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07-03-2002

Extreme Sports Eyes U.S. Launch

The London based Extreme Group plans to bring a 24 hour version of its Extreme Sports Channel to the U.S by the fourth quarter, CEO Al Gosling told MND on Wednesday.

Interest in the channel has picked up since the Winter Olympics, where such new sports as half-pipe snowboarding received primetime exposure on NBC, Gosling said. The company which distributes its programming overseas to 10.5 million subs in 48 countries and in seven languages - has talked to diginet incubator TviFusion and an ''a number of large media companies and cable operators'' about taking an equity stake in the U.S channel, Gosling said.

Another possible partner is Fox Cable. On Wednesday, Extreme Group announced a deal with Fox Sports Net to carry about five hours per week of Extreme programming. ESPN spokesmen Chris LaPlaca said the company isn't in talks with Extreme Group, but said ESPN is interested in what the network prefers to call ''Action Sports''. ESPN, creator of the X games, has considered launching its own such diginet some time down the road, he added.

For more information, logos or pictures from the Extreme Group pleasecontact:

Lynn Seymour,
Press Department,
EXTREME GROUP
Tel +44 1787 479000
Fax +44 1787 479111
Email: info@extremeinternational.com