UNIVERSAL SPORTS TO BROADCAST WORLD CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s Events Start Online April 4 from Moncton, Canada; TV Coverage Begins April 11

LOS ANGELES – April 1, 2009 – After winning the U.S. Olympic Trials, John Shuster and his U.S. teammates from Duluth Curling Club hope to find success in Canada during the Ford World Men’s Curling Championships. This year’s championships will commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Men’s Curling and will serve as a celebration of the sport as well.

Universal Sports, in partnership with the World Curling Federation (WCF), will offer broadcast and live webcast coverage of the Men’s World Curling Championships, April 4–12, from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Universal Sports’ broadcast team includes 2006 Olympic bronze medalist and former U.S. National Curling Champion Pete Fenson, and play-by-play commentator Danny Lee.

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSAL SPORTS:  Universal Sports, available in 45 million homes, will broadcast top U.S. men’s matches, as well as same day coverage of semifinal and medal matches.

Date Events Time (all times ET)

APRIL 11 USA VS. GERMANY 7 – 10 PM

USA VS. CANADA 11:30 PM – 2:30 AM

APRIL 12 Semifinal or Bronze Medal Game 7 – 10 PM

Gold Medal Final & Medal Ceremony 11:30 PM – 2:30 AM

COVERAGE ON UNIVERSALSPORTS.COM:  UniversalSports.com will cover the following men’s competitions, as well as the playoffs, semifinals and all medal matches, on-demand. More information, as well as highlights, full-length videos, photos, breaking news and more available at UniversalSports.com/curling.

Date Events

APRIL 4 Draw #1 – USA vs. GERMANY Available on-demand

APRIL 6 Draw #6 – USA vs. NORWAY Available on-demand

APRIL 7 Draw #7 – JAPAN vs. USA Available on-demand

APRIL 8 Draw #13 – CANADA vs. USA Available on-demand

APRIL 9 Draw #16 and #17 – TBD Available on-demand

APRIL 10 Playoff Game #1 Available on-demand

APRIL 11 Playoff Game #2 Available on-demand

Semifinal Available on-demand

APRIL 12 Bronze Medal Game Available on-demand

Gold Medal Final & Medal Ceremony Available on-demand

TEAM USA: John Shuster will try to skip his team to the top in hopes of improving on the performance of the U.S. Men’s Curling Team in 2008. In 2008, Team Brown finished eighth out of 12 teams in the Championships. Canada took first place with a final record of 10-1. Shuster’s teammates include Jason Smith, Jeff Isaacson, and John Benton as the lead.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL SPORTS: Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, serves as the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic-related and lifestyle sports programming available on television and online. Universal Sports is a 24-hour television channel available in 45 million television households in markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Reno and Omaha. Major world championship and Olympic qualifying events found on Universal Sports range from track and field, skiing, swimming, gymnastics, marathons and cycling, to volleyball, rowing, triathlon, fencing, speed skating and martial arts. UniversalSports.com delivers an immersive experience via live and on-demand competition coverage, interaction with top athletes through blogs and in-depth access to Olympic sports news and information year round. For more information on the availability of the Universal Sports 24-hour television channel, please visit UniversalSports.com

# # # 

For more information, please contact: 

Melisa Mowry

Universal Sports

240.396.1906

mmowry@wcsn.com