THE CHARTER CO. SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE NAME CHANGE TO SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC.

          THE CHARTER CO. SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE NAME CHANGE
                TO SPELLING ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC.
    CINCINNATI, Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholders voted to change the name of The Charter Co. (NYSE: CHR) to Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. at the company's annual shareholders meeting held today.
    The new name, which the company plans to use immediately, was selected to reflect the fact that the company has become an integrated entertainment company following the acquisition of Spelling Entertainment Inc. earlier this year.  Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. common stock will continue to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, although the stock's ticker symbol will be changed on Oct. 9, 1992, from "CHR" to "SP."
    Shareholders approved management's slate of directors, including the former charter directors, Carl H. Lindner, S. Craig Lindner, Rodger M. Miller and Alfred W. Martinelli.  Also elected to the board were George E. Castrucci, John T. Lawrence III, Ronald Lightstone, John L. Muething and Aaron Spelling, all of whom have served as directors and/or officers of the company's Spelling Entertainment Inc. subsidiary.
    Also at the meeting, management reviewed Spelling's current slate of network series and discussed the financial condition and operations of the company.  Management stated that it expects operating income for 1992 to increase over the prior fiscal year period ended July 31, 1991, supported by the continued strong performance of the company's programming library and the success of Spelling's production and distribution efforts.
     Spelling is engaged principally in the distribution, production and development of programming for television.  The company's Worldvision Enterprises subsidiary distributes television programs and feature films worldwide for television, cable and home video exhibition and holds a library in excess of 12,000 hours. Worldvision's extensive programming library includes more than 150 theatrical films recently acquired from Carolco Pictures for distribution in the United States as well as Spelling's hit series "Beverly Hills, 90210" currently being marketed in syndication.
    Through its Spelling Television and Laurel Entertainment subsidiaries, the company is engaged in the development and production of television series, miniseries, movies for television and feature films.  Spelling Television ranks as one of the leading independent suppliers of primetime network programming, with four hours of series programming currently on the air.
    This season's network programming includes "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Melrose Place" and "The Heights" on the Fox Broadcasting Network, "The Round Table" on NBC as well as the miniseries "2000 Malibu Road" on CBS.  In addition, Laurel Entertainment will produce an eight-hour miniseries for ABC based on Stephen King's bestselling novel, "The Stand."
    Spelling Films International has enjoyed great success with the international distribution of its first slate of theatrical motion pictures, which include Robert Altman's critically acclaimed hit "The Player" and David Lynch's "Twin Peaks:  Fire Walk With Me."  Upcoming titles include Altman's "Shortcuts," which boasts a cast including Jack Lemmon, Tim Robbins, Madeleine Stowe, Anne Archer and Matthew Modine.
    The company's subsidiaries also include Hamilton Projects, a licensing and merchandising company which handles the licensing and merchandising of "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Melrose Place" and various other properties.
    -0-                    10/5/92
    /CONTACT:  Annabelle Stevens of Melrose Communications, 310-246-4611, for The Charter Co./
    (CHR) CO:  The Charter Co.; Spelling Entertainment Group Inc. ST:  Ohio IN:  ENT SU:

BP-JL -- LA031 -- 6685 10/05/92 15:15 EDT