'SureWest Sports Show' is First TV Program to Highlight Sacramento Region's Youth and High School Sports

'SureWest Sports Show' is First TV Program to Highlight Sacramento Region's Youth and High School Sports

ROSEVILLE, Calif., April 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- For the first-time ever, a television show is devoted to local sports in the Sacramento region covering both youth and high school teams. Leading independent communications holding company SureWest Communications (NASDAQ:SURW) today announced the launch of the "SureWest Sports Show," a weekly 30-minute youth and high school sports program that can be viewed on i2TV channel 702 on SureWest digital TV and online at www.surewestsports.com.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050908/SFSUREWESTLOGO)

"Sacramento residents have been demanding a show like this due to the enthusiasm surrounding youth and high school sports," said Peter Drozdoff, SureWest's vice president of marketing. "To meet that demand we created the 'SureWest Sports Show,' the first program to send cameras and commentators to both youth and high school sporting events so young athletes and parents can watch game highlights on their TVs and online."

Available on the recently launched i2TV network, which is the first channel to provide viewers the opportunity to upload their own video content online and watch it on their TVs, the "SureWest Sports Show" is managed by SureWest and hosted by Mike Finnerty, the editor-in-chief and president of Front Page Sports, Sacramento's leading community sports online destination. Mike has served as a youth sports coach and volunteer for over eight years and oversees the sports pages for such newspapers as The Mercury (Placer County), Carmichael Times and the American River Messenger.

A new program airs every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and is replayed multiple times each day throughout the week. In addition to i2TV and www.surewestsports.com, the program will soon be made available for viewing on SureWest's online customer homepage My SureWest (www.surewest.net) and in the SureWest digital TV On Demand library.

The 30-minute show consists of scores and highlights from high school and youth games around the region for sports such as football, basketball, baseball, softball, wrestling, soccer, golf, tennis, track & field, swimming, diving and volleyball. During each program, players, coaches and sports writers are interviewed and the "SureWest Female and Male Players of the Week" are announced. The show also looks ahead at next week's key match ups and will provide sports instruction and health tips from experts around the region.

The "SureWest Sports Show's" first season will capture the majority of the winter sports season and playoffs as well as the entire spring sports season and playoffs. Additionally, summer action from Little League All-Stars and other youth sports will be covered.

About SureWest

SureWest Communications (www.surewest.com) is one of the nation's leading integrated communications providers and is the bandwidth leader in the markets it serves. Headquartered in Northern California for more than 90 years, the company expanded into the Kansas City region (www.surewestkc.com) in February 2008 with the acquisition of Everest Broadband, Inc. and offers bundled residential and commercial services that include IP-based digital and high-definition television, high-speed Internet, Voice over IP, and local and long distance telephone. The company was the nation's first to launch HDTV over an IP network and also delivers the fastest symmetrical Internet speeds in the nation at up to 50 Mbps on its fiber-to-the-home network.

Corporate Communications Contacts:
Ron Rogers * 916-746-3123 * r.rogers@surewest.com
Anne Chacon * 916-786-1235 * a.chacon@surewest.com

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Source: SureWest Communications

CONTACT: Ron Rogers, +1-916-746-3123, r.rogers@surewest.com, or Anne
Chacon, +1-916-786-1235, a.chacon@surewest.com, both of SureWest
Communications

Web Site: http://www.surewest.com/

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