Press Releases

CBS Reaching Millions of Consumers with Audio Ad Spots through Jingle Networks’ 1-800-FREE411 Service CBS’ Fall Programming Being Promoted Through Free Directory Assistance Media Channel as Part of Larger New Media Campaign

September 18, 2006 – New York, NY and Menlo Park, Calif. CBS announced today it will promote its fall TV lineup through the fast-emerging mass media network 1-800-FREE411, the nation’s leading free directory assistance service which is operated by Jingle Networks (www.free411.com). The campaign, which launches with several time-targeted, radio-like audio spots reaching millions of 1-800-FREE411 callers, is part of CBS’s “Outernet” strategy, an innovative marketing campaign utilizing a variety of new media and non-traditional marketing techniques to attract viewers to its fall programming.

Throughout “Premiere Week,” CBS will promote its fall lineup via recorded messages on 1-800-FREE411 from the stars or hosts of several of their highest profile shows, including “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “The Class,” “Smith,” “Jericho,” and “Ghost Whisperer.” Callers will hear short audio messages directing consumers to watch the fall premieres as they wait for their requested phone number, highlighting the value of reaching Jingle’s highly engaged audience with targeted promotions.

The ads can be previewed by visiting www.free411.com/CBSads/.

The campaign launched on Sunday, September 17th with ads for “The Amazing Race” and “The Class,” and will continue with a series of promotions throughout each day based on the programs being televised that evening. The ads will integrate Jingle’s time-based targeting and encourage callers to tune into CBS that night to watch the show. Callers will be given an option to receive a SMS-based text message on their mobile phone as the programming time draws near with a reminder about the promoted television show.

“By utilizing emerging media channels such as 1-800-FREE411, CBS is finding new platforms for programming and promotion as well as unique ways for advertisers to engage with CBS content,” said George Schweitzer, president of CBS Marketing Group. “We view Jingle’s directory service as a promising new media network that enables us to reach consumers in a unique and memorable way.”

“CBS’s large-scale promotion with 1-800-FREE411 shows that large brand advertisers are realizing the virtually unlimited opportunities to reach millions of people in a targeted and highly measurable way through our network,” said George Garrick, president and CEO of Jingle Networks. “By working with Jingle, CBS is going beyond the traditional, media channels and using innovative techniques to reach consumers. The advertising industry is changing very quickly, and new methods and media are emerging that produce better results than the traditional channels marketers have been relying on for decades.”

As the nation’s leading advertiser-supported directory assistance service, Jingle Networks’ 1-800-FREE411 offers an interactive, one-to-one communication with targeted prospects at crucial moments in the marketing cycle, delivering lower-cost, no-risk customer acquisition compared to traditional media. Since its introduction in September 2005, Jingle Networks’ service has processed more than 72 million calls. More than 13 million calls were made by more than four million consumers in August, and the company now processes more than three percent of all directory assistance calls in the U.S.


About CBS
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and UPN), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Television and King World), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), digital media (CBS Digital Media Group and CSTV Networks) and consumer products (CBS Consumer Products). For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.

About Jingle Networks & 1-800-FREE411Jingle Networks, operator of the nation’s leading ad-supported directory assistance service 1-800-FREE411, has significantly changed the directory assistance market by giving consumers an anytime, anywhere source of free information on the phone. 1-800-FREE411 is for anyone who owns a phone and needs information but is dissatisfied with the high cost of directory assistance. Jingle Networks has changed the industry by creating an exciting new media channel through 1-800-FREE411. With nearly 130 million annual calls, 1-800-FREE411 offers advertisers highly targeted and timely promotional opportunities to reach a large but targeted customer base who are ready-to-buy, garnering a response rate twice that of other direct response media. For more information, visit: www.free411.com.

For Media Inquiries
Deann Mayeda
415-591-8404
dmayeda@shiftcomm.com