NEW YORK, March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert A. Marsland, an 18-year-old senior at St. Ambrose Academy in Madison, Wisconsin, outperformed 49 other national vocabulary high school scholars today, winning the first-ever GSN National Vocabulary Championship. As the national champion, Marsland won $40,000 toward a 529 higher education savings plan, a commemorative trophy and the title of National Vocabulary Champion. GSN will air a one-hour special based on the NVC finale Sunday, April 15, 8 PM ET/PT.

Several prominent dignitaries were on hand to support the NVC finale held at The New York Public Library, among them: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education Joel Klein and New York Library President Paul LeClerc, all of whom made opening remarks. Also, Rich Cronin, president and chief executive officer of GSN, Dena Kaplan, senior vice president of marketing, GSN and John Katzman, chief executive officer of The Princeton Review, the educational partner of the NVC, participated in the inaugural contest. Cronin, Kaplan and Katzman along with NVC host Dylan Lane, star of GSN's game show "Chain Reaction" awarded Marsland with the trophy and check.

Said Cronin on Marsland's victory: "We're thrilled to congratulate Robert Marsland on becoming the 2007 National Vocabulary Champion of America. Robert beat 49 talented finalists and 30,000 total contestants from across the country so his victory is quite impressive."

Kaplan, who conceptualized the NVC commented: "I couldn't be more pleased with the educational phenomenon that the NVC has become in one year. Our main objective in hosting the championship was to assist high school students in advancing their vocabulary skills. The support we have received from government officials, school administrators, cable operators and sponsors has been overwhelming. We couldn't have expected a more exciting finale and we congratulate Robert Marsland on his win and eagerly look forward to next year's competition."

Stated Katzman on the finale: "Props to Marsland. We were stoked to see him win. We want to give a shout out to Robert for being such a vocabulary master. Whoops, I mean that Robert is an erudite semanticist and we are awed by his achievement."

The National Vocabulary Championship is a new event on the scholastic landscape for high school-aged students. The NVC is an educational initiative conceived by GSN, in partnership with The Princeton Review, to emphasize the importance of language arts skills and encourage high school students to enhance their vocabularies.

The 50 NVC finalists in today's event represented 26 states and hailed from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds. Nearly 20% of the finalists are home-schooled and 62% have participated previously in state or national level academic competitions.

The students competed in three rounds that tested word comprehension ability. Eight of the finalists secured their place in the NVC finals through live citywide vocabulary competitions. The other 42 finalists qualified through online exams that were offered at the program's website, http://www.winwithwords.com/, and subsequent regional exams administered at The Princeton Review testing sites around the country.

Marsland, the son of Robert and Diane, would like to attend Princeton University and study Physics and Philosophy. Besides his love for words, Marsland's hobbies include music. He plays cello in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra. A fierce competitor, he previously competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2003. He will be featured in GSN's one-hour special based on the NVC airing at 8 PM ET/PT Sunday, April 15. Lane, host of GSN's original game show "Chain Reaction," moderated the competition and will host the televised special.

Other winners included Daniel Thorn, 17, of Teaneck, New Jersey who finished in second place. Thorn's silver finish earned him $2,500 toward a college savings plan and $2,500 toward The Princeton Review study materials. In third place, Jack Ausick, 15, of Clyde Park, Montana won $500 toward a college savings plan and $500 toward The Princeton Review materials.

Profiles and photos of the 50 National Vocabulary Championship finalists and winner, along with more information about the NVC, can be found at http://www.winwithwords.com/.

About the "National Vocabulary Championship"

The National Vocabulary Championship (NVC) is a GSN initiative that uses competition and wordplay to engage and reward high school students, educators and parents, teaching them the value of a strong vocabulary. Created with educational partner The Princeton Review, the NVC is open to eligible high school students in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and is promoted in schools and through a national "Win With Words" public service announcement campaign. In addition, a robust, interactive website (http://www.winwithwords.com/) offers a variety of free vocabulary-enhancing tools, word games and study materials.

About GSN

GSN is the entertainment industry leader in multi-platform interactive game programs. As the premier television network for games, GSN features challenging word games, high intensity casino programs, live participation shows, reality series and documentaries. Complementing the network, GSN.com features all types of game play: innovative Flash games for fun, skill-based cash game tournaments and downloadable games. The website also features GSN's two-screen interactive play-along games for prime time shows. Now reaching more than 62 million homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com.

About The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review is a pioneer in the world of education. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in New York City, the Company offers private tutoring and classroom and online test preparation to help students improve their scores in college and graduate school admissions tests. The Company's free website, http://www.princetonreview.com/, helps over half of university-bound students research, apply to, prepare for, and learn how to pay for their higher education, and helps hundreds of colleges and universities streamline their admissions and recruiting activities. In addition, The Princeton Review works with school districts around the U.S. to measurably strengthen students' academic skills by connecting ongoing assessment with professional development and instruction and by providing districts with college and career resources for both students and guidance counselors. The Company also authors more than 200 print and software titles on test preparation, college and graduate school selection and admissions, and related topics

-GSN '07-

CONTACT: Deborah McBride of GSN, +1-310-633-4175, dmcbride@gsn.com

Web site: http://www.winwithwords.com/

Web site: http://corp.gsn.com/

Web site: http://www.princetonreview.com/

Web site: http://www.gsn.com/