BBC AMERICA PLEDGES 1ST QUARTER EASTENDERS PROMOTION

December 4, 2002

Dear Mr Jaffee,

I wanted to get back to you regarding your letter to Mr Lee - for which he thanks you. It's great to know that our programming has such stalwart supporters.

Firstly let me assure you that we would not have found EastEnders a valuable weekend slot if we did not want to make it a success. However I'm sure you will appreciate that in a multi-channel environment, with viewers constantly surfing, it is important to have a promotional strategy.

Like other channels of a similar size, ours is to identify a small number of key shows and promote them heavily in breaks. At the time EastEnders was moved, our fourth quarter on-air strategy was already set.

However, I'm pleased to say that, as we promised, EastEnders will be part of our promotional strategy for first quarter 2003. We very much hope this will bring new viewers to the show and help secure its position in the schedule.

I also want to assure you that any VOD plans are entirely separate from the channel. As it happens the industry isn't moving towards subscription VOD as quickly as expected so our plan to offer advance episodes of EastEnders are on hold at the moment.

Best regards,

Jo Petherbridge - Senior Vice President Strategy & Communications BBC America

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