The Emmy® Award-Winning "The Dr. Oz Show" Announces Season-Long Viewer Challenge to Transform the Health of the Nation Launching Monday, September 26

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Emmy® Award-winning, critically acclaimed and nationally syndicated "The Dr. Oz Show" is launching its biggest call to action yet.  This is the year Americans put themselves first and take control of their health and their weight once and for all with Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You beginning Monday, September 26 (check local listings).  The season-long viewer health challenge, in partnership with Weight Watchers, the weight loss company that has already helped millions of Americans successfully lose weight by adopting a healthier lifestyle, will lead viewers through seven steps towards optimum health, each with its own completion criteria.  Semi-finalists will be chosen and then a panel of judges will narrow down 10 finalists with the grand prize winner being voted on by viewers.

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Viewers can register to participate in Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You at www.doctoroz.com, powered by Sharecare.  Then, over the course of the season, Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You will take Americans through seven key steps to transform their health.  Steps include weighing in with Weight Watchers and calculating your BMI, finding out your family's health history, getting more sleep, assessing your stress, adding fitness to your life, connecting with your doctor and learning how support from friends is the key to success.  One lucky person who completes all seven steps will walk away with $1 million dollars!

"I have been saying for years that we need to make it easy for you to do the right thing, and now we have," said two-time Emmy® Award-winning host Mehmet Oz, M.D.  "Every person has the right to look and feel like a million bucks, so we decided we would make $1 million available as motivation.  The great news is that even if you don't win the cash, you still win in the long run by getting healthier."

"The Dr. Oz Show" is proud to be working with Weight Watchers, who share Dr. Oz's philosophy on the importance of healthy lifestyle change.  Over the past few decades morbidity levels have increased sharply due to the rising rates of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and more, but if every adult lost just 10 percent of their body weight (or 20 pounds for someone weighing 200 pounds), these rates could be drastically reduced.  For the first time ever, "The Dr. Oz Show" is partnering with Weight Watchers to help registrants lose weight.  After entering the contest on-line through the www.doctoroz.com web site, participants will then find a Weight Watchers meeting near them and proceed with a complimentary weigh-in and calculate their BMI on the web site.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Dr. Oz to help transform America's health," said Weight Watchers President, North America, Dave Burwick. "Working together, we can reach a nation at risk. Recent estimates show that by 2030 – in less than 20 years – 65 million more Americans will be obese. (1) Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You can encourage people to take responsibility for their own health and wellness and joining Weight Watchers can provide the tools they need to be successful over the long term."

Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You is being powered online by our partner, Sharecare, who is committed to getting America healthy.  In addition to the Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You interactive program on Sharecare, participants will have access to trusted health and wellness information, helpful tools, and real-time community interaction with each other and with thousands of health experts including physicians, nurses and trainers – all designed to help everyone live their healthiest life.  Sharecare is a company founded and owned by Harpo, Sony Pictures Television, Discovery Communications, Dr. Oz, and Jeff Arnold which also powers the robust website for "The Dr. Oz Show." Each step in the Dr. Oz's Transformation Nation: Million Dollar You program has its own curriculum and evaluation criteria – all of which is managed in the online program.

The Seven Steps are as Follows:

TELL A FRIEND: The show is asking all Americans to enlist their friends because we know you cannot go at it alone. Studies show folks who lose weight in groups keep their weight off and are more successful in the long term.

WEIGH IN WITH WEIGHT WATCHERS AND CALCULATE YOUR BMI: Learn the importance of your Body Mass Index. If you don't have a healthy BMI, we are asking you to lose 10 percent of your body weight or reach a healthy BMI, which correlates to a drop in risk to the things we fear most: cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. The first step in calculating your BMI is to go to a local Weight Watchers center.  There, you'll find out your starting weight.  You will receive a complimentary weigh-in, and you can stay for a meeting. If you like what you hear, you can join Weight Watchers and become a member. Some famous faces will be revealing their BMI in the show.

CONNECT WITH YOUR DOCTOR: Nearly 1/3 of all Americans don't see a doctor every year. We want you to start a relationship with your doctor so you can have an honest conversation about your weight before it's a bigger problem. Know the questions to ask your doctor and find out the right numbers to talk with them about, including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose. Having a relationship will help you prevent future illness. If you don't have a doctor we want you to seek out your pharmacist who can help get the conversation going.

LEARN YOUR FAMILY'S HEALTH HISTORY: One of the critical tools a doctor uses to diagnose illness and recommend preventative care is your family history. Knowing your family's health history enables you to get life saving screenings before it's too late. "The Dr. Oz Show" web site (www.doctoroz.com) will be offering unique web tools powered by Sharecare to help you fill out your family history and compile all critical information.

GET MORE SLEEP: This step will teach Americans to get at least 30 more minutes of sleep a night by going to bed a half-hour earlier. We know that lack of sleep is a hidden factor of weight gain.

ASSESS YOUR STRESS: Everyone must understand how stress is a key factor in weight gain, and learn new and practical ways to manage their stress better.  Stress can affect the neuroendocrine system, resulting in abdominal fat, for example: indirectly stress is linked to the consumptions of too many fatty or sugary foods and inactivity.

START NEW FITNESS HABITS: Something as simple as a brisk walking for 30-60 minutes, five times a week can lower your risk of heart disease by about 40 percent. The web site will provide contestants with various fitness resources, and a national fitness event will be held in the spring.

Two hundred semi-finalists will be chosen from the contestants who have completed all the steps and questionnaires.  Judges will then select those with the most outstanding performance in each step, combined with their personal motivation essays, to narrow down the pool further to 10.  These finalists will be introduced on the show and on the website, and the public will then be given the opportunity to vote and select a winner.

DR. OZ'S TRANSFORMATION NATION: MILLION DOLLAR YOU CONTEST

OFFICIAL RULES Abbreviated Rules:

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE U.S. STATES AND D.C. (EXCLUDING MAINE), 18 YEARS (OR AGE OF LEGAL MAJORITY) OR OLDER. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Entries must be received by 4/9/12. For Official Rules, including odds, and prize descriptions visit http://Sharecare.DoctorOz.com/rules. Sponsor: Sharecare, Inc., 3280 Peachtree Rd., Suite 600, Atlanta, GA 30305.

ABOUT "THE DR. OZ SHOW"

Dr. Oz won his second consecutive Emmy® Award for outstanding informative talk show host at the 2011 Daytime Emmys. "The Dr. Oz Show" won its first Emmy® Award for Best Informative Talk Show in 2011.  "The Dr. Oz Show" debuted in 2009 with the biggest ratings in seven years in daytime television and maintained impressive ratings throughout the season.

Dr. Oz has served as health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" since 2004, sharing advice with viewers to help them live their best life from the inside out. Dr. Oz has co-authored six New York Times Best Sellers including "YOU: The Owner's Manual", "YOU: The Smart Patient", "YOU: On a Diet", "YOU: Staying Young", "YOU: Being Beautiful" and "YOU: Having a Baby" as well as the award-winning "Healing from the Heart". He has a regular column in TIME Magazine, AARP and O The Oprah Magazine. He is also the host of a daily talk show on Sirius XM Radio's "Oprah Radio."

Dr. Oz is vice-chair of the Department of Surgery and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital and performs 100 heart operations annually. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complementary medicine and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books and has received several patents.

Cleared in over 99% of the country, "The Dr. Oz Show" is co-produced by Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and distributed by SPT.  "The Dr. Oz Show" is executive produced by Mindy Borman; Amy Chiaro is co-executive producer.  The show is filmed in front of a studio audience in Studio 6A in New York's legendary Rockefeller Center.

ABOUT HARPO

Harpo Productions, Inc. produces the number-one-rated, award-winning, The Oprah Winfrey Show, creates and develops original TV programming for primetime, syndication and cable television and operates Oprah.com (www.oprah.com), a premier lifestyle website. Harpo Print, LLC and Hearst Magazines publish the monthly O, The Oprah Magazine publication. Harpo Films is dedicated to high- quality scripted dramatic programming. Harpo Radio, Inc. produces Oprah Radio (XM channel 156, Sirius channel 195 as part of its "Best of XM" package) on Sirius XM Radio. A joint venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a multiplatform company, will debut in 2010 in more than 70 million homes on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES TELEVISION

Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry's leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, including series, telefilms, theatrical releases and family entertainment around the world and for every platform: broadcast and cable television, first-run and off-network syndication and digital distribution. In addition to one of the industry's largest libraries of feature films and television shows, SPT boasts a current program slate that includes the top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. Internationally, SPT is a leader in local language productions around the world, some of which are co-produced with local partners, and sells SPE-owned formats in approximately 70 countries. To better serve its clients and partners worldwide, SPT maintains offices throughout the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, the People's Republic of China, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Venezuela and the United Kingdom. SPT's worldwide television networks portfolio is a key strategy in SPE's long-range commitment to the global marketplace, with 120 channel feeds, which are available in more than 142 countries reaching more than 500 million households worldwide. SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE's premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT owns Dutch entertainment company 2waytraffic, production company Embassy Row and Sony Movie Channel, and is a part owner of cable channel GSN, new 3D channel 3net, FEARnet, the premier horror/thriller website and VOD service, and national media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premiere national advertising sales companies, handling the commercial inventory in SPT's syndicated series as well as in all of SPE's digital businesses in the United States. SPT (www.sonypicturestelevision.com) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

ABOUT WEIGHT WATCHERS INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Weight Watchers International, Inc. is the world's leading provider of weight management services, operating globally through a network of Company-owned and franchise operations. Weight Watchers holds over 45,000 meetings each week where members receive group support and learn about healthy eating patterns, behavior modification and physical activity. WeightWatchers.com provides innovative, subscription weight management products over the Internet and is the leading Internet-based weight management provider in the world. In addition, Weight Watchers offers a wide range of products, publications and programs for those interested in weight loss and weight control.

(1)Wang YC et al (2011) Health and economic burden of the projected obesity trends in the USA and the UK, The  Lancet, v. 378, i. 9793, p. 815 – 825

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