Broadband network UPC Sweden signed an agreement Monday with
Extreme Sports Channel to make
the sports service available in Stockholm.
UPC Sweden reaches 245,000 connected households in Stockholm and
its environs, using fiber and coaxial cabling for high-speed Internet
access and TV services. Later this year it will add telephony to
its portfolio, making it an all-round media distribution company.
On the Extreme Sports Channel, viewers can see such sports as surfing,
snowboarding, in-line skating and mountain biking, 24-hours a day. It
is a joint venture with the global extreme sports entertainment
company Extreme Group.
Alistair Gosling, managing director of Extreme Group, said the
channel was enjoying its popularity as a growing number of European
networks were taking on what he called “the best of the best in the
world of Extreme Sports.”
The move is a continuation of the strategy adopted by Netherlands-based
UPCtv of rolling out its channels
across Europe. It has already been distributing to Sweden via Telia
cable networks.
UPCtv launched six channels in 1999 and plans several more this
year. Apart from Extreme Sports it offers Film1, Club, Sport1,
Avante and Reality TV, the last-named being a joint venture with Zone
Vision. Planned for 2000 is a “mind, body and spirit” channel named
Innergy.
Extreme Sports Channel now reaches nine countries, having started
broadcasting in Europe a year ago. Cleared for broadband and Internet
broadcast, it is developing these new methods of TV distribution
via its Web site.
