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Goodyear Blimps Return to Today Show

19 November 1998

Goodyear Blimps Return to Today Show

    SUFFIELD, Ohio, Nov. 19 -- For the second time in less than
six months, NBC's top-rated Today Show will feature Goodyear's blimps and the
company's chairman.
    Hosts Matt Lauer and Katie Couric will interview Goodyear Chairman Sam
Gibara Monday morning on the company's 100th anniversary while, in a
television first, the network will simultaneously receive aerial views from
airships in the U.S. and Europe.
    The Today Show, between 7:30 and 8 a.m., will simultaneously air views
from the California-based Eagle, stationed over the Hotel Del Coronado in San
Diego, and the Spirit of Europe I providing a view of St. Tropez, France.  The
Spirit of Akron will hover over the Suffield blimp base flashing special
messages on its side.
    The Today Show will air a 90-second history of the Goodyear blimps and
Couric will engage Gibara on his role in the recent expansion from three
domestic blimp operations to six worldwide.  Due to segment time constraints,
The Stars and Stripes in Pompano Beach, Fla.; the Spirit of Europe II in
Barcelona, Spain; and the Spirit of the Americas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
will not be on-air.
    In September, Today Show personality Willard Scott was live from Wingfoot
Lake while Salma Gibara, wife of the Goodyear chairman, christened the new
Florida blimp, The Stars & Stripes.  Couric and Lauer host the popular morning
show that airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on NBC affiliates.
    Although the blimp base at Wingfoot Lake will not be open to the public
during the event, interested media are invited.