LIFETIME(R) ORIGINAL MOVIE "CLEVELAND ABDUCTION" DELIVERS 3.1 MILLION VIEWERS IN WORLD PREMIERE

Film Based on Michelle Knight's Best-Selling Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings and Starring Taryn Manning and Raymond Cruz is Saturday Night's Most Talked About Program on Twitter

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 4, 2015) - The Lifetime Original Movie Cleveland Abduction (#ClevelandAbduction), starring SAG Award(R) winner Taryn Manning as Michelle Knight and SAG nominee Raymond Cruz as Ariel Castro, averaged 3.1 million Total Viewers in its world premiere Saturday night, according to Nielsen Fast Cable Ratings. The movie, which explores the true story of Knight, a 21-year-old single mom whose life was irrevocably changed by a chance encounter with an unsuspected criminal, also averaged 1.3 million Adults 25-54 viewers, 1.2 million Adults 18-49 viewers and 1.1 million Women 25-54 viewers in its 8:00pm time period.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television, Cleveland Abduction was Saturday's most talked about primetime program on Twitter (source: Nielsen, Prime Only, All Networks, Excluding Sports programming and Specials).

Following the premiere at 10pm ET/PT, Beyond the Headlines: Cleveland Abduction, which takes a deeper look into the case and includes an interview with Knight about her experience, brought in 2.9 million Total Viewers, 1.2 million Adults 25-54 viewers and 1.1 million Adults 18-49 viewers.

On August 22, 2002, Knight was abducted by Castro (Cruz) in Cleveland and held captive in his home for more than 11 years. Finding strength through her belief in God and determined to be reunited with her son, Knight refused to be broken by the twisted Castro. Soon thereafter, he abducted two teenagers, Amanda Berry (Samantha Droke, Eastwick) and Gina DeJesus (Katie Sarife, Supernatural), and imprisoned them alongside Michelle, who then became a friend and sister figure to her fellow victims.

When Berry became pregnant with Castro's child, it was Knight who delivered her baby, even performing CPR on the infant girl under the threat of Castro. Despite enduring more than a decade of brutality, Michelle's spirit would not be broken, and her unshakable faith in the face of a seemingly hopeless situation was a testament to the human spirit. On May 6, 2013, Michelle was rescued from the home that was her prison for nearly 11 years, and finally given the chance to reclaim her life.

Golden Globe Award nominee Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) portrays Carla, a nurse who helped care for Knight in the hospital, and Emmy Award winner Joe Morton (Scandal) plays Solano, an FBI agent in charge of the investigation.

Cleveland Abduction was produced by Sony Pictures Television. Executive producers were Judith Verno (Masters of Sex, Lizzie Borden Took an Ax) and Frank von Zerneck (The Elizabeth Smart Story, Left to Die). David Rosemont (Bonnie & Clyde) produced. The film was written by Stephen Tolkin (The Craigslist Killer) and directed by Alex Kalymnios (Becoming Human, Hollyoaks).

ABOUT SONY PICTURES TELEVISION

Sony Pictures Television, a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, is one of the television industry's leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, around the world and for a multitude of platforms. In addition to having one of the industry's largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, SPT boasts a current program slate that includes top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. In addition to its U.S. production business, SPT has 19 wholly owned or joint venture production companies in 13 countries and also maintains offices in 31 countries. SPT's worldwide television networks portfolio includes 148 channel feeds available in 178 countries, reaching more than 1.2 billion cumulative households worldwide. SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE's premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT owns U.S. production company Embassy Row and is a part owner of cable channel Game Show Network (GSN) and national U.S. media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premier national advertising sales companies and handles the commercial inventory in SPT's syndicated series as well as the Rural Media Group and DoctorOz.com.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. As a result of the network's aggressive programming strategy that has doubled the hours of its original programming, in 2014 the network reached its strongest ranking among the key Women 18-49 demo in six years and its youngest median age in 18 years. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.