National Research Firm Launches Pilot Web Show with Slate Magazine

Business Wire, July 26, 2007

FLEMINGTON, N.J. -- HCD Research and Slate Magazine's 'Slate V' announced today that they are producing a pilot for a web show that will provide viewers with Americans' perceptions of the week's most controversial media events.

The show MediaCurves, will premier on SlateV.com on August 3. MediaCurves will be produced in a "point-counter-point" format, and will feature a host and two pundits. The host will introduce a video clip of a controversial statement by a political figure, actress, actor or a sports personality.

The conservative and liberal pundits will view the clip and provide their views on the segment. Following, the host will re-introduce the video clip to unveil the results of a national study that was conducted using the mediacurves.com[TM] methodology to obtain Americans' views on the video.

Two well-known Hollywood writer/producers will act as the pundits. Rob Long will present the conservative view and Adam Felber will provide the liberal view point.

To date, HCD Research and Slate Magazine have worked together to publish the results of various studies, including Americans' views on the president's state of the union address, the Democratic and Republican debates and Barry Bonds' quest for the home run record, among other studies.

HCD Research created the mediacurves.com web site to provide the media and general public with a venue to view Americans' perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

About the Pundits

Rob Long began his career writing on TV's long-running "Cheers," and served as co-executive producer in its final season. During his time on the series, "Cheers" received two Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe awards. His most recent television series were "George and Leo," starring Bob Newhart and Judd Hirsh, "Love & Money," on CBS, and "Men, Women & Dogs," on the WB Network - all three of which he created with his writing partner, Dan Staley. He is also the co-founder of Yurth.com, a web-based video community.

Adam Felber is a regular panelist on NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," and the author of the new novel "Schrodinger's Ball." He writes for television, including "Talkshow with Spike Feresten" and, this fall, "Real Time with Bill Maher." His website, "Fanatical Apathy," has been this nation's best source of hastily-written satire since 2001.

The co-producers of the show are Stu Kreisman an Emmy Award-winning writer/producer, best known for his work on popular network television series such as "Cheers," "Night Court," "Newhart" and "SCTV," and Glenn Kessler, managing partner, HCD Research and creator of mediacurves.com.

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, managing partner, HCD Research or Stu Kreisman, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net). To speak with Andy Bowers, Slate Magazine, please contact Kris Coratti, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, at 703-469-2763 or (kris.coratti@wpni.com).

HCD Research is a communications research company, headquartered in Flemington, NJ. The company's services include traditional and web-based marketing and communications research. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company's web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at (908) 788-9393.

Slate is a daily magazine on the web. Founded in 1996, Slate is a general-interest publication offering analysis and commentary about politics, news, and culture. Slate's strong editorial voice and witty take on current events have been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online. The site, which is owned by The Washington Post Company, does not charge for access and is supported by advertising revenues.

Mediacurves.com[TM] is a trademark of HCD Research, Inc.