Sternberg Named CEO, Miller Named COO Of Universal Sports

STERNBERG NAMED CEO, MILLER NAMED COO OF UNIVERSAL SPORTS

NEW YORK and WESTLAKE, Calif. – April 5, 2010 – David Sternberg, former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Emerging Networks for Fox Cable Networks, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Universal Sports and Perkins Miller, formerly Senior Vice President, Digital Media for NBC Sports and Olympics, has been named Chief Operating Officer of the company, it was announced today by Intermedia Partners Managing Partner Peter Kern and Universal Sports Chairman Claude Ruibal.

Universal Sports, the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related programming on television and online, is coming off a year in which the channel’s distribution increased by more than 700 percent and sales grew by more than 300 percent.

“With such tremendous growth in the business during the last two years, we recognized the need to bring in an experienced executive team to build on this momentum,” said Claude Ruibal, chairman and founder of Universal Sports. “I am thrilled to have a seasoned cable executive like David to lead the company forward, and to add Perkins’ skill and experience in business development, marketing, sales and digital media.”

“With Claude and Carlos’ help we have taken Universal Sports from an idea to a fixture in the cable sports landscape.” said Kern. “Now with the opportunity to add the tremendous talent and experience which David and Perkins bring to the organization, we are even more confident that Universal Sports will become a fully distributed sports network and the destination on TV and online for fans and sponsors of Olympic sports and their athletes.   David’s success with emerging sports networks is perfectly suited to our current position and Perkins’ experience with NBC Sports and within the sports industry bring an ideal combination of skills and experience to this endeavor.”

“Claude and Carlos Silva and their team have done a great job securing critical rights and producing a first-rate television network in a remarkably short period of time,” said Sternberg. “Perkins and I are eager to build on this achievement and ensure that the millions of Olympic sports fans across the country can find their home on Universal Sports.”

Since June 2008, when NBC and InterMedia Partners officially announced their partnership with Universal Sports (formerly the World Championship Sports Network), distribution has grown from 1.5 million to being available today in more than 57 million television households.  Universal Sports is based in Westlake, California, with sales and digital operations on the East Coast. Sternberg will be based out of the Westlake offices, while Miller will be based in New York and will continue to lead NBC’s Olympic digital effort for the 2012 London Games. Carlos Silva will remain with the company as President of Universal Sports Properties, leading Universal Sports’ emerging fitness and training business and David Michaels will continue to serve as executive producer of Universal Sports.

Sternberg most recently served for nearly seven years as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Emerging Networks for Fox Cable Networks and General Manager of three U.S. networks: FUEL TV, Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español.  The three services rank among cable and satellite television’s fastest-growing sports networks.  Fox Sports en Español is currently available in 14 million homes and is available to more than 40 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic audience, while Fox Soccer Channel is in 35 million homes and FUEL TV reaches 31 million homes.

On the strength of the distribution gains, Sternberg negotiated critical rights deals, including exclusive U.S. rights to the world-renowned Barclays English Premier League as well as the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious multinational club competition.  In addition to managing the three domestic networks, Sternberg assisted the Fox Pan American Sports venture partners in overseeing the Fox Sports Latin America network, reaching 18 million subscribers in 18 Spanish-speaking territories. He also oversaw Fox’s collaboration with Global Television in Fox Sports World Canada, and supervised Fox Sports International’s programming syndication sales efforts in partnership with IMG Media.

Before joining Fox Sports International as Director of Business Development in 1998, Sternberg served as a management consultant in Price Waterhouse LLP’s Entertainment, Media and Communications Strategy Group in Los Angeles.  Sternberg, a graduate of Princeton University, earned his Masters degree in Business Administration from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.  He and his wife, Julie, live in Encino, Calif., with their three children.

Miller was most recently Senior Vice President, Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics and General Manager for Universal Sports Network, where he oversaw all digital media initiatives for NBC Sports and NBC Olympics as well as NBC’s interests in Universal Sports.

Miller has overseen NBC’s largest digital events, including NBC’s “Sunday Night Football Extra” as well as the 2010 and 2008 Olympic Games, which spanned online, mobile, iTV, VOD, EST, and gaming. The combined Olympic events drew nearly 100 million unique visitors, more than two billion page views, and more than 115 million videos streamed — making them the largest digital events in history. Miller is a two-time Emmy-Award winner and was ranked No. 3 in Sports Business Journal’s Top 20 “Most Influential In Digital Sports” for 2008.

Miller has also managed NBC’s investment in Universal Sports since 2008. Prior to joining NBC, Miller was vice president and managing director for Time Warner’s Mountain Sports Media, overseeing business affairs for the magazine, film, and TV production group.  Miller oversaw Warren Miller Entertainment as well as garnering a National Magazine General Excellence Award nomination for his turn-around of Skiing Magazine. Miller was also the Director and General Manager for Internet Operations for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, during which time he brought together Olympics.com and NBCOlympics.com for the first time in history.

Miller graduated from Middlebury College and lives with his wife and two daughters in Wilton, Conn.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is available in 57 million homes, including nine of the top 10 DMAs: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. Recent expansion includes launches in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Denver, Portland, and Jacksonville. Go to UniversalSports.com for a complete list of TV markets. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com.