FANDANGO APPOINTS DAVE KARGER, 17-YEAR ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY VETERAN & OSCARS EXPERT, AS ITS CHIEF CORRESPONDENT

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination, announced today that it has appointed film expert Dave Karger to the newly created role of Chief Correspondent.  The hiring of Karger, a 17-year veteran and senior writer from Entertainment Weekly who also served as the Academy's official Red Carpet Greeter for the 2011 and 2012 Oscars, is a key part of Fandango's strategy to be a multi-platform entertainment brand. He will report to Hilary Smith, SVP of Digital Communications and Integrated Media Marketing for NBCUniversal's Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media division.

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"Dave has a well-deserved nationwide following as one of the industry's most dynamic and respected film and awards authorities," said Smith. She added, "Bringing him to Fandango in this newly created position is a game-changer for the brand, as the business builds on its image as the primary source for all things movies."

Karger will be available to regularly contribute movie commentary and box office insights, on behalf of Fandango, across NBCUniversal's vast array of news and Entertainment properties, including TODAY, Access Hollywood, E! Entertainment, and local stations -- as well as other media outlets. Over the years, Karger has appeared on NBC News' TODAY more than 150 times.

"This is a dream job for me," said Karger. "Film and entertainment has been my lifelong passion, and I cannot think of a better place to launch the next chapter of my career as an on-camera correspondent than the nation's leading moviegoer destination and NBCUniversal."

Karger will also represent Fandango at major movie premieres, awards shows, key industry conferences and film festivals – capturing celebrity interviews and reporting top movie news. Karger will also provide Fandango with his dead-on awards predictions and Oscar commentary, for which he has become a nationally recognized expert in the industry.

Karger covered movies, music, and television for Entertainment Weekly from 1995 until 2012. He wrote more than 50 cover stories for the magazine, on subjects including George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Denzel Washington, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Will Smith, Elton John, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood. He spearheaded Oscar coverage for the magazine and EW.com.

On television, in addition to his numerous appearances on TODAY, Dave has frequently served as a guest correspondent for Access Hollywood. He has hosted the movie-interview specials, "The Suite with Dave Karger" (AMC) and "Reel Comedy" (Comedy Central) and has interviewed actors and directors on the BBC, the Sundance Channel, Logo, and the People's Choice Awards (CBS). He has also appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Piers Morgan Tonight, and Anderson Cooper 360.

Since 2011, Dave has been the Academy of Motion Picture Arts + Sciences' official Red Carpet Greeter on Oscar night, the third person to hold that post (following Army Archerd and Robert Osborne). He has served on the juries of the TriBeCa, Los Angeles, and Florida Film Festivals. Dave graduated cum laude from Duke University.

An active user of social media, Dave can be followed on Twitter via @Davekarger.

As a sign of Fandango's growing popularity, more than 41 million people visited Fandango's Web and mobile destinations last month, while the company reported record-breaking online and mobile traffic and ticket sales during the summer of 2012.

About Fandango
Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination, sells tickets to nearly 20,000 screens nationwide. Fandango entertains and informs consumers with reviews, commentary, celebrity interviews and trailers, and offers the ability to quickly select a film, plan where and when to see it, and conveniently buy tickets in advance. At many theaters, fans can print their tickets at home or receive them as a paperless Mobile Ticket on their smartphones.

Fandango is available online at www.fandango.com, via smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, and at 1-800-FANDANGO. Fandango's top-ranking movie ticketing apps, with 26 million downloads, are available on the iPhone and iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 and many other platforms. Fandango is enjoyed by more than 41 million online and mobile visitors per month. Film fans find Fandango on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fandango and on Twitter @Fandango.

SOURCE Fandango