FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Boston Athletic Association: Jack Fleming
617-236-1652 (T) 617-236-1652 (F)
Amy Phillips: OLN
(203) 406-2509 (T)
OLN to Televise the Boston Marathon® Beginning in 2005
BOSTON, Mass. - (February 1, 2005) - OLN® and the Boston Athletic
Association have announced a multiple-year partnership for OLN to televise
the Boston Marathon nationally, both live and tape-delayed, beginning in
2005.
OLN will provide three hours of live, wire-to-wire coverage to North
American homes, making the Boston Marathon the only U.S. road race to
receive complete, live, national coverage.
"The Boston Marathon is the crown jewel of long distance running," said
Gavin Harvey, President of OLN. "The epic spectacle of the world's most
prestigious foot race, the fierce drive of the planet's most elite runners
- this event is what OLN is all about."
"OLN's commitment to providing the best coverage of action sports now
brings the Boston Marathon to enthusiastic viewers who will appreciate the
traditions and history on which the race has been built," said B.A.A.
Executive Director Guy Morse. "Runners and our audience will be pleased
with OLN's production of the race and its in-depth coverage."
The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and one of the
world's most prestigious road races. This year's event, which is annually
held on the Patriots' Day holiday, will be contested on Monday, April 18. A
maximum field of 20,000 participants will run the historic and traditional
point-to-point route from Hopkinton to Boston, Massachusetts. An estimated
500,000 spectators line the 26.2-mile route each year, making the Boston
Marathon one of New England's most popular sporting events.
"In reaching an agreement to televise one the world's marquee participatory
sporting events, OLN has added yet another 'best in class' event to our
programming schedule," said Marc Fein, Senior Vice President of Programming
and Production for OLN. "OLN's addition of the Boston Marathon to a roster
that already includes the Tour de France, USSA and FIS skiing, the PBR and
the DAKAR Rally, shows that the network is committed to premier specialty
sports programming in our genre."
Outdoor Life Network is owned and operated by Comcast, which is also the
nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications
products and services, including in New England. Comcast has sponsored the
Patriots' Festival since 2002, when it became Boston's cable provider.
Amy Banse, Comcast's Senior Vice President of Content Development said,
"The Boston Marathon represents all the passion and tradition that makes
OLN's content so compelling. This is an exciting development for runners,
viewers and fans across the country."
The Boston Athletic Association was represented in the negotiation of the
agreement by Clear Channel Entertainment Television (CCETV).
OLN is the leader in outdoor adventure and action sports television. Now in
more than 62 million homes, OLN is the home of best-in-class events like
The Tour de France, The Gravity Games, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and
USSA Skiing. Owned and operated by Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA,
CMCSK), the Network offers exclusive programming in four primary areas:
Outdoor Adventure, Action Sports, Field Sports and Bulls & Rodeo. OLN is
distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the
continental United States and Hawaii.
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