From Times Square to Red Square ... A Once-In-A-Lifetime Event & A Millennium First!

Business Editors and Entertainment Writers

BURBANK, Calif. and ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 27, 1999

CNN's Live Worldwide Coverage of the "Turn of the Millenium"

Captured in Historic Video From Warner Home Video

"CNN Millennium 2000 -- Incredible Moments From the Worldwide

Celebration" Available in 25 Countries January 4

Warner Home Video will capture the most memorable Millennial moments as they are covered by the "biggest journalistic undertaking in peacetime" CNN's Millennium 2000 in an extraordinary two-hour video, "CNN Millennium 2000 -- Incredible Moments from the Worldwide Celebration," available in video outlets in 25 countries just days after the "turn of the century," it was announced today by Warren Lieberfarb, President, Warner Home Video and Richard Kaplan, President, CNN/U.S. Warner Home Video (WHV) will draw two hours of historic video from CNN's unparalleled coverage of celebrations marking the new Millennium in nearly every time zone around the globe and from more than 50 locations throughout the world.

And, in an astounding feat of logistics and cooperation, this amazing, collectible two hours (available on VHS & DVD) will be on store shelves around the world on January 4 (with a suggested retail price of $14.95). "This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when the whole world is not only celebrating a New Year, but also their culture and what it's meant," said Kaplan. "This tape is going to be the compilation of the most extraordinary 24 hours in our history. It is a moment in time we shall not see the equal of again."

"It is not often you get the opportunity to capture history, but thanks to the Herculean efforts of thousands of CNN and Warner Bros. personnel around the world, we will all be able to not only experience it live, but we will also be able to keep one of the most collectible chronicles of our time," said Lieberfarb. "CNN is the premiere global news-gathering organization and we are extremely proud to be offering the public this historic video within the first days of the actual moment in history."

The "CNN Millennium 2000 -- Incredible Moments from the Worldwide Celebration" video will include highlights from CNN's coverage of the worldwide Millennium festivities as part of their incomparable 100 hours of comprehensive reporting of Millennium-related events and turn-of-the-century issues. CNN's Millennium 2000 airs from 5AM, ET December 31 through January 4, and will be available simultaneously to more than one billion people in 212 countries and territories.

The video will feature highlights from the celebrations in Sydney, Australia, the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo, Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the "City of Light Celebration" in Paris, the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, England, Rio de Janeiro, Times Square in New York and the "Hollywood" sign in Los Angeles; and first sunrises of the new millennium including Kiribati, the Chatham Islands, over the Taj Mahal and many more. CNN's award-winning correspondents, including Christiane Amanpour, Wolf Blitzer, Lou Waters, Fred Hickman, Carol Lin, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Mike Boettcher and Jim Moret, will report live from key locations around the world.

In order to create an immediate turnaround, WHV and CNN have assigned dozens of producers and editors, as well as creative, marketing and legal executives to coordinate the effort between CNN's headquarters in Atlanta and WHV's duplicating facilities in California.

The process starts December 30 with the arrival of the WHV team in Atlanta for meetings and preparation. After CNN's on-air coverage begins on December 31, segments for the two-hour video version will be created and edited instantly as each story comes off the air. After a final cut has been determined, sometime on January 1, it will be fed digitally via satellite and launched over an international fiber-optic network to post-production facilities throughout the world. WHV operations executives in more than 25 countries, including the U.S., Australia, Japan, France, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Singapore, South Africa and the U.K., will work through the holiday weekend to coordinate the global production of digital video masters. The masters will then be escorted with maximum security to duplication houses worldwide where millions of cassettes and DVDs will be created and packaged. This prodigious international effort will culminate with the immediate shipment to video retailers and distributors around the world.

WHV will intensify product awareness by supporting "CNN MILLENNIUM 2000 -- Incredible Moments from the Worldwide Celebration" with a strong marketing effort including a national television campaign, national newspaper advertising, extensive Internet exposure on cnn.com and Warner Bros.' websites. A special custom-made 48-unit merchandiser will be available to further leverage impulse sales in high traffic locations. And, CNN viewers can order direct by calling 800/294-7500.

     CNN will provide live coverage from:

1.  Auckland, New Zealand
2.  Baghdad, Iraq
3.  Bangkok, Thailand
4.  Beijing
5.  Berlin -- Brandenburg Gate
6.  Boston, MA
7.  Buenos Aires, Argentina
8.  Cape Canaveral, FL
9.  Caracas, Venezuela
10. Chatham Islands, New Zealand -- Maon Tribal Event
11. Chicago, IL
12. Colorado Springs, CO -- NORAD Command Center -Y2K Monitoring
13. Denver, CO
14. Detroit, MI
15. Frankfurt -- Int'l Airport, Germany
16. Gisborne, New Zealand -- Tall Ships Extravaganza
17. Giza, Egypt -- The Great Pyramids
18. Granbury, TX -- Small Town Celebrations
19. Havana, Cuba
20. Hawaii
21. Herndon, VA -- FAA Command Center
22. Hong Kong Harbor, China
23. Houston -- Kennedy Space Center, NASA
24. Jakarta, Indonesia
25. Japan -- Mt. Fuji
26. Israel -- Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Mt. Of Olives
27. Johannesburg & Robben Island, South Africa
28. Kiribati
29. Lagos, Nigeria
30. Las Vegas, NV -- The Strip
31. London -- Millenium Dome, River of Fire & QE II departure, River
Thames
32. Los Angeles, CA -- Hollywood sign; Police Command Center
33. Madrid, Spain
34. Mexico City, Mexico
35. Moscow, Russia -- Red Square
36. Mt Hikurangi, New Zealand
37. New Delhi, India
38. New Orleans, LA
39. New York City, NY -- Times Square, Penn Station, Hospital ER
40. Orlando, FL -- Disney World Ceremony
41. Panama Canal, Panama -- Hand-Over
42. Paris, France -- Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe
43. Phoenix, AZ
44. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
45. Rome, Italy -- Papal New Year Mass
46. Salt Lake City, UT
47. San Francisco, CA
48. Seoul, South Korea
49. Sydney, Australia -- Harbor & Opera House
50. Agra, India -- Taj Mahal
51. Tokyo -- Zojoji Temple
52. Valley Forge, PA -- PJM power plant
53. Washington, D.C. -- The National Mall

With operations in 78 international territories Warner Home Video commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. WHV's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros., Turner Entertainment Company, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Video.

The CNN News Group is one of the largest and most profitable electronic news and information companies in the world. The hub of the CNN News Group is the Cable News Network (CNN), distributed to more than 77 million U.S. households. Altogether, the CNN News Group is available to more than one billion people worldwide with six cable and satellite television networks (CNN/U.S., CNN Headline News, CNN International, CNNfn, CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN en Espanol), three private, out-of-home networks, two radio networks, 11 Websites and CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively syndicated news service.