NBCU's SLEUTH POPS THE CORK ON NEW YEAR'S DAY

SLEUTH -- NBC UNIVERSAL CABLE ENTERTAINMENT'S CRIME, MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE CHANNEL -- POPS THE CORK ON NEW YEAR'S DAY STARTING WITH PILOTS FROM CLASSIC SERIES.

Premiere of 24-Hour Sleuth to Uncover Pilots "From the Beginning of Crime" Beginning with "The A-Team," "Knight Rider" and "Simon & Simon" Followed by Others Including "Miami Vice," "Columbo," "The Rockford Files" and "Magnum, P.I."

"Miami Vice" Unfurls Two-hour Pilot During Seven-hour Marathon on January 2 and 3

BURBANK - December 15, 2005 - Late-night New Year's revelers can ring in both 2006 and the launch of Sleuth from NBC Universal Cable Entertainment when the 24-hour channel -- dedicated to the crime, mystery and suspense genres -- pops the cork beginning on Sunday, January 1 at 6 a.m. (ET) with the pilots of "The A-Team," "Knight Rider" and "Simon & Simon," followed by other favorites such as "Miami Vice," "Columbo," "The Rockford Files" and "Magnum, P.I.," among others

The announcement was made by Jeff Gaspin, President, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and Cross-Network Strategy.

"The premiere of Sleuth will be enhanced by using these treasured pilots of such favorite crime dramas," said Gaspin. "It makes for a wonderful introduction to many series that broke new ground for all those that followed and retain a dedicated audience that will only grow starting January 1."

Dan Harrison, Senior Vice President, Emerging Networks who oversees Sleuth, also said: "We can't wait to launch Sleuth on New Year's Day. It's a great day to start a network that offers some of the most enduring and popular television genres of all time. We're starting with the pilots of some classic crime dramas from NBC Universal's enormous library. We will give some classic programs new life as loyal fans mix with a new generation who can enjoy them all day and continuing throughout Sleuth's first week."

Starting on New Year's Day and continuing through the week, SLEUTH will debut with the pilots of "The A-Team" (6-7 a.m. ET); "Knight Rider" (7-8 a.m. ET); "Simon and Simon" (8-9 a.m. ET); "Karen Sisco" (9-10 a.m. ET); "Homicide: Life on the Street" (10-11 a.m. ET); "Easy Streets" (11 a.m.-12 noon ET).

The "From The Beginning Of Crime" theme continues through the week with a "Miami Vice" marathon from Monday, Jan. 2-3 (8 p.m.- 3 a.m. ET) that includes the revolutionary drama's high-octane, two-hour pilot starring Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas.

The classic crime-drama pilots continue on Tuesday, January 3 with the two-hour 1968 pilot for "Columbo" ("Prescription: Murder"), starring Peter Falk in his immortal title role as the rumpled police detective, from 9-11 p.m. (ET). Then on Wednesday, Jan. 4 (9-10 p.m. ET) is the initial episode from "The Rockford Files," starring James Garner as the sardonic private detective.

On Thursday, Jan. 5 (9-10 p.m. ET), "Magnum, P.I." rides the Hawaiian waves starring Tom Selleck in the series pilot that made him a star.

After a night of theatricals on Friday, January 6, SLEUTH salutes with the two-hour, 1995 pilot of "JAG," starring David James Elliott from 5-7 p.m. (ET).

(Other information regarding the balance of the first week of SLEUTH's programming lineup will be released soon).

SLEUTH will be the first network to offer a digital triple pack service, which features a standard definition digital channel (SD), hi-definition simulcast channel (HD), and a video-on-demand (VOD) channel offered as a digital bundle. The SD digital channel will be available January 1, 2006, with the VOD and HD offerings available later in 2006.

At launch the network will have more than 5 million subscribers through distribution deals with Time Warner Cable, the first affiliate to carry SLEUTH.

About NBC Universal Cable:
NBC Universal Cable, a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's preeminent media companies, drives the company's cable strategic development and growth including video-on-demand, pay-per-view, HDTV and retransmission consent, and oversees the cable distribution, marketing and local ad sales of fifteen properties (Bravo, CNBC, CNBC World, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Weather Plus, SCI FI, ShopNBC, SLEUTH, Telemundo, Telemundo Puerto Rico, Trio, Universal HD, USA and the Olympics on cable). NBC Universal Cable also directs and manages the company's cable and new media investments including A&E, The History Channel, History Channel International, The Biography Channel, National Geographic International, the Sundance Channel and Tivo.