American Public Television is proud to distribute these fascinating real-life accounts of contemporary and historical figures, each of whom has had a profound effect on (American) business and commerce. Stations have responded favorably as evidenced by wide carriage of the series around the country. It is my expectation that the carriage for Great Entrepreneurs will continue to grow.".

With the cancellation of CNNfn’s “Entrepreneurs Only,” “Great Entrepreneurs” is now the sole national television program devoted to entrepreneurship and its powerful impact on the world economy and on peoples’ lives. Also offered to participating Public Broadcasting affiliates is an interactive online component. Created by www.myprimetime.com, the online component is distributed through a radically simple ‘Web Administration Kit’."

"We came out of the box with 'Great Entrepreneurs' starting with its debut in January," notes Dan Alpert, COO and Station Manager at WTVS Detroit Public Television. "It appeals to viewers' curiosity about the attributes of success among business people, and is additionally valuable for its content beyond the program via the Web Administration Kit. We easily made this package a whole new page of our station website, and the cross-promotion potential encouraged us to schedule the series."

In-depth, highly personal profiles include interviews with Michael Dell, Martha Stewart, Andy Grove, Robert Johnson and Steve Case to name a few. Using the www.myprimetime.com-hosted Web Administration Kit, viewers are also able to test themselves and judge their own creative capacities, leadership and communication skills, intuitive decision-making abilities and more on a companion website carried by local Public Broadcasting affiliates.

“L90 is proud to align with Public television stations and ‘Great Entrepreneurs’,” said John Bohan, CEO and President of L90. “L90’s entrepreneurial approach has been a key component to our company’s growth, and we are pleased to be associated with this success-driven program for business professionals.”

“Combine creative genius with true grit and you get a great story. You also get a great lesson on life. These amazing people are not Gods. They have attitudes and traits and techniques that all of us can learn. That’s what makes this show so compelling and a key reason for the rapid pickup by public television stations,” said Craig Forman, cofounder and CEO of MyPrimeTime, Inc. “By integrating the show with our web-delivered tools, we’re also delivering cutting-edge digital programming.”