ESPNU skyrockets into 20 million homes

By Andrew Lippe

ESPNU is making a big
splash in the

New York and

New Jersey area as, beginning on August 30, ESPNU, will officially join Time Warner Cable digital
basic channel line-up. The game between the Louisville Cardinals

and the Murray

State Racers will mark the first game of a new agreement. “We have
a large digital base,” said David Preschlack, executive vice president,
Affiliate Sales and Marketing, Disney and ESPN Media Networks. With a digital
base in the Carolinas,

Florida,

New York and

New
Jersey and others, ESPNU will bring college sports
action to over 20 million homes later this month.

“This is a big day in the history of ESPNU,” said Burke
Magnus, vice president and general manager, ESPNU.
Barbara Kelly, senior
vice president and general manager,
Time Warner Cable of

New
York and

New Jersey, added, “We are about choice and this agreement
increases our array of choices to our customers.

ESPNU televised 550 events last year, including contests from the Big East, ACC, Big 12, MAC, Pac-10, Patriot League, SEC, Sun Belt
Conference and more. They expect to do at least 600 events this year and air
more then 70 live football games with some of the biggest programs in the
country. “We will be doing more games this year because the more games we do
the more we serve those fans,” Magnus declared.

This agreement with Time Warner was done with the fans
perspective in mind. The

New York,

New Jersey area is known for its
passionate fan base especially in college sports. Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton
Hall, Syracuse are all Big East universities will large fan bases that ESPNU
can reach out to. “We have been a big representation on the network since its
beginning in 1979,” said John Marinatto, senior associate commissioner of the
Big East Conference.

ESPNU added a new studio anchor in Lowell Galindo. His
assignments will include SportsCenterU, ESPNU Inside The Polls, ESPNU Coaches
Spotlight and ESPNU Recruiting Insider. Former Miami Hurricanes coach Larry Coker
was also brought on board as a new game analyst.

ESPNU will be available to one million

New York and New Jersey Digital customers on
Channel 170. “We look forward to working with their systems nationwide to give
millions of sports fans the college sports they are asking for,” said
Preschlack.

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