USA NETWORK RENEWS THREE OF SUMMER'S BIGGEST HITS "COVERT AFFAIRS," "ROYAL PAINS" AND "NECESSARY ROUGHNESS"

Order Signifies Sweep of Pickups For All Seven Summer Original Series

NEW YORK - September 15, 2011 - After dominating the summer television landscape with a historic seven series on-air and capturing a sixth straight ratings win as cable's top entertainment network, USA finalized its sweep of series pickups on all of its summer originals with 16-episode orders of season three of COVERT AFFAIRS, season four of ROYAL PAINS and season two of NECESSARY ROUGHNESS. The renewals, which follow the season orders of WHITE COLLAR, SUITS, IN PLAIN SIGHT and BURN NOTICE, were announced today by USA Co-Presidents Chris McCumber and Jeff Wachtel.

"USA's original programming blew through all expectations this summer. We had an unprecedented number of original series on our air -- and every single one of them was great," said McCumber and Wachtel. "The actors who make our shows unique aren't just stars, they are character actors in the finest sense. Our writers, directors and producers truly understand what it takes to create sustainable success. It's a rare and wonderful thing to announce the pick-up of our entire summer of programming."

COVERT AFFAIRS stars Golden Globe(R)-nominated Piper Perabo as Annie Walker, a young CIA operative whose exceptional linguistic skills make her invaluable to the Agency. The series also stars Christopher Gorham, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Kari Matchett, Anne Dudek and Peter Gallagher. The second half of season two of COVERT AFFAIRS will return on November 1 at 10/9c with six all-new episodes and guest appearances from Devin Kelly and Santiago Cabrera, and the return of Oded Fehr and Gregory Itzin. From Universal Cable Productions, COVERT AFFAIRS shoots in Toronto, Canada and is executive produced by Doug Liman and David Bartis through Hypnotic and written and executive produced by Matt Corman and Chris Ord.

COVERT AFFAIRS was the top series on cable Tuesdays this summer among P25-54, total viewers and households, was second only to NBC in all of television on Tuesdays at 10pm in P18-49, P25-54, total viewers and households, beating ABC and CBS in P18-34.

In ROYAL PAINS, Mark Feuerstein stars as Dr. Hank Lawson, the go to "doctor for hire" for all of the Hamptons. The series stars Paulo Costanzo, Reshma Shetty and Jill Flint. The second half of the third season of ROYAL PAINS will return this winter with six all-new episodes with guest stars including Joanna Garcia, Tom Cavanaugh, Wilmer Valderrama, Campbell Scott, Brooke D'Orsay, Kyle Howard, Kathleen Rose Perkins and Christine Ebersole, among others. From Universal Cable Productions, ROYAL PAINS is written and executive produced by Andrew Lenchewski and Michael Rauch. Rich Frank also serves as executive producer along with Paul Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz from Prospect Park. ROYAL PAINS shoots entirely in New York (Long Island and Brooklyn) and at locations around the Hamptons.

ROYAL PAINS was the #1 series Wednesdays this summer, scripted or otherwise, with 7.2 million total viewers, 3.3 million in P25-54, 3 million in P18-49 and 1.2 million in P18-34.

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS stars Callie Thorne as Dr. Dani Santino, a tough, sexy Long Island divorcee who re-energizes her life and career when she becomes a therapist for a professional football team. Underestimated at every turn, she succeeds beyond all expectations and soon finds herself the most sought - after therapist for high-profile clients. The series also stars Mehcad Brooks, Marc Blucas and Scott Cohen. The series was created and is executive produced by Liz Kruger & Craig Shapiro. Jeffrey Lieber and Kevin Dowling also serve as executive producers. Inspired by a true story, the series is a Sony Pictures Television and Universal Cable Productions co-production. NECESSARY ROUGHNESS shoots in Atlanta, GA.

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS has been scoring touchdowns all summer long for USA as a breakout hit. The freshman series has averaged 5.85 million total viewers, 2.6 million in P25-54 and 2.4 million in P18-49 to date.

Universal Cable Productions creates quality content across multiple media platforms, including USA, Syfy and other networks. A leader in innovative and critically acclaimed programming, UCP is the studio behind USA's "Royal Pains," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Psych," "In Plain Sight," "Covert Affairs," "Fairly Legal" and "Suits," along with Syfy's "Eureka," "Warehouse 13" and "Alphas." The studio is also producing "Against the Wall" for Lifetime and "I Just Want My Pants Back" for MTV. UCP is a division of NBCUniversal.

USA Network is the #1 network in all of basic cable and is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. A division of NBC Universal, USA is the cable television leader in original series and home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, acquired television series and entertainment events. The award-winning USA website 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.