ESPNU Added to Cox Communications in Central Florida
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 | General
ESPN and Cox Communications announced today the addition of 24-hour college sports network ESPNU to Cox's digital lineup in Alachua and Marion Counties starting February 21st. The new carriage agreement will have an immediate impact on Cox's Gainesville/Ocala-area customers who can see the “Florida Cram Session” featuring 10 hours of Gator-specific programming on Feb. 22 beginning at 8 a.m. ET. ESPNU is currently available to approximately 20 million households nationwide.
“With diverse and creative programming from campuses across the country, ESPNU has helped to make ESPN and ABC the most comprehensive and trusted family of multimedia destinations for college athletics,” said Burke Magnus, vice president and general manager, ESPNU. “We look forward to working with Cox Communications to provide fans in the area the best in college sports coverage.”
| ESPN's College Sports Network Available to 106,000 Households in Gainesville/Ocala |
ESPNU, which delivers more than 550 live events each year, includes event coverage from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, MAC, Pac-10, Patriot League, SEC, Sun Belt conferences and more. The network aired more than 70 live exclusive college football games during the 2007-2008 season, including appearances by Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Iowa, Purdue, Central Michigan, Army, Navy, Alabama A&M, Hampton, Illinois, Northwestern, Syracuse and more. This season, ESPNU will also nationally televise more than 250 exclusive college basketball match-ups, the most of any ESPN network. Exclusive appearances were made by Duke, Georgetown, Memphis, North Carolina, Kansas, Syracuse and Tennessee, among other top-ranked teams.
”Cox Central Florida is the home of the reigning and two-time NCAA basketball national champion Florida Gators as well as the 2006 football national champion Florida Gators and is an ideal market for ESPNU, the leader in collegiate sports programming,” said Rick Mulligan, Cox Vice President of Public Affairs. “But ESPNU doesn't stop at the Gators, it covers the gamut of college athletics providing programming for fans of every major college conference in a range of sports. As the Official Cable Partner of the Florida Gators, Cox Central Florida is excited to welcome ESPNU to our lineup.”
ESPNU will be available to Cox customers in the Gainesville/Ocala area on channel 251.
| The “Florida Cram Session” programming includes (all times ET): | |
| 8 - 9 a.m. | 2007 Heisman Trophy Presentation |
| 9 - 10 a.m. | Faces of Sports: Tim Tebow |
| 10 - 1 p.m. | 2007 Football: Florida vs. South Carolina (11/10/07) |
| 1 - 2:30 p.m. | 2008 Basketball: Florida vs. Alabama (1/8/08) |
| 2:30 - 4 p.m. | 2008 Basketball: Kentucky vs. Florida (1/19/08) |
| 4 - 5 p.m. | Faces of Sports: Tim Tebow |
| 5 - 6 p.m. | 2007 Heisman Trophy Presentation |
About ESPNU
ESPNU was launched on March 4, 2005. The network features extensive studio programming and live coverage of games, including college football, college basketball and other Olympic sports from over 20 Division I conferences such as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big South, Big Ten, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), Southland, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and more. The network also has a wide-ranging, long-term agreement with the NCAA calling for enhanced coverage of 22 NCAA Championships, showcasing sports from each of the three collegiate seasons. ESPNU also has exclusive re-air rights to games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Regional television programming.
In addition, ESPNU.com, the companion to the ESPNU college sports television network, is the online destination for college sports content, including news, information, extensive online video and audio and more.
ESPNU also has distribution agreements with Charter, Cox, DIRECTV (Channel 609), Echostar's DISH Network (Channel 148), Insight Communications, Mediacom, Time Warner, Verizon, many smaller affiliates and is close to distribution agreements with others. The 24-hour television network is the key component of the multimedia ESPNU initiative that also delivers college sports content across ESPN's family of services, such as ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPN360.com, merchandising and more.
