• July 22, 2003

Matthew D. Papish, president of Pipeline Entertainment, has signed a strategic alliance with MatchNet, a provider of online dating and relationship services worldwide. The alliance gives Papish the domestic and international rights to create reality-based television programs based on any and all of MatchNet's global network of online properties, which includes AmericanSingles.com, CollegeLuv.com, Glimpse.com, MatchNet.co.uk, Jdate.com and others. Papish is the creator and executive producer of popular television shows including "Blind Date," and "Classmates," a new Twentieth Television/ Foxlab daily syndicated show that debuted on July 7. Classmates is the first television show to be based on a successful website, with the show's concept and content driven directly by the website and its 35+ million registered users. "I secured the rights from Classmates.com and sold 'Classmates' to Twentieth Television, then set my sites on the multi-billion dollar online dating industry," says Papish. "MatchNet has all the right elements for successful television -- enormous reach, audience loyalty, measurable traffic, impressions; but most important, it's a vast source of real-life experiences that make truly compelling storytelling."