On the Sept. 5 season premiere of her daily talk show, New Orleans native Ellen DeGeneres will announce a $500,000 donation from Warner Bros. that will kick off a viewer-fundraising campaign for Hurricane Katrina relief, according to a memo being circulated to employees.

Warrner Bros. will match DeGeneres viewers’ contributions up to another $500,000.

Additionally, The WB Television network is donating $100,000 to its New Orleans affliate, WNOL, owned by Tribune Co., to help its employees affected by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding.

Time Warner also says it will match $1 million in employee donations to the American Red Cross.

By P.J. Bednarski -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/1/2005 2:25:00 PM