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Baseview and Tribune Interactive Partner
to Provide UPICKEM Sports Games on Seven Newspaper Web Sites
ANN ARBOR, MI. and CHICAGO, January 16,
2003 --
Sports fans from coast to coast will be picking winners
throughout the year on seven Tribune Interactive, Inc., newspaper
Web sites with UPICKEM sports games from Baseview Internet
Technology Services, a division of the Mediaspan Group.
UPICKEM puts a fun spin on the old office pool.
The online game allows users to guess on how their favorite
college, professional sports teams and auto racers will perform
in a specific tournament or event. With each correct guess,
game participants earn points and become eligible for local
and national prizes. UPICKEM also features up-to-the-minute
sports information about all the teams, players and professional
auto racing drivers.
Seven Tribune Interactive sites will offer
four UPICKEM games - college basketball tournaments, auto
racing, professional football and college football bowls.
Tribune Interactive sites offering the game are ChicagoSports.com,
the affiliated sports site of chicagotribune.com; latimes.com;
newsday.com; mcall.com (The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.);
dailypress.com (Hampton Roads, Va.); and greenwichtime.com
and stamfordadvocate.com (in southern Connecticut).
"The friendliness of the UPICKEM games
provide sports fans a fun way to come together and root for
their favorite teams and drivers," said Jeff Lulenski,
manager, business development for Tribune Interactive. "And
at the same time, users benefit from Tribune’s award-winning
sports news coverage."
UPICKEM keeps track of each visitor’s
picks, throughout the course of the tournament. Picks can
be made up to 15 minutes before game or race time. A simple
color scheme shows competitions already held, competitions
you can still pick and each visitor's percentage of correct
picks.
"UPICKEM’s interface is very easy
to follow," said Jack Rosenzweig, product manager for
Baseview Internet Technology Services. "Players can make
their picks, check statistics, follow leader boards and compete
for prizes, all from a site with the newspaper’s own
branding all over it. Plus, there’s virtually no maintenance
for the papers once the season starts, except for handing
out prizes," Rosenzweig added.
Players can join at any point during the season
and compete for national and local prizes. If a player misses
a game, the system will automatically pick for them. The UPICKEM
games will be featured on the Tribune Interactive sites identified
above, while Baseview Internet Technology Services handles
hosting and maintenance.
Tribune Interactive sites will maintain their
branding on the UPICKEM games. The services went live with
the college football bowl games in December.
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Baseview Products, a division of MediaSpan,
provides software tools for publishing, including Editorial,
Advertising, Circulation Management, Production and Internet
solutions. Baseview has more than 2,600 customers around the
world.
MediaSpan is a diversified media technology
company delivering solutions that bridge offline and online
business functions for traditional media companies. For print
publishers, MediaSpan provides back-office, pre-press infrastructure
tools combined with new media technologies for online revenue
opportunities. For broadcast radio groups, MediaSpan provides
a comprehensive suite of software solutions designed to integrate
on-air with online programs that lead to growth in non-traditional
revenues for clients.
Servicing in excess of 3,000 media customers,
MediaSpan provides leading technology solutions for print,
content management, hosting, e-commerce and promotion activities.
MediaSpan investors include Covestco-Seteura,
LLC, Rustic Canyon Group, Southeast Interactive Technology
Funds, and media companies. MediaSpan is headquartered in
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina with offices in Ann
Arbor, Michigan and Melbourne, Florida.
For more information about UPICKEM sports
games, e-mail UPICKEM@baseview.com, visit http://upickem.baseview.com/
or call (734) 662-5800, Ext. 222. For more information about
Baseview, e-mail marketing@baseview.com or call Peter Cooper,
director of marketing, at (321) 242-4382.
For more information, please visit
www.mediaspangroup.com
or call (919) 767-2100.
Tribune Interactive operates leading
interactive news and information Web sites in major markets
across the United States, including 18 of the top 30 markets.
The sites attract more than 9 million unique visitors per
month, and rank among the top 20 interactive news/information
networks in the country. Tribune Interactive is a subsidiary
of Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB),
one of the countryˆs premier media companies, operating
businesses in broadcasting, publishing and on the Internet.
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