TORONTO, Feb. 14, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- FirstBingo.com (OTCBB:FBGO) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with CANOE.CA a wholly owned subsidiary of Netgraphe Inc., a Quebecor company. Pursuant to the terms of this agreement, as of February 18, 2002, CANOE.CA will promote FirstBingo's TriviaBingo game utilizing a variety of advertising mediums, including exposure on the CANOE.CA Website and a promotional campaign presented in the Sun Media Corporation newspapers. This initial marketing campaign is scheduled for a six-week period.
The deal with CANOE.CA will provide FirstBingo with the following:
-- Hotlink on the CANOE.CA homepage with a viewer-ship of over
six million unique users providing instant access to the
FirstBingo Website;
-- Banner ads throughout the CANOE.CA site with links to the
TriviaBingo game site; and
-- Dedicated advertising space in Sun Media's daily publications;
Toronto Sun, Ottawa Sun, Winnipeg Sun, Calgary Sun and Edmonton
Sun for the duration of the campaign. The combined readership
being in excess of three million people.
"This deal is a tremendous step forward for FirstBingo and definitely a unique opportunity for FirstBingo to showcase its TriviaBingo game. Partnering with CANOE.CA, combined with the national exposure of the Sun Media newspaper campaign can only be of benefit to our company and will undoubtedly lead to increased shareholder value," commented Richard Wachter, the company's president.
"We are very excited about this project as it will give FirstBingo and its TriviaBingo game the opportunity to audit the response generated by such a national convergence campaign (Newsprint - Internet). The campaign will provide invaluable data to assist us in our ongoing negotiations with a number of potential national advertisers and will go a long way in demonstrating the marketing advantages of Advergaming and convergence. The CANOE.CA campaign, not to mention the future benefit of such national brand exposure, is expected to generate a substantial revenue stream for the company," commented Mr. Wachter.
With more than $25,000.00 available for prize giveaways, players on the Internet TriviaBingo game will be able to test their knowledge and play for a variety of prize giveaways. Prizes will be awarded every hour, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the duration of the six-week campaign. In addition, each fully-completed TriviaBingo card entitles the player to qualify for one of the grand prize giveaways.
About CANOE.CA
CANOE is Canada's premier Web network of content sites. The home of SLAM!Sports, Jam!Showbiz, CNEWS, C-Health, WebfinMoney, Travel, Lifewise, Home & Garden, ClassifiedExtra.ca and AUTONET.CA. CANOE attracts more than six million unique users a month to its Website. The site also features Sun Media newspapers, including the Sun chain of papers in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa and the London Free Press.
Services include national movie and TV listings, online travel bookings, weather, horoscopes and more. The CANOE network, wholly owned by Netgraphe, also includes Canoe.qc.ca, InfiniT.com, La Toile du Quebec, Webfin.com, Multimedium.com Megagiciel.com, Jobboom.com and Matchcontact.com.
Sun Media Corporation is the second largest newspaper chain in Canada. The group publishes eight major dailies, covering eight of the country's 10 largest urban markets. Sun Media Corporation is a division of media giant Quebecor Inc. (TSE:QBRa.TO)
About FirstBingo.com
FirstBingo.com specializes in the development and production of Advergaming and multimedia properties, most notably an exciting Internet game and television game show called TriviaBingo. The company combines the skill-testing aspect of trivia with the excitement and popularity of the world's most played game, Bingo. Users to the site (www.firstbingo.com) are able to compete for a variety of prizes.
A cautionary note to investors as certain information contained in this press release may be forward-looking statements and not based on historical fact. Such matters involve risk and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially, including: changes in economic conditions, general competitive factors and the company's ability to execute its business model and strategic plan.