New Mobile Application Connects ESPN and Sports Fans in Latin America

Common Mobile Short Code Service Features SMS Text Voting, Trivia, and Content Download Capabilities in 14 Countries

12 April 2007 – Oberhausen, Germany

Building on its effort to elevate the sports fan experience across platforms, ESPN today announced new mobile efforts to increase brand interactivity with its viewers in Latin America. The company unveiled a common short code which allows mobile users in 14 countries in Latin America to interact with ESPN television programming by using the common short code 35355. The short code provides mobile interactive services such as SMS voting, polls and surveys, trivia, and content downloads.

ESPN will be able to offer interactive mobile and television promotions with only one unique SMS short code to mobile users in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, el Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

“We’re very excited about this initiative,” said Arne Rees, vice president international development, ESPN International. “Launching a common short code in these countries represents a significant step forward in our effort to further increase interactivity with ESPN branded products and our fans in Latin America.”

Added Guillermo Tabanera, senior vice president and general manager, Disney and ESPN Media Networks in Latin America – “putting this application within the reach of sports fans in Latin America will allow us to further strengthen our bond with the millions of sports fans we touch every day through the various ESPN platforms in the region.”

The service kicked off in time for ESPN’s Estrellas Latinas, the company’s newest initiative that features fan interactivity at a new level. From now until July 8, fans in Latin America may select an All-Time Latino Baseball Dream Team by submitting their selections through text message to short code 35355, or via ESPNdeportes.com.

ESPN is working with conVISUAL, a leading international full service provider for interactive value added services, to kick off the project. conVISUAL will integrate mobile interactivity into ESPN television promotions in Latin America and will also provide the creative consulting and content management, as well as the technical connectivity to more than 40 mobile network providers in all 14 countries. Pricing for text messaging will vary by country.

About ESPN International:
ESPN International is a division of ESPN, Inc. ESPN International has grown to include ownership–in whole or in part–of 32 television networks, as well as a variety of ancillary businesses, which together extend the ESPN brand to more than 190 countries and territories. ESPN International network programming is transmitted in 15 languages (Arabic, Cantonese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish). ESPN International business entities include television, radio, print, internet, wireless, consumer products, and event management.

About conVISUAL:
conVISUAL is an international leading Full Service Provider for interactive value added services. conVISUAL opens the market of innovative and high-volume messaging services for network operators, TV stations, media companies, portals and brands. Founded in October 2000 conVISUAL offers SMS, MMS, Voice and Video Services as well as Mobile Content and Gateway Services. Therefore conVISUAL provides both, the technical realisation and the content issue. With offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, conVISUAL has established customer contacts reaching more than 300 million end users. conVISUAL provides interactive TV services for many TV stations, TV networks, and media companies throughout the world including several local U.S. TV stations as well as NBC/Universal and MTV.

conVISUAL
Essener Strasse 99
46047 Oberhausen,
Germany
E-mail: info@convisual.com
www.convisual.com

Media Contact
Sandra Wiewiorra
Public Relations Manager
E-mail: sandra.wiewiorra@convisual.com/a>
Phone: +49 (208) 97 69 5 - 807