Extreme Sports Channel and Freecaster.TV to Form Partnership

The Two Biggest Names in Extreme Sports Media Join Forces to Create the Ultimate Destination for Fans

Erpent, 17 December 2009: Extreme Sports Channel, the world’s first TV channel dedicated to the action sports lifestyle, and Freecaster.tv, the premier online video platform for live action sports, have signed a partnership that will see them combine to create the ultimate online destination for extreme sports fans.

As part of this partnership, Extreme Sports Channel, owned by leading international broadcaster Chello Zone, will see its popular website, www.extreme.com, rebranded “Extreme.com powered by Freecaster.tv”. The online content will be managed by Freecaster.tv and expanded to include live streaming of action sports events. Freecaster.tv holds live rights to some of the world’s largest action sports events - the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and World Championships, the FIM Motocross World Championships, the Red Bull X Fighters, the BMX World Championships and the X Games. The website, to be launched early next year, will be supported by on-air promotion on Extreme Sports Channel.

“We’re very excited to be bringing together the world’s leading extreme sports media companies, combining the globally recognised TV brand Extreme Sports Channel - which broadcasts to millions of homes worldwide - with Freecaster.tv’s unrivalled live streaming of the most exciting events on the extreme sports calendar,” says Tanya Gugenheim, Chello Zone’s Chief Business Development & New Media Officer. “Extreme.com powered by Freecaster.tv will be the world’s most compelling, entertaining and authoritative extreme sports website - great news for extreme sports fans and the advertisers targeting this attractive market.”

"The association between Freecaster.tv and Extreme Sports Channel will allow us to create a unique global youth communication platform by associating the leading TV and online action sports media,” says Raymond Dulieu, founder of Freecaster.tv. "This new partnership is a breakthrough and unique opportunity to target males aged 15-35 with holistic communication programmes involving television, internet, IP phones and experiential activities at events."

Extreme Sports Channel launched in 1999 and is now available in 52 territories across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It broadcasts in 11 languages, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to 25.8 million subscribers.

Freecaster.tv was created in 2004 to bring extreme sports content to fans by syndicating an online player. Within days of launch, it won the International Apple Design Award for Best QuickTime Content for Entertainment. In 2006 Freecaster.tv started to stream events LIVE and it is now the premier video platform for LIVE action sports – streaming over 150 event days during 2009. Today Freecaster.tv reaches 1.3 million unique visitors a month.