To tweet this release: http://bit.ly/9vbuVY

NEW YORK, April 12, 2010 – Through an agreement with ESPN Radio, WorldBand Media will distribute the non-English and non-Spanish multi-language radio broadcasts of all 64 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (June 11 – July 11) in the United States, it was announced today by the two parties.  

 WorldBand Media will make the broadcasts available on AM, FM, and in digital quality on HD Radio^TM across the country, with a potential reach of more than 70 million ethnic Americans.

 “Soccer is the most international sport on the globe with incredibly passionate followers, and WorldBand Media is ecstatic about joining forces with ESPN to present the World Cup to the millions of soccer fans across the United States,” says Prabha Selvadurai, CEO of WorldBand Media. “Acquiring foreign language radio rights to the World Cup falls in line with WorldBand Media’s continued efforts to best serve North America’s cultural diversity.”

 Mo Davenport, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ESPN Audio, added, “In accordance with our mission of serving the Fan, we are delighted to have WorldBand Media distribute the World Cup radio broadcasts in languages for which they have expertise in serving the diverse soccer fans in the United States.” 

 WorldBand Media will strive to provide coverage in all of the key foreign languages (excluding Spanish) across the United States, including Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, German, Greek and Japanese.

 The 64 FIFA World Cup 2010 football matches, contested between 32 national teams, will take place in 9 cities in South Africa. The total viewership of the 2006 World Cup was estimated to be 26.29 billion.

 English Broadcasts on ESPN Radio

ESPN Radio will present live coverage of all 64 World Cup games in English, marking the first live soccer broadcasts by the sports radio network, which debuted January 1, 1992. ESPN Radio will broadcast 13 matches live on its main channel – the three US Team matches in the round robin phase, two matches in the round of 16, four quarterfinals matches, the two semifinals, the third place and final matches. Affiliates will distribute the remaining games separately.

 About WorldBand Media

WorldBand Media LLC (“WBM”) vision is to be “North America’s leader in ethnic content and delivery.”  Led by a team of ethnic and mainstream media entrepreneurs, WBM understands the unique characteristics, demands and potential this market presents.  WBM’s media interests enable ethnic North Americans to have access to the highest quality content while at home, in the car or on the move; while providing an effective and reliable outlet for its partners and advertisers to reach this growing and largely untapped market segment. Along with other lines of business , WBM currently operates HumDesi Radio, North America’s largest South Asian radio network.  For more information, go to www.worldbandmedia.com.

About ESPN Radio

ESPN Radio is the country’s largest sports radio network, providing more than 9,000 hours of talk and event content annually to more than 750 stations, including owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Pittsburgh, and more than 350 full-time affiliates. ESPN Radio event programming features the NBA (and The Finals), MLB (and the World Series) and college football’s BCS (and regular-season schedule) as well as the Kentucky Derby, the USGA’s U.S. Open, and this year’s 2010 FIFA World Cup. Weekday studio programming includes: Mike and Mike in the Morning (Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic), 6-10 a.m. ET; The Herd with Colin Cowherd, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; The Scott Van Pelt Show (1-4 p.m.); and The Doug Gottlieb Show (4-7 p.m.). Additionally, ESPNRadio.com is the most-listened-to sports radio destination online and most-listened-to digital audio stream in the world, with an average of more than 420,000 monthly listeners and nearly 1.9 million total sessions per month. ESPN Radio content is also available via ESPN’s more than 100 podcasts on iTunes and ESPN’s PodCenter, which are downloaded an average of more than 9.2 million times per month.

— 30 —