VERSUS Draws NHL’s Biggest Season Opening Audience Since 2002, Most Watched Regular Season Game on Cable Since 2004

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 8, 2010)-VERSUS averaged 730,000 viewers for the 2010/11 NHL season-opening game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, making it the best start to the season since 2002 and the most-watched NHL regular season telecast on cable since 2004.  The game was also VERSUS’ most-watched regular season game ever surpassing the previous high set by the Pittsburgh Penguins/Detroit Red Wings telecast on March 22, 2010 (622,000 viewers).

Locally, VERSUS earned a 13.4 HH rating in Pittsburgh, making it the highest-rated regular season game in Pittsburgh in network history.  The game also made VERSUS the #1 network overall (among both broadcast and cable) in Pittsburgh.

VERSUS’ coverage of the Colorado Avalanche/Chicago Blackhawks game averaged 430,000 viewers, making it VERSUS’ best regular season game ever with a post 9 p.m. ET start time and the most-watched season-opening late game.  The game showed a 30-percent spike in viewership over the second game to start the 2009/10 season (332,000 viewers).

In Chicago VERSUS garnered 3.4 HH rating, making it the network’s highest-rated regular season game ever in the market.  The game also propelled VERSUS to the #1 cable network in Chicago.

(Source:  Nielsen Fast National Live+Same Day data and Nielsen Arianna Local data for 10/7/10)

VERSUS prides itself on super-serving passionate sports fans across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD).  Now in more than 75 million homes, the network is the cable television home of the National Hockey League (NHL), IZOD IndyCar Series, Tour de France, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Bull Riders (PBR).  VERSUS also airs NASCAR, NBA, UFC, college football and college basketball programming.  The network is home to the best outdoor programming on television and airs original programs not available anywhere else, including The Daily Line and Sports Soup.  VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

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