Thirty years after they first stormed the music scene, legendary rock band The Police, bassist/vocalist Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers, embarked on a reunion tour on May 28, 2007. This highly successful world tour visited five continents, played to nearly 3.7 million fans and garnered numerous accolades from Billboard, Pollstar, as well as The People’s Choice award for Favorite Reunion Tour. It also went down in history as the third highest grossing tour of all-time. Now, following their much heralded 14-month reunion tour, The Police commemorate the culmination of the tour with a special release.

On November 11, The Police will release a 4-disc set (2 CD’s and 2 DVD’s) entitled “The Police: Certifiable,” which contains the band’s entire concert from Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the US, this special piece - along with Blu-Ray version and three-LP, premium 180-gram vinyl set with MP3 file key - will be released exclusively through Best Buy where pre-orders are already available. In the rest of the world, the album and DVD will be released via all retail outlets starting November 10. The United Kingdom release date for the DVD and Blu-Ray formats is November 24.

A massive European media launch of the Blu-Ray format, in association with Sony, DTS and the Blu-Ray Association, will take place prior to the European release and will be attended by Stewart Copeland of The Police.

“The Police: Certifiable” is produced and directed by the award-winning Graying & Balding, Inc. team of Ann Kim and Jim Gable, whose film credits include the Rolling Stones, Sting, Keith Urban and Chris Botti.

In the U.S. specifically, the STANDARD set will contain 2-DVD’s and 2-CD’s that include the following:

* DVD with a 109-minute wide-screen concert presented in Dolby Surround and Stereo

* DVD with 50-minute bonus feature, “Better Than Therapy, ” directed by Jordan Copeland detailing The Police’s historic reunion with exclusive behind-the-scenes interviews from the band and road crew, plus 2 photo galleries of The Police on tour; one shot by guitarist and photographer Andy Summers and one by photographer Danny Clinch.

* 2 CD’s with The Police’s new live album from Riverplate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, including all of the band’s classics such as “Message in a Bottle,” “Walking on the Moon” and “Every Breath You Take.”

The Blu-Ray format will contain:

* The 109-minute 1080 HD (High Definition) concert presented in Surround and Stereo, in Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital

* The special 50-minute bonus feature, “Better Than Therapy” in HD, and the Summers and Clinch photo galleries in HD.

* 2 CD’s of Buenos Aires concert

As well as full album on VINYL, featuring:

*Wide spine gatefold jacket, contains 3 pieces of heavy weight (180 gram vinyl), plus insert for downloading MP3’s of the album.

Pre Order The Police: Certifiable Now!

Police Frontman/Bassist Sting to Lend Voice and Likeness; Rockers Tool Bring Three Popular Tracks and Band-Designed Venue to the Game.

Rock and roll legend Sting and progressive metal pioneers Tool are making their video game debuts, contributing more than just music, in Activision Publishing, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: ATVI) Guitar Hero® World Tour.

In what will be the largest collection of artists ever to appear in a Guitar Hero game, singer-songwriter, actor, author, activist and lead singer/bassist of The Police, Sting will add his voice and likeness as an in-game character. Aspiring frontmen can take the stage as Sting throughout their vocal career or play alongside him as he performs one of The Police classics, “Demolition Man”.

Hugely popular alternative metal band Tool, known for their epic, intense musical arrangements and killer visual arts, will also soon be known for their contribution to the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitar Hero fans from all over the world will be able to rock out to “Parabola” and Grammy-award winning “Schism” from Tool’s critically-acclaimed 2001 album Lateralus in addition to “Vicarious” from their 2006 Grammy-award winning album 10,000 Days. The game will also feature an all-new venue designed in collaboration with the band and highlighting the art style that has become a staple in their music videos, live shows and album artwork.

When the house lights go down this fall, a new generation of guitarists, drummers and fearless frontmen will come together and rock with Guitar Hero World Tour. The latest installment in the #1 best-selling video game franchise of 2007, Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’s signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands”, which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online for the first time ever. The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Music creators will also be able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunesSM where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Guitar Hero World Tour is being developed by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. The Wii™ version is being developed by Vicarious Visions. The PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system version is being developed by Budcat. The game is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB. For more information on Guitar Hero World Tour, please visit www.guitarhero.com.

Check out this “making of” video…

About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.

Activision Publishing maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision Publishing and its products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as “outlook”, “will,” “could,” “would,” “might,” “remains,” “to be,” “plans,” “believes”, “may”, “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimate,” future,” “plan,” “positioned,” “potential,” “project,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming” and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision Publishing’s titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing’s ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing’s products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard’s success in integrating the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

*Online gameplay is only available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™ and may require an additional subscription.

© 2008 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar Hero, Activision and RedOctane are registered trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Used with Permission. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Wii and the Wii logo are trademarks of Nintendo.

New York public TV tapped into the final date on the Police reunion tour at Madison Square Garden in a unique fund-raising effort that may serve as a template for stations seeking to broaden PBS’ demographics through live music.

About one-third of the tickets for the Police finale were offered as “rewards” for donations to New York public TV sister stations WNET and WLlW, launching their Public Television Rocks marketing initiative and raising some $3 million in funds for the networks.

The deal was orchestrated by the stations’ reps; Entertainment Marketing Communications International founder/CEO Jay Coleman and RZO Productions partner Bill Zysblat, co-producers of the Police tour; and Police/Sting manager Kathy Schenker. Tour co-producer Live Nation and the Garden also were involved in marketing and promoting the program.

Coleman says the way tickets were distributed opened up a “new paradigm” that could be used again. About two-thirds of the tickets were sold through Ticketmaster (which donated much of its service charges to Police charities), and one-third of the house was distributed over the air and online to serve as rewards for New York PBS pledges.

The first row alone generated $140,000 via an online auction, which Coleman thinks might be the highest-grossing first row for a concert.

WNET deputy general counsel of program business affairs Ranfi Rivera says the stations wanted to connect with potential donors beyond just over the airwaves. “We put our thinking caps on to come up with other ways that we could draw attention to what we were doing, to reach people who ordinarily don’t seek us out,” Rivera says. “One of the ways we were able to reach folks was to launch a twowave eBay auction.”

In the first wave, front-row seats averaged about $4,200 each as a donation to New York public TV, with such perks as a band meet-and-greet and sound check rounding out the “experience” package. “It’s a contribution and obviously people get tax benefits from that, but it was a nice package for a Police fan and it also supported a great cause,” Coleman says. Beyond the auction, other price points for pledges ranged from $750 to $100 per pair of tickets for donations.

The second wave, launched after the concert, was an eBay auction of signed Police instruments that raised another $50,000. Throughout the promotion, the two stations served up plenty of Police content on the air.

“It worked, it was great, and it gave [the stations] an outreach to a whole new audience,” Coleman says.

“I’m talking to them now about lots of new opportunities for next year. Rather than do this once in a great while, what we can do is take this platform and use it in a way that will engage younger viewers with continuity.”

Rivera says the success of the Police promotion will be followed by more music events as part of the stations’ Public Television Rocks campaign, though details have not yet been finalized.

Coleman points out that with a dearth of broadcast TV opportunities for live music, bands are seeking TV exposure. “Public television is a fabulous outlet for this,” he says. “They are very interested in reaching out to this audience who loves music and would love to see it without commercial interruption.

I believe public television is going to become a very attractive place and as this continues, they’ll do more and more music. What needs to be done is figure out the economic model of how to fund it, and that’s what I’ve been working on.”

© Billboard by Ray Waddell