Industry News: Universal Sports Expands to More Than 45 Million Households

LOS ANGELES, California, February 17. UNIVERSAL Sports, the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related sports programming, announced today the addition of 20 new television markets, boosting its distribution to more than 45 million television households. This announcement made by Claude Ruibal, CEO of Universal Sports and Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics, coincides with the beginning of the one-year countdown to the Vancouver Olympic Games. Universal Sports is a content partner with Swimming World Magazine.

Distribution will be provided in 20 new markets including Houston, Seattle, Miami, Denver, Indianapolis, Portland, Salt Lake City and Jacksonville. Check your local listings for availability.

This distribution announcement comes on the heels of a 100-plus hour broadcast by Universal Sports of the Alpine World Ski Championships where American Lindsey Vonn, who will lead the U.S. Ski Team at the 2010 Vancouver Games, won two gold medals. This is the first of many important World Championships that Universal Sports will broadcast this year, in addition to many top National Championship events including the U.S. Olympic Trials in Curling on Feb. 27-28 where the U.S. Olympic Curling team for Vancouver will be determined.

Universal Sports, which originally launched as World Championship Sports Network in October 2006, has delivered over 16,000 hours of Olympic sports programming to U.S. consumers on television combined with an additional 20,000 plus hours of programming online.

"We are delivering on the pledge we made to our consumers and partners when we launched Universal Sports, and we are further solidifying Universal Sports as the key destination in the U.S. for major national and international competition in Olympic-related sports," said Ruibal. "Our partnership with NBC Universal has been key to helping us succeed in making incredible sports available to every consumer in the U.S."

"Many of the stars of the Beijing Olympics will continue to excite and amaze as will the future stars of the Vancouver and London Games, and the platform to watch these incredible athletes compete as they build toward the next Games is Universal Sports and UniversalSports.com," said Zenkel. "This recent growth in the reach of our network, and the continued expansion we expect throughout 2009, will ensure that these great athletes and their stories can be followed all around the country."

2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports will offer exclusive broadcast coverage of Winter and Summer World Championship events highlighted by the following:

Winter Sports Summer Sports
Alpine ski* Swimming*
Freestyle ski Aquatics (Diving, Water Polo, Synchronized Swimming)
Nordic (Ski Jumping, Cross Track & Field (Athletics)*
Country, Nordic Combined) Gymnastics*
Bobsled & Skeleton Cycling
Ice Hockey Rowing
Snowboarding Fencing
Luge Badminton
Speed Skating Water Ski / Wakeboard
Curling Canoe/Kayak
Karate

* Joint coverage with NBC Sports

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