DIRECT Satellite

Cox Communications has announced the broadcast schedule the Annual Eastern Region Tournament. This basketball Tournament will decide the girls and boys teams to represent the region in the VHSL State Tournament held in March.

Cox 11 will cover the Semi-Finals to be held on Saturday, February 27, as well as the tournament Finals, to be held on Monday, March 1.

Cox 11 will exclusively cover the Semi-Finals to be held on Saturday, February 27, as well as the tournament Finals, to be held on Monday, March 1.

Cox 11 broadcast schedule is as follows:

Broadcast schedule of Saturday’s February 27 Semi-finals:
Girls – 1 p.m.
Boys – 3 p.m.
Girls – 5 p.m.
Boys – 7 p.m.
Cox 11 will also broadcast Monday’s March 1 Finals is as follows:
Girls – 6 p.m.
Boys – 8 p.m.
Leigh Woisard, Cox Vice President Public Affairs, said “Cox is pleased to serve as the presenting sponsor for the Eastern Region tournament. It’s an important sporting event for area high schools in the region, and Cox 11’s team will deliver the absolute best in coverage.”

MexicoTV is the only network to bring Mexico’s Liga de Ascenso to the Mexican soccer audiences in the U.S. Mexico TV is available on DirecTV Mas programming package and also on Comcast, Time Warner Cable.

Necaxa is the team with a reputation in Mexico, fighting for a comeback longed for by its many thousands of fans, but also the teams blocking its way who are also determined to get there first, at all cost, come what may.

Like Veracruz, in years past the First Division pace-setter, famed for the passion and loyalty of its fans, which has hired a player who is now without question Mexico’s hottest soccer icon: Cuauhtemoc Blanco. He is hated by a heavy majority of Mexican fandom when he plays for the Club America team, or any other rival – but when he plays for Mexico’s national team, that hate turns into boundless love.

Another team committed to winning is Irapuato, current leader of the 2010 League, tied with Necaxa and separated only by a difference of goals scored. These teams have been battling each other in one of the most exciting finals in the League’s recent history, going to the terminal stage of penalty kicks to decide who will come out the winner.

Necaxa, Veracruz, Irapuato, Leon, Orizaba, Pumas Morelos, Tijuana, Correcaminos, Durango and Atlante UTN are the most popular teams to paly for Mexico’s 2010 Liga de Ascenso.

Charter Communications has entered an agreement with NBC Universal to offer multiplatform content of NBC Universal’s 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Charter will present the NBC’s Opening Ceremony of 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games on Friday, Feb. 12.

Charter subscribers will be presented with Vancouver Winter Olympic Games with extensive coverage on NBC Universal including:

• CNBC
• MSNBC
• NBC
• NBCOlympics.com
• Universal HD
• USA Network

Charter will deliver more than 835 hours of unprecedented Winter Olympic programming, representing the most total hours ever for a Winter Olympics, and the most live hours ever for a Winter Games.

Charter will showcase advanced technology as well as cable’s broad digital offerings and deep and rich content across multiple digital platforms, including HD, VOD and high-speed Internet. The world’s premier winter event will be the first Winter Olympics available entirely in high definition.

Charter will present entire 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games on HD. NBC Universal is making gravity-defying highlights and full event rewinds available On Demand.

Charter subscribers can access more than 20 5-7 minute clips available in SD and HD. NBCU will offer more than 100 highlight clips, approximately 10 per day, in addition to up to five full-length daily event replays. Additionally, NBCU will offer more than 30% of In-Games VOD in HD.

Major League Baseball (MLB) announced Spring Training schedule for 2010 season. MLB Spring Training will start on Tuesday, March 2nd in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Grapefruit and Cactus League Spring Training play will conclude by Saturday, April 3rd.

The final exhibition game will be played on Sunday, April 4th, when the Giants welcome the Seattle Mariners to AT&T Park in San Francisco. Later that night, Major League Baseball’s 2010 regular season will begin as the Boston Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park at 8:00 p.m. (ET) before a national audience on ESPN2.

2010 Spring Training broadcast schedule on ESPN is as follows:

Former National Football League head coach, and the current head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans football team Pete Carroll will join ESPN’s SportsCenter and College GameDay Built by The Home Depot team to provide analysis about the Citi BCS National Championship on January 6 and 7.

Pete Carroll will be available on the sports network evening editions of ESPN SportsCenter Wednesday, Jan. 6 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and also on special one-hour College GameDay Thursday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. National Championship pre-game and halftime shows on ABC beginning at 8 p.m.; and for ESPN’s SportsCenter post-game coverage following the game.

Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production, said “Coach Carroll’s experience in games of this magnitude will provide fans with invaluable insight on the thoughts going through the mind of a coach and the preparation involved to be in a position to win, adding a new element in the analysis of the matchup.”

“I’m not only looking forward to seeing this great matchup between Alabama and Texas, but joining with the ESPN crew to offer my thoughts and perspectives after having played in the BCS Championship Game in the Rose Bowl” said Carroll.

Cox Communications has announced that Cox Sports will broadcast first episode of ‘Somehow, Someway: A Season with the URI Rams’ on Cox Sports Channel 3 every day from November 29 to December 4 at 9 p.m. The six part documentary detailing the University of Rhode Island’s men’s basketball team’s 2008-2009 season.

The final episode will end before URI’s game vs. Providence College on Saturday, December 5 at 1 p.m.

Cox Sports will broadcast 15 URI men’s basketball games this season, starting with the game vs. Providence College on December 5.

Somehow, Someway details the story of last season’s URI team both on and off the court, starting with coach Jim Baron’s story of how basketball helped him out of the Brooklyn projects and following the team all the way through this past May’s graduation ceremony. Cox Sports was given exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the coaches and players on campus, on the bus, and in the locker room.

Thorr Bjorn, director of athletics at the University of Rhode Island, said “Somehow, Someway provides a one-of-a-kind look at URI basketball, and fans will be treated to a glimpse into the inner workings of head coach Jim Baron’s program. URI is happy to have been a part of this unique opportunity to showcase the lives of our coaches and student-athletes.”

Paul Cronin, senior vice president and general manager, Cox Communications New England, said “Sports fans are often treated
to in-depth stories during typical halftime and pregame shows, but Somehow, Someway’s long-form exploration of the dynamics of a team and a sport make this project something that Cox is truly proud of. Cox Sports is known for its live sports coverage, but it’s these special projects highlighting local sports and culture that make our exclusive sports channel truly unique.”

Bright House Networks will provide exclusive coverage of college games from Division 1 conferences including the SEC, Big East, Conference USA, Big 12 and ACC with more than 125 college basketball games from top conferences on Bright House Sports Network.

Bright House Networks also to deliver more than 90 men’s and 30 women’s college games that includes 18 University of South Florida (USF) games, 16 University of Central Florida (UCF) games, and seven University of Florida games.

Bright House Networks will begin its basketball coverage on November 16th with a USF double header featuring a women’s game versus St. Peter’s College and a men’s match-up against Virginia.

Bright House Sports Network will also deliver 25 live high school games in the Central Florida and Tampa Bay area.

Elliott Wiser, Vice President, Corporate News and Local Programming, said “We are pleased to offer Bright House Networks’ customers exclusive college basketball match-ups from some of the most successful programs in the nation. Most of these games are not available anywhere else, and Bright House Sports Network is offering this additional coverage at no additional cost to our customers. It’s something are customers are coming to expect from the leader in local sports coverage in the Central Florida and Tampa Bay areas.”

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that it has struck carriage deals with Cablevision Systems Corp, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable to carry NBA TV.

This agreement will allow operators to carry NBA TV and will reach 45 million United States homes.

The NBA has already struck similar deals with DirecTV, Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications and Verizon Communications earlier this year.

Cablevision will launch NBA TV on iO digital package, Dish Network will offer the sports network on Classic Silver 200 Package and Time Warner Cable to deliver NBA TV on its digital basic tier.

NBA deputy commissioner and COO Adam Silver in a statement, said: “We are pleased to announce that our new agreements with Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, and Dish Network will bring NBA TV to 45 million U.S. homes. NBA TV remains the ultimate basketball destination, and we’re excited to welcome the millions of new fans who will be able to experience the network’s original programming, live games, and Emmy award-winning on-air talent.”

ESPN has announced that the most respected English football commentator who will join ESPN commentary team for the FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa. Martin Tyler has been commenting for English football for over 25 years will take the lead play-by-play voice for ESPN’s exclusive English-language coverage in the United States

ESPN Networks will deliver 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament through ESPN’s various platforms that include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN360.com and ABC.

Tyler will debut on ESPN on the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa on Friday, June 11, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. ET.

He was voted as the ‘FA Premier League Commentator of The Decade’ by fans and a panel of football experts in 2003. Tyler has been with the London-based Sky Sports network since its launch in 1991. His arrival at Sky Sports coincided with the formation of Premiership football and Sky’s acquisition of the league’s broadcast rights.

Jed Drake, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer, event production, said: “Martin Tyler is one of the top English-language soccer commentators in the world; his experience, authentic style and in-depth knowledge of the game will help elevate ESPN’s presentation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, informing and entertaining our viewers in the United States.”

Tyler stated “As a regular visitor to the USA, I am well aware of the quality and tradition of ESPN, and I am delighted to be part of their World Cup coverage. My Sky Sports colleague Andy Gray talks warmly about his time on ESPN during Euro 2008 and I hope to be able to meet the challenge as well as he did.”

SportScape has announced that college football fans can win a trip to watch the college bowl game of their choice via the first-ever SportScape “Gate-2-Gate” promotion.

SportScape has officially launched “Gate-2-Gate” promotion on October 9, 2009 and viewers can participate in the contest by sending the weekly Gate-2-Gate text-to-win code broadcast during the promotion period at the more than 1,000 SportScape affiliate locations. Sports fans can also enter by visiting the network’s “Sidelines” blog for fans at http://blog.sportscape.tv/.

The contest began at 10:01 a.m. CDT on October 9, 2009 and ends at 10:00 p.m. CST on November 21, 2009. The grand-prize winner will be selected in a random drawing and announced by December 1, 2009.

The grand-prize winner will receive a trip for two to the college bowl game of their choice — including travel, accommodations, tickets to the game, and an ultimate tailgate allowance. In addition, those who enter can win one of four weekly prize packages full of ultimate tailgating gear like jerseys, stadium blankets, coolers, team car flags, and cozies.

Rick Sebok, CMO SportScape, said: “We have integrated our digital TV, web and mobile media platforms to create a contest that’s sure to generate excitement among college football fans. The SportScape ‘Gate-2-Gate’ promotion also provides our advertising partners yet another innovative way to engage sports fans away from home.”