Latimes.com Launches “Show Your Spirit” Video Contest

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 22, 2005 – Latimes.com, the website of the Los Angeles Times, today kicked off its “Show Your Spirit” video contest, the winners of which will each receive two tickets to the Jan. 4, 2006 national college football championship game at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif.

In addition to receiving a pair of game tickets each, the two winners – one supporting the University of Southern California and the other the University of Texas – will be invited to appear on the Jan. 4 Morning News program broadcast by Los Angeles television station KTLA, and will attend the game with KTLA on-air personalities. The two winning videos will be featured during the Jan. 4 news broadcast.

Beginning Dec. 28, USC Trojans and Texas Longhorns fans are invited to submit for judging a 30-second video showcasing their college team spirit. The Times will select 10 contest finalists, five supporting each university. Judging will be based on originality, creativity, humor and appropriateness to the subject matter.

Starting Dec. 29, The Times will randomly select entries for broadcast on KTLA and posting on latimes.com.

On Jan. 2, the finalists will be posted on latimes.com for public voting from 8 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) until 12 p.m. PT. Latimes.com visitors will vote for the top winner supporting each team. In the event of a tie, The Times will select the winner based on originality and creativity. Winners will be announced on the latimes.com website at 8 a.m. PT on Jan. 3.

Entry Submission

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Entries can be submitted electronically to latimes.com beginning at 6 a.m. PT on Dec. 28, and must be received no later than 5 p.m. PT on Jan. 1, 2006. The official entry form will be available beginning at 6 a.m. PT on Dec. 28 at www.latimes.com/RBV06.

Entries must meet the following technical requirements:

• Format: NTSC (4:3) size and frame rate, deinterlaced, 320x240
• File size: 15MB maximum
• Length: 30 seconds maximum
• Frame rate: Should be above 12 frames per second
• Video Coded: AV1, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or WMV
• Video Bitrate: at least 260 Kbps (750 Kpbs preferred)
• Audio Bitrate: At least 70 Kpbs (12k Kpbs preferred)

Video submissions must contain recognizable video content. Video container files that do not contain video will not be accepted. The video metadata must be accurate and relevant to the content uploaded.For complete rules and regulations, please visit www.latimes.com/teamspirit.

The Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 37 Pulitzer Prizes, including two this year. The Times publishes five daily regional editions, for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange County, Ventura County, the San Fernando Valley, and the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The Times’ website, www.latimes.com, features 50,000 content pages, and is updated continuously with more than 3,000 stories posted daily. Latimes.com’s award-winning arts and entertainment section, calendarlive.com, offers an extensive range of entertainment news reviews and Southern California’s most comprehensive event listing. The Times also produces The Envelope, www.TheEnvelope.com, the entertainment industry’s most comprehensive, year-round awards show website.

Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.

Latimes.com
SHOW YOUR SPIRIT ONLINE VIDEO CONTEST
Official Rules

1. To enter: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Submit a 30-second video that showcases your USC or Texas team spirit. Go to https://www.latimes.com/RBV06, fill out the entry form, and follow the directions for submitting your video file, which MUST meet the following technical requirements:
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
NTSC (4:3) size and frame rate, deinterlaced, 320X240
File size: 15MB (Maximum)
Length: 30 seconds (maximum)
Frame rate: should be above 12 frames per second
Video Codec: AVI, MPEG-1 MPEG-2 or WMV
Video Bitrate: at least 260Kbps (750kbps preferred)
Audio Bitrate: at least 70Kbps (128 Kbps preferred)
The video must contain recognizable video content (video container files that do not contain video will not be accepted). The video metadata must be accurate and relevant to the content you upload (no spam).

You may enter on-line at or after 06:00a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on December 28, 2005 and until 5:00 p.m. PT on January 1, 2006. All entries must be submitted and received within this period. Any incomplete entries or entries not received within this period will be disqualified. Limit one (1) entry per person. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of an entrant, the holder of the e-mail account will be deemed the person who submitted the entry.

In connection with this contest, your submission (the entire video, clips or stills) may be chosen by the Los Angeles Times to be published in whole or in part in any media, including, but not limited to its newspaper, displayed on its website, or broadcast on KTLA (Channel 5).

2. Deadline: The contest begins at 06:00 a.m. PT on December 28, 2005 and ends at 5:00 p.m. PT on January 1, 2006. All entries must be submitted and received within this time period.

3. Selection of winners: On January 1, 2006 the Los Angeles Times staff will pick 5 finalists for each team (USC and Texas) (for a total of 10 finalists) based on the following criteria:
Originality/Creativity (65%)
Humor (25%)
Appropriateness to the subject matter (10%).

The 10 finalist videos will then be posted on latimes.com at 8:00 a.m. PT on January 2, 2006. From those 10 finalist videos, latimes.com on-line users will vote online from 8:00 a.m. PT until noon PT on January 2, 2006 and pick who they think should be the Team Spirit Winner for each team (USC and Texas). The two finalist videos (one for USC and one for Texas) with the most votes by noon PT on January 2, 2006, as tabulated by the Los Angeles Times staff, will be declared the Team Spirit Winners on latimes.com at 8:00 a.m. PT on January 3, 2006. There will be a total of two (2) Team Spirit winners. Each winner will be notified that he or she has been selected by telephone and/or e-mail. If the Sponsor is unable to contact the Winner to notify him or her that he or she has won, by 8:00 a.m. PT on January 4, 2006, or if any notification is returned as undeliverable, for any reason beyond the Sponsor’s control, the winner’s prize may be forfeited and a substitute winner will be selected.

4. Prizes: Each winner will receive two (2) $175.00 general admission tickets to the Rose Bowl game on January 4, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. (PST). Winners are encouraged to appear on the KTLA Morning News program on Wednesday, January 4, 2006. The Winners’ winning videos will be broadcast during the program. By accepting the prizes, winners agree not to sell the tickets. Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash and prize substitution will not be allowed, except at the discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value for the prize.

5. Eligibility: This contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. One winner per household. Winners must be 18 years of age or older, a U.S. Citizen, and a resident of any state in the U.S. except Florida, New York, and Rhode Island. Employees of the Los Angeles Times, and Tribune Broadcasting Company and their subsidiaries, divisions, agents and immediate families are not eligible to enter or win.

6. Conditions of entry: All submissions become the property of the Los Angeles Times and will not be returned. Entrants warrant that their videos are their own original creation, do not violate the rights of any other person or company (including but not limited to copyrights), and do not contain offensive, defamatory, vulgar or profane content, as determined by the Judges. Videos that do not comply with these Rules shall be disqualified. By entering, each entrant grants permission, without further compensation, to the Los Angeles Times and their agents and licensees (including, but not limited to, KTLA) to use the entrant’s name, voice, photograph, likeness and biographical material (and the name, voice, photograph, likeness and biographical material of any other person(s) depicted in the video) and the video itself in any medium of communication now known or hereinafter devised including, without limitation, print, Internet, radio and/or television throughout the world and for any purpose, including advertising, promotional or other purposes. Upon request, entrant shall provide proof that such permission was obtained from any other person depicted in the video. By entering, each entrant agrees that if selected as the winner, he or she will sign a release and waiver of liability. The prize will be forfeited and awarded to another party if the winner does not execute the prepared form of release and waiver, or if the selected winner is not eligible in accordance with these rules. The Los Angeles Times’ decision -- in selecting the finalists, tabulating the latimes.com online user votes, and declaring the winners -- is final and incontestable.

Entries that are lost, late, misdirected, garbled, incompletely received, militated, or illegible, for any reason, including by reason of hardware, software, browser or network failure, malfunction, congestion or incompatibility at Sponsor’s website or elsewhere, will not be eligible and Sponsor is not responsible for any technical problems related to online entries. If for any reason, the Internet-related portion of this contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, tampering, fraud, technical failure, or any other cause which corrupts or threatens the administration, security or integrity of the contest, the Los Angeles Times reserves the right, in its sole discretion to terminate or suspend the contest or any portion of the contest. ANY ATTEMPT TO DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE FAIR AND LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM THE CONTEST. Information submitted in Internet entries including entrant’s name, address, e-mail address, etc., may be used by the Los Angeles Times for marketing or promotional purposes.

A copy of the Official Rules or the name of the winners can be obtained by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to LATIMES.COM ONLINE SERVICES, 202 West 1st Street. Los Angeles, California 90012 or by logging onto the latimes.com website. A list of the winners’ names will be available after the winners have been verified and the prizes have been awarded. Contest rules shall be governed and enforced pursuant to California law, excluding choice of law provisions.

7. Sponsor: The Los Angeles Times, 202 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, California 90012.

Contact:
David Garcia
213-237-4715
david.garcia@latimes.com