ABC's 'The Drew Carey Show' Streaming Video Internet Event Breaks Records.

NEW YORK AND BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Nov. 22,

1999--

Nearly 650,000 Streams Were Served While Nearly Two Million

Visits Were Received on the "Drew Cam" Web sites, Where Viewers

Could Enjoy the Show, Ask Questions about the Web cast, and Chat

on Message Boards

Joint Effort by Executive Producer Bruce Helford and Warner Bros.

Television Brings Together ABC.com, Warner Bros. Online, and

Microsoft Among the Ten Top Technology Companies to Pave Way for

Future of Web-casting, Producing One of the Most Watched Video

Events Ever

A new generation of convergence programming was created this past week by "The Drew Carey Show," as last Wednesday's "Drew Cam" episode Web-cast brought nearly two million visits, serving nearly 650,000 streams. ABC.com and Warner Bros. Online hosted the first-ever simultaneous primetime television-Internet Web-cast. The November 17, Web-cast marks one of the largest online audiences watching a streaming media event, with the streams greatly surpassing other events. Even with these record-breaking numbers, many fans may have been turned away.

"Bruce Helford is once again leading the pack," said Peter Roth, President, Warner Bros. Television, "and we are ecstatic about standing with him at the cutting edge of the merger between entertainment and the Internet. But, this success would not have been possible without the historic collaboration of Helford, Mohawk Productions and Warner Bros. Television with ABC Television, Warner Bros. Online, ABC.com, Microsoft and the top technology companies."

"This event was as creatively and technically ambitious as they come. We are ecstatic that it succeeded on both levels as well as it did, and we have all the creative and technical partners in this event to thank for its success." said Patricia Vance, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ABC Internet Group. "Clearly there is demand for television-Internet enhancements and we intend to continue to provide ABC viewers with innovative and compelling programming that effectively leverages the two platforms."

The overnight household average rating for the "Drew Cam" television episode was the second highest of the season, following the "Live" show (11/10/99) the week before! The ABC television broadcast of "Drew Cam" towered over competition, with 17.6 million viewers, and posting an 8.6 rating/22 share among adults 18-49.

In three half-hour increments, the recent NetAid concert garnered an average 277,000 streams, while the recent Victoria's Secret lingerie model web-cast picked up even less streams - but Drew attracted a sexier 650,000 streams, beating both events.

The "Drew Cam" Web-cast garnered more viewers than many cable networks on Wednesday night, and proved that streaming media is a viable entertainment format for the next generation of video for the Web.

Wednesday night's ABC.com and Warner Bros. Online Web-cast, based on an idea by former ABC executive Michael Becker, was made possible by Microsoft's Windows Media Technology and a premier group of technology companies who joined together for the first time ever in a streaming video consortium. In addition to MICROSOFT, the ten top technology partners in this unprecedented consortium included AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES, INC., DON MISCHER TECHNOLOGIES, E-MEDIA, ENRON COMMUNICATIONS, GLOBIX, IBEAM, INTERVU, SANDPIPER/DIGITAL ISLAND, SONIC FOUNDRY MEDIA SERVICES.

The ten technology partners had to be brought together to pool the bandwidth and hosting resources required to accomplish the event. Using the consortium of multiple network partners to distribute the traffic loads, Microsoft Windows Media running on Windows NT and other technologies were able to automatically distribute users to the most available hosting servers to meet the massive simultaneous demand across three time zones.

In this unique "The Drew Carey Show" episode, television viewers watched daily activities in Drew's life, while the Internet audience saw synchronous Web-cam footage of what is happening in Drew's home when he's out of his house. The Web-only activities included a cameo appearance by Ed McMahon bringing a ten million dollar check for Drew, only to find he is not at home; a party in Drew's home attended by neighborhood dogs, and dancing ghosts. "The Drew Carey Show", which is produced by Mohawk Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television, is executive produced by Bruce Helford, Drew Carey, Clay Graham and Deborah Oppenheimer. The series was created by Drew Carey and Bruce Helford and airs Wednesdays (9:00-9:30 pm ET/PT) on the ABC Television Network. The episode was written by Holly Hester, based on a story by Michael Becker and directed by Sam Simon.

Go.com (NYSE: GO) is a newly formed Internet company -- the result of a merger between Infoseek Corporation and The Walt Disney Company's online unit, Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG). Go.com oversees many of the Web's most popular sites and services, including the go.com portal, ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, Disney.com, Disneystore.com, ESPN.com, NFL.com, NBA.com, NASCAR Online, Family.com and Mr. Showbiz.