Sports Media News

U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM MEMBERS LYSACEK, WEIR, NAGASU, BELBIN & AGOSTO THIS SUNDAY IN SKATE FOR THE HEART ON NBC

Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn White Featured In World of Adventures Sports

NEW YORK- Jan. 28, 2010 – NBC Sports presents taped coverage of the Silk Soy Milk Skate for the Heart this Sunday at 4 p.m. ET from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

This event is packed with skating powerhouses and current U.S. Olympic Team members including 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, reigning World Champion Evan Lysacek, three-time National Champion Johnny Weir and current U.S. silver medalist and 2008 National Champion Mirai Nagasu.

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks headlines an evening of contemporary music with Olympic and world-class skaters in a show that provides awareness for the prevention of heart disease. Also providing music is 16-year-old singing sensation Charice Pempengco and pop groups Honor Society and KSM.

WORLD OF ADVENTURE SPORTS, SATURDAY, 2 PM ET
The new season of the World of Adventure Sports will kick off this Saturday on NBC Sports with Red Bull Project X, one of the most progressive snowboard sessions in history. In preparation for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, Olympic gold medalist Shaun White teamed up with Red Bull to create a private halfpipe nestled in the backcountry of Silverton Mountain, Colo. It was there that Shaun would create a series of new tricks that would change the sport forever.

Pat Parnell hosts.

PBR, SATURDAY, 4:30 PM ET
NBC Sports presents taped coverage of the Professional Bull Riders’ Tecate Light Invitational on Saturday from Anaheim, Calif. The event will feature experienced riders including reigning World Champion Kody Lostroh (Longmont,Colo.), Guilherme Marchi (Leme, SP, Brazil), LJ Jenkins (Texico, N.M.), and Josh Koschel (Greely, Colo.).

NBC’s Craig Hummer, Justin McKee, Ty Murray, Donna Brothers and Justin McBride call the action.

INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, SUNDAY, 3 PM ET
NBC Sports will present a one-hour broadcast of the International Auto Show this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The show will give you a look at some of the most intriguing new vehicles that were on display at the NAIAS 2010 in Detroit. Coverage features the finest production and concept vehicles with a focus on smaller fuel efficient vehicles and automotive design, as well as technical advancements for vehicles of the future.

NBC Sports Commentators Bill Weber, Marty Snider, Kelli Stavast, and Phil LeBeau will give you a close up look at some of the world’s most incredible vehicles.

LADIES TAKE THE ICE IN HOPES OF MAKING THE OLYMPIC TEAM AS NBC SPORTS AND UNIVERSAL SPORTS LIVE COVERAGE OF THE AT&T U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS CONTINUES

Expanded Live Coverage of the Ladies Free Skate Begins Tonight on Universal Sports

“She looks great, like no time has passed.” – NBC’s Hamilton on Sasha Cohen

NEW YORK – January 21, 2010 - The remainder of U.S. Olympic figure skating team (ladies and dance) will be determined this weekend as NBC Sports and Universal Sports present live coverage of the AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, including live primetime coverage of the Ladies Free Skate on Saturday on NBC and expanded live coverage of the Ladies Short Program tonight on Universal Sports.

Coverage on NBC Sports includes the Ladies Free Skate live on Saturday in primetime (9-11 p.m. ET/PT).  Earlier in the day, NBC Sports will have live coverage of the Free Dance and taped coverage of the Ladies Short Program (3-6 p.m. ET).  Universal Sports’ coverage begins tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET with live coverage of the Ladies short program.  *Coverage on Universal Sports is expanded to four hours tonight from the two hours that was announced previously.

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held annually since 1914, is the nation’s most prestigious figure skating event, and this year’s event will go a long way in determining the U.S. team for Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, which begin Feb. 12 on NBC.

Coverage this weekend will also include the official announcement of the U.S. Olympic team on Sunday in primetime (9-11 p.m. ET/PT) along with the Exhibition of Champions and a full recap of the competition on Sunday (4-6 p.m. ET).

Event host Bob Costas and legendary figure skater and announcer Dick Button host NBC Sports’ coverage from Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash.  NBC’s Olympic figure skating broadcast team of Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Scott Hamilton (analyst), Sandra Bezic (analyst), and Andrea Joyce (reporter) will call the action for both NBC and Universal Sports.

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS:
- Saturday, 3-6 p.m. ET – Free Dance (Live), Ladies Short
- Saturday, 9-11 p.m. ET/PT – Ladies Free Skate (Live)
- Sunday, 4-6 p.m. ET – Recap of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships
- Sunday, 9-11 p.m. ET/PT – Exhibition of Champions and announcement of U.S. Olympic Team

UNIVERSAL SPORTS COVERAGE:
- Tonight, 10:30 p.m. – 2:30 a.m. ET – Ladies Short (Live)
- Tomorrow, 11 p.m. – 12 midnight ET – Original Dance (Live)
- Saturday, 11 p.m. – 2 a.m. ET – Ladies Short and Free Dance (Re-Air of NBC Show)
- Sunday, 2-4 a.m. ET (late Saturday night) – Ladies Free Skate (Re-Air NBC Show)

COMPETITION PREVIEW:
LADIES: Two Olympic berths are at stake. 2006 Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen makes her much anticipated return to competitive skating in Spokane.  She made her last competitive appearance at the 2006 World Championships in Calgary.  Competing against Cohen for a berth on the U.S. Olympic team is two-time defending U.S. silver medalist Rachel Flatt.  Flatt, the 2008 World Junior Champion, and Japan’s Miki Ando are the only ladies who have beaten world champion Kim Yu-Na in a competition segment this season (no one has beaten her overall). Flatt defeated Kim in the free skate at Skate America in November.  Other competition for the Olympic spots will come from defending U.S. champion Alissa Czisny, defending U.S. bronze medalist Caroline Zhang and 2008 U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu.  2007 U.S. silver medalist Emily Hughes makes her first appearance at nationals since 2007; she missed the past two years due to injuries. She is on a one-year break from Harvard, hoping to qualify for her second Olympics. Hughes is the younger sister of 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes.

NBC’S SCOTT HAMILTON BREAKS DOWN LADIES COMPETITION AFTER WATCHING PRACTICE YESTERDAY:

On Sasha Cohen: “She looks great, like no time has passed.  Some things actually look better than they did four years ago.  A lot of the people that she’s competing against have had four years to kind of up their game and get used to competing under this system, and one thing that might hold her back is the fact that she hasn’t been on competitive ice, but she looked really comfortable.  She was very happy and practiced well.  She’ll be in the mix throughout.”

On the Ladies Competition: “It’s going to be an exciting competition and there is no sure thing.  There are a lot of women this year that can rise to the challenge and with two good performances could accumulate enough points to win this thing.  You look at Alissa (Czisny), the defending champion, who’s skating very well here.  You can look at Rachael Flatt who’s turned in performance after performance and seems to be consistent enough to skate well under that kind of pressure.  Then you have to look at Ashley Wagner who has been coming on strong and then the champion of two years ago, Mirai Nagasu, who looks really good, really calm.  The U.S. has only two spots on the women’s team and we have more ladies than that poised and in shape and ready to try to claim one of those two spots.”

DANCE: Three Olympic berths are at stake. Five-time U.S. champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto compete for their sixth U.S. title; a win would give them the record for most U.S. dance titles. Belbin and Agosto are already the most successful U.S. dance team in history, with four world medals, three Four Continents titles, and an Olympic silver medal from Torino.  Their main competition will come from 2009 U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who are fresh off a win at the Grand Prix Final, the first-ever by an American team.  Davis & White have never defeated Belbin & Agosto in competition.  They won at Nationals last year when Belbin and Agosto did not compete.  Also competing for one of the three Olympic spots are are two-time U.S. bronze medalists Kimberly Navarro & Brent Bommentre, defending U.S. silver medalists Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates and 2009 world junior champions Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein, who will make their senior debut in Spokane.

HAMILTON ON DANCE COMPETITION: “The U.S. has never been this well represented in a dance event going into Olympics as we are this year. Tanith and Ben and Meryl and Charlie are two of the best dance teams in the world, so they’re going at it nose to nose competing for the National Title because that would give them momentum into the Olympics.  It’s going to be interesting to see who wins there because Charlie and Meryl have been on the rise like crazy, but Tanith and Ben won a medal last Olympics and they’ve been dominant on the international stage.”

NBC SPORTS AND U.S. FIGURE SKATING ASSOCIATION: NBC Sports and U.S. Figure Skating are in the third year of a multiyear partnership under which NBC will broadcast live high-definition coverage of the AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, including Saturday night primetime coverage of the ladies free skate, as well as Skate America. The deal between NBC and the USFSA was extended last year and continues through the 2014 U.S. Championships

U.S. FIGURE SKATING, NBC SPORTS ANNOUNCE BROADCAST CONTRACT EXTENSION

- Multi-year agreement guarantees figure skating will be broadcast through 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia -

Colorado Springs, Colo. and New York (August 27, 2009) – U.S. Figure Skating and NBC Sports announced today the continuation of their multi-year partnership to extend through the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. The agreement will ensure live primetime and afternoon coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships as well as live afternoon coverage of the annual international Skate America competition for the next four years.

“The partnership with NBC has allowed figure skating fans to view numerous hours of live competition over the course of the last two years,” said Patricia St. Peter, president of U.S. Figure Skating. “The extension of this partnership again shows the dedication of both U.S. Figure Skating and NBC Sports to showcase this popular sport not just in an Olympic year but for the next four years.”

The partnership includes 12 hours of live event coverage on NBC Sports during the 2009-10 season, including live primetime coverage of the ladies free skate at the 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Jan. 14-24, 2010, in Spokane, Wash. The 2010 U.S. Winter Olympic Figure Skating Team will be determined at the conclusion of this event. Universal Sports, available in more than 56 million homes, will once again offer additional coverage and re-airs of Skate America and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

“We’re pleased to continue the great relationship with NBC,” said David Raith, executive director of U.S. Figure Skating. “We appreciate the support of Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, as well as Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports, for making figure skating a broadcast priority.”

“We are proud to extend our partnership with U.S. Figure Skating and to broadcast expanded live coverage of their marquee events,” said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. “Figure skating is the most popular sport in the Winter Olympics, and the U.S. Championships is always compelling programming especially in Olympic years when the event will help determine which men and women will represent our country at the Vancouver Games this February and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.”

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS:
· Sun., Nov. 15, 2009 – Skate America – Ladies final – 2-4 p.m. ET (Live)
· Sat., Jan. 16, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Pairs final – 4:30-6 p.m. ET (Live)
· Sun., Jan. 17, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Men’s final – 4:30-6 p.m. ET (Live)
· Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Ice Dancing final – 3-6 p.m. ET (Live)
· Sat., Jan. 23, 2010 – 2010 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships – Ladies final – 9–11 p.m. ET (Live)
· Sun., Jan. 24, 2010 – Skating Spectacular – 4-6 p.m. ET (Live)

This is the third year of a multi-year agreement between NBC Sports and U.S. Figure Skating. The 10 hours of coverage of the 2010 U.S Championships on NBC Sports is the most network coverage of this event since 1998. In the first year of this agreement, the U.S. Championships on NBC Sports drew nearly 12.5 million viewers, up 164 percent over the previous year on ABC and ESPN2 (4.7 million). It was the most-watched U.S. Championships since 2003 when the event benefited from the lift that figure skating received from the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

ICENETWORK.COM COVERAGE: Icenetwork.com, a joint partnership between U.S. Figure Skating and MLB Advanced Media, will provide exclusive online video coverage of competition in addition to backstage photos, interviews with former champions, video diaries and much more. Icenetwork.com’s coverage of Skate America and the U.S. Championships will once again include the “AT&T Ice Desk,” which will feature interviews with alumni from past U.S. Championships and current competitors as well as other backstage and special features.

About U.S. Figure Skating – U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 700 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and more than 900 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 170,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.

About icenetwork.com – Ice Network, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Figure Skating, has the exclusive rights to U.S. Figure Skating’s interactive media properties and is a partnership between U.S. Figure Skating and MLB Advanced Media. Icenetwork.com is the premier destination for fans of ice skating, delivering exclusive live and on-demand coverage of domestic and international competitions, while offering fans the opportunity to interact with top athletes and stay updated with news and information from the world of ice skating year round. Icenetwork.com is dedicated to providing year-round, in-depth coverage of the all things ice skating to millions of fans around the world. Icenetwork.com is committed to expanding the audience by delivering compelling programming that fans won’t get a chance to see anyplace else, including exclusive back-stage interviews with top skaters, special programming featuring figure skating stars and additional video coverage from around the globe.

About NBC Sports – NBC Sports, known for amassing large audiences while presenting the most prestigious properties in sports, represents superior production that elevates sport, broad promotion and mutually-beneficial partnerships. As evidence of NBC Sports’ ability to amass large audiences, over the past year, NBC Sports broadcast two record-breaking television events: the Beijing Olympic Games, the most-watched event in U.S. television history with 215 million viewers and Super Bowl XLIII, which achieved the largest single audience in U.S. television history with a record 152 million viewers. NBC Sports is now home to eight of the top ten most-watched events in U.S. television history.

NBC Sports partners with many of the most powerful brands in sports. NBC Sports has broadcast 16 Super Bowls, tied with CBS for the most Super Bowls broadcast by a single network. As America’s Olympic Network, NBC has broadcast more Olympics than any other network and owns the rights to the Olympic Games through 2012. NBC is also home to “NBC Sunday Night Football,” the premier primetime NFL game of the week. Other prestigious NBC Sports properties include Notre Dame football, the U.S. Open Championship, The Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Wimbledon, French Open, the Stanley Cup Final and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Michelle Kwan, the Most Decorated Figure Skater in U.S. History, Joins NBC’s Coverage as Guest Analyst

Oxygen to Present 14 Hours of Coverage, 10 Live in ET

NEW YORK – March 23, 2009 – NBC Sports and Oxygen Media will combine to air 16 hours from the World Figure Skating Championships, the most prestigious and important figure skating competition outside of the Olympics, as the skaters prepare for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver next February on NBC. Oxygen, available in more than 74 million homes, will air 14 hours (10 hours live in ET) Wednesday through Friday, and NBC Sports will air the Ladies Free Skate live ET in primetime this Saturday (9-11 p.m., ET/PT) from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

COSTAS HOSTS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ON NBC; JOINED BY BUTTON & KWAN: NBC’s primetime Olympic host Bob Costas will host of NBC’s coverage when the world’s best skaters take the ice in Los Angeles. Costas will be joined by Dick Button (co-host), the most recognizable voice in figure skating, and Michelle Kwan (guest analyst), the most decorated skater in U.S. history. Joining them to form the deepest talent roster ever assembled to broadcast the World Figure Skating Championships will be Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Scott Hamilton (analyst), Sandra Bezic (analyst), Tracy Wilson (analyst) and Andrea Joyce (reporter).

In all, NBC Sports’ broadcast team has totaled an amazing 19 medals at Worlds including 14 gold medals. Button won gold every year from 1948-1952 and took silver in 1947; Hamilton won gold in four consecutive years (1981-1984); and Kwan has a total of nine World Championship medals including five gold medals (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003), three silver medals (1997, 1999, 2002) and a bronze medal (2004).

This is the 99th World Figure Skating Championships and the first ever to take place in Los Angeles. The first Worlds were held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1896. The United States has played host to 11 World Championships, most recently the 2003 Worlds in Washington, D.C.

COVERAGE ON OXYGEN (all times live ET except where noted):
Pairs Short Wednesday 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET/PT (taped Tuesday)
Men’s Short Wednesday 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. ET/PT
Pairs Free Wednesday 12 midnight – 2 a.m. ET/PT

Men’s Free Thursday 11p.m.- 1a.m. ET/PT

Original Dance Friday 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. ET/PT (taped Thursday)
Ladies Short Friday 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. ET/PT
Dance Free Friday 12 midnight – 2 a.m. ET/PT

COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS:
Ladies Free Skate Saturday 9 – 11 p.m. ET/PT

BUTTON ON U.S. LADIES: “Rachel Flatt is just charming and Alissa Czisny is beautiful. She’s a dreamboat.”

HAMILTON ON LADIES FAVORITES: “With Kim Yu-Na (Korea), watching her and seeing what she’s capable of doing, you have to look at her as probably the favorite coming into this. She will be challenged by Mao Asada (Japan), last year’s World Champion, but defending at Worlds is really tough to do.”

HAMILTON ON THE AMERICAN LADIES: “For the Americans, it’s a very important World Championships because their placements determine how many entries they’ll have at the Olympics next year. Alyssa Czisny’s done everything she can to break down her technique to be more consistent and that showed with a win at the National Championship. I hope she can go to L.A. and throw down two great performances.”

HAMILTON BREAKS DOWN THE MEN’S COMPETITION: “It’s going to be a hotly contested World Championship on the Men’s side. If Patrick Chan (Canada) continues as an extension of the rest of his year, I’ve got to look at him as a favorite to win a World title. Jeremy Abbott (USA) won the Grand Prix title and Brian Joubert (France) is a former World Champion. And there is a perceived level of opportunity because Jeffrey Buttle, the defending World Champion has decided not to compete anymore.”

HAMILTON ON U.S. MEN: “You have someone who’s been there for a long time in Jeremy Abbott who has finally broken through and won a National Championship, you’ve got a veteran like Evan Lysacek, who has been at this level for years and years and you’ve got Brandon Mroz who just came out of nowhere. So it’s a real good mixed bag of American men.”

HAMILTON ON THE UNLIKELY RISE OF BRANDON MROZ: “Brandon Mroz? He’s been second in everything he’s ever done so maybe he’ll be second in Worlds too. He was second in Juniors last year and you look at what he did at the National Championships this year, his first year as a senior. To be on the podium this year, well that’s just superhuman.”

WHO TO WATCH AT THE WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS:

LADIES:
Mao Asada, Japan: 2008 World Champion (Kwan, last woman to win back-to-back World titles (2000-’01)
Kim Yu-Na, Korea: Two-time World bronze medalist; 2008 Four Continents Gold medalist
Rachel Flat, USA: 2008 U.S. Silver medallist; 2008 World Junior Champion
Alissa Czisny, USA: 2008 U.S. Champions; second appearance at the World Championships
Fumie Suguri, Japan: Three-time World medalist
Miki Ando, Japan: 2007 World Champion

MEN:
Evan Lysacek, USA: Two-time World bronze medalist; Two-time U.S. Champion
Jeremy Abbott, USA: 2009 U.S. Champion; 2008 Grand Prix Final Gold medalist
Patrick Chan, Canada: 2008 Four Continents Champion
Brian Joubert, France: 2007 World Champion; Three-time European champion
Nobunari Oda, Japan: 2008 Japanese Champion; 2005 World Junior Champion
Brandon Mroz, USA: 2009 U.S. Silver medalist; making World debut

PAIRS:
Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy, Germany: 2008 World Champions; 2009 European Champions
Pang Qing & Tong Jianm China: 2008 Grand Prix Final Champion and Four Continents Champion
Zhang Dan & Zhang Hao, China: 2006 Olympic Silver medalists; 2008 World Silver medalists
Yuko Kawaguchi & Aleksandr Smirnov, Russia: Two-time Russian Champions; 2009 European Silver medalists
Jessica Dubé & Bryce Davison, Canada: 2008 World Bronze medailists; two-time Canadian Champions
Keauna McLaughlin & Rockne Brubaker, USA: Two-time U.S. Champions; 2007 World Junior Champions
Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett, USA: 2009 U.S. Silver medalists

DANCE:
Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, USA: 2006 Olympic Silver Medalists; Four-time U.S. Champions
Jana Khokhlova & Sergei Novitski, Russia: 2008 World Bronze medalists; 2009 European Champions
Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, Canada: 2008 World Silver medalists; 2008 Canadian Champions
Meryl Davis & Charlie White, USA: 2009 U.S. Champions
Oksana Domnina & Maksim Shabalin, Russia: 2008 European Champions

About Oxygen:
Oxygen is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment and is currently available in over 74 million homes. The network was launched in 2000 to fill a void in the television landscape — creating a network targeted to younger women. Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women’s television, with a vast array of unconventional and original programming including “Bad Girls Club,” “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” and “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.”