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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VARIETY‘S PREEMINENT JOURNALIST MIKE FLEMING TO EDIT DEADLINE|NEWYORK

LOS ANGELES – January 10, 2010 – Deadline.com is going bicoastal. Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC)’s Jay Penske and Deadline.com’s Nikki Finke today announced the hiring of Mike Fleming, the 20-year Variety superstar who has been praised as the “top media dog” covering Hollywood because of his wide and deep network of entertainment business sources. Effective immediately, he becomes the Editor of the new Deadline|NewYork which will go live later this month at Deadline.com. Besides covering film and television dealmaking and production and casting, Fleming intends to expand his turf by breaking news and offering analysis about books, media, TV news, theater, and other Gotham-based infotainment arenas.

With the hiring of top journalism talents Mike Fleming to run Deadline|NewYork, and Tim Adler to run Deadline|London (announced this morning), Deadline.com now enters its next phase of editorial and geographic expansion. Finke will remain Deadline.com’s general manager and editor in chief, and editor and founder of Deadline|Hollywood. But Fleming’s ability to consistently deliver high-profile scoops and provide on-the-spot analysis will help make Deadline.com a “must-read” for influencers and leaders in the global business of entertainment and media.

Variety‘s preeminent reporter also fits perfectly with the Deadline.com tradition of shattering the mold of traditional reporting and creating a new paradigm for delivering news, analysis, and opinion with New Media immediacy. Hiring Variety‘s “crown jewel” of original content demonstrates MMC’s commitment to rapid growth as one of the most dynamic companies to watch in the digital media arena.

“Deadline.com remains one of our top priorities at MMC, and we think Mike is exactly the right person to take this property to the next level,” commented MMC Founder and CEO, Jay Penske. “He’s done so much in his career, and in the trades no one has been more prolific at breaking news. With Mike leading New York, our Deadline.com business holds almost limitless potential.”

Said Finke: “I am thrilled and honored that a big brand like Mike Fleming with a huge following is joining Deadline.com. Few people know that Mike and I, while fierce competitors, also have been friends for close to 20 years. I was a devoted reader of his old ‘Buzz’ column for Weekly Variety, and then addicted to his former ‘Dish’ column for Daily Variety. I know that Deadline|NewYork will become a great showcase for Mike’s expert knowledge of the entertainment business, and even more so for his warm and witty personality. People will now get to experience the real Mike!”

Said Fleming: “I treasure my 20 years with Variety and my mentor Peter Bart and my editor Tim Gray. It changed my life. But the time has come for this new challenge. I thank my Variety readers for staying with me all this time, and I hope they follow me to Deadline|NewYork.”

This month marks Mike Fleming’s 20th year as a Variety reporter and writer. A native of New York City and now resident of Long Island, he started in journalism as editor of the well-known Media Industry Newsletter (MIN), then joined New York Newsday as a columnist and reviewer and entertainment writer in 1986. He joined Weekly Variety in 2000 to write the “Buzz” column about all things infotainment. Later, he took over Daily Variety‘s “Dish” column where he regularly broke news and provided analysis about all things Hollywood. After the column was discontinued, Fleming became even more recognized as the trade’s No. 1 film reporter whose major talents include working sources and writing with flair and accuracy. That’s why his original content receives international attention and acclaim. In summer 2009, he began the “BFD” blog with his longtime mentor Peter Bart.

Fleming also is an author. In 1999, Doubleday published his non-fiction book about The Three Stooges, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons, which ABC turned into a telepic executive produced by Mel Gibson (who wrote a forward to the book) and Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Fleming also has freelanced for many national magazines, including Playboy, Details, TV Guide, and Esquire. He turns 50 this April.

About Deadline.com
Deadline.com first began in March 2006 as Deadline Hollywood Daily, the 24/7 Internet version of Nikki Finke's long-running LA Weekly “Deadline Hollywood” print column. Deadline|Hollywood is regularly included on lists of top entertainment websites. Her site was purchased by Mail.com (MMC) on June 23, 2009. Influential industry leaders and key decision-makers across many fields track Nikki Finke’s site many times a day. Deadline|Hollywood postings regularly receive more reader comments than all of the entertainment industry news sites combined.

Nikki Finke's journalism career has included years as an AP foreign correspondent in Moscow and London, Newsweek correspondent in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, and Los Angeles Times staff writer covering entertainment and features. From 1995 through 2000, she was West Coast Editor and Hollywood columnist first for the New York Observer and then New York Magazine. She joined LA Weekly as its Hollywood business columnist in 2002. Her many reporting honors include Entertainment Journalist Of The Year in the National Entertainment Journalism Awards, one of "100 Leaders You Can Learn From On Twitter" in the journalists category, one of New Media’s ‘Top 10 Entertainment Game Changers’ by The Huffington Post, and one of Time Magazine’s ”Time 100” finalists. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Esquire.

About Mail.com Media Corporation (MMC)
MMC is a leading digital media company founded by CEO Jay Penske in 2004. He is The company owns and operates Mail.com, a global multi-media publishing platform. In addition, MMC owns a unique portfolio of lifestyle brands that provide the web's best original content in categories including entertainment, automotive, breaking news, media, finance, health, beauty, style and sports. Mail.com, HollywoodLife.com, OnCars.com, Deadline.com, Movieline.com, Fan.com, are all part of the MMC digital portfolio. For more information about MMC, For more information about MMC, please visit http://corp.mail.com.
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For media inquiries, please contact:

Mike Fleming | Editor - Deadline|New York | MFlemingJr@aol.com or Mike@Deadline.com

Nikki Finke | General Manager, Editor in Chief - Deadline.com
Founder & Editor - Deadline|Hollywood | Nikki@Deadline.com

Mail.com Media Corporation | Los Angeles, California
press@corp.mail.com

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.