Australian Rules Football Joins WORLDVIEW: International Sport on U.S. Public TV

Australian Rules Football Joins WORLDVIEW: International Sport on U.S. Public TV

WASHINGTON, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent public broadcaster MHz NETWORKS announces the addition of the Australian Football League (AFL) "Match of the Week," and an hour-long highlights show, on its new national program service MHz WORLDVIEW. The first match will be available mid-April with the beginning of the AFL season and conclude with the "Grand Final" in September. The matches will air on Saturday nights @ 8PM EST with replay Sundays @ Noon EST. A combination of contact, constant motion, and high scoring, "Australian Rules" has everything Americans like -- if they can see it. WORLDVIEW, as a non-commercial program stream offered through U.S. public TV stations, will provide the first U.S. national broadcast platform for the sport. "The AFL is thrilled to be able to extend our reach in the United States via MHz WORLDVIEW to give Americans further opportunity to enjoy our unique game," says Ben Amarfio, Manager, AFL Broadcasting, Publishing and New Media. "MHz has been a strong supporter of the AFL over a number of years." MHz has aired the AFL matches on its Washington, D.C. stations since 1998.

WORLDVIEW programmers think the AFL will catch-on with U.S. audiences as well, where there is a surprisingly strong fan base. The United States Australian Football League (http://www.usfooty.com/) boasts forty-four club teams -- including the Chicago United, Colorado Springs Dragons, and Kansas City Power to name a few. USAFL teams play for a national championship, with an all-star team selected to play as the U.S. Revolution in the international championships. Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and South Africa are also represented on the international level. "It's an international sport that has a strong foothold in the U.S.," says Frederick Thomas, EVP/GM of MHz. "Those two qualities make it a great sport for our WORLDVIEW program service."

MHz NETWORKS, which operates in Northern Virginia and serves the Washington, D.C. market through WNVC and WNVT, is owned by Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation (CPBC), headquartered in Richmond, VA. CPBC is a 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation. The WORLDVIEW program stream is sponsored in part by the GlobeCast WorldTV service and is available on Intelsat America 5. MHz produces its original programs through its two production studios, one in Northern Virginia at its technical operations center, the other at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Visit http://www.mhzworldview.org/ for more information.

Contact:
Jenna Reedy
(703) 770-7135
jreedy@mhznetworks.org

Source: MHz NETWORKS

CONTACT: Jenna Reedy of MHz NETWORKS, +1-703-770-7135,
jreedy@mhznetworks.org

Web site: http://www.mhzworldview.org/
http://www.usfooty.com/

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