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Konami Acquires Game Rights For American Idol

Konami Digital Ent. Inc. announced a multi-year agreement with FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas that gives the company the exclusive interactive videogame rights for AMERICAN IDOL. Pursuant to the agreement, FLW, Americas grants Konami the rights to develop games for current and next generation videogame systems. The games will be distributed throughout America, Canada and Latin America with more details to be revealed at a later date.

Not only is AMERICAN IDOL one of the biggest television programs in the U.S., but its format lends itself perfectly for making compelling videogames, said Kazumi Kitaue, chairman/ceo of Konami Digital Ent. Inc. With Konamis leadership and expertise in music video games and AMERICAN IDOLs popularity and strength as a recognized franchise, this is a powerful synergy that will greatly benefit the consumer. AMERICAN IDOL, which just completed its fourth season in May 2005, continues to dominate television ratings and break viewership records. Last seasons finale, produced by FremantleMedia and 19TV for the Fox network in the U.S., saw 30.3 million viewers tune in to watch Carrie Underwood be crowned as the newest AMERICAN IDOL. The debut of AMERICAN IDOLs fifth season will air this fall. David Luner, vp licensing for FLW, Americas, added, The IDOLS format has already proven itself successful in a variety of categories including electronics, toys & games, wireless and online applications. We look forward to establishing a solid presence in the video games market with an industry leader like Konami.

Konami Corp. is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties, specializing in the home videogame market. Konami Corp. is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Ent. Inc. in the U.S. and Konami of Europe in Frankfurt, Germany. Konami Corp., the parent company of Konami Digital Ent. Inc. is traded in the U.S. on the New York Stock Exchange. Details of the products can be found at www.konami.com/gs. FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas (FLW, Americas) is the U.S. licensing arm of FremantleMedia, one of the largest international creators and producers of program brands in the world, with leading prime time drama, serial drama, entertainment and factual entertainment programming in more than 40 territories. For more information, visit www.fremantlemedia.com.

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