WBZ-TV (CH.4) TO BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE LOCAL MARATHON COVERAGE

WBZ-TV announced that the station will once again broadcast its exclusive, complete local coverage of the Boston Marathon in 2007. WBZ-TV will go from start to finish with comprehensive, live coverage of the 111th running of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16, 2007.

“The Boston Marathon is one of the most significant athletic events in the world, and it means even more to the people who live right here in the state and the region,” said Ed Piette, President and General Manager of Boston’s WBZ-TV, TV38 (WSBK), and Providence’s CW28 (WLWC). “’BZ has a long and distinguished tradition of carrying this event in its entirety. When WCVB pulled out of the race, changing the dynamics of the coverage model, we very much wanted to figure out a way that WBZ could still bring the Marathon to viewers. After discussions and updated strategic planning with the B.A.A., we have developed a plan which will serve our community, deliver quality audiences to our advertising partners, while providing world class coverage of the Marathon from Main Street in Hopkinton to Boston’s Boylston Street finish line and everything in between.”

“WBZ-TV has partnered with the B.A.A. to televise the Boston Marathon for nearly three decades,” said Guy L. Morse, Executive Director of the B.A.A. “Many local viewers tie their Patriots’ Day tradition to watching WBZ-TV’s coverage of the Boston Marathon, and we are pleased that the station will continue to show the extensive, unparalleled coverage that local viewers appreciate and count on. WBZ-TV has demonstrated for years that coverage of an international sporting event can – at the same time – be focused on the event as a community-wide celebration, as a race for local participants and as an elite road race.”

Also, the Boston Marathon will be carried live and wire-to-wire nationally in the United States on VERSUS (formerly OLN). The B.A.A. will announce its international carriers prior to the 2007 race.