Gemstar-TV Guide and KDDI Expand Relationship in Japan to Include G-Guide Mobile and Mobile Terrestrial Digital Video Broadcasting Services and ACME Sports & Entertainment's Casa Havana Coffee & Cigar Bars Retain Epic Corporation to Procure Future Casa Havana Locations

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City of Industry, CA --(www.USEquityNews.com)-- 03/31/2008 - Media entertainment industry alert provided by U.S. Equity News. Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMST), a leading media, entertainment and technology company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with KDDI Corporation, expanding its relationship in Japan with this leading information and communications company, which provides comprehensive fixed and mobile communications services. Since 2006, KDDI has been deploying Gemstar-TV Guide's G-GUIDE(R) Mobile Interactive Program Guide (IPG) for mobile handsets. Today, Gemstar-TV Guide and KDDI are extending their relationship and expanding the license granted to KDDI to include 1-seg, a mobile terrestrial digital video broadcasting service in Japan. Under this new license agreement, KDDI and Gemstar-TV Guide intend to work to integrate 1-seg services with the G-GUIDE(R) Mobile IPG. Specific terms of the agreement were not otherwise disclosed.


Rentrak Corporation (NASDAQ: RENT) today announced it has increased its North American VOD household footprint with the addition of Rogers Cable Communications Inc. (Rogers Cable), Canada's largest cable TV provider. The deal with Rogers Cable provides Rentrak's existing US-based content provider customers with performance data from Canadian operators. The agreement also opens the door to Canadian content provider prospects that do not have distribution in the United States.

ACME Sports & Entertainment retains Epic Corporation (OTC: EPIO) to procure future Casa Havana Coffee & Cigar Bar locations Nationwide. Casa Havana is a new Smoke Friendly Coffee Bar & Cigars concept which allows smoking within its operations. With most states now banning smoking in Restaurants, Bars and Coffee houses, Casa Havana will fill that void for the customer base that enjoys smoking. The Casa Havana concept is modeled from coffee giant Starbucks Coffee and will provide a full Coffee Line and light menu. With Starbucks coffee controlling over 80% of the Coffee Bar market in over 11,000 locations, Casa Havana will target market its 21% of customers who are smokers and prohibited from smoking inside.

Hearst Corporation today announced that Steven A. Hobbs, executive vice president, chief legal and development officer of Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. (NYSE: HTV) since 2005, has been elected vice president of Hearst Corporation and executive vice president & deputy group head of the Hearst Business Media Division. He joins Hearst Corporation today. Hearst Business Media has shown substantial growth in the past 10 years, particularly in health care and the financial sector, under the direction of Richard P. Malloch, president of the Division. Recent key investment acquisitions include a 20% interest in Fitch Group, a leading global rating agency, in 2006, and Zynx Health, the leading provider of evidence-based clinical decision support, in 2005.

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