NTN Buzztime, Inc. Announces Management and Board Additions, Significant Cost-Cutting Measures and a Major New Business Initiative |
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NTN Buzztime, Inc. Announces Management and Board Additions, Significant Cost-Cutting Measures and a Major New Business Initiative |
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Monday March 02, 2009 |
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NTN Buzztime, Inc. Announces Management and Board Additions, Significant Cost-Cutting Measures and a Major New Business Initiative CARLSBAD, Calif., NTN Buzztime, Inc. (NYSE Alternext: NTN) today announced the appointment of a new senior management team to lead the company's aggressive growth strategy to become a fully integrated media business. Additionally, management announced its expectations for the Company to significantly reduce its cash burn during 2009 and to achieve positive cash flow in the fourth quarter. Lastly, the company also announced that two of its Board members, Gary Arlen and Bob Clasen, have resigned from the Board effective February 6, 2009 and February 17, 2009, respectively, continuing the restructuring of the Board that began in August 2008. With the addition of new Board member Mary Beth Lewis, as discussed below, the Board now consists of five members. Executive appointments Terry Bateman
has been appointed CEO, effective February 2, 2009.
Mr. Bateman was appointed to the Company's Board of
Directors in November of 2008 and has most recently been
serving as the Board's special advisor on the Company's
Interim Committee of the President. Mr. Bateman has
a strong background in the out-of-home ("OOH")
media business. He spent the early part of his
career at Whittle Communication, one of the pioneers in
OOH, developing and selling new media properties. He was
then President of the Marketing Services Division of
Snyder Communications, President and CEO of Barton
Cotton, a leading direct marketing firm servicing the
non-profit market, CMO of the Washington Redskins and CEO
of Dick Clark Productions. Chairman Jeff Berg commented, "Terry is an outstanding executive to lead the transformation of the Company. The Board conducted an exhaustive search which yielded a number of outstanding candidates, however, none offered Terry's depth of experience and success in developing the kind of company we are building at Buzztime. Over the past ten weeks he has worked closely with the Board and the management team to lead an assessment and revision of the Company's business model, along with a restructuring of the company's workforce. These actions have significantly reduced our cost structure and have begun to position us for development of a more integrated media company, with plans for new products and new revenue streams." Mr. Bateman
commented, "I am very excited about the opportunity
for this company. Buzztime has a strong foundation
in its core business in bars and restaurants along with
proprietary games and IP, which provides a great platform
to move into digital and mobile and develop a fully
integrated media business. We have put together a
top-tier management team and product development roadmap,
which should yield significant growth over the next
couple of years." The Company
has also appointed Michael Arzt as Executive Vice
President of Marketing. Mr. Arzt has a strong background
in the competitive video game industry, having most
recently served, since 2006, as Senior Vice President and
General Manager of The World Cyber Games (WCG), at
International Cyber Marketing, an affiliate of Samsung
Electronics. In this capacity, he established the
domestic U.S. headquarters for an online gaming event
termed the "Olympics of Video Gaming," driving
significant growth in sponsorship acquisition and media
sales within the first two years. Approximately 1.7
million gamers from 80 countries participated in last
year's World Cyber Games. From 2003 to 2005, Mr.
Arzt was Vice President, National Sales and Marketing for
Live Nation Alliances (formerly Clear Channel
Entertainment), where he spearheaded the creation and
sales of national music, sports and entertainment
marketing partnerships, media assets and customized
marketing and licensing programs. Earlier in his
career, Mr. Arzt held executive positions in New York
City with Gravity Games, LLC (a joint venture between NBC
and Primedia) and Petersen Publishing Company, where he
was actively involved in development of some of the
action sports industry's early televised competitions,
and 3Sixty, Inc. (The Conway Corporation). Operational
plans and expectations NTN Buzztime
also announced that its future growth initiatives in its
traditional bar and restaurant sales segment will be
concentrated in the top 30 Designated Marketing Areas
(DMAs) in the United States plus Canada, in order to
focus and gain maximum efficiency from the licensing of
its proprietary Buzztime games to owners and operators of
hospitality venues such as bars and restaurants, as well
as to maximize related media opportunities. Further, the
Company announced that Buzztime games are expected to be
available online and via mobile devices by the fourth
quarter of 2009, with the intent of creating a fully
integrated media platform and experience. Expanding
the availability of Buzztime beyond its traditional
hospitality venue-based platform is intended to capture
new customer segments, to cross-promote venue-based games
by online games and vice versa, and to build even greater
popularity among the many electronic game enthusiasts
than Buzztime has already won in over 20 years as a
leader in electronic entertainment. Finally, the
Company announced significant cost-cutting measures as it
streamlines and re-focuses its activities. As part
of this initiative, in January 2009 the Company laid off
approximately 17% of its workforce. Management
projects that this and other cost-cutting measures will
allow the Company to significantly reduce its cash burn
during 2009 and become cash-flow positive in the fourth
quarter of 2009 and. SG&A expenses in 2009 are
projected to be approximately $5 million less than in
2008. The Company will elaborate more on its strategy and
outlook during its Q4 financial results conference call,
currently slated for March 19, 2009. Board
Changes The Company also announced additional restructuring of the Board. Two Board members, Gary Arlen and Bob Clasen, have resigned from the Board. The Company wishes to thank them for their long service and for their assistance with restructuring the Board. A new addition
to the Board is Mary Beth Lewis, who is the former CFO of
Fresh Produce Sportswear, Noodles and Wild Oats. At Wild
Oats, Mary Beth was CFO during a period when company
revenues expanded from $36 million to $850 million.
During that period, the Company also raised almost $200
million in private equity and debt, completed its initial
public offering and raised almost $100 million in public
equity. At Noodles, she helped engineer the growth of the
business from 30 restaurants to 100. Ms. Lewis also sits
on the Board of Ebags, where she chairs the Audit
Committee, and has been a guest lecturer on accounting
issues at various universities since 1992. Ms. Lewis will
chair the Company's Audit Committee. About NTN
Buzztime, Inc. NTN Buzztime, Inc., a leader in interactive entertainment for more than 20 years, is based in Carlsbad, CA. Buzztime is distributed in-home and out-of-home across broadband platforms including online, cable TV, satellite TV and in approximately 3,750 restaurants, sports bars and pubs throughout North America. Buzztime entertainment is also available on electronic games and in books. For more information, please visit http://www.buzztime.com Buzztime is a proud member of the OVAB |Out-of-home Video Advertising Bureau. |
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