PRESS RELEASE
International Association of Athletics Federations Association Internationale des FÈdÈrations d'AthlÈtisme
THE IAAF'S NEW SERIES "ROAD RUNNING SHOW" TOES THE START LINE
19 December 2007
Monte-Carlo - The IAAF's much awaited televised road running magazine
will commence broadcasting at the beginning of 2008.
The RUNNING ROAD SHOW will visit over 50 countries and will broadcast an
all year round entertainment show with 50 weekly episodes covering a
variety of topics from lifestyle to competition updates and runner
profiles, meeting the world's greatest runners and reliving the world's
greatest road races.
The RUNNING ROAD SHOW is for runners, their families and fans and is
intended to link the entire road running world from elite performers to
the club runner to the everyday jogger. The show will provide tips, news
and features of interest to the entire community, from participants who
have a life-long passion for running to novices who perhaps see training
for and running a marathon as a once in a lifetime challenge or a charity
fundraiser.
The TV magazine which was officially launched this autumn at Sportel,
Monaco has FOX as its Commercial Partner in a deal that will run through
2008 with an option to continue for further years.
"Road running is the most populous, diverse branch of our sport, its
number of participants and competition structure making it unique,"
commented IAAF President Diack. "What other major sport offers
recreational participants the possibility to compete alongside elite
performers as occurs at the world's major city road races. The average
footballer can't play with Ronaldo, but the average jogger can toe the
start line with Radcliffe."
"The IAAF wishes to strengthen its connections with and further help to
promote this mass movement. The RUNNING ROAD SHOW is a dynamic new tool
for achieving this goal by offering attractive TV to the road running
community, by providing vital year-round TV coverage."
Fox Sports International Vice President of Programme Sales Marcia
Bylicki added: "We are honoured to be working together with such a
prestigious Federation as the IAAF, and look forward to being a part of
the huge community of road running."
Based in Los Angeles, Fox Sports International (FSI) is an international
sports programming and production entity housed within the Fox Cable
Networks Group, one of the major operating units within News Corporation
(NYSE: NWS). FSI operates the programming service Fox Soccer Channel, as
well as a London-based programming syndication sales division, and is
partnered with Global Television in Fox Sports World Canada. It joined
with HM Capital Partners, LLC to form Fox Pan American Sports LLC, one of
the world's largest Spanish-language sports operations and programming
ventures, spanning North, Central and South America, as well as the
Caribbean. Through this joint venture, FSI manages the U.S.
Spanish-language sports network Fox Sports en EspaÒol.
