Netflix Offers Premiere Episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip & Kidnapped  7/20/06

NBC AND NETFLIX PARTNER TO OFFER SUBSCRIBERS ADVANCED SCREENING DVD OF NEW FALL DRAMAS 'STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP' AND 'KIDNAPPED'

-Promotion Launches Six Weeks Prior to Broadcast Premieres and Includes Preview Trailers of Fall Drama Lineup-

BURBANK - July 19, 2006 - In a first-of-its-kind promotion, NBC and Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced they will offer Netflix's approximately five million subscribers an advanced look at the premiere episodes of NBC's anticipated new drama series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Kidnapped." The shows will be made available in their entirety, six weeks before their respective broadcast premieres, on a special DVD created for Netflix that will also include preview trailers of the network's other new fall drama series. The announcement was made by John Miller, chief marketing officer for NBC Universal Television Group, and Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix.

"This unique joint effort will generate even more early buzz for some of our hottest new dramas by letting the Netflix user get an early preview," said Miller. "The promotion takes aim at the Netflix demographic-rich entertainment consumer who is looking for this kind of high-end television show, and then is eager to pass the word."

"Great TV is an increasingly important and popular component of the 60,000-title catalog Netflix offers its subscribers," said Sarandos. "Joining forces with NBC to launch two terrific new series differentiates our service in the area of unique and original content and provides NBC with an innovative platform to promote its fall lineup."

Beginning August 5, Netflix subscribers will have the opportunity to view "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Kidnapped" before anyone else. When added to their personal "queues" on Netflix.com, the DVD will be mailed first-class with postage-paid return via the United States Postal Service, Netflix's customary means of distribution. Netflix subscribers can add the shows to their "queues" now and the promotional offer will extend until September 17.

To drive awareness of the offer, NBC and Netflix will employ a range of promotional vehicles, including tagged network spots and integration into the annual 30-minute NBC "Fall Preview Show," which airs repeatedly on the NBC stations (and NBCU cable channels) for approximately six weeks prior to premiere week in September. In addition, the promotion will be featured in banner ads on the Netflix Web site and print ads inside the company's trademark red mailers. Netflix will also promote the special offer to relevant subscribers based on previous rentals and ratings of comparable content.

About "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" Emmy Award-winning executive producer-writer Aaron Sorkin (NBC's "The West Wing") and Emmy-Award winning executive producer-director Thomas Schlamme ("The West Wing") return to television with this crackling take on the drama behind the humor of producing a popular, late-night comedy sketch show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." Sorkin lays bare the backstage politics, romances and delicate balance between creative talent, on-air personalities and network executives in an instant text-messaging world. Prominent are Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet, "Syriana"), a savvy new network entertainment chief who inherits a massive public relations disaster on the series -- even before she starts her first day -- and Matt Albie (Matthew Perry, "Friends") and Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford, "The West Wing"), a brilliant creative team that she wants to resurrect the program. Also playing crucial roles are the sketch comedy series stars Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson, "Down With Love"), Simon Stiles (D.L. Hughley, "The Hughleys") and Tom Jeter (Nathan Corddry, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"), their normally cool-headed director, Cal Shanley (Timothy Busfield, "thirtysomething") as well as supreme network honcho Jack Rudolph (Steven Weber, "Wings"). The series is a production of Warner Bros Television.

About "Kidnapped" NBC's "Kidnapped" is a high-stakes serialized thriller in which the teenage son of a wealthy Upper East Side family is kidnapped and everyone is a suspect. The series focuses on the elaborate, triangulated game between the kidnappers, FBI and law enforcement, and the private negotiating team contracted by this "perhaps" not-so-picture-perfect family. On a rainy New York morning, the idyllic existence of Conrad Cain (Timothy Hutton, "Kinsey"), a self-made millionaire with a long list of enemies, and his well-to-do wife Ellie (Dana Delany, "China Beach") is torn apart when their 15-year-old son Leopold (Will Denton "Palindromes"), a smart but quirky kid whose innocence makes him the perfect target, is kidnapped on his way to school. The boy's bodyguard Virgil (Mykelti Williamson, "Boomtown"), the boy's first line of defense even after the kidnapping, is left to die. Desperate to find his son while keeping his skeletons hidden, Mr. Cain enlists the services of Knapp (Jeremy Sisto, "Six Feet Under" and "Thirteen"), a "professional" investigator who works outside the law's strict rulebook to retrieve kidnapping victims and guide families through the grueling process, and his able partner and right hand Turner (Carmen Ejogo, "Lackawanna Blues"). Operating opposite Knapp and his team are Special Agent Latimer King (Delroy Lindo, "The Core"), an experienced FBI agent who postpones his retirement due to a vested interest in this complicated case, and King's colleague and antithesis Agent Andy Archer (Linus Roache, "Batman Begins"), who only knows how to play by the rules. "Kidnapped" is produced by Sony Pictures Television and 25C Productions. Jason Smilovic ("Karen Sisco"), David Greenwalt ("Angel"), Michael Dinner ("Invasion"), Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly are executive producers.

Source: NBC Press Release