Ben Silverman of NBC / Universal to be awarded the prestigious "Honorary Rose" during the 48th edition of the Rose d'Or Festival

Lucerne/Los Angeles (Switzerland/USA, California) 5 February (PROTEXT/ots)- The Rose d'Or Festival will take place on the shores of Lake Lucerne,Switzerland from May 2-6, 2008.

At a cocktail reception to be held this evening in Los Angeles at theresidence of the Consul General of Switzerland, Mr. Urban Frye, FestivalDirector of the 48th Edition of the Rose d'Or Festival, will announce thatMr. Ben Silverman, Co- Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal MediaStudios, has been chosen to receive this year's Honorary Rose at theupcoming Festival to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from May 2-6, 2008.

The Honorary Rose, which is presented to an individual who has made asignificant impact on the television industry, will be presented to Mr.Silverman during the gala dinner and award ceremony on the evening of May6th. Past Honorary Rose recipients have included: Benny Hill, Quincy Jones,Monty Python, John de Mol, Herb Granath, Ricky Gervais, and most recentlyBen Elton in 2007.

"I would like to congratulate Ben Silverman on being awarded theprestigious Honorary Rose. The winner of this award is carefully consideredby the Rose d'Or organization and presented to someone who is renowned inthe industry for their contribution to television," commented Frye. "Welook forward to welcoming Ben to the shores of Lake Lucerne in May."

Founded in 1961, The Rose d'Or Festival is one of the most importantFestivals for entertainment and arts programmes. The Festival's goal hasalways been to reward originality, quality and creativity in entertainmentprogramming, and to encourage excellence in television and new media.

Each year, the Rose d'Or draws the best of the year's new televisionprogramming, representing approximately 40 countries worldwide. Entryforms for the Rose d'Or competition are sent to more than 2000 producersand broadcasters, internationally.

This year eight coveted Rose d'Or Awards will be presented to the topwinners in each of the following categories: Comedy, Sitcom, Drama,Entertainment, Reality, Game Show, Arts Documentary and Performing Arts. Inaddition to the Honorary Rose for Mr. Silverman, an award for BestEntertainer and Best of 2008 will be presented to the most outstandingperformer and outstanding program respectively, across all genres ofprogramming.

Ben Silverman became Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal MediaStudios, in May 2007. Earlier, Silverman launched Reveille, a leadingproduction and distribution company focusing on exploiting worldwideintellectual property rights that adapted such international hits as 'UglyBetty' and 'The Office'. In addition, he is the co-creator and executiveproducer of 'The Biggest Loser', 'American Gladiators', 'Nashville Star','Blow Out', '30 Days' and 'House of Boateng' (as well as executive producerof the acclaimed 'The Tudors'). Under his leadership, Reveille became theworld leader in creating integrated marketing opportunities for theadvertisers and developing alternative financing paradigms for thetelevision business.

Contacts:

Sheila Morris

MORRIS MARKETING

E-mail: sheila@morrispr.com

Rebecca Marks

NBC/UNIVERSAL

E-mail: Rebecca.marks@nbcuni.com

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