CBS CORPORATION ACQUIRES MAXPREPS, THE LEADING NATIONWIDE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NETWORK ONLINE; BUSINESS TO BE PART OF CSTV: COLLEGE SPORTS TELEVISION
Rounds Out CBS's Sports Offerings:
From Professional . to College . and Now High School
Complements CSTV's Local and Regional Coverage Adding
Over 7 Million High School Student Athletes and their Families, Friends and Fans
MaxPreps.com Provides Local High School Sports Information
Including Scores, Schedules, Rankings, Photos, Video, and More
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS and CBS.A) ÿtoday announced the acquisition of MaxPreps, the leading nationwide high school sports network online. The business will become part of CBS-owned CSTV (College Sports Television). The announcement was made by Brian Bedol, President and CEO of CSTV Networks, Inc.
"MaxPreps is the leader in serving millions of participants who are passionate about high school sports," Bedol said. "From the professional sports covered by CBS Sports and CBS Sportsline to the collegiate athletics covered by CSTV, this acquisition expands CBS's portfolio of sports programming and brings a spirited community of athletes and a highly desirable demographic into our reach. The company is a terrific complement to CSTV's local and regional assets. At the same time, its content will help make CBS's local television stations and web sites the "go-to" place for local sports content in communities across the country."
"Sports fans and participants are among the greatest beneficiaries of the advancements in video delivery technology," Bedol continued. ÿ"Athletes, their families and members of their communities can now experience personalized sports programming, following the teams and games they care most about. What's more, our affiliate partners will benefit from the availability of this great content to feed their broadband and VOD channels."
Over 7 million students participate in high school athletics each year. MaxPreps' primary users are males Age 14 to 18. Drawing from a network of over 10,000 coaches from all 50 states, MaxPreps.com provides a single source of information on nearly 80,000 high school football and over 500,000 boys and girls basketball games played each year. The data is combined with over 400,000 photos taken by MaxPreps photographers. Currently, MaxPreps.com has over a million high school athletes registered in its database.
"We are thrilled to join the CBS family," said Andy Beal, President and CEO of MaxPreps. "Our mission is to celebrate high school sports by documenting the accomplishments of all high school athletes, not just the stars. This new arrangement will open up many new ways to inform and entertain millions of people who are involved in high school sports, while building communities around the high school sports experience." Beal will continue to manage the Sacramento-based company, reporting to Bedol.
CSTV Networks, Inc., now part of the CBS Corporation, is the leading digital and cable programming company dedicated to college sports. Connecting more fans to more college sports than any other company, its many platforms for programming distribution include CSTV: College Sports TV, televising regular-season and championship events for 35 men's and women's college sports; CSTV.com and its network of 215 official athletic sites; CSTV All Access, broadband services providing live audio and video of more than 10,000 events annually; as well as satellite television and radio, in-flight entertainment, wireless networks and more. Further information is available at www.CSTV.com.
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS) is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW - a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/ DVD (CBS Home Entertainment) and motion pictures (CBS Feature Films). For more information, log on to www.cbscorporation.com.
MaxPreps, Inc. is dedicated to publishing America's most comprehensive high school sports information web site. MaxPreps.com features stats, stories, and photos featuring high school student-athletes and the outstanding men and women who coach them. Funded by venture capital investors DFJ Frontier, Dolphin Equity, and BEV Capital, MaxPreps is headquartered in Cameron Park, California. Jefferies Broadview acted as financial advisor to MaxPreps in this transaction. For more information, please visit www.maxpreps.com.ÿ
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Dana McClintock (For CBS)ÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 212/975-1077ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ dlmcclintock@cbs.comÿÿ
LeslieAnne Wade (For CBS Sports)ÿÿÿÿ 212/975-5171ÿÿ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ lwade@cbs.com
Keith Marder (For CSTV) ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 212/342-8743ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ kmarder@cstv.com
Brian Danella (For MaxPreps)ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 408/275-6455ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿbrian@prequent.comÿÿ
