TNT Announces LEVERAGE Sponsors

TNT Uncovers Marketing Allies DirecTV, Hewlett-Packard and Hyundai for High-Octane Drama LEVERAGE

Series Premieres Commercial-Free, Presented by the All-New Hyundai Genesis Sedan, Sunday, Dec. 7, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)

TNT is recruiting DirecTV, Hewlett-Packard and the Hyundai for season-long sponsorships around the network's exciting new series LEVERAGE. TNT will weave each brand through select vehicles promoting the anticipated series, including a commercial-free premiere, interactive consumer experience, product integration and high profile marketing elements. LEVERAGE premieres commercial-free on TNT Sunday, Dec. 7, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), then continues in its regular timeslot, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning Dec. 9.

The Hyundai Genesis will serve as the exclusive commercial-free premiere sponsor for LEVERAGE on Sunday, Dec. 7. In addition to significant on-air tune-ins driving awareness for the new series, the Hyundai Genesis will also be included in print ads featured in People, Entertainment Weekly and TV Guide leading up to the premiere.

To further drive engagement with the series and the Hyundai brand, TNT and Hyundai will invite consumers to "Get Ready to Get Even," an interactive consumer experience featured at www.LeverageHQ.com. Visitors to the LEVERAGE consulting headquarters will be asked to join the LEVERAGE team to help determine who double crossed the team in a heist gone wrong. An online video introduction by the lead character Nate Ford (played by Timothy Hutton) solicits consumers to join the LEVERAGE team to help them "get even" and potentially win $100,000 if the mission is completed. Each week consumers will prove themselves to the LEVERAGE team by going to the LEVERAGE headquarters, completing a mission and uncovering a new weekly clue. The mission will be completed through casual game play and tie back to the characters. Inside the headquarters, which will be built online to replicate the show's headquarters, are character profiles, a webcam of the Hyundai Genesis with the money in the trunk, video clips of the series, mission overviews and games, a direct link to the Hyundai Web site, message boards and registered user profiles. At the conclusion of the eleven weeks, consumers will put all of their clues together, and Nate will make good on his promise to reward one consumer $100,000.

TNT on-air will drive viewers online to participate in the promotion, along with significant digital media across several Turner online properties as well as top online destinations. TNT will also feature additional marketing placement in Entertainment Weekly, driving readers to go online and participate. The ad will feature significant imagery of the Hyundai Genesis. The experience will extend to the set of the NBA on TNT, when Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley play an entertaining version of the game. Charles will be challenged to see if he has what it takes to be part of the LEVERAGE team when Ernie asks him to figure out which of the three Hyundai Genesis cars on set has $10,000 stashed in the trunk. If he chooses correctly, the money will go to one of Charles' charities. If he chooses the wrong car, Ernie's charity will receive the money. The special episode will feature marketing support for the new series and online game.

DirecTV and Hewlett-Packard will both join the Hyundai Genesis on the adventure starting with the second episode, kicking off two additional season-long sponsorships. All three sponsorships include active and passive product integrations within the storyline featured in select episodes of the series. DirecTV integrations will spotlight their sports packages in HD, while Hewlett-Packard integrations will include the character Alec Hardison (played by Aldis Hodge) using a Hewlett-Packard laptop. Hyundai Genesis integrations spotlight high-tech features such as the GPS navigation system and use of the auxiliary port for mp3 player use, as well as interior and exterior images of the automobile. Enhancing that presence, TNT will feature each sponsor's brand within weekly series tune-ins and on-air billboard messaging entering commercial breaks. Hewlett-Packard and Hyundai will both be part of lower-third messaging within each episode. TNT will build on Hewlett-Packard brand awareness through custom LEVERAGE tagged on-air spots driving viewers to TNT.tv to see behind-the-scenes content from the series.

"We have the unique ability to leverage our strong Turner assets, develop a clever consumer experience, incorporate effective storyline integrations and extend brand awareness to several custom marketing channels, allowing fans of the series to engage with all three brands all season-long," said Katherine Johnson, senior vice president, Turner Entertainment Promotions and Marketing. "Our partners will play a role in a monster marketing campaign promoting the series premiering on a powerful night of TNT programming."

"The product integration package that TNT brought to Hyundai allowed us to feature our all-new flagship Genesis sedan in a unique way that appeals to our target consumers," said Chris Perry, director, Marketing Communications, Hyundai Motor America. "Our partnership with TNT and sponsorship of the new drama, LEVERAGE, is just one example of how we are differentiating our first-ever premium sedan."

LEVERAGE stars Academy Award� winner Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People), Gina Bellman (Coupling), Christian Kane (TNT's Into the West), Beth Riesgraf (Alvin and the Chipmunks) and Aldis Hodge (Friday Night Lights) as a team of thieves, hackers and grifters who join forces to take revenge against those who use power and wealth to victimize others.

LEVERAGE is executive-produced by Dean Devlin (Independence Day, TNT's The Librarian), John Rogers (Cosby) and Chris Downey (The King of Queens) and comes to the network from Devlin's Electric Entertainment. Devlin makes his directorial debut on the pilot, which was written by Rogers (Transformers) and Downey

About HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA

Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.

About Turner Network Television (TNT)

Turner Network Television (TNT), television's destination for drama and one of cable's top-rated networks, offers original series, including the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; Raising the Bar, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Trust Me, with Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh. TNT is also home to powerful one-hour dramas, such as Bones, Cold Case, Law & Order, Without a Trace, ER and Charmed; broadcast premiere movies; compelling prime-time specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards�; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.