THE HEAT IS ON: USA IS #1 AGAIN IN JULY

THE HEAT IS ON: USA IS #1 AGAIN IN JULY

NEW YORK, NY � August 1, 2006 � With its originals series and movies ranking as twenty of the top thirty telecasts for the month of July 2006, USA Network ranked #1 in basic cable prime for the month in all key demos and earned its largest monthly audience ever among P25-54 (1.4 million) and total viewers (3 million).

USA's five original series continued to dominate their nights in July, with USA ranking #1 on Monday with WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW, MONK and PSYCH winning Friday nights, and THE 4400 and THE DEAD ZONE taking the top spots on Sunday.

� WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW was the most watched series on basic cable in July among P18-49. That strength led USA to the #1 rank among entertainment networks on each Monday night of the month among P18-34 and P18-49. WWE's delivery on USA in July topped the program's delivery on Spike during the previous year (July 2005), with +8% more households, +7% more total viewers, +7% more P18-34 viewers and +2% more P18-49 viewers.

� USA won Friday nights with strong performances from original series MONK and PSYCH, which ranked as the top two programs in basic cable prime on each Friday night since their premieres among both P18-49 and P25-54. MONK's season 5 premiere on 7/7/06 earned more viewers than any scripted hour in basic cable ever before it in the Friday 9p hour (5.3 million viewers), and PSYCH debuted on the same night as the most watched series premiere on basic cable this year with an average of 2.9 million in P25-54. PSYCH also ranked as the #1 series on basic cable in July, with an average of 2.5 million in P25-54 for its four episodes to date.

� The back-to-back episodes of MONK and PSYCH represent the top block of original series on basic cable this summer with 2.5 million viewers in P25-54 for the first four weeks of their seasons.

� THE 4400 and THE DEAD ZONE were the top two series on Sunday in July, ranking as the #1 and #2 series telecasts on each Sunday night of the month in the key P25-54 demo.

USA also found success with its movies this month, as the premiere of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL on Saturday 7/15/06 was the #1 telecast in basic cable prime for the entire month of July with 3.9 million in P25-54. It was the biggest theatrical movie in USA's history (since at least 1993, when Nielsen program data became available), and was the largest theatrical movie on basic cable in five years (since 2001) in the P25-54 demo. On the Saturday night of the movie's airing, USA was the #1 network in all of television, beating all broadcast and cable networks in 8p-11p prime in every key demo.

USA Network earned significant growth over July 2005 in all key demos, with a +27% increase in households, a +39% increase in P18-34 delivery, a +31% increase in P18-49 delivery, a +31% increase in P25-54 delivery and a +33% increase in total viewers (most current vs. pre-DVR data). USA also dropped to a median age of 46.8 in July 2006, down one and a half years from the previous year (median age of 48.3 in July 2005).

* Please note: data is Most Current blend of Live+7 data for 6/26/06-7/16/06 and Live+SD data for 7/17/06-7/30/06.

Seen in 90 million homes, USA Network is cable television's leading network of original series and feature movies, sports and entertainment events, network shows and blockbuster theatrical films. The USA Network Web site is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.