SHOWTIME ONCE AGAIN TO OFFER MMA FANS ONLINE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE WITH “STRIKEFORCE: ALL ACCESS”

Posted on | June 3, 2009 | 1 Comment

Mixed Martial Arts Event to Stream Simultaneously

With Live SHOWTIME Telecast of STRIKEFORCE: “Lawler vs. Shields”;

Saturday, June 6, From Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.

NEW YORK (June 3, 2009)—SHOWTIME® will once again offer Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fans STRIKEFORCE: All Access, the cutting edge online interactive experience, live on Saturday, June 6, for STRIKEFORCE: Lawler vs. Shields from Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.

The immersive digital initiative will stream simultaneously with the live SHOWTIME telecast beginning at 10 p.m. ET*.

STRIKEFORCE: All Access debuted on April 11, 2009, when world-class MMA promoter STRIKEFORCE brought Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz to SHOWTIME.

“With our first event on April 11, we set the bar at a new level,” said Ken Hershman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “From the quality of the fights, to the television production and the interactive applications, our first offering of All Access was well received. This network has proven time and time again to be on the cutting edge of sports entertainment. All Access further demonstrates our commitment to leading the television industry in online, mobile, and interactive content distribution.”

STRIKEFORCE: All Access will cost $24.95 per user and is available for review and pre-order beginning Thursday, June 4, by visiting http://strikeforce.sho.com.

With All Access, fans can be the director. Toggle between five live cameras—including SHOWTIME Sports exclusive CageCam®—with full pause and rewind capabilities. Audio tracks will include the SHOWTIME telecast fight call by host and play-by-play man Gus Johnson, and color commentators Frank Shamrock and Mauro Ranallo, and the corresponding audio to the selected camera. SHOWTIME is working with BitGravity, Inc. and Episodic, Inc. to enable this unique multi-camera experience.

CageCam, a small and high quality camera worn by the referee, takes viewers inside the cage during the live fights. It is the closest and most intimate viewing experience ever presented in MMA. CageCam debuted on SHOWTIME February 16, 2008.

Users will also see a live Twitter feed from fans talking about Strikeforce and following SHOSports http://twitter.com/SHOsports . Fans can contribute content alongside SHOWTIME Sports’ behind-the-scenes staff throughout the evening by adding “#strikeforce” to their tweets.

Through a Facebook® Connect application, fans will be able to make predictions, comment on the live fights, discuss outcomes and even talk a little smack directly on the All Access page.

Other features include professional and amateur photography from the spectacle in the arena. Photos from action in the cage, as well as behind-the-scenes, backstage and fan interaction will all be posted. Images will be uploaded during the live event via Flickr, the popular image and video hosting website and online community.

The June 6 fight card features a showdown of top ranked fighters “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields in the main event. Lawler, a world top-10 middleweight, and Shields, ranked among the top-5 welterweights in the world, will face off at a catch weight of 182 pounds. In a heavyweight showdown sponsored by Affliction, top-10 ranked heavyweight and former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski will face unbeaten sensation Brett “The Grim” Rogers. Fresh off their respective thrilling wins in the premier of Strikeforce on SHOWTIME (April 11), the versatile Nick Diaz and knockout artist Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith will meet in a special 180-pound showdown. Additionally, “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni (13-10) will collide with Joe “Diesel” Riggs (29-10) in a 170-pound contest and Kevin “The Monster” Randleman (17-12) will face Mike “Iron” Whitehead (23-6) in a 205-pound clash.

*Telecast airs live at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME (delayed on the West Coast); STRIKEFORCE: All Access will be webcast live at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

CageCam® is a registered trademark of Showtime Networks Inc.

About Strikeforce
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of Strikeforce, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

About Showtime Networks Inc.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL® and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME 2™, SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®, SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILY ZONE® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV®.

About BitGravity

BitGravity has built the first global content delivery network optimized to deliver affordable video on demand, live broadcasts in standard and high-definition, software applications, Web assets, and interactive applications. BitGravity is based in Burlingame, CA and is privately held, with strategic investment from Allen & Company, Tata Communications and

private investors. www.BitGravity.com

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