FORMULA Drift "TELEVISION DEAL" with G4TECHTV

[INFO]

FORMULA DRIFT ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED
TELEVISION DEAL WITH G4TECHTV

LAS VEGAS, Nov, 4, 2004 - Formula Drift, Inc today announced that G4techTV, the Comcast-owned television network all about video games and the video game lifestyle, will broadcast programming based on the Formula D Championship series, its drivers and the content produced in and around the events. This
will be promoted and is slated as one of the premier programs on the network’s 2005 schedule. In addition, G4techTV will also produce and distribute DVD’s of the footage captured at the Formula D events. The network is set to announce further details of its programming plans with Formula Drift after the first of the
year.

“This partnership is an incredible opportunity for us,” comments Jim Liaw of Formula Drift, Inc. “Never did I think that in just one year, the Formula D Championship series would make it to television. G4techTV understands our vision, and as a result, our sponsors and drivers are going to reap major rewards. In this industry, it is truly unique to have a partner who not only wants to televise our product, but is also excited to promote it and see it grow.”

“Drifting is a perfect fit for G4techTV,” says Peter Green, Senior Vice President of Programming & Production for G4techTV. “Teaming with Formula Drift provides our network with unique lifestyle content that speaks to more than one of the passions of our audience.”

Formula Drift, Inc. is North America’s first and only professional drifting championship, and the first in the world to be sanctioned and recognized by a motor sports body, SCCA Pro Racing. The 2005 championship will be comprised of six official rounds at locations across North America. Formula Drift is the only
drifting competition that will have dedicated television programming as a result of the partnership with G4techTV.

Formed by the May, 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV, G4techTV is the one and only 24-hour television network that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. The network is available in 50 million cable and satellite homes nationwide and airs 20 original series. Headquartered in
Los Angeles, G4techTV is owned by Comcast Corporation. To learn more, log onto www.g4techtv.com.

[Formula D]

Here are soem of the answers to your questions to the best of my ability..

The new production partnership with G4 Tech TV will put the series and its participants in front of 25 million homes. That’s a lot of TV’s. Renewed and new partnerships with, SCCA Pro Racing, Drift Association and DG trials will ensure that this the main drift series in the nation. New features of the series for next year will include pre-event TV ads, jumbotrons at each event, a team drift challenge, a new judging format, and a X-games type lifestyle.

G4 is actually in 50 million homes so it's actually more than you thought. G4 is also the highest rated network amongst the group 13-34. Their next biggest contender is Comedy Central.

The team drift challenge is a concept we are looking to explore which basically is demos put on by teams (teams may choose whoever they want) They get a certain time frame, get to perform and then get judged based on fixed criteria. In other words the four Drift Alliance members choreograph a demo before hand they get X amount of time to complete it and they get judged on that performance.

The jumbotron idea came from our want to give the crowd a better perspective on the competition and also to have the judges scored viewable to the audience. Many people still do not understand who won and why and we are trying to fix that with the use of a tool that people can see judges scores real time. Tha tis the idea at this point.

The judging format we are exploring is a panel of 5 judges that will use our existing scoring system. We are going away from having 3 Japanese judges. Not because we do not like that format but becasue we feel we really need to develop a more centralized scronig system something that can be backed up and will differentiate what FD is compared to others. More info on this to come

X-Games type lifestyle? We made no announcement of that so dont plan on seeing any skateboarders, BMXers at the events at this point. We once did a FMX demo at Road Atlanta last year but that was the extent of it.

[DriftNation]

that's some really awesome news.
And the I really like the Team competition idea. It will bring a little of the fun demo aspect of drifting into the competition side of it.

The judging changes are a really good thing IMO. That's one aspect that always worried me about the sport. By showing the fans real time what 's going on, they will feel much better informed and have even more fun.


Keep up the good work guys!

[FD3S_pilot]

sounds like a deal but what channel is it on??? i dont even think i have G4 !!

[Craftsman]

Sounds great... Are you guys bringing the JumboTron to each event?

[Formula D]

At this point we are defintely planning on bring a jumbotron to each event. WE really want to make that work.

Ryan

[Craftsman]

Originally posted by Formula D
At this point we are defintely planning on bring a jumbotron to each event. WE really want to make that work.

Ryan

Sounds good Ryan... Wish you guys at Slipstream the best of luck next season!

[Formula D]

Thanks man! We are definitely trying to do the best we can.

[iownju]

this all sounds great and im really happy that Formula D is going to get its sopt light but G4 is the last place i would consider. If it was earlier when Tech Tv was still around then yeah it would be great but the way G4 has its line up and netowork set up id personally and i could probably garntee that G4 will make FD a joke. Thats what they pretty much they did to there whole network, made it into a joke.

But why wouldnt you go with Spped Channel or Spiek Tv or an espn channel or something just beacuse there isnt billions of viewers doesnt mean that they shouldnt get it. I personally think FD is better suited with Spped, but when ti comes to money youll go with the one that has the bigger pocket book. Ill watch it, but i can ganrantee its not going to be worth it from G4. Long Live TechTv!!!!!!

Thanks for allt he info.

[Formula D]

When we first started looking for TV partners we went to Spike, The Fox Family (Speed amongst others) and ESPN all of who could not make a commitment or make a move. G4 came to us with a full scale, real television deal not a time buy which has been the standard for TV in the Tuner industry (Super Tuner TV and Redline were both times buys) This is a real TV production deal complete with makrketing efforts and cross-promotinoal opportunites but most importantly to be one of the premiere shows on the '05 network. Now unfortunately I cannot say but G4 has a ton of new stuff planned for '05 and those plans that we know are something that we definitely want to be a part of. Furthermore, our staff are written as part of the producing team and we will be intimately involved in the show to hopefully provide the appropriate display of the sport.

Now G4 has done some tests regarding drifting on the show and it has rated off the charts so they must be doing something right even without our help. To add that Comcast is the parent company and that we have the full cooperation and support of them to makes this something that is super exciting and too hard to turn down. We look out for our sponsors and teams and this is as big of a deal for them as it is for us and in trying to build something it is our opinion to always look out for those that support you.

[Oki Drifter]

wonder why this STILL hasn't happend to the D1GP in japan

[AllMotorKing]

this is sweet!

[Slonie]

Originally posted by Oki Drifter
wonder why this STILL hasn't happend to the D1GP in japan

Why would Option show you D1GP for free when you'll pay $20 a month to buy it?

[NismoSigma]

OMG IM ESTATIC! Thats amazing! Thats great, just great.... I dont know what to say, im blushing,..... id like to thank , god, jesus, charles manson, thank you all!













PS- DONT SCREW THIS UP!

[S13pwrdbySnail]

that is great news for the sport and for the fans out there. I hope you guys the best of luck and make all of us proud. I'm so thankful that I get g4 station! Woo hoo! when does all this start?