Terry Bate Ups Stake in Talent Group, Appointed Board Chairman

LONDON, December 7: Terry Bate has increased his stake to
18.66 percent of the share capital of the U.K.’s Talent Group, the holding
company of Talent Television, and is expected to succeed Robert Benton as
chairman of the board.

Altogether, Benton has sold 2,325,000 ordinary shares, the
equivalent of 14.34 percent of the issued share capital of the company. Bate
has purchased 2,025,000 of
these shares and now holds a total of 3,025,000 Talent shares,
equivalent to an 18.66-percent stake.

Benton will step down as chairman of Talent Group and as a
director of Talent at the forthcoming AGM, with Bate set to join the board as
the company’s chairman. Bate was previously the CEO and executive chairman of
Television Corporation.

Benton said: “Having become chief executive of Ingenious
Securities Limited, which specializes in the media sector and commenced trading
as a member of the Stock Exchange in November this year, I believe that the
potential for conflict of interest in also holding the position of chairman of
a publicly quoted television production company requires me to step down.
However, I remain fully confident in the future of Talent and its team and will
maintain a meaningful shareholding in the company.”

Bate commented: “I have known John Kaye Cooper and Tony
Humphreys for many years, having collaborated with them on a number of
projects, and have a great deal of respect for their achievements. I am
delighted by the opportunity to work with them again and join the board of
Talent. The company has an admirable track record and I believe that now is an
excellent time for me to be returning to the media industry. I look forward to
maximizing all opportunities and working with Talent’s principal executives to
take the company to its next chapter.”

Talent Television, part of Talent Group, is a British format
creator and producer of television, video and interactive programming. Credits
include entertainment show Number One Fan
for ITV 1; reality documentary Corkscrewed, co-produced with Los Angeles-based Magic Pictures for Sky One and Fox
Reality; and documentaries like The Man With 80 Wives and 9/11: The Curse of Compensation for Channel 4.

—By Kristin Brzoznowski