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"This round of funding is a tremendous boost as we gear up for our launch," said Brian T. Bedol, CEO, president and co-founder, CSTV. "It is a clear indicator that investors believe in our business, and that there is a demand among operators, advertisers and consumers for a cable network focusing solely on college sports. We will serve the entire college community by covering more college games, more teams, more sports and more conferences - and from more angles - than anyone else."
"We are extremely excited about CSTV's prospects," said Dennis Miller, managing director of Constellation Ventures, a Bear Stearns Asset Management venture capital fund. "The principals' track records and vision for the business, the deep affinity viewers have for their college teams, and the emotion and electricity unique to college sports should translate effectively for both advertisers and cable operators."
"College sports is a category with tremendous potential," said Michael Cahill, managing director, Chilton Investment Company. "We believe the college sports category is extremely attractive to cable and satellite operators who are looking to grow their business via digital tiers, and to marketers seeking to reach a lucrative demographic."
Constellation Ventures, an early to mid-stage media technology fund, focuses on new digital content, communications technologies and enterprise software. Chilton Investment Company is a manager of certain private investment funds. Court Square Ventures, based in Charlottesville, Va., is a private equity firm with deep experience in media, technology and communications.
CSTV: College Sports Television will televise live regular season and championship events in more than 25 men's and women's intercollegiate sports. The network has signed agreements with more than 27 major college athletic conferences representing more than 250 colleges and universities. Additional programming will include news and other studio shows, coaches' shows, Olympic-style profiles, documentaries and classic and other archival event programming.
CSTV: College Sports Television will sign on Sunday, February 23, with a live telecast of the Notre Dame at Connecticut Big East women's basketball game. The undefeated and newly number one-ranked Huskies upset previously top-ranked Duke on Saturday to boost their NCAA-record win streak to 59 games. The 2 p.m. ET telecast on February 23 will tip off "Countdown to CSTV," a six-week free preview of CSTV: College Sports Television that will culminate with the official launch of the network on Monday evening, April 7, immediately following the final whistle of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.
CSTV: College Sports Television will un-scramble its signal for the Connecticut-Notre Dame telecast and throughout the six-week preview period, enabling cable and satellite operators to carry this and subsequent special presentations. CSTV: College Sports Television is telecasting the February 23 game in conjunction with Connecticut Public Television (CPTV).
CSTV: College Sports Television was co-founded by President/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. For more information on CSTV: College Sports Television, log on to www.cstv.com.
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