David Boreanaz

MasterCard Uses New, Emerging Media to Engage Affluent Consumers and Deliver Compelling Content

Brand to Become Exclusive Sponsor of 26 Mobisodes® for FOX’s Hit TV Series, “Bones”

PURCHASE, N.Y.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—MasterCard Worldwide today announced a partnership with FOX’s hit television show, Bones (airing Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), to sponsor Mobisode®1 Series Bones: Skeleton Crew this season. A series of 26 Mobisodes, which follows three Jeffersonian Institute lab technicians putting their skills to the test and their lives on the line in the hope of solving a mystery and staving off impending disaster, is being distributed on mobile phones exclusively via Sprint TV beginning this week2, and the content will later move to FOX.com for wider distribution. FOX will also integrate MasterCard card products into Mobisode storyline wherever appropriate.

The Bones Mobisodes serve as the latest example of the organization’s ongoing strategy to integrate its brand and products into key programming in a way that truly engages consumers. Outside of conventional advertising, MasterCard is leveraging its alliances with top media companies to engage consumers in innovative ways. And while national television continues to be the best way to provide content to consumers in the masses, new and emerging media is becoming a bigger player than ever before.

Affluent consumers contribute to growth of emerging media

The rapid growth of DVRs, mp3 players and social networking websites has provided consumers with an increased ability to control when, where and what information they receive. As an example, approximately 70 percent of Americans own mobile phones and 39 percent have sent text messages - with an average of 7 billion being sent monthly. According to published reports, 70-80 million people use broadband on a monthly basis, with half of U.S. households having broadband access, and 17 million households subscribing to DVRs.

What has helped drive this trend is early adoption by affluent consumers, who remain in the majority of users. According to Neilsen/NetRatings, accessing the Internet from a wireless device is the No. 1 on-line activity among users earning $100,000 or more per year.

“As marketers we must find new ways to cut through the clutter of a highly-competitive advertising environment,” said Michael Lao, VP Media, MasterCard Worldwide. “With new and emerging media playing even more of a role in engaging consumers, we view the space, and our opportunity within it, as a mechanism to seamlessly integrate our brand into content and demonstrate how consumers can use our products in all kinds of situations.”

As a whole, advertisers are paying attention. According to published industry reports, spending on Internet and mobile advertising and paid content through traditional media companies is expected to total almost $26 billion this year, up 26% over 2005. While this may be relatively new territory for marketers, MasterCard has been a player for some time.

MasterCard enjoys busy year in new channels

In 2006 alone, MasterCard has implemented several initiatives. In early October, the brand became the exclusive sponsor of Lost Beginnings and Lost Connections, online components of the hit ABC TV show Lost. The sponsorship includes branded support of aggregated “back stories” of Lost characters and highlights connections between characters before they each reached the island, all featured on abc.com.

MasterCard and TNT collaborated in August with Late: A MasterCard Mini-Drama. The two-minute original film integrated multiple MasterCard card products. Similarly, MasterCard partnered with ABC Family in September on its original movie Relative Chaos. MasterCard is also exploring opportunities with brand integration, multimedia partnerships and other extensions including a sponsorship of the Discovery Channel’s Future 2057, which includes video-on-demand, mobile, Google™ maps and podcast components.

These strategic alliances and projects were created with the help of MasterCard Worldwide’s media buying agency, GSD&M. The Austin, TX-based agency is responsible for all media strategy and purchasing for MasterCard in the U.S.

About MasterCard Worldwide

MasterCard Worldwide advances global commerce by providing a critical economic link between financial institutions, businesses, cardholders and merchants worldwide. As a franchisor, processor and advisor, MasterCard develops and markets payment solutions, processes approximately 14 billion payments each year, and provides industry-leading analysis and consulting services to financial institution customers and merchants. Through its family of brands, including MasterCard®, Maestro® and Cirrus®, MasterCard Worldwide serves consumers and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. For more information go to www.mastercardworldwide.com.

About Bones

BONES, airing Wednesdays at 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX, is a darkly amusing hour-long procedural with humor, heart and character, inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and best-selling novelist Kathy Reichs and starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. Temperance Brennan (Deschanel), a highly skilled forensic anthropologist, works with FBI Agent Seeley Booth (Boreanaz) on murder investigations when the standard methods of identifying a body are useless - when the remains are so badly decomposed, burned or destroyed that CSI gives up. Brennan’s special expertise lies in her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the victim’s bones. BONES is from Josephson Entertainment and Far Field Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Barry Josephson, Hart Hanson and Stephen Nathan are executive producers.

About FOX

Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) is a unit of News Corporation. FOX finished the 2005-2006 season as the No. 1 network for the second consecutive year among Adult 18-49 viewers, while continuing to dominate all network competition in the more targeted Adults 18-34 and Teen demographics. FOX airs 15 hours of primetime programming a week as well as late night entertainment programming, major sports and Sunday morning news.

About Fox Mobile Entertainment

Fox Mobile Entertainment is a leading provider of mobile content for wireless carriers and consumers, offering a variety of mobile products and services, such as downloadable wallpapers, screensavers, games and mobile video, including Mobisodes®, which leverage News Corporation’s popular content and media brands. Fox Mobile Entertainment’s direct-to-consumer service allows billions of global mobile users to purchase from a huge selection of popular content from around the world, including branded content from News Corp. divisions; aggregated content from major media companies, including chart-topping ringtones from top music labels and mobile games from renowned game developers; and original content made exclusively for mobile phones by Fox Mobile Studios. In September 2006, News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and VeriSign announced a joint venture that combines Fox Mobile Entertainment’s assets with Jamba. This deal is expected to close later this year.

About GSD&M

Started as an advertising agency in 1971 by six entrepreneurial college graduates, GSD&M has become a destination for companies seeking visionary ideas that solve their significant marketing problems. Believing that collaboration leads to innovation, GSD&M partners with creative thinkers across a wide and diverse range of disciplines. Their unique style has helped build some of the country’s most respected brands, including BMW, Wal-Mart, the new AT&T, MasterCard, Chili’s, DreamWorks SKG and the U.S. Air Force.

1 A broadcast television episode specially made for viewing on a mobile telephone screen and usually of short duration (from one to three minutes). Currently, FOX has mobisodes for 24 and Prison Break.

2 Sprint TV is available on Sprint Power Vision phones. Standard Power Vision charges will apply.