Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- CSTV: College Sports Television Plans to Acquire Official College Sports Network -OCSN-, the Largest Dedicated Network of College Sports News and Information

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CSTV: College Sports Television Plans to Acquire Official College Sports Network -OCSN-, the Largest Dedicated Network of College Sports News and Information

Business Wire - November 19, 2003

Sports Editors/Television / Multimedia Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2003

CSTV: College Sports Television:

-- 7.5 Million College Sports Fans Generated

-- 167 Million Page Views on OCSN Last Month

-- OCSN Operates Web, E-Commerce, Multi-Media Sites For More Than

145 College Athletic Departments And Conferences, Including

Notre Dame, Ohio State, Southern California, Florida State,

Miami, North Carolina, Tennessee, UCLA

CSTV: College Sports Television, the fastest growing independent cable network, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Official College Sports Network (OCSN) from Student Advantage, Inc. The OCSN network (www.ocsn.com), the largest, most-trafficked network of college sports news and information in any medium, attracted 7.5 million unique users and generated more than 167 million page views in October.

OCSN builds, hosts, maintains and markets official Web sites for more than 145 college athletic departments, conferences and related associations, and also operates CollegeSports.com, the most-trafficked Web site devoted exclusively to college sports news and information. More than 1,000 collegiate administrators around the nation continuously feed news, information and statistics to OCSN's sites.

"The acquisition of OCSN will accelerate our efforts to build the new home of college sports across multiple platforms," said Brian Bedol, president and CEO, CSTV. "Regardless of the season, college sports fans log on to OCSN's official sites multiple times each day, seeking out the latest news and information on their favorite teams. The OCSN network of sites gives CSTV a daily dialogue with the most passionate, valuable demographic in college sports, thus enabling us to provide enhanced value to our partner universities, conferences, distributors and sponsors."

More than 50 percent of the college athletic departments that have NCAA Division I-A football are OCSN partners, including 10 of the top 15 schools represented in this week's Bowl Championship Series standings: Ohio State, Southern California, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas Christian, Washington State, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio) and Mississippi.

"We currently enjoy very productive relationships with both OCSN and CSTV," said Andy Geiger, athletic director, The Ohio State University. "We look forward to their combined resources providing greater benefits for our student-athletes and alumni."

OCSN provides audio and video of games, coaches' shows and press conferences for more than 50 schools through its "College Sports Pass" subscription service with RealNetworks, Inc (Nasdaq: RNWK). Last year, subscribers to "College Sports Pass" had access to over 2,000 live events, including football and men's and women's basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, baseball and others.

OCSN is also the nation's largest seller of college-licensed merchandise on the Internet through its network of official online stores. OCSN has managed more than 100,000 licensed merchandise transactions since January. OCSN sites also offer live in-game statistics for college basketball, football, baseball and softball through its "Gametracker" service, enabling fans to follow their favorite teams' games in real time over the Internet.

The OCSN network features more than 325 advertisers, including American Express, AT&T, Discover Card, EA Sports, Forbes, Ford, Microsoft, Nextel, Sony and UPS.

The OCSN network audience:

-- OCSN consistently ranks number one among all sports sites in

percentage of users with a household income of more than

$150,000, and in percentage of users who are male age 25-34*

-- 65 percent have college degrees**

-- 59 percent have broadband connections**

-- 71 percent spend 1-3 hours on the Internet per day**

The purchase, which combines the on-air home of college sports with the online home of college sports, will enable CSTV to bring additional exposure and revenue opportunities to colleges and conferences. CSTV's distribution partners will also benefit as OCSN extends the CSTV integrated platform into local market college and distribution affiliate communities. Marketers seeking to create a one-to-one marketing experience can activate millions of passionate college sports fans and alumni with integrated and customized national, local and school-specific marketing programs.

CSTV (www.cstv.com), the first 24-hour college sports network, is available to approximately 15 million homes nationally on cable and satellite. The network is available on Adelphia and Insight systems, among others, and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610). For information on CSTV availability in particular markets, consumers can log on to www.cstv.com or call their cable or satellite operator.

CSTV: College Sports Television televises regular season and championship event coverage in football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer and other sports from the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big East, Big Sky, Big Ten, Big 12, Big West and Conference USA, as well as the Ivy League, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC and West Coast Conferences. CSTV also presents NCAA postseason action in baseball, lacrosse, women's ice hockey, field hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's water polo, gymnastics and track & field. For more information on CSTV, log on to www.cstv.com.

College Sports Television was co-founded by President and CEO Brian Bedol, Chairman Stephen Greenberg and Executive Vice President Chris Bevilacqua. Bedol and Greenberg co-founded Classic Sports Network, which they sold to ESPN and which is now ESPN Classic. Bevilacqua is a former senior executive with Nike Inc., where he headed the company's successful foray into the college market.

* Nielsen/NetRatings

** OCSN user surveys

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