ESPN and Time Warner Cable Announce Digital Basic Distribution for ESPN Deportes in New York and New Jersey

“Underlining their commitment to serving the Hispanic community, ESPN and Time Warner Cable announced today the addition of 24-hour Spanish-language network ESPN Deportes to Time Warner Cable’s digital basic channel line-up in New York and New Jersey as of October 15th. The channel will be available as a Free Preview starting September 15th. ESPN Deportes is now available to approximately 5 million homes, 3.7 million of which are U.S. Hispanic households.

“Sports play such an important role in the Latino culture,” said Lino Garcia, general manager, ESPN Deportes. “Our goal is to offer high-quality sports content to an audience that has historically been underserved and this is a great step forward in our effort to making the network available for Latino sports fans nationwide. With an unmatched mix of marquee live events, ESPN Deportes will become the primary viewing destination for Latino sports fans in New York.”

Added David Preschlack, executive vice president, Affiliate Sales and Marketing, Disney and ESPN Media Networks: “The growth of ESPN Deportes through digital basic distribution offers tremendous value to more than a million consumers in the New York Area, as well as to Time Warner Cable and our advertisers. We look forward to working with more systems nationwide to offer ESPN Deportes and its incredible line-up of Spanish-language programming on the same level of service as Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey.”

ESPN Deportes will be available to more than one million Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey digital basic customers on channel 173. The network will be positioned adjacent to other ESPN networks on Time Warner Cable’s digital basic channel line-up in New York and New Jersey, including the recently launched ESPNU (170), ESPN Classic (171) and ESPNEWS (172).

ESPN Deportes features more than 1800 live and/or original hours of Spanish-language sports programming presented annually. The network telecasts a variety of sports programming including Major League Baseball, exclusive winter baseball from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela; NBA, Monday Night Football, the most extensive Spanish-language coverage of the UEFA Champions League, Mexican First Division Soccer, Wimbledon, IRL Indy Car Series, NASCAR Busch Series, ONEFA (College Football from Mexico); Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (summer baseball from Mexico); EURO 2008 and much more.

“Cable television is all about choice, and we’re happy to provide our customers with a variety of multicultural, in-language programming. Adding ESPN Deportes offers customers an even wider array of sports programming that sports enthusiasts are sure to embrace,” stated Barbara Kelly, senior vice president and general manager, Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey. “ESPN Deportes is enjoyed by Spanish-speaking and mainstream viewers alike. Adding them to our digital platform gives over one million Time Warner Cable customers access to their extensive sports coverage and original programming,” added Ms. Kelly.

In addition to live sports, ESPN Deportes showcases a selection of Spanish-language sports news and information shows, anchored by a separately produced version of SportsCenter. Other featured programs include Hazana, el deporte vive, a series of shows that bring to life some of the most memorable personalities, moments, rivalries and events that have marked the history of Mexican sports; Cronometro, innovative sports news, information and debate program devoted to the discussion of headline issues surrounding Latino sports stars, and modeled after ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption; Beisbol Esta Noche, a Spanish-language separately produced version of ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning Baseball Tonight airing Sunday nights; Fuera de Juego, a soccer roundtable program that airs twice weekly; NFL Semanal, a studio program with highlights, analysis, features and predictions featuring former kicker Raul Allegre; ESPN Perfiles, a series of half-hour portraits that narrates the lives of the greatest Latino sports stars; RPM Semanal, a motorsports program with highlights, interviews, and insider news with emphasis on Latino drivers; Futbol Picante, a six-day a week live talk show focused on the world of Mexican soccer.

About ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes is the leading multimedia, Spanish-language sports brand dedicated to providing the widest variety of sports to the U.S. Hispanic sports fan via television, online, print, radio and wireless. Sports media assets include ESPN Deportes television; ESPN Deportes Radio, the only around-the-clock Spanish-language sports radio network in the U.S., and currently available in 11 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic radio markets and also distributed on SIRIUS Satellite Radio; ESPN Deportes La Revista, the first general sports Spanish-language magazine in the U.S.; ESPNdeportes.com, the #1 Spanish-language sports Web site among Spanish-preferred fans in the U.S.; and ESPN Deportes Wireless, the brand’s emerging business which offers Spanish-language sports content, photo gallery and much more.

About Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey
Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey serves over 1.4 million customers in four NYC boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and western Brooklyn), Mt. Vernon, Hudson Valley (Orange, Sullivan, Ulster Counties and parts of Dutchess, Greene and Delaware Counties) and Bergen and Hudson Counties, New Jersey. Visit timewarnercable.com/nynj

Our parent company, Time Warner Cable owns and manages cable systems passing approximately 26 million homes in 33 states. The Company has 14.6 million customers for its various products, including video, high-speed data and residential telephone. This includes approximately 13.4 million basic video subscribers and more than 6 million customers who purchase more than one product. Time Warner Cable includes some of the most technologically advanced and best-clustered cable systems in the country, with nearly 85 percent of the Company’s customers located in five geographic regions: New York, Texas, Ohio, the Carolinas and southern California. It is the largest cable provider in the nation’s two largest cities, Los Angeles and New York. Leveraging its leadership in innovation and quality customer care, Time Warner Cable delivers advanced products and services such as video-on-demand, high-definition television, digital video recorders, high-speed data and Digital Phone. “

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