NationalLampoon.com Links With RioPort to Deliver Digitally Downloaded Comedy Tracks From 'The Best of National Lampoon Radio Hour'
Includes Bits by John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner,
Harold Ramis, Christopher Guest and Billy Crystal
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- J2 Communications (Nasdaq: JTWO), owner of Nationallampoon.com, is teaming up with RioPort, Inc., a pioneer in the digital audio download market, to deliver selections from The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour online. Selected audio tracks from the classic three-CD comedy collection are now available in MP3 format through RioPort.com in this special promotion and will be made available to RioPort's network of distribution partners.
The National Lampoon Radio Hour first aired in 1973 and launched the careers of many of the cast members of the first legendary line up of Saturday Night Live including John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner and Bill Murray. In addition, the show also introduced such comedy heavyweights as Billy Crystal, Second City Television's Harold Ramis and Christopher Guest, one of creators of the mock metal band Spinal Tap. The three-CD set is currently available at retailers through Rhino Records.
Through its new deal with RioPort, Nationallampoon.com will make available selections from The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour for the first time in digital download format. RioPort is providing Nationallampoon.com with both content encoding and digital download hosting.
"We chose RioPort as a partner because it leads the pack in providing digital audio fans with an easy way to access a plethora of compelling, popular content," explained Deborah L. Dettling, director of marketing, Nationallampoon.com. "With its unique one-click access to content, RioPort gets listeners where they want to go and keeps them logged on."
As part of the agreement, RioPort will provide a link to nationallampoon.com where The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour can be purchased on CD through the site's "Smash ' N' Grab" online store. In addition, RioPort will provide banner ads for nationallampoon.com to promote the content online.
J.D. Heilprin, executive vice president and general manager of RioPort said, "This partnership gives RioPort.com and our network of distribution partners access to programming from one of the premier brands in comedy entertainment. We've all grown up with National Lampoon on TV and in the movies and now we're able to deliver it to comedy enthusiasts in a whole new way."
"With the signing of RioPort to deliver National Lampoon audio, we have completed our first phase of partnering," explained Dettling. "Now, we are poised to reach out to additional Internet partners who can benefit from access to our content."
After launching on October 25, 1999, Nationallampoon.com quickly attracted more than one million visitor hits in its first month. In addition, it was cited as "Hot Site of the Day" and "Hot Site of the Week" by USA Today Online.
In addition to RioPort, Nationallampoon.com already enjoys relationships with many leading Internet companies, including ISyndicate which links the site to more than 157,000 other sites.
J2 Communications, which owns National Lampoon, one of the leading brands in comedy, is an Internet-based, interactive entertainment company. Nationallampoon.com, its newest comedy creation, employs cutting-edge technology to deliver its own brand of biting humor on a highly interactive comedy network created for the Internet. Showcasing hilarious new characters and features, the site debuted October 25, 1999. The company also sells merchandise and advertising on the site. National Lampoon is also active in a broad array of entertainment activities, including feature films, television programming, interactive entertainment, home video, comedy audio CDs and book publishing. For more information contact Duncan Moore at 310-474-5252. |
