Liberty Global owned Extreme Sports Channel has commissioned two new series for Summer 2006. The FIFA endorsed Euro Beach Soccer League as well as Streetball Extreme: Battle for Europe are being added to Extreme’s schedule as it continues to grow its portfolio of new and innovative sports content.
Radio 1 and 5Live presenter DJ Spoony and sports commentator Natalie Pinkham will be co-hosting the Euro Beach Soccer League in a new six part series this summer. The series will see sixteen national teams compete in matches held in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Greece, the Netherlands and Poland. UK production company Gun for Hire have been appointed to produce the series for Extreme.
The French team, winners of the first FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2005, will be led by French national star and Manchester United legend, Eric Cantona.
Extreme’s Head of Programming James Dubern said: “Beach soccer combines the most spectacular aspects of football with awesome locations including a beach in the heart of the Alps! The sport has a huge international following and we’re looking forward to giving it the ‘Extreme treatment’.”
Extreme is also adding the urban sport Streetball to its roster this summer. The channel has commissioned an 8 x 1 hour series titled Streetball Extreme: Battle for Europe following the UK-based SBX team on a 12 day tour through Europe. UK indie Chrome Productions will be capturing all the action as seven British players take on the best Streetball teams in Amsterdam, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Lyon, Barcelona, Lisbon and Paris.
The SBX team has been carefully selected by Tom ‘Con Man’ Connors, a UK-based Streetball pioneer. As well as taking on all-star local teams in each city, the events will feature freestyle demos, live DJs and MC battles in prime European locations including a custom built Streetball court on the beach outside Lisbon.
These are the latest new sports Extreme has introduced to its line-up in 2006. The channel recently provided live coverage of the videogaming competition, The Xbox Cup 2006, and plans to add more pro videogaming content to its schedule this year.
The two new series will go to air on Extreme’s 5 international feeds of the channel from September.
Further information:
Beach soccer is one of the fastest growing professional sports in the world and has so far been televised in over 170 countries. The sport was inspired by the football played on the beaches of Brazil and the official rules were created in 1992. Teams consist of up to 10 players and five players are on the sand at any one time. Playing on an uneven surface means that the game is largely improvised, with the ball spending most of the time in the air.
Streetball has its roots in basketball but with a greater emphasis on style and flair. The sport relies heavily on one-on-one match-ups between attacker and defender with players always looking to find the most innovative, rather than the most direct, ways to score.
www.extreme.com/ontheroad
http://www.beachsoccer.com/
Notes to editor:
The Extreme Sports Channel is the world’s first television channel totally dedicated to the world’s fastest growing participatory sports and the music, fashion and way of life that accompanies them. The channel showcases non-stop action from surfing to skateboarding, and snowboarding to BMX, as well as providing a TV home for innovative sports such as streetball and pro videogaming. Extreme is adventurous, rebellious and spectacular, embodying the attitude and the lifestyle of extreme sports participants themselves.
Extreme was launched on 1st May 1999 and is now available in 55 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It transmits in 12 languages, 7 days a week to almost 20 million households.
Extreme Sports Channel is a channel of chellomedia, the European based content division of Liberty Global and a leading international distributor of channels, content and video services. It currently owns and distributes 14 branded TV channels, On Demand and Interactive Services internationally as well a portfolio of Media Investments. Its operating companies and business units comprise: global thematic channels (Extreme Sports Channel, the channels of Zone Vision Networks), regionally focused channels (chellomedia Iberia (Multicanal), chellomedia Benelux and chellomedia Central Europe) and services and investments (chellomedia on demand, chellomedia Interactive Services and chellomedia Investments). chellomedia’s main operations are based in London, Amsterdam and Madrid.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB, LBTYK) is the leading international cable operator offering advanced video, voice, and Internet-access services to connect our customers to the world of information, communications and entertainment. As of March 31, 2006, Liberty Global operated state-of-the-art broadband communications networks that served approximately 15 million customers in 18 countries principally located in Europe, Japan, Chile, and Australia. Liberty Global’s operations also include significant media and programming businesses such as Jupiter TV in Japan and chellomedia in Europe.
For further information and images, please contact:
Stuart Clapp
Extreme Sports Channel
Press & PR
Telephone: +44 (0) 207 751 7215
E-mail: mailttradeenquiries@chellomedia.com
http://www.extreme.com/